damned_institute | NIGHTSHIFT 28: M21-M30 HALLWAY

[Blindly stumbling from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/254152.html?thread=19089096#t19089864)]

One hallway, two hallway...this should be it...and there was a flashlight shining from right around where his room should be. That meant either an ally, or an enemy. Fortunately enough, Hitsugaya knew how to be sneaky. He kicked off the shoes from the day and silently cursed the hawaiian shirt he was wearing. Still, the hallway was dark enough that unless the flashlight shone in his direction the gaudy bright colors wouldn't stick out too much.

He silently, yet quickly moved across the stone floor of the institute. It felt slimy and unpleasant to his bare feet, but that didn't bother him at the moment. More important was discerning who the flashlighted individual...

...it was Artemis. And he didn't look injured. Wait. Didn't look injured...and he was supposed to be training with Farfarello. Had their session ended so soon?

He focused on the spirit threads in the area, already feeling the headache forming behind his temples. No...there was his thread. It was, indeed, him.

Not even thinking about it, he quietly moved until he was a mere few feet away. "Fowl," he said calmly. "I'm surprised to see you in such a good condition. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect you were one of the dopplegangers."

With that, he stepped into his darkened room, leaving it open for Artemis to follow.

Artemis nearly had a heart attack when Hitsugaya spoke his name from the darkness. His hand clenched around the scalpel for the briefest of moments. "Captain!" He sighed, "Don't do that, especially when I'm by myself."

He stood up to follow. By myself. Hadn't Renji said something about monsters that looked like allies? It would be strange for a doppleganger to suggest that he was the doppleganger, but not unheard of. He tightened his grip on the flashlight and stepped into the room. If he got in a jam, Farfarello wasn't too far away. If he screamed loud enough, he'd be heard.

"Yes... my training session with Abarai-san ended earlier than expected."

Don't let it behind you. Maintain eye contact. Don't let it behind you.

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow at Artemis. "What the hell are you talking about?" he growled, then went back to looking for his flashlight. There it was, right where expected, and the stack full of maps. He grabbed one for the night and clicked his flashlight on, so that he could see better. "I'm going to change out of this," he said casually as he turned the flashlight towards the closet. As he did, the light caught something on the bed, and he couldn't help but doubletake. Sitting on the bed, as plain as day, was his uniform. Everything but the sheath, including his captain's Haori.

What the hell?

So that was why Renji had been in his uniform. At least one of the pieces had come together now. The question remained...was it the uniform or just the habit of the shinigami to get themselves in trouble. There was only one clear way to find out.

He set down the light and quickly changed into his uniform. It was definitely his outfit, fitting perfectly as if he had never been out of it. No, this was his...and it felt good to be out of the obnoxious patient outfit.

He grabbed his bat and glanced around, feeling much more at ease than before. "I don't know if Elric-san is going to be meeting with me as planned, but I'm going to check with him. Wait or come, our meeting isn't private."

Artemis breathed a sigh of relief, quietly. "Good answer," he said with a smile. He wasn't ready to take on something by himself, that was certain. "Abarai-san said something about monsters that disguise themselves as people we know and trust. I figured that one would appear to me as Butler or Holly, but you would work just as well."

As he spoke he looked curiously at the uniform. What was it? Then the Captain started changing, so he politely turned the other direction. What was it with people undressing in front of him tonight? Also this way, he was able to pout in private. Why hadn't there been a change of clothes on his bed? ~~Obviously someone enjoyed watching him suffer.~~

"I'd rather not stay here alone," Artemis said, still facing away. "And I have some business with Edward concerning my weapon order, so if you wouldn't mind escorting me..." he chuckled.

Hitsugaya nodded slightly. "Smart move, then," he commented. "You can't sense spirit threads like I can...good work thinking on your feet."

He left it at that and stepped out the door and to Ed's room.

