damned_institute | Night 37: Main Hall 2-West

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Night 37: Main Hall 2-West

[from here]

Coming to a cross hallway, Falis stopped and knelt down again. In the darkness, she couldn't see where the hallway lead, nothing more than a few feet immediately in front of her. Unbeknown to her, the stairs she needed to go down to the first level were just to the right. Falis had the same feeling as she had back at that dead end, so she didn't think there was anything down that hallway.

Seeing some very faint light to the left, the hunter headed that way. Once she found light, she could get her bearings.

[to here]

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"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.

"We can..." Hokuto coughed, trying not to gag again. "We can take him to the chapel."

She could not get close enough to touch his body, she wasn't nearly strong enough, but she took off her jacket and held it out to Senna. It should be enough to wrap him in, and then they could move him.

It was just a gigai, yeah, but... it was still the body of their comrade. They couldn't just abandon it.

The chapel in this place was a mockery of a place humans went for comfort, but it was a place that has become a somewhat monster-free zone. Maybe it was a suitable substitute. And it was close.

"No," Momo said to Senna when the other shinigami offered to help her move Hitsugaya. "He is my burden to bear. Just as I held his hea--" She paused as her voice started to break before continuing. "Heart, I will do so with his body."

She turned her gaze back down to Hitsugaya, her finger tracing through the single patch of hair that shown white, untouched by the blood and gore about her.

Senna nodded, half expecting that answer. "Okay. Then I'll guard you both."

Senna was helluva glad for shock. Shock made her legs weak, and her body jittery, and her mind.... But it kept her closed off. Nothing hit her hard enough to stop right now. Though, she thought off-hand, she'd probably pass out once this was over. But for now, she tightened her grip on her spear, and stood straight.

She glanced between the two girls, indecisive in who to assist. In the end, she asked, "Momo-san, do you need help up? Hokuto-chan? Do you want help?"

"I'm... I'll manage." Hokuto didn't want to risk slowing down the one person who could defend them all. She didn't know if she was in shock or not; she was still shaking, but she felt cold enough so that might be the reason why. She was willing herself to keep as calm as possible, and the breathing exercises helped, at least a little. When she remembered to do them. They weren't supposed to be an effort, but right now...

The chapel wasn't far. Once they got there, they could relax. In theory.

"Senna," Momo said quietly, calling to the other shinigami, though she was still looking down at the body in her arms. She reached out to where her katana lay in the pool of blood, the firebird on her cast completely obscured now.

"If you are going to be a shinigami's honor guard, you must wield the weapon of one." She turned her eyes from Hitsugaya to Senna as she picked the sword up and held it out. It was no zanpakutou and didn't even resemble a soul cutter, unlike the other two katana with her right then, but it would do.

Senna nodded, solemn, then bowed to Momo for a brief moment before straightening to reach for the blade. The blood was sticky where it coated the grip, but it meant something. She might not have grasped exactly what it meant, but she knew this signified something.

She took a breath to steady herself further, then turned to Hokuto. The girl looked horrible. But Senna allowed Hokuto her pride by not pointing it out. "Hokuto-chan, I don't know where the chapel is. Can you lead us?"

Hokuto nodded, preferring not to speak unless she had to. Hopefully she could wait until morning to go into hysterics.

It was good to know she was needed for something, no matter how small. Warriors weren't supposed to need protection unless they were hurt, and she wasn't.

She vaguely realized she was being way too hard on herself, but it was difficult not to be.

Momo gave Senna a brief nod when the blade was taken. It was a temporary arming of the shinigami as that particular sword would soon no longer be Momo's, but Kira's, but it was far better than the wooden pole she currently had.

Now that it was decided that they would move, Momo was faced with the task of actually moving. Most of her just wanted to stay there and hold Hitsugaya, remembering the words he said to her, the way he held her earlier when she was letting herself be weak. She was afraid that if she moved him, those memories would die with him. The copy of Hyorinmaru caught Momo's attention then. She would have to move because they would not lose that sword; come morning, it would be the only thing Momo would have left of him.

The vice captain coughed again, hacking up a bit more blood, before she forced herself to let go of the body. It took a bit of effort and was clumsily done, but she removed the sheath from across Hitsugaya's back and picked up Hyorinmaru. She traced the star shaped tsuba before pulling off the cloth wrapped about the bun in her hair, causing it to fall out.

It was the only clean piece of cloth she could find and she would be damned if she would sheath that sword while it was covered in blood. The white cloth quickly turned red as she passed it over the blade. With a shink Hyorinmaru was put away and the sheath strapped across Momo's back just like Hitsugaya had worn it.

The cloth dropped into the pool of blood, Momo knelt next to the body and pulled the stained captain's haori tighter about him to keep all the parts within. Her arms went underneath the body and, pulling his rapidly cooling body tight o her chest, she tried to stand up only to stop with another coughing fit. Blood slipped out of the corner of her mouth again and she closed her eyes, fighting back dizziness. She wasn't sure if she could do this.

She had to, though.

"I'm okay," she said in a quiet, raw voice, tears starting to slip from her eyes again.

Senna watched her again. Said nothing, because there was nothing to say. Blinked back something, swallowed something else down, and stayed the way she was for the time being. Calm. Okay. Focused. She had her own duty to do, and she would protect them.

"Hokuto...," Senna whispered, not managing a larger voice at the moment. "Go."

Hokuto should have put her jacket back on, but her mind wasn't working properly; instead, she clutched it to her chest and nodded.

They weren't far from the chapel, thankfully, but it still took her a second to remember which way to go. She made certain to go slowly for Momo's sake, at least.

[[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/532989.html?thread=43433725#t43433725).]]

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Night 37: Main Hall 2-West

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