Day 28: Morris Park

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

[from Kelley Street]

The shinigami quietly entered the rundown park. It looked forlorn and very much like there should be a hollow or two hanging out in it. Yet a quick check of the spirit threads gave her no indication of any present. The gloomy atmosphere was perfect for her to do some deep thinking about herself and what all had happened in Soul Society.

Picking a bench under a tree, she sat and stared off into the park..She needed the quiet.

Comments

[byakushi.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245488.html?thread=17451504#t17451504)]

Oh. Excellent.

Not only was his chosen refuge already inhabited... but, it was inhabited by that idiot child Hinamori. Really, just wonderful.

"Hinamori-fukutaichou," he said, in acknowledgment of her presence, his voice simply dripping with scorn.

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

Momo had been lost in thought as she stared off across the park. Thinking about everything over the last several years was going to take her time. How could she hav enot been able to see--

Byakuya's voice broke through her thoughts and she meeped, immediately getting to her feet and standing at attention. A reflex reaction, really, now that her heart wasn't about out leap out of her chest from the surprise.

"Kuchiki-taichou," she said formally. "Good morning, sir."

Why or why did he have to be here of all places? I thought I picked someplace no one else would wander to this early. Her hands at her side shook just a little. And he sounds upset.

[byakushi.livejournal.com]

The slightest hint of a sneer intruded upon his features. "Hardly," he replied, his voice unchanged.

The insignificant fool... not only had he come upon another shinigami, but one who deserved to bear the brunt of his wrath. At least, that was how he felt in that moment. If he were to unleash it here, then perhaps his eventual, necessary discussion with Renji could be done more logically.

"Hinamori-fukutaichou, I have a question to put to you. A question that has been bothering me for quite some time." He turned a harsh gaze on her, and asked, "Is there any reason for any respectable shinigami to place any trust in you?"

[hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com]

Momo fought really, really hard not to shrink back from Byakuya's gaze. She didn't like being around him and everyone knew the captain of the 6th Division was a by-the-book shinigami and she knew full well she'd committed several crimes recently.

She swallowed hard, her eyes focusing on a point on the man's chest, unable to look up into his eyes, her cheeks coloring a little in a combination of embarrassment and the dread she was feeling. He had to ask that question. How could she answer him?

"We all make mistakes, sir," she started, her voice soft. "Sometimes emotions get the better of us. I know I have made mistakes and done things I hate myself for."

She drew in a ragged breath. "I know the error of my actions and have apologized for them. I don't actually expect any of the Gotei 13 save my division to trust me," she said.

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245488.html?view=17488624#t17488624)]


Rangiku wrinkled her nose in disgust at the state of the park. Such open space was rare in Seireitei and in the human world and to find it untended and in such disarray... it annoyed her. It needed tending to in order to flourish. Ah, but she doubted they'd listen to a supposedly insane person and they obviously cared little enough for it.

She walked as quietly as she could up to where Hinamori and Byakuya were, not approaching them, but she leaned against a tree, close enough for Byakuya at least to catch sight of her. The look on Hinamori's face displeased her greatly and she had never been fond of most of the nobility. Hinamori was a friend, as close to a sister as Rangiku was likely to get and she disliked seeing her looking so hurt.

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

It was all Rangiku could do not to flash step over there and use a few of her nastier Rukongai tricks on him for what he did. Her eyes blazed with anger as she took a few steps forward. How dare he?! Hadn't Momo been through enough? Was this the graciousness of the nobility? And he was nothing here! Nothing! It made the street urchin remaining inside her hiss and snarl to see it.

But then another person intervened and Rangiku caught herself just in time when she spotted the nurse approaching. No, she'd bide her time for now and let Hitsugaya know what had occured. She didn't like Byakuya and at the moment, she'd trust Gin more with their goals than some stuffy noble who couldn't adjust to the fact that things didn't work the same way here.

Her eyes caught a flash of silver and she smiled wryly in Gin's direction. Should have known. She wanted to talk to him at some point anyway and if it pissed off their dear Kuchiki-sama well... she wasn't really in a charitable mood.

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

Gin took the smile as an invitation, which he returned, taking his time to walk over to see her. While his smiles were usually seen as devious, showing nothing but a mind full of wicked designs, hers were flirtatious, sensual in a way he had yet to master.

It didn't take long to reach her, though he let his eyes drift occasionally to the scene not far from them. "Nice day for a walk, ne?" he asked, offering his hand. It was his own open invitation, unless she'd rather stay for the show, though it looked to be winding down.

