damned_institute | Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch

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Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch

Hitsugaya left the chapel no less frustrated than before. The head doctor once again had chosen not to hide his face, yet promised he would be making an appearance at some time in the near future. He didn't like being patient, but there wasn't much choice. Either the head doctor would show his face, or he wouldn't. Renji had already seen him, and knew how to find him. That was enough.

The thought of eating made him slightly nauseous as usual, but he knew he needed to get his strength up. He could either be weak and try to force his way through brunch without eating anything, or he could be smart and actually give himself something to eat. And there was rice. Rice and fruit. He took a heaping pile of rice, and grabbed as much watermelon as he could fit on his plate, then proceeded to an empty table. He scanned the room, watching for Momo. He wasn't exactly looking forward to their conversation, knowing how she'd acted yesterday; however, he knew he had to speak to her, and there was a good chance that she would show more restraint now that the drugs were out of her system.

Thoughtfully he consumed his rice and waited.

[free at the moment, pester if you wish]

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Allen was quiet for a moment, his thoughts seemed a little slower than usual and finding the right answer was as bad as sloshing through mud. He knew he would do everything he could to keep her from being killed. It was too much. But he also was at a loss for what else to do about her. They couldn't spare the man-power to have a babysitter keep her locked up in her room every night when the nurses couldn't watch her. But they also couldn't afford the threat she might be to the others, the Exorcists especially. And when and if they ever got back home...

"I wouldn't have mentioned it if I were going to allow that sort of thing." She could take that however she liked. "I should go. I told Re- the others I wouldn't speak with you about this by myself." He pushed his tray away, just as she'd done, but moved instead to get out of his seat.

That was more like the Allen she knew - always taking the more peaceful road, not wanting anyone on either side getting hurt. He was such an odd exorcist to be that kind, but she liked that about him. Any other exorcist wouldn't have even bothered talking to her (save for perhaps the Jr. Bookman, but that was a special exception).

"You're not making sense. If you're not going to let them, then why tell me?" After all, what could she do about people who wanted to kill her? Nothing here. She wagered he was just warning her in case he couldn't stop any attempts on hurting her, but still he was being terrible with his delivery. "It's not like I can-- hey, don't leave!" she ordered, realizing he was attempting to get away. He couldn't just go like that, not after he had been the one to start this stupid conversation! She didn't care who didn't want him talking to her alone!

"You don't understand," he sighed, "if you'd just agree not to hurt the other patients here, it wouldn't be a problem." He shook his head, he wasn't getting anywhere with this except for a headache starting to form.

"I'll speak with you again later," he said as she began to protest. He glanced over at Renji, still talking with that blonde boy. Well, he could always go through the buffet line again... on the way over there of course.

[[Picking up some food and then going to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/264448.html?thread=19962112#t19962112)]]

[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/264448.html?thread=20175360#t20194048)]]

Allen returned to the table, with Renji in tow. It seemed like she'd behaved for the short time he was gone at least. It was a little bit easier to put things in perspective, remembering things like the Rewinding Town, but the situation still made him uneasy.

"Rhode? This is Renji. He's here to... clarify some of the things I was speaking to you about," Allen explained.

It only looked as though she'd behaved because Allen had returned quickly to the table. Had he taken any longer, she would have either followed after him (how dare he just walk off like that?!) or taken to lopping pancakes in his direction. If there was one thing Rhode didn't like, it was being ignored.

She had, however, paid close attention to the area Allen had gone to for that short bit of time. Allen had problems talking to her, an enemy, so it was doubtful he had left her for another enemy after all. Her assumptions of that were only strengthened when Allen returned with the man he'd been speaking with. So this was who he'd been glancing at earlier. Had to be an exorcist. She really couldn't tell if he was human or otherwise, but if he was with Allen Walker, then he was likely a goody-goody.

"Is he who made you talk to me?" she asked, giving Renji a smiling glare.

