damned_institute | Nightshift 26: Hallway Outside M1

[temporarily splitting the thread from here]

There wasn't much that Renji could do in his current state; the headache would recede eventually, he hoped, but he'd overstretched himself badly. So badly, it seemed, that his hands were shaking; he just felt so tired. At least his nose had stopped bleeding, probably because of the healing that Rukia had done.

He simply held on to her and kept an eye on how things seemed to be going with River. He wasn't certain if there was any help he could offer, or Rukia, but maybe he'd think of something if the time came. He trusted Daemon, though.

(from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/184414.html?view=13081694#t13081694))

The mage light that Valyn had set to bob over his shoulder illuminated the hallway well enough. Enough for elven eyes, anyway. He felt a sudden lurch in his throat when he realized exactly what he was seeing.

"Ancestors, Renji!" What had happened? He recognized River and Renji, both seriously injured, and Rukia, the woman he'd protected that colonel with. Hand still on the hilt of his knife, he rushed to Renji first, because he was closest and because it was Renji that Valyn had dragged Keman off to find.

"What happened?" he asked, the mage light bringing the group into clear focus. "Is everything alright?" Obviously it wasn't, but it looked as though there were those here who were already seeing to wounds and healing hurts....

Keman's retort died in his throat as he surveyed the carnage. He counted two people who were gravely wounded indeed, and several other two-leggers who were tending to them. Well, that was good. The young dragon realized, with more than a little guilt, that he probably wouldn't be able to do anything for them. He couldn't heal others. His magic didn't work that way. And Valyn could technically do 'women's magic'...or he would have been able to, if he hadn't passed Keman his power.

Apparently, the large, male human nearest them was the person they'd been looking for. Renji.

"V-Valyn...?" He stammered, looking frightened.

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/189165.html?view=13087725#t13087725)]

Rangiku quickly found Renji. It was difficult to miss the small group really, in the middle of the corridor. She approached them quickly and knelt down next to the red-head, ignoring the two boys who were there too.

He looked absolutely awful, Rukia only a little better and she frowned in concer.

"Captain sent me. Do you need a healing?"

When Renji reached out and pulled Rukia into his lap, she didn't protest. She did, however, tense up even more, because the sudden movement jolted her broken ribs, as well as all the other little pains that had sprung up throughout her body after healing Renji. A tiny noise escaped her throat, but once she was settled, she sagged into his chest, fighting to remain conscious.

"Renji..." she whispered, hands fisting weakly into his shirt.

He's okay. He's okay, she kept telling herself, a litany that kept the ringing in her ears from swallowing her up.

After a while, Rukia realized that there were more people there. More male voices, and a female voice... Vice Captain Matsumoto. Blood was still trickling from Rukia's nose when she struggled to sit up, one hand propped on Renji's chest to support herself. Pale, sweaty, and covered in her own blood as well as Renji's, it might have appeared as though she needed healing. "N-no, I think we're fine, Vice Captain." Turning her head toward River, she added, "Maybe River n-needs healing?"

And suddenly, there were a bunch of people there. Valyn and then some guy he didn't even know and then Ran. Renji had to take a moment to collect his thoughts; he answered Ran's question first. "Rukia healed me," he said. "Just... kinda tired from the shunpou..." He couldn't really tell how things were going with River yet. "I think... Daemon's taking care of River. But I think Rukia might need some attention, dunno..."

Then Valyn. He gave him a rather pale version of a reassuring smile. "Sun room," he said. "Don't go near the sun room. A shinigami got taken for Special Counseling. Just... what you're feeling right now is him." He rubbed his forehead. "I went to get River; fuckin' mess." And... yeah, he was going to give things to Valyn. That was right. He'd been at Valyn's room before the mess had all happened. He reluctantly let go of Rukia, though he made certain she was propped against his chest and not about to fall beforehand. He held out the knife, hilt first, to Valyn. With the other hand he dug out the ring that Allen had given him, still wrapped in a napkin that was now stained with blood, and held that out as well.

"Would you like us to take you and Rukia somewhere safe?" Valyn asked, glancing to the woman Renji had taken in his arms. River was being seen to, and there were others there who would help. But Renji was in no condition to wander about, and it looked as though Rukia was weak as well.

