Day 37: Breakfast

[for Sylar, I believe]

At the sound of the intercom, Wally jerked awake and blinked around at the room. He’d fallen asleep. He should have been up and keeping an eye open for ZEX, but he’d fallen asleep waiting on his bed.

“Idiot,” he groaned, ruffling his hair and sighing in annoyance. “Way to help a guy out, hotshot.” Hopefully ZEX hadn’t dropped by and thought he’d left or something, or wouldn’t be too mad at him for just forgetting about it like that. If he was lucky, he’d be able to catch up with the other patient at some point and explain what had happened.

Rolling himself a little awkwardly out of the bed, Wally took the opportunity to stretch his injured leg and test how well it was holding up. It was feeling a bit better, not so much that he could abandon his crutch or that it didn’t pull painfully if he wasn’t careful, but better. Tony had apparently made it through the night in one piece as well, which was a relief. He really didn’t feel comfortable about the thought of his roommate wandering about on his own with an injured arm. Not when Wally himself could relax and fall asleep in the apparent safety of their room.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to let himself forget that one in a hurry.

It was at that moment that the door swung open to admit one of the nurses. She seemed surprised to find him awake and ready to go already, but smiled warmly. “Hungry, are we Mr. West? Well in that case, let’s get you to the cafeteria. The staff have provided some delicious French Toast as well as a range of other foods I’m sure you’ll like. Now will you be needing a hand with your leg, dear?”

“No thanks, I can handle it,” Wally replied, smiling back. After all, it probably wasn’t the nurses’ fault that this place was so messed up, so it wasn’t like picking fights with them would do anything. With a cheery wave goodbye, Wally slowly made his way to the cafeteria, keeping a tight grip on his crutch all the while. Obtaining a plate of food was only slightly less difficult than it had been yesterday – he didn’t have the painkillers to work around this time – but he managed well enough, coming away from the buffet with a tray containing a plate piled high with slices of French Toast and slathered in maple syrup, butter, and sugar, as well as a glass of juice. Not quite as good as some coffee would be right now, but the sugar would hopefully make up for it. And, with how few people were here at the moment, he could afford to take more food than might have been considered ‘normal’ – he’d have most of it gone by the time anyone came to keep him company, then he could just worry about how many extra serves would be allowed before he aroused suspicion.

Feeling pretty happy with how things were looking so far, Wally hummed faintly to himself as he dug in to his breakfast.

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-20 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah... he always was a softy underneath that gruff exterior," Momo replied, the faintest of smiles touching her lips. It quickly disappeared, though.

"I'm... not sure what we're going to do. Did you know... he started Arts & Crafts?" Had it been anyone else she'd been talking to, Momo would not have indicated any worry about the status of the shinigami-run group. But Raine wasn't a member of it and... she was a bit less dutybound than Signum was.

Before she could get an answer from the healer, a reiatsu as equally familiar to her as the one that had disappeared last night touch the vice captain's senses. No...

She suddenly sat up and cast an almost frantic look around the cafeteria.

No, no, no, no...

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-20 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
"No, I hadn't heard that." Raine was honestly surprised; she thought Hitsugaya had.

Anything else she might have said on the topic got derailed when something else caught Momo's attention. "What's going on?"

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-20 06:54 am (UTC)(link)
There. Momo's eyes landed on Kira and... Ichimaru. She knew Kira well enough to tell he was close to popping on his former captain. If Ichimaru hurt Kira, she was going to...

The small shinigami's fingers tightened around the pencil so tight, it snapped in half. The half with the drawing tip was left on the table and she twirled the other half in her fingers, stilling it in a manner that made it seem more like knife than a broken pencil.

"A new shinigami had arrived this morning," Momo replied, her voice unusually low with a dangerous edge to it. Raine had never heard her like this and it never occurred to the vice captain that it might bother the healer. "Another vice captain and the third to the team Renji and I made up back in the Academy."