[fuyunohanabi.livejournal.com]

It was an invitation, or at least, she wasn't about to protest the company. It might have been foolish or dangerous, but she intended to make the most of the time they spent imprisoned at the Institute since once they got back, things seemed so uncertain.

"It seems like it might be the only chance we have for something so pleasant for a while."

She chuckled softly and took his hand although her fingers tightened when she followed his gaze back to Kuchiki and Momo. He lips pursed into an expression of displeasure. She should probably leave before she did something foolish that would disgrace her captain or get her sedated.

[youthfulrocklee.livejournal.com]

The other boy that Lee had met on the bus was quite a nice person. Lee wondered if he would see him again in town, or if they would part ways. All he knew was that he wanted to think for a couple of seconds before exploring the town.

The nagging feeling that something was wrong was still weighing his mind. Yet since he could not figure it out, he decided to put the worry aside.

Now, for the town...it did seem a bit odd to bring them here. He would have to be careful, but perhaps he could talk to some others in the stores and get more information...it was a thought.

[queenpeacecraft.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245151.html?thread=17556383#t17556383)]

Arriving at the other park, her hopes of it being a nice one were dashed. It looked like the entire maintenance staff just quit or went on strike a decade ago. Luckily, she noticed salvation in a friend. "Lee! Thank goodness!"

She hurried over to the other teen as well as she could in a pink sweater, grey skirt, and black heeled boots. Maybe he had heard from Sakura!

[youthfulrocklee.livejournal.com]

Lee turned to face Relena, a smile on his face.

"Relena-san. What is the matter? You seem a bit worried."

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245488.html)]]

Seemed he'd arrived just in time for the main attraction. He didn't approach, it was a fairly large park afterall, and opted to stay where he could see the people coming and going. Never knew just who he might run into.

It was obvious, at least in his mind, what they had to have been talking about, but Kuchiki, as usual, could only see the flaws in others. Perhaps Hinamori had played an unwitting dupe to the charming Aizen, but hadn't Kuchiki as well? He'd willingly followed orders that threatened the life of his own kin. He'd been fully prepared to see Rukia die on the executioner's hill.

Gin supposed he shouldn't have expected more from the elder Kuchiki, but taking his current situation out on Hinamori seemed a little too much like kicking a puppy. No real sport in it. Though it was only a matter of moments before the show got more interesting. People were just popping up out of the woodwork to come to her defense. And if the show ended with Kuchiki being utterly humiliated, well, that was all the better.

[traitors-smile.livejournal.com]

[[moving up to pester Rangiku]]

[1mperturbable.livejournal.com]

[Running from Here (”http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245488.html”)]

There did not seem to be much of a park here, and what was here was sad looking. It was dismal, but there was enough here where he supposed he could make for hiding himself and escaping for Sephiroth’s trail. He ran along the path before he moved off of it to a place that had trees and a few bushes. This was not the best situation, but it would have to do.

Where to go? He looked around as he paused in his running, assessing the best place to lose Sephiroth from. The other park would have been much better for his purposes. He could not go back on that now. He jogged towards a tree and looking around it.

[deathinvitation.livejournal.com]

((from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245488.html?view=17837296#t17837296)))

Sephiroth wasn't too far behind Cloud, but he wasn't close either. Instead of Cloud's running pace, Sephiroth came into the park at a sedate amble. To anyone watching, he looked like any other of the Landel's patients, a man out for a walk with no particular destination in mind.

His steps were slow as he came up the path, looking intently at something down on the ground occasionally. It was where Cloud left the path that he stopped, looking down at the trampled grasses. Then again, the same was everywhere. The question was if he knew where Cloud had headed and was merely playing with him or if he honestly had lost the other's trail.

"Always so difficult, just like Kadaj," he said.

He considered that for a moment.

"Just like me."

[1mperturbable.livejournal.com]

Moving around the park a little, Cloud searched around in the area that he was currently moving through for something to defend himself with. Aside from sticks and rocks, he found nothing of value and decided that having something weigh him down would not benefit him at all, not with nurses possibly about looking for something out of the ordinary.

Where could he go though? The trees looked rather pathetic, and him marching around in the grass would leave a trail. He was not about to go swinging from branches like some monkey, so he opted for risking a trail until he could find another path. What were the chances that Sephiroth would find him easily? Pretty high if he knew Sephiroth.

He sighed and moved along the trees, allowing his fingers to brush against the bark as he passed. He picked his steps a little more carefully to avoid making a trail, and he eventually found a spot where others had obviously traveled. It would be easier to lose his trail here and he used that to make off towards where the path should have cut through again. He decided doubling back to the street would be easiest.

