damned_institute | Nightshift 35: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

"So am I!" Was Yuffie's swift retort. She drew back slightly, balancing her own weight with some difficulty. Her head was still spinning, still felt fluffy, like it was doing a not-so-crappy imitation of a poofed up baby Chocobo.

Despite her growing- and obvious- impatience, she did try to listen to his reasoning. Tried not to block it out of her head and replace the words with 'blah-blah-lecture-blah', like she usually did.

It worked. To a point.

But that didn't mean she liked what he had to say, or that she was going to keep quiet and just go along with it.

"Don't go underestimating me, Sagara. I haven't died yet, and I'm not planning on dying. Ever!" Yuffie tried to look at him as she was speaking, but her eyes were continuously drawn back to the two men duking it out mere meters away. "I can take care of myself."

But she wasn't done yet, oh no. She still had things to say, and, as always, she was going to say them: "And what about Kenshin, huh? What happens if he gets hurt?" When Kenshin leaped into the air, Yuffie twitched, making to jump to her feet. "I dunno about you, but I ain't gonna sit around here and watch it happen!"

Sure Ninja Girl, you go right ahead and think that. Sanosuke knew that Yuffie just couldn't understand, because she hadn't been there for the months Sanosuke had. She hadn't seen when Kenshin fought against Saitou, and she certainly hadn't fought against the Shinsengumi herself, or Jin-e, or any of the rest. Sanosuke had.

He just had to get her to fucking listen to him.

It didn't help that what she said wasn't exactly what Sano wanted to hear. Trying to make him feel guilty about Kenshin getting her was pretty damn low, but it didn't change the fighter's resolve. And when she tried to get to her feet, Sano used the hand on her shoulder to forcefully pull her back down. Woman or not, Sano would knock Yuffie out if he had to.

"Listen to me, Yuffie." Finally, finally Sanosuke managed to look away from the battle, finding the ninja's gaze and staring into it. "You don't think I've thought of shit like that? I'm not an idiot or a weakling. It takes a hell of a lot to get me off my feet, and Okita can do it. He did do it, and without even touching his fucking sword." In a fight that Sano should have done so much better in, because Sano's talent was brawling.

"It's not like I want Kenshin to get hurt, okay! And that's why I'm telling you--" Sanosuke's voice cut off when he heard the talk from the other two. He'd almost missed it, almost, but it was one of those things he'd been listening for. Kenshin wondered why they got such a thrill out of his oro's after Kyoto, and this was why. Because they'd heard him drop his normal style of talking, and use that particular pronoun I.

Fuck. Sanosuke didn't know it, but his hand was suddenly squeezing Yuffie's shoulder so tight, his fingers were shaking.

When he pulled her back down, Yuffie had to seriously resist the urge to punch him. Damn, he was strong! Strong enough that she hissed through her teeth in irritation, finding herself unable to just shrug him off.

At another time, in another place, she might have been grudgingly impressed.

Now? It only served to piss her off more.

"Yeah? I'm not blind, Sagara." She spat, glaring at him. "I can see how good you are, and how good they are, and you know what? I've faced up to these kinds of things before, y'know! I'm not just some kid who claims to be a great ninja just for the hell of it!" Not anymore, anyway.

She'd noticed the slow changes in Kenshin's demeanor, too, but that was pushed far to the back of her mind- when Sagara's hand had started to tighten, she hadn't been able to help a small yip of pain. Was he crazy? She hadn't even tried to jump up again yet, so why the hell did it suddenly feel like he was trying to break her shoulder?!

Well, screw this!

Gritting her teeth, she lashed out with her free hand, the one that wasn't nearly immobilized from the grip on her shoulder. There was a pressure point, under the ropey-muscle or whatever on the forearm, that she was aiming for; if she got it, it should make him let go, or at least loosen his grip.

Sanosuke only half-heard Yuffie's talk about being a great ninja. He didn't doubt she was, really, if her flexibility and strength was any indication. But Sano also experiences that she didn't, including being on the receiving end of Okita's pen and Kenshin's blade. So no matter what she said, he was determined to make sure she didn't join in the struggle.

