damned_institute | Night 37: Main Hall 2-West

It said something about her mental state when 'Shinigami' didn't register as her for a minute.

Senna blinked for a moment, then, confused, looked at Hokuto. "Uh...?"

If it made Momo a little better though, she'd do it, just this time. Senna stood shakily, averting her gaze quickly from the gore it had landed on. Adjusting the spear in her hand, she took a few steps forward and peered into the dark.

There was nothing there. Nothing at all.

Uneasy, she looked back down at the Shinigami on the floor. "There's nothing there, Momo-san."

Hokuto looked too, gaze flicking quickly from Momo to the hall to avoid seeing any more of Hitsugaya's body than she already had. She didn't see... wait, what was that? Movement? She stood up carefully to look, and realized the walls were damaged. Momo's work, most likely.

She tried to kneel down again, but lost her balance and had to move fast to keep from falling. She managed, but in the process automatically looked down... and saw her shoe nudge something that looked like a piece of skin. Or an internal organ. Bile surged in her throat and she bolted, trying to get to somewhere out of the way. She skidded again on the blood, and guts, when she stopped, but managed to stay upright by catching herself on the wall. She barely managed to lean over before she threw up, gagging so hard she nearly choked. When she'd finally stopped retching she staggered backwards, then moved enough to lean against the wall in a relatively clear spot.

She was shaking, tears running down her cheeks, and try as she might could not pull herself together enough to keep a lookout. Senna wasn't in the greatest shape either, but hopefully she had it in her to protect them all; Hokuto just couldn't. She could probably obey orders, but she wasn't in any shape to act on her own.

Momo stared after Senna as the other shinigami made her way down the hallway. She had a hard time focusing on it with only half vision and the pounding headache that was making her see white spots.

"Nothing..." Her words were quiet. The hallway was quiet... until Hokuto threw up.

The sound actually made Momo flinch a little and she brought her hand to her temple, squeezing her eyes shut. "Do you... have a name, shinigami?"

Senna was more than confused. It seemed as if Momo had just shut off all of her emotions in less time than it had took for...

She glanced to the side. Well, for Hokuto to lose her dinner.

She wasn't complaining about the change of pace though. Unemotional sad girl compared to breaking sad girl was preferable right now, and it gave something for Senna to focus on, which was something she was thankful for.

"I'm Senna, Momo-san." She didn't speak other than that. The Shinigami seemed like a ticking time-bomb, and for once, Senna wasn't inclined to give it a nudge to see what happened.

Hokuto was sure she should go closer again, but... no way. She looked around, at least; she wasn't sure she'd notice if a rotting direwolf stalked into sight, but she was trying.

I'll apologize later... New or not, this was no way for a warrior to react. As inexperienced as she was, she wasn't a total newbie, and did her best not to act like it.

The vice captain had indeed shut her emotions off for the moment. She was almost as bad as when she'd shut down after her visit from Aizen. Almost. Sadly, the only one to have seen her in that state was not dead in her arms.

"Senna-san," she repeated slowly. "You are... the unassigned one. New recruit from Academy, yes?"

Again, those that knew her wouldn't have been able to identify Momo by voice alone. This was not the voice of the cheerful, compassionate vice captain they all knew. No, this was a broken shell that had been glued back together once already There might not be enough adhesive in existence to put her back into shape this time.

Momo turned her head toward Hokuto, but all her friend could see was the scarred and lifeless eye. The vice captain knew she was there; she didn't need to see her. She just needed the girl to know she was being addressed when Momo spoke her next word.

"Leave."

"Uh..." And here was the catch again. The same thing that had caught when she tried to explain herself with... Hitsugaya. Senna couldn't... wouldn't... lie. But she would not reveal herself a second time. So what was she, if she was a Shinigami that had never gone to the Academy?

A shock of orange hair gave her her answer. But could she pull it off?

"Actually, Momo-san..." Senna tugged at her hair, nervous in oh-so-many ways. "I've never been to the Academy." Truth. "I became a Shinigami for the first time in the human world." Truth. "I'm more like... um, Ichigo."

Well. All things considering, that was sort of true as well.

Senna looked over at Hokuto, more nervous than she was a second ago. Would she actually leave her friend?

Edited 2008-12-30 05:36 (UTC)

"What?" Hokuto looked at her, honestly confused. Was there something Momo needed to say, or do, that was a shinigami secret--? Being an intended new recruit didn't give her any privileges, of course, but...