Some of her playful nature had returned due to there being a probable new exorcist to torment - she wasn't able to help the smile - though the glare she used alongside that smile was intentional. If this Renji had forced Allen Walker into speaking to her, then he was behind the proposed "truce". Exorcists were sneaky things, so she had to be careful.

And, if nothing else, she had a right to be cross with him for having made her Allen Walker act so uncomfortably around her.

Renji sat down, next to Allen, leaning one elbow on the table top. For a long moment, he just looked at Rhode, examining what he could sense about her spirit. Not human, which was really the most important part, and the only thing that was easy to tell without putting a lot of effort in to it.

"It's easy," he said. "Harm any of my people, or any of the humans, and we will kill you." His tone was flat. "Thank Allen. He's the only reason you're getting a warning."

"Renji didn't make me do anything," Allen tried. He didn't like the look she was giving him. At the very least, he doubted she was taking either of them seriously.

He could trust Renji to be terribly blunt and straightforward so there was no mistaking any of it. Allen looked steadily at Rhode, "I think it would be best if you seriously consider this."

She slid her eyes to Allen a moment before looking back to the red-head. He was already unliked just for the look he was giving her, as though she was the inferior here, but she also disliked him for the proposition. Unlike Allen, Renji was specifically ordering and threatening her. That meant he was behind what Allen had asked her. She didn't believe for a second that Allen hadn't been forced by Renji to talk to her.

Without the nervous stuttering, Renji at least gave a better overview of what this threat entailed. His people, was it? Now who or what might they be?

"Are you human?" she asked. He made it sound as though he wasn't, which was very important for her to know before any decisions were made.

"No," Renji said. It wasn't all that surprising that she'd picked up on it; for the most part, he'd given up trying to pretend that he was human because it wasn't worth the constant effort. And really, it had been a point to make, here. Because it would be the Shinigami and the exorcists hunting her down, not necessarily ordinary humans. "I'm not. I am a Shinigami. A death god."

Allen didn't see how it mattered what Renji was. He saw Renji as an Akuma, but it just wasn't the same. Renji was warm, not cold and mechanical like the other Akuma, and even if he was rude sometimes, he was still a nice person. This place made it all the more difficult to see who their real enemies were.

He didn't add anything, instead letting the two make their own introductions... or whatever it was they were doing might be called.

Her grin spread just a bit at the confirmation of him not being human, then flattened out at his introduction. Shinigami was Japanese so far as she knew, and she was well aware of what it meant without him having to inform her. It was one of the few words she'd paid attention to during school lessons. Mentions of death usually grabbed her attention.

"God's a bit high...," she commented softly, more to herself than to him. Once her wonder over a possible complex ~~that he probably had~~ had passed she offered him a bright smile, "But that means you kill too, doesn't it? And humans I'll bet. Why would you want me not to do something that it's your job to do, hmmm?"

The debate was on for real now. Rhode wasn't about to be cornered without a fight. Him calling himself a "God" didn't scare her in the slightest. It actually gave her more of a reason to talk him back down to a sane level. She recalled that the traditional role of a Japanese Shinigami was similar to that of an Exorcist, so she wanted to hear if another "exorcist" could justify his own actions over that of a Noah.

If he even mentioned some religious crap, there was no way she'd accept.

Renji gave Rhode a disinterested look. "You seem to be confused," he said. "This is not a discussion. This is not a bargain. We're not in the fucking market. What I am and what I do are not your concern. Your head remaining attached to your body is. Whether you choose to live or die isn't something I give a shit about."

Allen wasn't sure if he ought to be relieved or not that Rhode also thought it odd that these Shinigami people likened themselves to God, but it was probably a really bad time to point that out. Fancy title or not, Renji was helping him look out for the people he cared about and even the people he didn't.

Arms folded in his lap, Allen waited for Renji's reply, but was surprised when he heard his answer. "It's for the best," Allen insisted. "It's difficult enough trying to leave this place without fretting over getting stabbed in the back by other patients. Please."

Well, wasn't he being boring! And annoying, which was the worse of the two at the moment. She pouted at him, unhappy for the presentation he was shoving her way, and just about had a mind to stick out her tongue.