He didn't know who the woman who had joined them was, but she seemed to have some knowledge of Renji and the others.

"Ah, this is Keman. He's an old friend." He waved to the halfblood behind him and sighed when Renji struggled to hold out his 'gifts'. "Renji, don't worry about that." He took the offered knife and...napkin? anyway, and tucked them into the strap around his thigh.

Well, wherever they went, they'd have to avoid the Sun Room. He offered Renji a tired smile, but his attention was distracted by the man talking about open veins and needing a healer.

"I've a small bit of healing," Valyn called. Only a small bit, because he needed his own strength, but he would do what he could.

Oddly enough, one of the first things that Keman thought when Renji first opened his mouth to speak was: Wow, he really does use "fuck" as an all-purpose explicative!

The rest of what was being said went completely over his head. Special Counseling? What was that? And these other people must've been on a ship, or something, because they were all talking about "Captains" and "Vice-Captains," and the only context that Keman (in his rather limited knowledge of the world outside of the few lands he had visited and read about) had heard those words in was a maritime one. It was all very confusing, and very chaotic.

He inclined his head distractedly as Valyn introduced him. "Ah...hello." Fire and Rain, he felt like such a useless fool! He couldn't even help these people, and...

"No Valyn, you don't," he said firmly. Turning to Renji, the young dragon flushed a little and explained. "I'm very, very sorry, but Valyn passed on a lot of his magic to me a few minutes ago, and I don't think he has very much left. I can't heal others...my magic doesn't work that way. I can help get you and your friends into a safe place, but I can't tend to your hurts. I am sorry."

Augh, he felt like such a miserable wretch for saying that, but Valyn would be of no use to anyone if he knocked himself out while trying to cure somebody. He hoped it was for the best...even if it made him sound like a heartless fewmet.

Rangiku looked them both over carefully, not quite believing their assertions that everything was fine. They were covered in blood, but that could just be from the shunpo and healing. She hoped it just looked worse than it was.

She glanced over at the other small group, the girl laid out on the floor. That must be River. "I'll look at her if they need be, but you are my first concern." She turned to Rukia. "Kuchiki-san? Do you need healing?" If the blood loss was from more than just using Kidou...

She looked up at the two boys and smiled slightly. "Matsumoto Rangiku. Pleased to meet you. I can manage a healing if it's needed so don't worry about it."

[From above.]

Tatsumi had been watching quietly, at several points wondering if he should step in, if he should offer to help even though he knew there was nothing to do, and feeling guilty despite the logic of his actions.

But then Rangiku appeared, moving to one of the fallen. He waited until she seemed more sure that the situation was calm before stepping forward, trying to find words when it was so hard to decided what should be said.

"Rangiku-san." Only a greeting, enough to let the woman know that he was there. Tatsumi wanted to ask if she knew anything about what had happened, already getting a feeling that she did, but decided to wait until a better moment.

Rukia didn't have enough energy to be worried about her pride right now; she leaned against Renji, simply watching as he passed a knife and something else to Valyn.

The voices around her were slowly starting to become more clear, less jumbled, but she still felt pretty awful, and lost some of what Valyn and... Keman said. She did think it would be nice to get away from the sun room, though. Here, close to Ichimaru, Rukia felt like his reiatsu was about to crush her.

Responding to both Renji and Vice Captain Matsumoto, Rukia shook her head minutely. "No, I'm okay. Jus' overdid it." She tried to get a better look at River and the others, but the two men near her were in the way. River, be okay.

"It's okay," Renji told Valyn. "I got it covered." At that, he managed something approaching his normal grin, as close as he could get with his head pounding fit to split in two. He looked at Keman as he spoke, a faintly confused expression passing over his face as he wondered how one transferred magic to begin with, and second why the kid was apologizing to him. "That's okay too," he said. "Just make sure the both of you stay in one piece tonight. I..." He stopped himself. Out in the hall, and in such a situation, was not an ideal place to be having a catching-up conversation with Valyn. "Valyn... how about we talk, some time during the day. We're... not gonna go too far, now. I'll be fucking useless anyway 'til I sleep this headache off."