And, honestly, she didn't know where they were. Upstairs, obviously, but while she'd been here before she couldn't remember the layout at all.

Besides that, she wanted to stay, for Momo's sake.

"Leave," Momo repeated, her voice not changing. "I will not tell you again."

It seemed callous to order her friend away like that, but Momo was more concerned about her safety than she did about being nice. The shinigami was broken and some things... they just were overlooked in her haste to keep one of the few people she had left safe - the human, the one that needed protected more than anything else right then as duty was still part of Momo.

Turning her head back toward Senna, Momo rubbed her temple again and shook her head some in an attempt to clear away that nasty headache. It didn't help.

"You are... like the ryoka..." Momo forced herself to think that through. She really didn't know anything about how the ryoka had become shinigami other than it had something to do with Rukia transferring her powers to a human - a crime - temporarily which had happened to NOT be temporary for some reason. "Tell me... about your zanpakutou."

She shot Hokuto an altogether desperate look, one that said, if you knew Senna, please don't leave me with the potential crazy and murderous Shinigami. Or, damn that looks good, you should give me that hamburger. Equally desperate situations there.

"Yeah, I am," she responded evenly. That went smooth. "Mirokumaru can control and create tornados once it's released."

Senna looked over at Hokuto again. "Um. Shouldn't she stay? You guys are friends, right?"

Hokuto nodded, and took a few breaths. She wasn't sure what was worse, the smell in the area or the taste in her mouth. "We are. If you won't tell me to leave again, Momo-chan--good. I'm not going anywhere without you." It would have been nice if her voice wasn't so weak, but she would take what she could get.

Friends didn't abandon friends. Especially not in times like this.

"That name... Mirokumaru..." Momo's voice trailed off as her brow furrowed. She couldn't place it, but there was something about Senna's zanpakutou that sounded familiar. Like she had heard the name of it sometime before... a long time ago... maybe back when she was still in the Academy. It didn't make sense to her and... she didn't care enough to try and place why it sounded so familiar, especially when Hokuto refused to leave.

Momo's eye twitched. "Sumeragi-san..." The vice captain's voice was low and warning, yet still void of emotion - for now.

Senna glanced at Momo nervously. "Yeah. Mirokumaru."

Hokuto seemed to be standing her ground, and for the Senna gave her credit. ~~The girlfriend of Alita had to be pretty hardcore, after all.~~ Senna didn't say anything, and just let the two sort it out.

Though she did sneak Hokuto a smile for reassurance. No matter what Momo said, having friends by your side was always better.

I am so going to regret this. "Friends--and teammates--stick together." Hokuto raised her chin and looked Momo in the eye; she knew exactly what she was doing, and damn the consequences.

And as she'd told Momo some time ago, that mindset was nothing new. The shinigami should know by now just how stubborn Hokuto could be, and how loyal.

"..."

Lucky for Senna, Hokuto had grasped all of Momo's attention save for the portion she had dedicated to the body of her beloved. She did not notice the other shinigami's nervous look. As for Hokuto, the vice captain's eye twitched again and she turned her head to look toward Hokuto again, still only gracing the girl with her dead eye.

"They should, but they never do," she replied, her voice finally wavering a little as a small amount of some emotion made its way into Momo's voice. "It's a lie... it's all a lie. Promises... Lies."

Senna was going to just let them sort it out, but she couldn't stay silent to something like that.

"It's not always a lie." She had the memories of heartbreak and loss; she didn't just believe everything was candy and roses. "People are there for you the best they can be."

She looked vaguely in the direction of Hitsugaya's body, letting her eyes unfocus. "They do the best they can. They try their hardest... to protect you."

"And if I chose to leave, what would that make me?" Hokuto pointed out. She was here for Momo... if her friend wanted her to be or not.

On a more practical level, she wasn't in any shape to leave alone. She was leaning against the wall for support, still shaking slightly, and fighting to keep from throwing up again; she'd already brought up so much stomach acid that her throat hurt. Anyway, all that mattered was she wasn't going anywhere.

"They make promises they can't keep," Momo snarled, pulling Hitdugaya's body even closer to her, the firebird on her cast starting to disappear under the captain's blood. "They promise they'll always be there to protect and then... they go do something stupid and can't keep their promises!"

Momo jerked around, the captain's body sliding a bit with her movement, and she focused eyes burning with anger and pain on Hokuto. "I won't be like that. I won't, Hokuto. I don't want you here!"

The emotions shown made everything a lot more clear.