If he didn't care, then why the heck was he even bothering?!

"Then you're being stupid," she returned for Renji before giving Allen an upset, if not confused look, "He doesn't care, right? Then why's he here, Allen? If he really didn't make you talk to me, then that doesn't make sense!"

She still remained unconvinced that Allen hadn't been forced into this deal, if one could call it that. The one explaining it didn't care, but Allen did, which was backwards anyway, so what reason would Renji have to be explaining at all? If he didn't care, then why should she?

And the who ordeal wasn't even normal! Bargaining she was familiar with, but only so far as having both sides profit... or one backstabbing the other, which Allen seemed to be referencing. This was more of a coercive arrangement by an unorganized, or otherwise divided party currently consisting of the two before her.

No matter how she looked at it, even if she agreed, it would be her who ended up stabbed, and not metaphorically either. That wasn't fair! Ordering her into accepting their proposal and then expecting her to be a "prefect little angel" was in no way fair! And Renji had been ordering her earlier.

That's why she couldn't understand. Someone who didn't care was ordering her to be good. For Rhode, a person who'd never had the need to safe-guard her own life, she could not understand Renji's meaning as anything other than complete hypocricy.

Of all the things he'd been called in his life, stupid, and by a little girl shaped thing was probably the most innocuous. "Clean out your ears," Renji said. "You already got told the answer to that. I don't care if you decide to live or die. I'm all in favor of just killing you before you fuck up and prove me right. The only reason you're even getting this chance is because Allen asked."

Asked wasn't the right word. Was stubborn and dumb was better. But there needed to be a united front, here. He was perfectly happy making Allen into the good cop.

Was she trying to get sympathy from him? He'd played nice, he'd turned a blind eye, but he couldn't look away from the facts. She was a danger. "He cares about whether or not innocent people here get hurt."

Allen's eyes were cool with unspoken anger, "I don't want the same things that happened in the Rewinding Town to happen to anyone here. I'm not a fool Rhode, I know what you're capable of; I watched you laughing when you destroyed that Akuma!" His voice rose in volume as he spoke, fists at his sides, shaking slightly.

"When things are already so bad, how can you want to make them worse?! I don't understand why it's so difficult for you to agree to this!"

Renji was going to get ignored now. He didn't care for her, she didn't care for him, and that was that. She had no reason to care for listening to him anymore. Now she kept her attention on Allen, also ignoring his own references to Renji. What else he said she jumped at.

"You said that before," she reminded him. Allen was repeating his words now, though they were far more stable than before. His usually calm eyes now sent angry intent her way. That anger was understandable, but only for the events of the Rewinding Town. She'd bekoned his anger forward then with every intent of gaining his disdain.

But it made no sense for him to be angry here, however far away from that place and time. None! If anyone should be angry, it should be her! And she was.

"How can I?!" she hissed, finally snapping back without a playful edge, "You tell me that, Allen! Just how do you think I can do anything without my powers?!"

This wasn't about being "good". For her, it was about her losing her position as a Noah - having to deal with humans and non-humans alike who thought they were better than her, having to be weak and useless against almost everything, having to simply be human. He couldn't even fathom just how devastating that was for her! No one could! It even hurt to be accused by him for things she hadn't done exactly because she hadn't done them!

"Did I ever say I wanted to make things worse?! It doesn't get any worse than this!" She felt the unnatural desire to cry again, but ground her teeth to keep it back.

Renji hazarded a glance at Allen; he didn't look like he was going to fall for it. That was good. He didn't really care if the girl listened to him or not; he hadn't been kidding when he said he would have preferred to just kill the girl.

Though he did have to add one thing. "It gets a lot worse," he said. "I kill you and you go to hell."

"You make it sound like that's something I ought to know. How do I know you haven't still got some of your abilities? They're limited, but I still have mine. Why wouldn't you be the same? Why should I trust anything you say?" How did Rhode have a right to be angry at all?! He was trying to help her, not hurt her! Didn't she see that?