What didn't help was that Kenshin was slipping even further. The Battousai's attitude was becoming more apparent, even going so far as to taunt Okita now. At this rate, it'd be a matter of time before he turned the sword, and--

Fuck. He was going for Okita's neck.

"Damn it Kenshin!" Sanosuke shouted loud, hoping his voice could somehow still reach his friend, that he wasn't already so far gone as he'd been with Saitou. "This isn't you! You're not the god damned Battousai even if this place took Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki from you!"

He didn't much farther than that though before Yuffie demanded his attention again. Sanosuke hissed softly when she struck, his grip indeed loosening. But he wasn't about to let her just scramble away, and without really thinking about it, shifted his weight so he half-lunged, half-fell at her. Fuck accidental groping, Sano would grab what he had to in order to keep her from going anywhere.

Yuffie knew that her shoulder was going to be black and blue. It was just her luck that she wasn't some wimp or a girly-girl; she got bruised often enough that she didn't care about the aesthetics, only the damage to her pride.

When she felt Sagara's grip start to loosen, the ninja was ready (and very, very relieved). She slapped his hand away and scrambled clear.

... Or, rather, she tried to scramble clear. She still wasn't quite stable from using her Limit, and Sagara was too close; she hadn't been able to move fast enough, and she'd underestimated the fighter's reflexes. They went down in a pile of limbs, the back of Yuffie's head meeting the cold, hard floor. It wasn't a happy union.

For a moment, she wasn't really sure what had happened. For a split-second, she wondered why she was staring dazedly at the ceiling, and why her head hurt. She wondered why there was a warm, heavy weight on top of her, and why Sagara's face was in her boobs.

Wait.

"Holy Leviathan, what the hell is it with you and my goddamn boobs?!" Yuffie shrieked, shaking off the shock. Shock later. Attempted left-hook to Sagara's head and knee into his gut first. "Get off!"

Well. That didn't go exactly as Sanosuke had planned it.

First, he didn't plan for Yuffie to crack her head on the floor, but it didn't seem she was too hard off from that. And second, he didn't plan to end up with his face pressed into her chest. It would've been a lot more hilarious if the situation hadn't been so fucking serious, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Sano planned to groan over it later.

Just not now.

"It's not like I planned this shit!" Sanosuke was in the process of trying to get up when Yuffie started to hit him. The hit to the head was hard, but nothing he hadn't had before. Even with the flash across his vision, he was able to grab her knee and force it down with his left hand. He knew how quick she was though, so he kept hold of that leg while he shifted up her body, taking his weight off his right hand long enough to curl it into a fist.

"You're just going to have to deal with it for now, Ninja Girl." Sanosuke didn't exactly want to have punch her like this, but what other choice was there? So that's what he did--not nearly as hard as he could, but he tried to hit her stomach hard enough to wind her, so she wouldn't be able to move long enough for Sanosuke to pin her somehow.

Yuffie was still reeling, still aching, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She wasn't even going to let the fact that he was on top of her stop her! Her rapidly mounting frustration was doing nothing but adding fuel to the fire, and she was determined not to go down without a damn good fight.

A fight that had her at a major disadvantage.

Still, didn't people always say that offense was the best defense?

"Deal with it?" She asked, with a flash of a grin that was about as friendly as her Twin Viper. Sagara was going down. "Fine by me!"

It left her right arm throbbing in protest- and the curse she snapped under her breath was more than a little colorful- but Yuffie managed to use both hands to catch his punch. Almost simultaneously, she retaliated, aiming to drive the knee of her spare leg into his gut.

Edited 2008-10-02 11:19 (UTC)

Damn it. Yuffie had to keep on being so fucking stubborn. Sano understood it on some level, knowing that if the situation were reversed, he'd be the first damn one in there to try and help. The problem was that he tried that shit with Shishio, and not only didn't it work, the only thing he'd managed to do was nearly shatter his right hand.

Not that something like that would stop him even now. But Sanosuke knew his limits, and he knew how good Kenshin and Okita were. That was enough for him to make sure Yuffie didn't stay out of it, because if anyone died, anyone, Kenshin the rurouni would be gone.