[moving threads to keep everything organized!]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/254152.html?view=19178696#t19178696)]

Nobody was here yet. Jean saw Hitsugaya-taicho, along with a familiar-looking dark-haired boy, deep in conversation further down the corridor. Thinking it best not to interrupt them, she left a bat at the door.

Then she leaned against the wall, waiting for her teammates to arrive.

[from above]

Hitsugaya walked the short distance to Ed's room and knocked on the door. No answer. "It's possible he's not here yet," Hitsugaya said calmly, then leaned against the wall next to the door. They'd just have to wait.

"So what did Farfarello teach you?" he asked. It was at the very least something productive.

Artemis followed to Ed's room, turning off his flashlight once they got to the room. He sighed when there was no answer--hopefully Edward was alright. Freud's mother, what was he thinking? He'd just met the boy!

"Theory," Artemis replied, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. "He explained what I was doing wrong and gave me suggestions on what to consider and apply. No practical work though." He frowned, "It's my fault he didn't, however."

Hitsugaya nodded. "I won't lie. It's better that you're not training practical work with him...not after I found out exactly what was going on the last time we worked together. What applications do you need to practice?"

"You didn't know?" Artemis said, slightly surprised. Perhaps Hitsugaya hadn't heard what Farfarello said to Artemis while he was trying to pick the lock. That would've made it plenty clear exactly what was going on. Farfarello's tone still made every hair on Artemis' body stand on end.

"Nevermind," he said, waving the question away. "Now you do, so that's not important. What is important is that Farfarello didn't teach me any applications. He turned me away with only theory. Abarai-san taught me how to break someone's elbow, though."

Not much to go on...

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "No," he said definitively. "I didn't know. I wasn't certain about the circumstances, but you seemed to be alright with the circumstances, so I didn't push it."

He shone his flashlight in both directions. No monsters, nothing unpleasant coming immediately. He set the light down in one direction. "We'll have to make this quick," he said. "Set your light down that way." He motioned to the darkened side of the hallway. "Keep your wits about you. We can't practice in my room as it's too cramped, but there might be something wandering the halls."

He lifted up his bat and motioned to Artemis. "I don't have a lot of experience doing this, so you'll forgive me if we're a little more blunt than a normal instructor might be. Come at me."

Artemis blinked, "But you're armed, and I'm not. Wouldn't that be even more idiotic than what I've been doing this whole time?"

Hitsugaya paused, setting down his bat briefly. "What happened to your scalpels?" he asked.

"...a scalpel versus a bat. Oh yes, sporting fight there," Artemis said, arching an eyebrow. "I know that I am completely outmatched and therefore, it would be best to just barricade myself behind one of these doors, yes?" He smiled.

"Besides," he continued, "I'm not exactly a pointman. I don't even know how to go about attacking you without a distraction present."

Hitsugaya dropped the bat casually. "There. I am unarmed. This is different because I am not planning on harming you. The stakes are different. You are going to attack me so that you will learn what it feels like to strike at those weak points, and how to recover when those efforts are blocked. It is one thing to be able to get a solid strike into unprotected organs, but you need to be prepared in case your enemy can counter your attack. If you're going to be of any use in a fight, you need to practice swinging that thing. Now strike me!"

That didn't exactly solve the problem of Artemis feeling extremely uncomfortable trying to hurt Hitsugaya. He didn't like this. Curse Martin Landel for forcing him into a position he was so ill-fitted to.

"All right, all right!" Artemis grumbled, pulling one of the scalpels out of his pocket with his left hand and raising it to where Hitsugaya would see. He thought for a moment, swallowing. He hated this--with every fiber of his being.

Using the only fighting style he'd practiced--fencing--Artemis made a quick lunge to Hitsugaya's right side.

Hitsugaya deftly stepped to one side to avoid the lethal scalpel. "Good," he said. He was better than the captain had expected, even though the boy's stance seemed odd to his eastern sensibilities. "You have some prior experience, I see, though I'm not familiar with the style. This may require a different style of training than I thought. I was expecting you to overextend your reach, but you seem to have a decent grasp on that concept."