"Your idea of worse and mine are vastly different," he said, cooling slightly. He glanced at Renji for a moment, nodding his head in silent agreement. "You think attacking that boy in the craft room was making things better? If we're going to escape, I don't have time to play as your babysitter!"

"Shut up!!" she barked at Renji, unable to ignore his bit of snark. He wasn't any part of this, so for all she cared, he could go to hell himself and butt out!

"And you should know, Allen! I told you on the first day, and on the bus too! If you don't believe that, then why don't you look at your own example for a change? You think I'd have let him go with just a scratch if I could have done more? Do you?!" Proving her sadistic nature might not have helped in the long run, but anger had clouded any of her long-term reasoning for the moment.

She couldn't see that he wanted to help. How could she with him shouting at her about being good and bad or however black and white it was supposed to be?! Cornering her as he was would not get any consent. She would just keep lashing out like any caged animal would until he backed off.

Renji's eyebrow twitched. This was obviously going nowhere, and he wasn't interested in letting this thing berate Allen into something dumb - or make the poor kid lose his temper. In one smooth motion, he stood, flipped up Rhode's messy plate of pancakes, and smooshed it down on top of her head.

And then he twisted it, just to make sure the pancake got well in to her hair.

"Quit your whining," he growled. "You got a warning, and that's more'n most get. Reap what you sow, bitch. C'mon Allen." His annoyed tone perhaps made it clear that if Allen didn't come, he would be dragged.

Renji turned to go.

Was Rhode trying to make a better case for herself? Because her reasoning was only making him feel a greater fool for not turning his back on her sooner. Hearing from her own mouth that if she had more of her power, she'd have used it on the other patients already was not a comfort, not by any means.

All thoughts came crashing to a halt, however, when Renji reacted by squishing the leftover pile of pancakes into Rhode's hair. Allen's eyes widened, his expression baffled. "Wh-what?" he managed. Between the Rhode and Renji, he was feeling terribly confused. He'd been upset by the girl, yes, but how was wasting food and making her even more angry going to help anything at all?

She should have expected that Renji would do something stupid. He was pretty dumb so far as she was concerned what with being there and not caring, so it came as only a timing surprise when he made a move that was sure to get the nurses' attention.

Food fights were pretty common for her back at home, and she'd been decked a time or two (not with her real body present, but it was always the thought that counted). Renji was now the first to catch her off guard with the first attack though. She could blame having been upset at Allen over that. Still, the twins would be upset if they ever found out. Renji had taken their glory!

She squeaked a bit at the first slap of pancakes to her head, then louder when Renji twisted down - he was easily stronger that her. "Hey!!" she shouted, grabbing the table quickly so as not to fall over backwards. Now she was just a little amused from him making the first move and then trying to leave, which was bad when added to her already annoyed mood. That's not how a foodfight worked anyway; you didn't just attack and leave! At least he was making himself an easy target!

For once she was happy she had only finished off the syrup she'd had on the pancakes. That left her with a lot of ammo. She grabbed a mess of the soggy bread and flung it right at his easily targetted skull. "You started it!!"

Hadn't he just said "reap what you sow"?

Renji had pretty much been expecting either that, or an outright attack, as retaliation. He wasn't going to be caught so easily, not after centuries spent avoiding far nastier things than some soggy, sticky pancake. He moved his head to the side, letting Rhode's missile sail past and splat on the floor, then reached over and grabbed the back of Allen's shirt, hauling the boy out of his seat one-armed.

"It's a waste of time," he said, keeping an eye on Rhode now. She'd no doubt be throwing more at him, and he wasn't all that interested in getting pancake in his hair.

Allen could see the beginnings of a very messy and wasteful fight, but before he could so much as get a word out, Renji grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him out of his seat. He was getting a little bit tired of being pulled around like an over-sized kitten, but with how strong Renji was and how... small... he was, there wasn't a whole lot he could do to stop him.

It took a few moments to regain his balance and walk upright, not to mention keeping a wary eye out for any food that happened to be lobbed in his direction.

Things had certainly not gone as he'd hoped.

Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch

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