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-20 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
Raine was a little taken aback at her tone--she'd barely been able to imagine the little shinigami sounding that dangerous. Still, she replied after only a slight pause, "No longer a friend of yours, I'm guessing."

As much as she wanted to, she didn't think trying to actually stop Momo from doing anything to get herself sedated was a good idea...

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-20 07:14 am (UTC)(link)
"You are mistaken," the shinigami replied. "He is as much of a friend to me as Renji was. It is the proximity of a betrayer, his former captain, that has my ire."

Her eyes narrowed and she moved her head enough to get a better angle to see given only one working eye. "That one has done much to practically destroy my friend. I will not allow him to harm Kira any more."

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-20 07:30 am (UTC)(link)
Raine followed her gaze, trying to get an idea of what was going on. The former captain in question was someone she recognized--he didn't give her a good feeling. "I hope you're not planning to attack him alone." It was the closest she could get to This is really not a good time or place.

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-20 07:42 am (UTC)(link)
"To protect Kira, I will do anything for having released my zanpakutou upon him once when he was doing his rightful duty," Momo replied.

"The truce we had with Ichimaru is gone with the appearance of Kira." She paused. "At least it is for me. Both he and I were greatly abused by our captains."

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-20 07:53 am (UTC)(link)
Betrayal was always one of the hardest things to forgive. Raine nodded, hoping Momo wouldn't get hurt--nor her friend, since things were heating up by all appearances.

She didn't quite want to say "don't let me keep you", or warn that there was no way she could spare any healing spells right now, so she kept quiet for the moment. While she thought this was a bad idea... she could hardly claim she wouldn't be charging across the cafeteria to hurt Mithos badly if he were here.

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-20 08:19 am (UTC)(link)
As the confrontation between Kira and Ichimaru grew, Momo paid less attention to Raine and more to the other shinigami. Kira was angry, she could see that, and Ichimaru was... Ichimaru. The other vice captain didn't know the consequences of attacking during the day, though she really couldn't blame him for wanting to, so when it seemed like Kira was gathering himself to go for Ichimaru's throat, Momo got to her feet.

She took three quick steps down the aisle to where she knew Kira would be able to see her. She didn't risk going any closer given her own temper and emotional typhoon brewing inside, fearing she might foolishly attempt to bury the broken pencil she held into Ichimaru's neck.

Instead, she met Kira's eyes directly, the scarring around her left eye and the cast upon her left wrist visible to her fellow vice captain. She gave a sharp shake of her head, warning him to back off. She then quickly glanced at the nurses to see how many of them were paying attention to Kira and then back to her friend.

Not now, was the message conveyed by her expression. If Kira didn't get the message and still acted, Momo wasn't going to let Kira stand alone.

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
Raine just watched; if Momo was really determined to do damage, there... wasn't much she could do to stop her.

Another commotion caught her attention, she looked, and--saw it was just a food fight. Hadn't it been a week since the riot, now? She would prefer not to see another one of those.

Especially since that was the last day she'd seen Reinforce... dammit, this was shaping up to be an especially bad day already.

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
Kira seemed to have gotten the message she'd been trying to convey and returned to his seat. Was it her, or did he seemed... stunned? Then Momo remembered her injuries and sighed. She watched for a moment longer and then, upon seeing Rangiku arrive, she returned to her seat at the table.

'My apologies," she murmured, "Kira almost did something very unwise." She sighed. "This is going to be a very long day."

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:10 am (UTC)(link)
Raine nodded, hoping she didn't look overly depressed. "It usually is. I've been here for... just over two weeks, I think, but it's getting hard to remember." And technically speaking, I'm a little young to be losing track of the passing of days.

How much longer would they be here?

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:18 am (UTC)(link)
"I think it's been close to three for me, but again, the odd time fluctuations has worn on me," the shinigamu replied.

She looked up at her food before sighing and pushing it further away, her attention turning to the broken pieces of her pencil. She took the pointed end and started to draw, just sketchy figures to start with. Maybe if she started to draw, something would come out on its own.

