damned_institute | Day 29: Chapel

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Day 29: Chapel

Hiei didn't give a damn about religious services, meditation, or pretending to be social. The always sudden waking after night put him in a bad mood, this one particularly so. Even with Kurikara licking him like some perverted moron, the warmth the dragon provided was welcome in Hiei's bed, and missing when he woke, giving the surrounding air a greater sense of chill.

But the perfect thing to relieve his anger might just be making an appearance that morning, and that at least gave Hiei hope for a decent day.

Hopefully Kurikara and Kurama both would be clever enough to figure it out for themselves. Without hesitation, Hiei demanded to be led to the temple, taking a seat in one of the rear pews. Humans had a way of overdoing things, and this place wasn't really much exception to that. Granted Hiei's limited knowledge prevented him from realizing there were much more outrageous churches, but to the demon, the colored pieces of glass and polished wood seemed to be much.

It didn't matter, however. Either could be turned into weapons, perfect objects to slice into that damned head doctor's throat or bash in his skull. That was a thought worth grinning about.

[Feel free to pester. Just, uh, be aware that he's not exactly nice.]

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"The company will do. I've already evaluated," River assured him happily, plopping down in the seat next to him. "We were done in by the same opponent. Troublesome, but you faired better than I did. Stones rolling up a hill fall back down again when you don't push them." But that was water under the bridge. The stone could be rolled up again with some effort. All was not lost.

"At least there still is a stone..." she murmured, half to herself, eyes drifting somewhere far away before returning suddenly to the man seated next to her. "Oh, we just never talked after the stabbing. You're interesting."

His stomach was all tied up in knots and he'd been turned into easy prey, all from a stupid poison, somehow that didn't seem much better. The girl was energetic, to say the least, while sometimes it was difficult for him just to keep up his smile. "Glad t'hear it," he said of her approval, uncertain if he meant it or not. He didn't particularly like the idea of someone who could read his thoughts like an open book. He did try not to think about it.

"I had help," he said with a slight shrug. He was really just relieved that Ran had made out alright. He'd had his suspicions when she'd paused at the door. "Stones push easier w'two, ne?"

Wouldn't be the first time someone had said as much. He'd received attention, both good and ill, from the time he'd arrived. Some of it had been helpful, and some had just left him wondering if he'd gotten in over his head. "Nah, we didn'. I'd say th' same of you. Others r' lucky to have you helpin'. 'spose that includes me since if I didn' have a babysitter watchin', I wouldn' be trusted even this much."

River didn't call him on his first remark, but a look, clearly conveying that he wasn't fooling anyone, was tossed in his direction. It was alright, though. Most folk found her hard to swallow in general. Wasn't anything shiny or new about that.

Her eyes followed his thoughts to where the woman sat elsewhere in the chapel.

"Snowmen get built up again. Winter came and went, snowmen melted, but here comes the flurries again. Now there's an army of them," she mused, not sure if he'd catch her meaning or not. Sometimes River didn't catch her own meaning when it kept trying to fly away from her so often. Her attention quickly flitted back to Gin himself, however, and she grinned broadly.

"If you don't tell anyone, I'll even let you stay up an hour past your bed time."

It made him uncomfortable, that the girl might be able to see through him so easily, so he tried to continue as usual and try not to think about it. Her words were either cryptic or madness or perhaps, given their current residence, a little of both.

She looked over at Ran before he'd even done more than a sideways glance in her direction. Combined with her talk of winter and snowmen... it could be all coincidence. But somehow he knew it wasn't, he wasn't that lucky. "Makes snowmen terri'bly unreliable then, doesn' it?"

His smirk grew slightly though, at the quick wit and a hint of charm that followed. "Maa~ how generous. M'startin' to think bed might be a nice alternative though. Stayin' up an extra hour on a fool's errand ain' my idea of a good evenin'."

"Probably, but it doesn't stop the children from hoping and believing," River admitted. "Maybe the snow can last forever for them?" It was more a question than a simple observation, not that anything that came out of her mouth was simple. Really, it was up to the snow in the long run.

Her smile didn't falter, and she laughed at his next words. Horribly irreverant of her in the presence of a symbol. "Sometimes it's the fool's errand that teaches the most. More productive than sleeping the night away if something's to be taught?"

Gin raised a curious eyebrow. "Nothin' lasts that long darlin'." Notions like hope and belief were fine for children, but it always had to end. Nothing lasted forever, not even death.

"Like t'think I'm a fairly apt student, but I can't see much t'be learned from last night. 'Side from wantin' to have a few words with whoever gave th' orders." It was just what the people running this place wanted, setting them against one another like that, making it personal... it was all a distraction from the things they really ought to be focusing on.

"Nothin's somethin' sometimes," River returned, eyes drifting to nothing in particular and focusing on it. Somewhere off to the side, off the edges and near the water. That's where nothing was.

In time the river flowed and returned to the point of origin, and she was again paying attention to him, not that she'd ever stopped exactly. The cycle of attention spans with variables of somethings and nothings factored into the grand solution. Somethings and nothings. River cocked her head to one side, giving him a skeptical look.

"Not one thing? There's whole manner of things, and not one raised its head?"