This made things difficult, and Hitsugaya was not an instructor. "What practical applications do you feel you need to work on?"

That was a simple question, and would hopefully work better than blindly trying to fill in the gaps his previous instruction would not allow. The kid was smart, he probably could tell on his own where he needed the most improvement.

Artemis had expected Hitsugaya to dodge the first attack, so he'd had a backup plan in his right hand. As Hitsugaya stepped out of the way, Artemis made to stab the Captain's exposed side. As he'd predicted, though, he was completely outmatched. Hitsugaya grabbed his wrist before he could get to his target and flipped Artemis onto his back. The boy coughed, winded by the fall.

"Fencing," he spluttered, trying to get up. His bruises from earlier that afternoon were starting to protest. "It's fighting for sport with thin blades. Unfortunately I wore the patience of my instructor thin, and grew bored with the whole song and dance."

Finally making it up into a sitting position, Artemis began the task of standing up. He was harshly reminded that he'd been kicked several times in the stomach and ribs. His hand rose to clutch them as he tried to stand.

"I'm... not sure to be quite honest. Abarai-san taught me how to break an elbow joint, but I'd rather not practice that on another person unless absolutely necessary," He'd managed to stand up by now, "Perhaps practicing striking lower and higher targets would be best?"

Hitsugaya pondered Artemis' words while simultaneously noting that he was clutching his chest and stomach as he stood. Rather than talk about training, he decided to address the more immediate need. "What happened to you?" he asked, glancing at his injured torso.

"You threw me-- oh!" Artemis suddenly realized this wasn't a classroom question concerning how he was disarmed. He sighed--well, this was at least the lesser of the two evils. "Some young men in town didn't like my face, as they say in movies," the boy shrugged. "They just attacked and beat me within an inch of my life because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time." He seemed more annoyed than upset, really. "Children these days..."

Hitsugaya nodded slightly at mention of his encounter. He never understood the nature of bullies. "How many were there?" he asked. If possible, maybe he could turn this into a training opportunity of its own.

"Three," Artemis replied. "The first one knocked the wind out of me, then proceeded to beat me while his friends held me still. Then when I couldn't stand anymore they kicked me until Ken arrived and drove them off.

"It really was extremely embarrassing. But I wasn't expecting the boy to attack at all," he frowned, "But considering what I've seen tonight, everything that seems normal isn't normal at all."

Hitsugaya nodded slightly at this. Now that he knew Artemis was injured he was reluctant to continue physical training, but this couldn't be a total loss. "That was your problem," he commented. "You weren't expecting him to assault you. Whenever you encounter strangers, especially at this place, you should be ready for a surprise attack. What obvious escape routes were you able to identify?"

Ken...the name was vaguely familiar. Hadn't he been the guy Omi and had fought a few nights back? It was quite possible.

Artemis thought back, "It was a forest--I could've run anywhere. But probably the best option would have been back towards the street." If he could have run at all--but that was another story, and the Captain probably wouldn't care to hear excuses about his spasming diaphragm.

"I was here," Artemis said pointing to the ground, then directly behind him, "Tree," In front and to the right, "Tree. He was here," he turned to face where he had previously been standing. "And his two friends were over there," He pointed to the right of the second imaginary tree. "In this case, perhaps the best way of escape would be backwards--away from the leader."

Hitsugaya nodded slightly, listening to Artemis' suggestion. "That's true, you could have, had you been able to deflect the first attack. The only way to have done that meant you had to be ready for it."

He shook his head. "I'm not going to train you tonight as you're injured, but when you've recovered we're going to practice ways to defend yourself, but from a human opponent and from a Hollow or other monstrous creature. You'll need to learn how to roll out of the way of potentially lethal strikes, as well as how to divert energy away from you. You have a strong concept of how to strike your opponent, and you have a decent grasp for strategy, but sooner or later someone's going to get the jump on you, and you're going to need to protect yourself."

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