"Don't leave," she said to Hokuto calmly; neither an order or a command. Senna didn't think the girl would, but she wanted to make sure that it didn't even cross her mind. She then looked at Momo.

"But they try. Even if... they do end up making stupid decisions, and they get people hurt. Get themselves hurt. They tried to keep their promise." Nothing she said would make anything better, and her words seemed flimsy. Senna didn't know how to reach Momo except by remaining here, by her side, through her anger and her pain.

Senna just wouldn't allow the Shinigami to be left alone. Even if Senna still thought they should move somewhere else.

Hokuto said softly, "I won't. I want to be here."

She was doing her best to keep eye contact... which meant when Momo shifted around, she got another glimpse of Hitsugaya's body. She tried, but once again turned away just before she threw up; this was far, far worse than the last time her vice-captain saw her lose it.

As she tried to get her breath back without retching yet again, she reflected that she was proving she wasn't in any condition to leave, anyway...

"I don't want to end up failing her like..." The words trailed off into a whisper as Hokuto threw up again.

"You can't even... you're better off... I don't CARE what you want," Momo said to Hokuto. The vice captain looked down at the body in her arms, her voice quiet and wavering. "A shinigami's primary duty is to protect humanity by maintaining the balance and stopping spiritual threats. Protect the humans. A captain and a vice captain are among the strongest of the shinigami and even then... I... I can't pro--"

Momo's head snapped up. "GET BACK TO YOUR ROOM WHERE YOU WON'T NEED ME! Hadou #1: Shou," the shinigami said, casting the spell out of frustration. There wasn't much reiatsu left in the vice captain so instead of the unseen force hitting Hokuto squarely enough to knock her down, it only managed the equivalent of a half-hearted shove backwards.

Momo's went wide with the realization that she'd just cast a destructive spell on Hokuto mere moments before she coughed up blood and doubled over the body on her arms. It was the most basic spell, but without the incantation, here it took a toll on her. Momo hated so much right then, even herself, and she stayed keeled over the body, a combination of wracking sobs and hoarse, painful coughs coming from her. She was too dizzy to sit up, too unfocused to even notice the blood dripping from her ear - a clear sign she'd overused her reiatsu.

Too much... Too much...

The shock of seeing a destructive spell used on another person froze Senna for a second. She looked at Hokuto, wide-eyed, to ask the girl, "Are you... alright?"

Stupid question. Of course she wasn't. She'd thrown up a few times, seemed to be in shock, and just got attacked by her friend. This had to stop, whether or not Hokuto thought it was best.

Senna marched back over to Momo, noticing her deteriorating condition. "You wanna help people? Want to protect people like her? Then take care of yourself." The view afforded her a clear shot of Hitsugaya, and her legs shook with the effort of standing. "This place, here, isn't safe. Staying here is going to make more of us get hurt.

"So get up." She told the Shinigami vice-captain. "And start doing your duty."

Hokuto closed her eyes for a moment and tried to meditate; she needed to calm down. The mere suggestion felt like a joke, but she could have further hysterics later.

And at least one of them was thinking... she had no idea what Senna's rank was, or if she had one, but even if ordering Momo around wasn't likely to go over well, someone had to take charge.

She had no idea what they were going to do with Hitsugaya's body, but... well, there was a chapel up here.

Had Momo been a different vice captain, a different shinigami, she may have struck Senna for saying what she did. Shinigami were proud beings and Senna... was like the ryoka, hadn't earned her position and held no seat, no rank. Momo... did not strike back, though if she was asked about it later she might admit that for a moment, a split second, retaliation was tempting. Yet another example of how much the small shinigami had changed since coming to this place. She never used to be this angry. She never ever before this place had hated. Hatred now burned with a passion inside her, underneath the pain and sorrow of having lost everything she held dear.

No, not everything. Just the most important thing.

Momo lifted her head to meet Senna's eyes, blood running down from the corner of her mouth. "I will not leave him here. Not even Aizen-sama, himself, could tear me away," she stated in a surprisingly even tone.

"Then don't," she stated, her voice softening. "Bring him with us." Even though there wasn't much left to bring.

Senna swallowed, steeling herself, then moved closer, holding out her arms cautiously. "Here. I'll help you... if you want."

Senna had no idea where to go... she was assuming back to their rooms, but she just wanted to leave this place. This place that had things that could kill a weakened Shinigami captain.

This place that was covered in death.

Night 37: Main Hall 2-West

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