He let her first comment sit at that. He was hardly sure anymore what they were talking about. And maybe only the girl knew.

"Ain't sure I follow," he said curiously. He was usually a fair hand at reading people, but this girl was more difficult than most. Maybe that was part of being a mind-reader, being unable to get your own to function properly. "Not a whole lot t'be learned from gettin' poisoned by someone I don't even know. Gimme a hint n' tell me, ne? What it was y'all learned a couple nights back gettin' stuck on th' end 'a my sword?"

River sighed, rolling her eyes as she leaned in closer, beckoning him to do the same as though she were about to share the greatest secret in all the 'verse with him. Games played and lessons learned. Everyone was sure to be happy in the end.

And if comments about the skewering had any effect on the girl, it didn't show. All part of the game. Answers would have their share to tell when the turn came.

It must be some kind of cosmic irony, he thought, that had him playing the dupe to a little girl. He'd played that game often enough with Aizen, and more than a little with the other shinigami, but...

He gave her a skeptical look and bent lower, matching her actions. Another bit of nonsense? Perhaps he'd been far too worried about what the girl was capable of. Though she'd been a good fighter, for a human, her thoughts seemed to come and go. Or maybe he just couldn't follow where they went?

Very seriously, very slowly, River began to speak in a hushed tone. Clearly, the mysteries of the very universe were to be imparted in a single sentence or two to those willing to listen. Just in that moment, of course. Only in that moment out of a thousand others in line.

"He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day~" she chanted in a sing-song voice before pulling back with a pleased grin on her face.

Though his smile never faltered, inwardly he was near rolling his eyes and wondering why it was all the children seemed to gravitate toward him. At least she wasn't upset about being run through, instead making jokes about it, if they could really be called that. Growing up in a place like Rukongai, of course, that was a rule you learned quickly or you didn't last long.

"Fair 'nough," he remarked.

So what had he learned? If even a child had learned something from nearly getting killed at his hand, shouldn't he then be able to derive something from his own encounter? It annoyed him, that he'd even been sent on such a pointless mission, but it had made him more than aware of his own hypocritical tendencies. When the bastard had threatened Ran, he'd been ready to fight, to tear the other apart. And yet when it was his own life in danger, he'd only yelled at her to run. He supposed even smart people could do very... stupid things at times. That even if he knew how other people might react and behave in given conditions, he didn't know himself as well as he ought to.

It was this place, he told himself. Being near Ran day in and day out made it all that much more difficult to hide those emotions; those weaknesses. Though a lifetime of practice kept him from saying those things aloud. "Guess I jus' learned better'n to try goin' in the Sun Room at night 'less I know what's in there, ne?"

"Even the most cunning cats are stupid when interpersonal affection is a noteworthy factor in one or more of their relationships," River remarked, an off-hand comment but a poignant one nonetheless. She frowned, taking her own experience to a new place for contemplation in a heavier rain. "Noticed that about that emotional state. Tends to make humans and even Japanese personifications of death stupid. Noted."

But enough of that. Lesson to be taught, and he was finally ready to learn. Couldn't have the teacher off daydreaming now. She nodded, taking that to be a fair assessment.

"Take it one step further. Confirmed by personal experience: brainwashed patients or agents of the instutution are almost always placed in that location. Unless necessary, it's best to avoid passing through the area at night altogether. At least a 65.79% chance someone will be stationed there," she added, hoping the information would be helpful.

It would have been a perfectly fitting reply had he actually given voice to half the things he'd been thinking. His smile faded momentarily, but he knew making a fuss over her words would only prove their validity. "Notin' is fine, jus' don't go spreadin' it. Wouldn't make a very good villain if I got people thinkin' I've gone soft."

"Noticed that one. Think it might be they got somethin' round there t'hide if they're goin' to that much trouble." He shrugged his shoulders. He was going to have to get down to that basement level one of these nights.

"Don't think I got y'name darlin'," he added. He'd no doubt that was something she already knew. Either on her own or from whichever shinigami had sent her after him.

"Lips are sealed~" she replied, laughter in her voice. "Didn't ask to poke around dusty corners and see things aren't meant to be seen. Secret's safe with me." Truthfully, River had the room for it to be stored away. It wasn't pressing enough that she needed to run and tell Renji. Wasn't pressing at all in ways.

"Got something to hide everywhere. It's in the walls, but you can't press your ear against them or you'll go deaf." River sighed. Such complications. "Just have to keep watching. They'll come out to play when they're tired of hide and seek." Eyes would always need to be peeled. Like fruit.

"River. She's everyone's little sister." Even if they didn't know it yet.

He watched her with suspicion for just a moment, but decided to leave it at that. Surely she already knew the price of information and how dangerous some secrets could be. But it wouldn't hinder him, not if he didn't let it. And that was all that mattered.

"Guess we'll see," he replied. He wasn't one to sit back and wait though; that was what made you easy, predictable. Of course, if that was all your enemy thought you were doing, that made things a bit more interesting.

"Sounds like more trouble n' it's worth," Gin's smile returned. "Ichimaru Gin," he added, more out of habit than anything else. "Former Japanese p'sonification a' death."

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Day 29: Chapel

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