"Sage-sensei," she said quietly after a moment, "I'm afraid Renji's death is about to cause a drastic shift in the paradigm of Art & Crafts. I think I may end up contributing to it, and yet the thought does not bother me."

She paused. "That bothers me."

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:21 am (UTC)(link)
"How so?" Raine didn't know if the ever-smiling one was in that club, but if so... that would be another factor.

Clubs undergoing dramatic changes, or outright dissolving, was probably inevitable over time. Not that it was a good thing, depending on the circumstances, but it happened.

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Up until now, we shinigami have been doing our duty," Momo replied quietly, not looking up. "Sure, we've made connections with the others, friends and such, but our driving force has been duty."

Her pencil paused as she stared at what had started to take on the form of Renji. "Last night, this place took something personal from us. He may have died in the course of his duty, something all shinigami understood and accepted, but this place..."

"I believe that whereas duty will never leave the shinigami it will no longer be our driving force."

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:30 am (UTC)(link)
"What do you think it will be replaced with?" All Raine could think of was vengeance. Considering what she'd seen of the shinigami, that might not be a very comforting thought.

Whatever it takes to get out of here, the darker side of her said. And even more of her than usual agreed.

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Anger." Momo's eyes rose to meet Raine's, giving the healer her first direct look at the deadened eye she now sported.

"Hatred."

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
Both passions far hotter than duty.

...All right, romance novels really are bad for the brain.

"It's understandable," she said quietly. Losing someone like Renji--it didn't sound like something any of them would get over.

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:45 am (UTC)(link)
Anger was an emotion Momo had once had a few affairs with during the course of her existence. She'd never felt almost comfortable with it until recently. And now...

"This may or may not come as a surprise, but I've never experienced true hatred until coming here." Her gaze moved across the cafeteria. "This place has changed me..."

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 07:57 am (UTC)(link)
"It's changing a lot of us, I think." Raine was trying not to let it happen, it would not be a change for the better, but considering this place was made up of most of her worst nightmares...

At least she hadn't seen any friends die. Or fallen into the pond.

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 08:05 am (UTC)(link)
"Shinigami aren't supposed to change," Momo replied. "With how long out existences are and the duty we hold, we're not supposed to change to the point where things may take priority over duty."

"Imagine how existence would be if the death gods no longer placed their duty above all else?" It would throw the universe into unbalance. It would bring about catastrophic consequences... It would endanger everything.

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 08:10 am (UTC)(link)
"A lot of things happen that shouldn't. My entire world is in danger--the one I call home as well as the one I was born on." Raine was tired; she'd explain if asked, but for now, it was such a long story she didn't want to go into it.

The origin of all that was a death that shouldn't have happened, too...

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-21 08:25 am (UTC)(link)
Momo was quiet for a moment. "When a world is in danger of destruction, it is because a balance was upset. Someone placed personal gains above what should happen."

She knew she didn't understand what was happening in Raine's world, but she did understand balances and multiple planes. "I doesn't make it right, but it also doesn't make it wrong. People with power must be careful, lest they abuse it. Many times without even knowing they are."

Her eyes dropped to the journal before her. "It is when certain sacrifices become acceptable that there is a problem."

[identity profile] per-ardua.livejournal.com 2008-11-22 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
You have no idea. Raine sighed. "Yes, that's certainly true. Sometimes there's no choice, but someone sacrificing themselves deliberately... should only be a last resort."

She'd explain about Colette later, if she was asked. Now felt too much like changing the subject.

[identity profile] hajike-tobiume.livejournal.com 2008-11-22 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
"That depends on the person's duty and whether they fully understand what their sacrifice accomplishes," Momo replied. "I, for example, am well aware of my duty and understand the circumstances in which my life means nothing compared to the situation around me."

She sighed. "But people are passionate, emotional creatures. We rarely ever take the time to think things through before acting. Even shinigami are like this. I'd say that had to do with once having been human, but the nobles are even worse about it than a commoner like me."

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