Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

[whiteychan.livejournal.com]

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]

Comments

[seiran314.livejournal.com]

Don't you wish we...? Aya felt his shoulders tense up, waiting for Omi's suggestion, which never came. And by the boy's worried tone of voice, Aya looked up from his plate to see what seemed like the beginnings of a full scale fight.

Oh, fuck. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to fuck things up even worse than they already had.

"See them anywhere?" he asked while standing up, already scanning the worst heat of the battle for Ken. Where the hell was he? There was too many people, things happening too fast. Aya couldn't spot him anywhere and it made his stomach knot tightly, worried. For all he knew prison fights could kill as well as get you sedated. And Ken... Aya had just had a good reminder last night how well Ken reined in his blood lust. Yohji hopefully wouldn't be stupid enough to jump in for now. Not that Aya really knew. Yohji had been stupid enough for great many things lately.

[daddyslilkiller.livejournal.com]

He shook his head. Really, Aya had the better chance of spotting people in this crowd, simply because Omi's height was something of a handicap. It wasn't like Yohji or Ken stood out particularly well, either, unlike Aya and his red hair. Omi'd often had cause to be grateful for that fact, but of course, that was one more thing the institute twisted.

The sensible thing would be to get out of there, now, before they either got hurt or sedated, but... well, he had teammates in there, probably, and he couldn't just leave them.

[seiran314.livejournal.com]

The moment Aya would spot Ken, as far away from the fight as possible, he'd fall back. It would be incredibly stupid to get involved in this.

Climbing up to a table would probably alarm the nurses that were now streaming in from the doors in masses. Then again, they were as far from the action as possible, maybe...

"Climb on the table to take a look," he suggested, glancing at Omi briefly. He'd rather stay on the ground in case there would be need for going into the fight. No way in hell Aya would let Omi do that.

[daddyslilkiller.livejournal.com]

He bit his lip, mentally cursing the fact that there really was no good way to handle this. He knew very well why Aya would rather stay on the ground, but it unfortunately made sense. Not that he had to like it.

He grabbed Aya's sleeve as he crouched on the table, putting every ounce of command he had into his voice. This was going to have to be as much an order as a request from a friend. "If you rush off into that, I swear I'll..."

He cut himself off, a little wide-eyed, not quite sure what he was about to say but knowing this probably wasn't the place for it. He dropped his hand from Aya's arm and stood up to start scanning the crowd.

[seiran314.livejournal.com]

Now was the perfect time for it, and the message would go through clearer than any other time. Aya nodded, meeting Omi's gaze straight on, his dark violet just as serious as Omi's blue. A team needed a leader, Aya was perfectly fine with standing behind Omi, actually more than just fine but that was a topic for another day.

"We work together," he said quietly as Omi let him go, a bit distractedly as he was trying his best to scan the crowd for familiar faces. "Just tell me what you see."

[daddyslilkiller.livejournal.com]

That... that was really what he needed to hear from Aya. Someday he'd figure out how someone who had always acted as coldly as the Aya he knew from his time did could turn out like this.

But not right now. Right now, he needed to find the rest of his team. He put Ken aside for now, because searching for a brunet would be too much like a needle in a haystack. Yohji's blond hair should... There!

"I found Yohji. He's not in the fight yet, but..." The guy he was talking to had climbed up on the table and was... was he rabble-rousing? Great. Just what Yohji needed to be involved in. "Looks like that won't last."

He watched for a second longer, then turned away, determined to find Ken.

[seiran314.livejournal.com]

"If he's not in yet, it might mean he's clever enough to avoid getting in." Or they could at least hope.

Aya watched for the nurses nearby, but most of them were too busy with the main body of the riot to pay any mind to the two of them. He waited for Omi to tell him more, dreading the moment the boy would tell him he saw Ken somewhere in there. Aya didn't want to fight, he would rather just make sure Omi wouldn't be touched and leave it to that. But he'd do what had to be done even if he didn't like it.

"And Ken?" he asked finally after a long pause, voice tense, clipping.

[daddyslilkiller.livejournal.com]

"I'm trying!" He was, too, but the increasing movement and number of people wasn't making it any easier. That and he kept catching glimpses of people he knew and fighting the urge to look for others that weren't Ken. Duo and Hitsugaya and the others he'd met.. They'd just have to be okay on their own. Weiss had to come first.

But this, all of it, was beyond frustrating. "I can't find him."

[seiran314.livejournal.com]

The relief that wasn't really relief but just postponed anxiety that had flushed over Aya with Omi stating he had found Yohji was all forgotten. Aya growled deep within his throat, wishing he would have been just as aware as any other moment this morning, and already known where his teammates were. But he had not been. And it would bug him for quite a while.

The old Aya would have snapped at Omi to look harder, this one merely rolled his fingers into tight fists and arched up to his toes to see better.

"I'll go find him," he said then. It was more a question than a suggestion, waiting for Omi's command.

[daddyslilkiller.livejournal.com]

He wanted to deny Aya outright. He wanted to make him see that all of them splitting up couldn't possibly help any of them.

He kind of wanted to kick him for even suggesting it.

Instead, he didn't bother taking his eyes off the crowd. "How are you going to find him, on the ground, by yourself, in that?"

[seiran314.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," Aya muttered back, frustrated but face turning into a cold, impassive mask, killer mode creeping in just as surely as the situation was turning worse and worse.

"I'd find a way," he said coldly, mostly to himself. If the goal was important enough, methods were aside the point. The assassin found this the most pleasing thought.

"Lets move," he suggested, glancing around coolly. "A little to the direction you saw Yohji in."

[daddyslilkiller.livejournal.com]

He hesitated, not really liking the idea of going any further into the fray, but seeing the necessity of it, if they wanted to get Ken and Yohji out.

"Fine. This way, then. And no running off on your own." Omi gave Aya his 'I really really mean it' glare, then hopped down off the table and started trying to pick his way through the cafeteria without attracting attention.

[seiran314.livejournal.com]

The response was barely just a nod. Aya didn't talk much on general basis, on missions even less.

He followed Omi's lead silently, noting every possible improvised weapon on their way. Every group of people they approached he had killed in his mind already. But as long as Omi wouldn't indicate the need to take them out, he wouldn't.

Aya hated it. It made him feel dirty, dirtier than he always felt. But sometimes it made the fear and worry easier to bear. To think like a killer.

"I can see Balinese now," he stated after they had moved around the fight a little. "Should we head to him or look for Siperian first?"

The codenames were silly, Aya hated them too. But four years of practice made them stick, and slip out unconsciously.

[daddyslilkiller.livejournal.com]

Sometimes he really hated being short, but at least one of them could see through the crowd. Not that Omi really needed the extra help with Yohji's tablemate shouting like that. At least his being small made most of the nurses overlook him.

"Siberian's location is unknown. Might as well take care of one problem at a time."