Problem was, Ninja Girl was living up to her name, and the hit to Sanosuke's stomach landed true. But it probably didn't give her what she was hoping for. It hurt like hell, and Sanosuke wasn't in the best of shape anyway. But Yuffie wasn't the only one who was stubborn to the point of death, or even beyond. Instead of falling over like he wanted to, Sanosuke used every bit of his will to press down harder on Yuffie's hands, forcing her to support more of his weight to keep her pinned. After that, there was about only one thing left he could do that might work.

Time to see who really had the thicker skull.

"N-Not bad." Sanosuke had to grin a little though. It was fun being able to tumble with someone. If things weren't so god damn serious...oh well. His teeth grit, Sano suddenly thrust his head forward, fully intending to smack his forehead against Yuffie's. Even if it meant he couldn't move, neither would she for a few minutes. It'd give Sano time he needed rather badly at that point.

This totally wasn't what she'd had in mind by 'going down'.

Yuffie was pinned, and she knew it. She hated it. Being trapped, being helpless... as much as she didn't want to admit it, it kind of freaked her out; she couldn't fight back properly without some room to maneuver.

Revenge for the violation of her boob-space would have to come later. For now, Yuffie threw everything she had into trying to struggle free. Lowering her free leg, even as the pressure on her arms continued to increase, she tried once more to ram her knee into the very same place she'd hit before.

If she'd had breath to spare, she might have offered a retort to his words.

If she'd had time, she might have retorted anyway.

Unfortunately, Sagara's forehead meeting hers put a stop to any and all thoughts of taunts and bantering. The impact was as solid as it was sudden, effective as it was painful; darkness exploded across her vision, and Yuffie was rendered temporarily unconscious.

On the plus side, it had worked. Which wouldn't been great, if the plus side hadn't started and stopped there while the negative side went on to climb Mt. Fuji. Sanosuke did smile a bit as he rolled off Yuffie though. While he was still thinking of the plus side.

But then those negatives kicked in, and Sanosuke finally let out the coughs he'd been holding back since Yuffie kicked him in the gut, twice. And damn, his head was spinning, though that was as much his own fault as hers. This would definitely be the negative side: he'd managed to make Yuffie be still for two fucking seconds, but he couldn't capitalize on it. Damn.

Didn't stop Sanosuke from trying though, and even though he was starting to feel pain pretty much everywhere, he tried to work his way up. First he rolled again, onto his knees, then pushed himself up with his right hand; the left was too busy being curled protectively around his midsection. Didn't feel like Ninja Girl had pulled her punches--or her knees.

But Sanosuke couldn't wallow in pain too long. One fight was going on, and this was going to be the only chance he had to get Yuffie to behave. So he ignored the pain, and pulled off his shirt. Pinky would probably yell at him, but the fighter didn't really care. It didn't take much effort to rip away a long strip, and when it was done, Sanosuke headed back towards where Yuffie was and began to roll her on her stomach.

First her hands. He'd tie her hands, then her feet, and then finally he could figure out what the hell to do about Kenshin's fight.

Ow.

Ow.

Yuffie cracked her eyes open slowly, wincing. Gawd. It felt like Barret was doing pirouettes on her head, wearing a pair of pneumatic drills instead of shoes.

She sucked in a breath, releasing in a soft hiss. The floor seemed to be spinning as much as her head, and she couldn't quite put her finger on what the hell was going on. How'd she gotten there? Why couldn't she move her hands? Why was something fiddling with...

With her feet...

"Oh hell no!" She yelped, the words slightly slurred but no less passionate- passionate and enraged, that was. "Pervert! Pervert!"

If Sagara thought she was just gonna lie around and take this, he had another thing coming! And if he thought he was gonna get away with trying to tie her up, he'd be sorry!

"Lemme go, Sagara!" She thrashed, lashing out with her legs and trying to roll around; she wanted to make things as difficult as possible, if not break free entirely. "No consent! I know I'm hot, but I don't wanna take part in your kinky fantasies!"

Edited 2008-10-03 10:45 (UTC)

Things had been going well, and Sano had just started working on tying Yuffie's ankles together when she woke up and immediately assumed the wrong thing. Again.

"Damn it, calm down Ninja Girl!" Yuffie thrashing around didn't exactly make his goal an easy one; really, it kept it from being possible at all. So Sano changed tactics, moving to one side of the girl when she rolled and reaching out to grab her waist. "I'm not trying to be perverted here!"