[deathinvitation.livejournal.com]

Sephiroth was humming a tuneless piece as he headed in Cloud's direction, his gaze still focused on the ragged grass before him than on the area. That could have been a mistake on his part had Cloud taken a look back to the former general. The idea of Cloud turning to fight until he had wedged him into a cornre never really occured to Sephiroth.

"You should stop wasting both our times, Cloud. Running from destiny is not going to stop it. It will not even slow it down."

When he reached where Cloud had been before, he stopped. It was much too trampled down here anyways to pick a direction. Standing there, Sephiroth shook his head. Oh well. A moment's concentration and that sensation began, cells calling out to each other. Had Kadaj or the other remnants been in the area, they probably would have come running, thinking it was Jenova.

Sephiroth completely disregarded the fact that sometimes Kadaj wasn't too bright when it came to deceptions. To acknowledge that would be to realize a flaw in himself. That wasn't happening anytime in the near future. This was a last ditch effort of sorts, not even knowing if it would work with Cloud, but he tried nonetheless.

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

(From here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245151.html?view=18236319#t18236319))

Artemis stopped once he was halfway into the tree and bush-overrun park and collapsed to his knees. He sat there for a moment with small, confused tears sticking his eyelashes together. He still didn't understand why Renji liked him as a person, or why anyone would after a short time. It didn't make logical sense. Holly was his friend, and so was Butler, but he'd been with them and gone through horrible things together for a much longer period than five days.

But for the first time in five days, somebody cared what happened to him. Or at least, had admitted they did. But Artemis couldn't simply accept this, he had to figure out why. There was a reason, he knew there was. Renji was lying? No, then he wouldn't have said anything about the bulletin post. Renji pitied him? That didn't make much sense, considering Artemis hadn't even revealed the one thing he never divulged to anyone until just now. Renji wanted to protect him, then. But then why was he placed in Hitsugaya's team?

He leaned back against a tree and looked up at the sky with teared eyes, wishing all these questions would just leave him in peace.

[byname-bynature.livejournal.com]

[NPCing townies myself with permission from Fey--since shift change is so soon!]

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing here, brat?" Artemis looked to his left, his head tilting lazily towards the voice. There were three boys standing in the small clearing, looking slightly edgy. The biggest one, and quite obviously the alpha male, scrutinized Artemis. "Never seen you before."

"The Landel's freaks are here today--he must be one of 'em, Larry," another boy commented, pointing at Artemis as though he were an oddity. The boy frowned through his tears.

"It's rude to point."

"Whatever," Larry snorted. He picked up Artemis by his overall front and tossed him aside easily. The boy let out a cry of pain--he wasn't used to being thrown around like a sack of potatoes. Larry knelt down and began sifting through the dry leaves. He finally stood up, making a noise of anger. "It's not here!"

"What?!"

"Goddamn it, shit!" Artemis resisted the urge to roll his eyes. So juvenile.

"Where the fuck is it then?! I paid good money for that shit, and if he's not making good on it I'll take it out of his ass!"

"Oh, are you referring to this?" Artemis opened his previously clenched hand, revealing a small bag filled with white powder. The two lackeys froze, obviously concerned that they'd been caught. Larry simply chuckled roughly and made a swipe for the bag. Artemis pulled it away before he could get it.

"Diacetylmorphine hydrochloride." Artemis rattled off, inspecting the bag. He rolled his eyes at the obviously confused trio. "Heroin. Smack. Dope. Is any of this penetrating your thick skulls?" The boy was obviously not in a good mood. "It's really the worst drug you could possibly use. Its effects fade with continued use, which can lead to exponentially larger portions and finally death from overdose."

"Hey," Larry barked, "You're not my mother, so shut up!" The other two were dumbfounded beyond words. This kid didn't look like he could be more than fourteen... how the hell did he know so much?

"It's a small bag though, and certainly not enough to warrant an intent-to-sell. But enough to land you with a nice drug charge on your permanent record." Finally, cause and effect. This was working much better for him. "I haven't paid a visit to the sheriff today, actually."

Once again, Artemis was hauled up by his overalls. He could smell the stale beer on Larry's breath--this was bad. Drunk teenagers were never a good thing. "You ain't gonna say a goddamn word." He ripped the bag out of Artemis' hand and kneed him in the gut. The boy made a choked noise, followed by wheezing as he tried to catch his breath again. He felt his legs stumbling backwards as Larry pushed him into the waiting arms of his two comrades.