In a way, it was nice to have an excuse for why he wasn't going to get fuck all accomplished tonight. Better than just having some kind of stupid vacation because his Captain thought he was incompetent or broken or whatever. And sleep did sound pretty good, too.

He rubbed his forehead again, and gave Ran a grin too, just so she'd know it was okay. "Gonna stick here 'til River's okay," he said. Though at this point it was more that he needed a couple more minutes before he could handle something as challenging as standing up and walking around. "Then I think I need a nap or I'm gonna be a grumpy bastard in the morning."

"Renji..."

Valyn frowned. But there were plenty of people who were capable of helping the wounded and exhausted to safe rooms for the night. He and Keman would probably just get in the way. And they had healers among them.

"Alright." He nodded. "Take care of yourself. And River, as well." He glanced over at the girl he'd promised a dance to in the morning. They'd be alright. They had healers, they'd be taken someplace safe...

"Keman and I will be careful." They had two weapons now, and Keman had plenty of magic. They'd be alright - as long as they stayed away from the Sun Room. "Keman? Come on, we'd better get going if we want to get anything done tonight. And we don't want to be in the way of Renji's friends."

He drew back some, not wanting to, but knowing Renji would make him anyway.

"I..."

Keman just stood there, biting his lip and staring at all that blood. He felt like he should be doing something...but Valyn was right. They'd just get in the way.

After a few moments, he too nodded at Renji, sighing. "Got it." He didn't even know Renji. He was just some man Valyn had met before Keman had come here.

He felt very much the odd dragon out.

"Just...watch out for yourself, I guess," Keman faltered, before turning to Valyn.

"All right."

He nodded and started down the hall.

[moving here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/185195.html).]

Rangiku nodded at Rukia, smiling reassuringly as though the other woman was one of her own subordinates. "If you're certain. Tell me if you begin to feel any worse." If something was really wrong then she'd rather do a healing early and spend the rest of the night incapacitated than risk someone.

She gave Renji a wry look and snorted a little in disbelief. "When you've checked her, then I'll help you both back to the rooms." They didn't look in any fit state to fight off anything which might be drawn by the scent of blood.

She looked up sharply when Tatsumi approached, her expression softening after a second. "Ah, Tatsumi-san. I apologise for my keeping you waiting. I'm afraid plans have had to be changed."

"So I gathered." Tatsumi smiled softly, and gave a small nod. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about healing, but I can help you carry your friends back. If that suits you and your friend, Abarai-san."

Changed plans or not, Tatsumi would make something out of the night. He just didn't have any idea what yet. He looked to Renji and Rukia again, then shook his head. "What has happened, exactly?"

After sitting still for a little while, the pounding in her head and the little bursts of pain here and there actually seemed pretty manageable. Wiping her nose, she sat up a little straighter and watched as Valyn and Keman left.

All the talk of going back to her room and lying down was rather tempting, but she had things to do tonight. Eyes widening, one hand shot to her waistband, feeling for a notebook that wasn't there. "Damn it!" she hissed quietly, remembering now that she had dropped the notebook - and the sketch of Sode no Shirayuki - outside Colonel Mustang's door.

Rukia looked up at Matsumoto and shook her head slightly. "No, that won't be necessary, Vice Captain," she said, trying to sound like she felt a lot better than she did. "I have to go back to see Colonel Mustang, anyway." Then she looked up at Renji, figuring this might be her only chance tonight to get Renji alone for a little while. "You should come with me." Not exactly subtle, but Rukia wasn't in a subtle mood.

Renji wanted to reach out to Valyn, catch him before he got too far, but it wasn't an option. He resolved to find the kid during the day tomorrow. They hadn't talked in a while. And since Valyn hadn't been going with the Shinigami at night, he wasn't certain what he'd been up to, so he could find that out at the same time.

"It's okay, Ran," he repeated. "Rukia brought my sword. That's enough." He completely ignored the implication that he needed the same sort of help. Really, he was more worried about being trapped between two women who liked asking him questions he didn't want to answer. "You got something to do tonight--" unlike me... "--so head for that."