Though it did probably look really wrong, especially from Yuffie's point of view. But Sano didn't mean it that way! If Ninja Girl would just stay still and stop struggling...

Obviously, thinking along these lines was not going to do Sanosuke much good. So he focused on his strong point, and that was physical. Just not like that. "I'm just trying to keep you from jumping into the middle of something. It's already bad enough as it is!"

Bad enough, but not beyond hope. Kenshin had said he wasn't going to kill Okita, and that was a good thing. But if Yuffie got involved and got hurt or worse, then the line would be crossed. Sano knew that better than just about anyone, but Okita knowing that at all was a really fucking bad thing, especially if he wanted to get the Battousai out of Kenshin.

So for now, Sano kept trying to hold Yuffie down.

"Calm down?" Yuffie bit out, incredulous. "Calm down?! How can I calm down when you're trying to molest me?!"

He was right in thinking that it looked wrong- it did. Shirtless guy tying her up, especially when he already had a history of groping her? No thanks!

The ninja didn't give up even a little bit in her struggles, even when Sagara's hand closed around her waist. Even though her head hurt like Meteor had fallen on it, and her shoulder was killing her. But Yuffie was exhausted, and it was starting to show.

Wait, what was that about jumping in the middle of... Oh. She'd almost forgotten about Kenshin's fight! She'd been so focused on Sagara that it had been pushed to the back of her mind.

"Who's to say you won't go charging straight in there as soon if I give up, huh?" Yuffie demanded, in between gasps for breath. She kicked out at him with her legs, just because it was the only thing left that she could do.

"I'm not trying to molest you, damn it!" Sanosuke felt a sudden and very strong urge then to smack Yuffie across the head, but considering how many smacks she's already taken, it probably wasn't the best idea. Besides, he could tell Ninja Girl was finally wearing down, and his grip let him pull her against him. It didn't exactly help the not molesting claim at all, but Sano could at least have better control if she couldn't roll off so easily. Especially since she wasn't the only one who was getting seriously worn out by all this crap.

But Yuffie nailed it when she accused him of intending to jump into the fight, because without realizing it, Sano had planned to do just that. What good it would do would be little, if any at all, but hell. Sanosuke couldn't just stand by and watch his best friend fall apart. Not because of some guy who was acting just like Sano had not all that long ago.

Sanosuke wince when Yuffie started kicking at him, but he didn't let go. "Ow--would you fucking quit already?!" Obviously not, but suddenly it didn't matter. Sano hadn't been able to watch the fight as closely as he wanted, but a sound brought him back. Sanosuke knew that sound too damn well to miss it: when a sword connected to a body. Not just any sword though.

A sakabatou.

"Kenshin!" Sanosuke's relief was almost palatable when he looked up to see the end result of the blow. Kenshin had gotten in a decisive hit, and more importantly, he'd done it with the blunt edge of his blade. Yuffie was ignored now as Sanosuke forced himself to his feet, his eyes focused on what would happen next. It was over. The fight was over.

But not the horror.

Sano's smile faded just as quickly as it had come when Okita began to cough. It wasn't just because he'd been hit; the fighter knew that sound for what it was, and why shouldn't he? It was how Okita and so many others had died: consumption.

And then Sanosuke got it. He had thought he knew before, but now he really understood. Okita wasn't like him after all, because he wasn't trying to forget. Okita was trying to die just then, facing off against Kenshin. But thank fucking heaven that somehow, he hadn't been able to push Kenshin far enough.

By this point, Yuffie's face was the colour of squashed tomatoes. Who did Sagara think he was, manhandling her like this?! Innocent - or supposedly innocent - reasons or not, he had no right to--

-- to drop her like last week's newspaper?

She rolled onto her stomach, struggling to rise to her knees. With her arms bound behind her back and her body aching as much as it was, it was next to impossible. Still. She wanted to see what had happened, what had caught Sagara's attention enough to make him stop trying to cop a feel. The sounds alone weren't enough for her to get a good idea of what was going on.

For the first time in a while, Yuffie was quiet, aside from the sounds of her strained breathing and her struggle to get up.

[Moving up (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/455439.html?thread=38124815#t38124815)]

Nightshift 35: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

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