"Hold 'im," Larry snapped, "I'm gonna make this punk wish he'd never even wished he was crazy."

The beer-buzzed teen proceeded to lay into Artemis, mostly in his stomach, but sometimes across the face. What was it about people hitting him in the face, lately? He tried yelling once for help, but Larry kneed him in the stomach again and he was winded. Artemis collapsed to the ground. Every time he tried to get up one of the boys would kick him again. He was starting to get dizzy. If he passed out, maybe the bus would leave without him. Or he'd be beaten to death. One of the two.

[gentiana-clusii.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately for the gang, Artemis had friends. Or at least people who would think nothing of coming to his aid. Ken had seen Artemis run past him on the way to the park--and had been attempting to catch up to him so he could apologize for the other night. He hadn't been able to catch up to the boy before he was surrounded by a pack of nasty-looking young boys. At least, nasty looking for someone who hadn't faced down what Ken had.

Ken didn't even announce his approach, he didn't make a practice of attacking people who hadn't attacked HIM, but one thing he absolutely hated was people who stepped on those who couldn't fight back. That had happened to him, and he was determined to not allow it to happen to anyone else if he could help it.

And he could do a hell of a lot to help it. These kids were bruisers, sure, but inexperienced and untrained. Ken could kill someone with his bare hands if he so desired--he nearly had before. And he'd certainly broken limbs. These bastards weren't quite deserving of that much effort but they certainly did earn an asskicking in Ken's eyes. He could bruise them up a hell of a lot before he inflicted any serious damage.

He swung one crutch into the back of the leader's knees with enough force to definitely hurt, and likely topple him. He didn't look too steady in the first place.

"Why don't you try fucking with someone who can fight back, ne?" Getting into fights injured was not usually something he did, but even with the numbers he could either take them or intimidate them into backing down. "Or are you too fucking scared to get your ass kicked by someone on crutches?"

[i-promised.livejournal.com]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/245151.html?thread=18232223#t18232223)]

He felt slightly more at home in the dirty park but considering that it didn’t look anything like a restaurant, Zoro decided to forego stopping. It didn’t look like anyone present was fit to answer any of his questions anyway.

Zoro moved on.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/246762.html)]

[notachick.livejournal.com]

The chocolate had vanished by the time Okita entered the weed-choked paths and dark forest of Morris Park. The sign indicating the park's name was decrepit and it was obvious that people who went in here didn't want to be seen. Without a second thought he jumped lightly over a particularly high patch of weeds and forged his way through the thick foliage. He was certain Heiji was following - he could hear the boy's footsteps behind him.

Not many people were here and if they could get far enough inside, it would take time for the nurses to find them. A sparring match! Finally! He needed to be careful so as to not harm the boy, but he was exhilarated at the idea of getting to swing a practice sword around. Coming to a somewhat open area, Okita began kicking rocks and other things out of the way, humming to himself like he was cleaning house.

[osakapwnzu.livejournal.com]

Heiji stepped directly through the weeds, looking around for any unseen obstacles that would trip him up. He was trying his best not to seem uptight, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was utterly fucked out of his league.

But Okita seemed happy, so maybe he wasn't going to aim to break anything... vital. Heiji began helping, picking up fallen branches and tossing them away. "You're very different from what I've read. Which is good, I suppose. You seem like an actual person and not something kids learn about in school."

[notachick.livejournal.com]

With most of the rocks cleared away, Okita stuck one of the little brightly colored candies into his mouth and was delighted to find that it was more like what he remembered. It had a subtle flavor and was hard on the outside. He picked up a thin branch, testing it against the ground and turned to Heiji, smiling. "Am I? What sort of things do people in the future learn about us?"

If Heiji was willing to impart more knowledge of the past to him, Okita wasn't going to argue. Kenshin hadn't told him how certain events happened, just that they did. Despite Captain Jack's warnings, Okita wanted to change the past. He didn't want Hijikata's plans to fail, for everyone to die, for his own unknown fate to roll around. He didn't want any of it. At all.

Leaning down again, he picked up a second branch that was close to the first - a little thicker - and tossed it over to Heiji. "Catch!"

[vintagebrit]

[dashing madly from here]

His arms flailing, Mason ran into the park, looking over his shoulder at the pursuing nurses. "Nyah nyah nyah nyah," he taunted them half-heartedly, knowing they'd probably never catch him.

...Until he ran straight into one. "Oh fuck me," the reaper groaned as he hit the ground. The nurse was looming over him, and the others were closing fast. He looked around, hoping for rescue. Where'd Lyta got to?