He answered Tatsumi; he hadn't been all that clear about what had happened yet, he supposed. "There's a Shinigami under special counseling in the sun room. I went in to get River out. He got us both." He shrugged. "Would've been okay but I had to use shunpou to escape."

He'd kind of figured that Rukia had to go back to the Colonel's room. She needed her own sword. But... he was supposed to meet the person from the bulletin board, he reminded himself. And for what reason... it came down to why he was still, if he allowed himself to think about it, utterly terrified of being alone with Rukia. Because she might ask him again, and he didn't know if he could hold up, especially not now.

He couldn't help but feel it was a hopeless argument; almost every argument with Rukia was, because there was almost nothing he could keep from her if she really asked. But he had to try. "I... gotta meet someone,remember," he said, quietly. "I'll take care of it while you're getting your sword."

The reality of it was that he didn't want to move from this place, where he had her and was holding her and had been through a moment - painful as it was, but still - where he hadn't felt sick and angry at himself, hadn't wanted to push her away and be left alone because... He wanted to go with her, hell, even hold her hand as they went, and at the same time he wanted to escape. He couldn't reconcile it.

Without really thinking about it, he propped an elbow on his knee, rested his forehead on his hand so he didn't have to look at anyone. It was a natural enough move for someone with a bastard of a headache like he had. And it hurt, even if not for the reason they thought.

Rangiku sighed softly at the refusal of help from both of them. Stubborn idiots, all of them, but then, she was often little better. But still, she nodded. "My room is F9. There are painkillers and other drugs in there if you require them. Help yourselves." That was what she had them for after all.

She smirked slightly at Renji. "My goal was to head through the Sun Room and into the cafeteria, but I think that may be a little difficult now." She wanted to check on her captain though. She worried about what Gin could do at full power when the rest of them were so defenceless.

"He's at the level of captain too," she added to Tatsumi at Renji's explanation. "That's why the air feels so heavy. His spirit energy is extremely strong and he has full use of kidou, shunpou and his zanpakuto."

She stood a little stiffly because of her wounds still and squeezed Renji and Rukia's shoulders. "Be careful heading out and do not exert yourselfs more than you absolutely have to."

"I see." Tatsumi pushed the bridge of his glasses up, his mouth tensing. "That is definitely an issue of concern." His words were light, but barely masked the seriousness of his thoughts. Tsuzuki had spoken of a time when the Institute had taken Hisoka and forced him to fight on their side. Perhaps they were fortunate that it had not been Tsuzuki taken instead, with his destructive power.

He looked to Rangiku, considering what they should do next. "Is there any way for him to be defeated? Or should we try to keep people from entering the Sun Room?" Though Tatsumi wasn't the best person to play guard duty, his other plans were obviously canceled for the night, and they might as well put their time to good use.

The secretary nodded at Rangiku's words, knowing neither Rukia nor Renji were in any state to be fighting. "Yes, please. Are you both certain you don't want any escort?"

So Renji had used shunpo; that must have been what did him in, even after being stabbed clear through by Ichimaru's zanpakutou. No wonder she had felt his reiatsu nearly vanish! Unconsciously, the hand that was still fisted into his shirt tightened a little.

She frowned when Renji continued to insist that he meet the mystery person from the bulletin board. "He can take a rain check," she muttered, taking note of the way he avoided looking at everyone, even if he was trying to make the movement look natural. "And you need to change clothes, unless you want to attract every monster in this place. I do, too," she added, looking down at her blood-smeared clothes. Most of it was Renji's, but that nosebleed had been a nasty one.

Looking up at Matsumoto, she managed a smile. "Thank you, Vice Captain." She paused, thinking that this wasn't any of her business, but asked anyway, "You... You won't go into the sun room, will you?" Matsumoto and Ichimaru had been friends - maybe still were. Rukia hoped that the tall woman wouldn't try to reason with the treacherous former captain.

To the new arrival, Tatsumi, she said, "Yes, thank you. We'll be fine, as long as we stay together." Most people would probably take the statement at face value, but Rukia hoped Renji would understand the real meaning behind it, and not try to get away again. If it hadn't been for the way he held her a few minutes ago, she might have begun to think that he really didn't want to be around her.

