damned_institute | Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

Hitsugaya woke with a start.

His entire body ached, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been the night before. His injuries had been tended two with clean gauze and bandages, and he found every movement wasn't agony. He wasn't in the best of shape, but thanks to the miracle of landel's strange time distortion, he had mostly recovered from the vile poison without having to waste anyone else's talents.

And in his hand, still...there was the key.

He dressed quickly, sliding the key onto the key ring from his desk drawer and stuck it into his pocket. Whether the key stood to gain them anything or not, it stood as a vital reminder that they could succeed in this place. There was hope, as insignificant as it often seemed. They could beat this place.

That small shred of hope made getting up worth it.

The nurse who escorted him to breakfast was cheerful, and commented idly about how wonderful it was to see young Tommy Winters up and about again after his unfortunate run-in with a bad case of food poisoning. He smirked slightly, knowing that any lies the institute forced into their heads were only that: lies. He wouldn't buy it for a second. And on top of that, the concept of muffins sounded almost appetizing. While he still preferred his authentic Japanese cuisine, the food here was slowly becoming more and more bearable. He would have preferred a warm bowl of sweet nattou over rice over the mufffins, but they would do. The plain yogurt and fruit, on the other hand, was excellent. He piled his plate high with fruit as usual, and got several small bowls of yogurt as well.

Finding the most convenient table to the end of the food line, he took a seat and scanned for the new arrivals. New arrivals meant people who would be lost and confused. Renji did a good job of making a bulliten post last time...he should recommend abarai-fukutaicho do the same again this time.

[Waiting for Angel]

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But still, no matter how she proclaimed herself to be fine, she wasn't quite ready to move away just yet. Gin had always been there in her life and it was nice to have someone there and solid.

She smiled tiredly and nodded. "I think I might. For all of us. Last night was... we need a rest." She hadn't properly rested since she'd been here which was what? A week now? She returned the smirk with a grin of her own. "I think the paperwork at home actually made things easier. People expect me to do things here."

He was content to let her stay where she was. No harm in it aside from the dirty looks he might receive and he was long past caring about those. It'd been amusing during the field trip at least, to see what kinds of reactions he could prod out of some of the others.

We, she'd said. We need a rest. He couldn't deny that he was tired more often than usual in this place, but the thought of both of them having a night off was more temptation than he could resist. "Ara~ how mean 'a them. All th' more reason for a break," he shrugged, picking at the berries in his muffin. "Make 'em appreciate what they're missin', ne?"

Well, if anyone objected to it, then they'd have her to deal with and people tended not to enjoy it when she got involved. She could be quite vindictive when the mood hit her.

She laughed softly at his teasing. "I know. I need regular naps otherwise I just don't have the energy for a full night of sleep or drinking. Not that that's a problem here but still..."

Ran wasn't the only one who enjoyed a little slacking. While Toushirou had his hands full of paperwork, Gin managed to push plenty of his own off on Izuru. He wasn't as much for napping, but he could often be found wandering into the other divisions or picking persimmons from the orchard outside the third squad's main building.

He didn't say anything in response to her habits, but turned his hand, twining their fingers together. "I think Toushirou-kun will be able t'handle things jus' fine on his own for a lil while." The boy still had a long way to go, but he was learning, he wasn't a prodigy for nothing. Not that Gin would ever tell him that to his face.

Rangiku squeezed his fingers, her expression much happier now that she was being distracted and wasn't dwelling on last night and her own guilty feelings. It was amazing what a little small talk could do.

"He will. He has all of the others to help him after all. I'll try and persuade him to set up a rota for nights off. We can't all go on like this."

That should have been the plan from the get-go, but the captain was still young and inexperienced in real battles, especially this sort of long and drawn out affair. Most shinigami learned that a fight was a fight and you just had to concentrate on the opponent in front of you before moving on to the next. Things like strategy rarely came up in the academy.

He still had his own little assignment to take care of though, whether he was going out this evening or not. It was a pity they didn't have anyone from the Shiba clan here as well; before the noble family had gone into hiding, they'd been experts in fireworks and explosives. Finding people here with those same talents without ruining the element of surprise would be a difficult thing. Not to mention he'd yet to find out anything from anyone who might've had a chance to speak with the man on the radio. He might have some useful insights since he obviously didn't favor the head doctor. "Be interestin' to see how many use their night off t'rest," he suggested with a playful smile.

Yes, she was very sure that it could have been organised better, but they weren't operating under normal circumstances and she could understand how controlling things could become difficult. Not to mention that several of the shinigami were rather stubborn and didn't like being told to take time off. It felt like a betrayal of sorts since so many people were trapped here.

She laughed softly, a playful smile appearing on her lips at his suggestion, tilting her head back to look at him. "Well, that depends on if they're offered something more entertaining to do," she said, her voice becoming a little husky.

Gin would have loved to explain in detail all of the things he could come up with that would be much more entertaining than sleeping the night away, but he'd just have to show her later instead. The fights breaking out around the crowded cafeteria were entertaining, but unless he saw that they had a decent chance of winning, he wasn't going to join in. He would, however, take the opportunity to rummage through the pockets of the nearest unconscious nurse.

He stood slowly, gesturing for Ran to do the same, "One of 'em's gotta have keys t'this place." Not to mention several other useful items. Rangiku knew the drill. He crouched low, taking care to keep up appearances, tapping the nearest nurse lightly on the cheek, as though trying to revive her, as his other hand checked her pockets.

Rangiku's attention was caught by the fights as well, and she spent a moment looking over the participants, eyes narrowing when she recognised a good few of them. River and that man from the other night...

She nodded and followed Gin's directions, standing slowly so as not to arouse too much suspicion, and planting herself between Gin and the fallen nurse, eyes darting around. She spotted a nurse heading her way and ran to meet her, acting every inch a panicked flighty near hysterical woman. She clung to the nurse's sleeve to grab her attention and keep it off Gin, begging her to calm things down, what was happening? Were they going to be hurt? She'd thought this was meant to be a restful place! She managed to keep the woman distracted enough to let Gin raid the other woman's pockets.

Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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