Slowly, Rukia got to her feet. Her ribs felt like they were on fire, and with every movement her muscles and joints ached. Clenching her jaw, she tried her best to hide the pain; she had simply overextended herself using Kidou. Certainly a night of relative rest would heal the damage.

When Ran grabbed his shoulder, he managed to fight down the urge to twitch; he hadn't been expecting it. All that showed was the muscles of his jaw working. "Yeah, I'll be careful," he told Ran and Tatsumi.

It was too much to hope that Rukia would let him go. And there it was, the trap she'd laid for him, even if she hadn't intended to. There was too much to deal with right now, and suddenly he just felt very tired, like he might as well just give up and let her drag him along by the hand that gripped his shirt so tightly. Maybe he would have resisted more, if he hadn't spoken with River, if... a lot of other things had or hadn't happened. It was too much inner confusion and conflict, and with his headache pounding, he didn't have the energy to deal with it. So he fell back to his last resort of habit; he would follow where she lead.

'As long as we stay together,' she'd said. But they hadn't stuck together, and that was part of the problem. And a scared, childish part of Renji thought that they wouldn't stick together now, not when he'd fallen into a pathetic, irreparable, splintered mess in a mere week. It was hard to imagine other people putting up with him, when he didn't want to put up with himself.

He didn't stand, not yet. He wasn't going anywhere until River was okay, and he didn't feel steady enough to be upright anyway. He kept his head down, still not looking, like it would make the mess disappear, and make him stop feeling sick and afraid. "Yeah," he said, quietly, just for her. His voice sounded like defeat, and that was how he felt, for the first time in his life.

Rangiku returned Rukias smile and nodded. "Don't think anything of it." The question took her a little by surprise; although she wasn't naive enough to even contemplate her meetings with Gin having gone unnoticed, she hadn't expected it to be brought up by Kuchiki of all people. She shook her head, her smile fading a little. "Not unless I have to drag someone out of there or I come up with a very good plan to incapacitate him," she replied. She wasn't foolish enough to think she could get away with going in there. If he was brainwashed, then she'd be in as much danger as anyone else.

She turned her attention back to Tatsumi, shaking her head in frustration. "If one of us were at full power, then we would be able to stall him for a while at least, maybe long enough to incapacitate him, but with our powers blocked like this..." she shrugged helplessly. "The only thing I can think is if we could distract him long enough to have someone knock him out, but I doubt it's possible."

"It is a difficult situation." Renji and Rukia seemed content enough to to decide their actions on their own, so Tatsumi focused on Rangiku's idea instead. "How fatigued does this shunpou leave you?"

The secretary remembered how tired he was after using the most basic of his powers, and had little doubt it was the same for the other Shinigami. Still, if there was some method they could use, it could be worth the risk. The damage the Shinigami could cause had been made too clear to simply ignore the threat.

Lips tight, Rukia nodded at Matsumoto's reply. Of all people, she knew how strong the bonds of childhood friendship could be, and she really was concerned that Matsumoto might act without thinking the situation through. The older woman seemed as confident and collected as always, though, so Rukia trusted her words. Glancing at Tatsumi, Rukia didn't butt into the conversation; instead she stayed where she was, close to Renji.

Rukia's frown deepened at the sound of his voice, as well as the fact that he hadn't fought her more. No one seemed to be paying them much attention for the moment, so Rukia gritted her teeth against the ache in her side and squatted down.

She didn't know what to do. Should she just act like usual and bully Renji into cheering up? But that hadn't worked well lately, and for good reason. Rukia felt sick when she accidentally thought about what had happened to him yesterday. She didn't know the details, and didn't want to, but her heart felt like it was being squeezed up through her throat when she imagined Renji in the kind of pain that would put him in this state. He just hadn't been like himself lately, and she hadn't been helping.

Maybe it was time to try a different approach. Glancing over to where River was being seen to, Rukia took a deep, quiet breath. Be his anchor. Tentatively, she reached out to cover the hand in Renji's lap with her own. They were both speckled with drying blood, but his looked so large beneath her own tiny hand. Gently, she squeezed.

Nightshift 26: Hallway Outside M1 - M40 Blocks

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