damned_institute | Nightshift 37: Soccer/Recreational Field

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Nightshift 37: Soccer/Recreational Field

[from here.]

Since the recreational field was quiet tonight, Phoenix found himself pausing briefly between doors, glancing up at the sky. It was what the sky looked like on television, pitch blackness interrupted by bright points of starlight, which was what really made him stop in the first place, really. He'd spent his entire life in Los Angeles. He didn't expect anything from the night sky but a dark, dusky rose, dotted with perhaps five valiant stars, assorted satellites, and the blinking slow-motion of airplanes coming and going from LAX. Seeing the sky the way he'd always known it was supposed to look pulled at him strangely. There wasn't supposed to be a single thing about this place that was beautiful, but there were the stars, cold and twinkling and completely unfamiliar.

He turned away abruptly, walking quickly for the next door before he could stare any longer. This wasn't the time to get caught up in things like that.

[to here.]

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Ururu had been getting to her feet when Fai-san suddenly picked her up. It took the girl a moment to understand just what was happening, and when she did, Ururu immediately shook her head.

"No! It's not dead yet, and Kurogane-san already got hurt!" Ururu had seen for herself how the ghost touched him, and the deep mark left behind on his neck. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt, especially when she could still fight. "Please let me go, Fai-san. I want to help!"

Especially now. If Kurogane got hurt because of her, Ururu wasn't sure what she'd do.

"It's hurt, Ururu-chan. If we stay longer, we might all get hurt," Shiki said, trying to reason with the little girl. "You've done a great job so far. But you're hurt, and Kurogane-san's hurt, and the odds are against us. It's as important to know when to run as it is to know when to fight.

Besides - we have a good chance now. You and Fai-san and Kurogane-san and I all weakened it. I'll bet it won't follow if we go inside the other way," she added, dodging the creature's wings as she moved next to the pair. "We don't need to wait any longer."

Though the aquila had no desire to be hurt any further, it was also ravenously hungry and surrounded by potential food sources, as well as maddened by its own injuries. Its smaller prey had been lost now, dragged away by one of the others, but the largest one was charging it now.

The avian turned its head so that it could see Kurogane with its good eye, its beak gaping and wings mantling as it prepared for his approach. It didn't bother trying to dodge or fly away, instead it seemed to almost welcome the man, allowing itself to be knocked over - for that freed its talons to grab at him and beak to snap, trying to drive into his temptingly appetizing flesh.

Kurogane only paid attention to when Fai grabbed the girl and left, then kept his attention completely on the battle from then on. Hopefully they'd take the hint this time and get out of there.

While they did, or should, Kurogane continued his rush and slammed the bird without much trouble, but the lack of resistance there made things worse. The thing was smarter than it looked, and Kurogane knew the moment he hit that it had allowed him to get in close. It was trying for an easy meal.

Keeping close to it but moving as he did to avoid any major damage, Kurogane worked at finding an opening. The thing had to be kept to the ground if he wanted any chance of finishing it off, so Kurogane could deal with some gashes. He finally found what he needed when the beast's beak made a snap for his "Sword" arm. "Like I'll let you!" he snarled, then shoved the broken crutch into its mouth, forcing it down its throat as far as he could.

Yuuhi was torn. Ururu desperately wanted to go fight and Kurogane was struggling with the bird. If he let her go, she might get hurt, but if Kurogane had to deal with it, things would only get worse. While it told him that Kuro-pyon was still worthy prey for the virgin birds, teasing was out of the question at the moment.

When the bird went toppling over only to start snapping and clawing at the ninja, Yuuhi's grip on Ururu weakened in his surprise and though he knew he would only have himself to blame if she was hurt, he let her go, following quickly after. Even if he would rather run, if everyone else was intent on fighting, he knew he couldn't just leave. It was contradictory, he knew, but when wasn't he?

He set his jaw to a grim smile as she ran once more at the bird, trying to land a hard kick at its exposed belly now that Kurogane had knocked it over. The targets were few with the beak and the flailing talons, but if nothing else, maybe it would divert the thing's attention long enough for Kurogane to kill it.

Ururu wanted to argue that it wasn't so bad, that she wasn't so hurt that she couldn't help. She hadn't passed out like Kurogane had, after all. She's just gotten her leg pinned, and she could still use it well enough to fight. And Kurogane wasn't coming. Ururu could see the fight even though she was in Fai-san's arms, and she could see that Kurogane wasn't running.

But Fai-san did something then that surprised Ururu too. He let her go.

The girl dropped to the ground and immediately ran at the bird, calling out a thank you to the man over her shoulder before she realized Fai-san was coming too. She had much the same idea as Fai-san, though not to cause a distraction. Ururu just wanted to hurt the bird as much as possible, so it'd be easier to kill. So she aimed in almost the same place as Fai-san, punching hard at the belly, hoping it'd do good. She didn't think it'd be able to dodge, at least. That was something.

Shiki was honestly surprised that Fai let Ururu go. He had expected the tall blond to run as soon as he got the order. Well, if they were all going to fight it? She wanted to pull her weight, too.

Using another pair of those blunt scissors wouldn't do much good, and there wasn't enough weight to the rest of the objects in her bag to do much damage. Therefore, she decided to do as the others were and aim for the bird's belly.

She got into a fighting stance and, with the leg that hadn't been injured too badly, aimed a kick just to the left of where Ururu had hit it. It didn't seem to be dodging, and she reminded herself that it was just like fighting Noise - it was trying to hurt them and needed to be erased. That was that.

The aquila's powerful beak snapped down on the crutch before it could get too far into its mouth, but that left it unable to bite at Kurogane like it so wanted to do. And now it was starting to regret allowing itself to be so grounded, as with one large human on top of it and the three smaller ones swarming from the sides.

It thrashed and flailed as hard as it could with wings and talons alike, trying to both pull the crutch out of Kurogane's hands and push him away, but it was hampered by the attack on its side. It was too big, too hampered to be able to dodge, and as it felt a rib snap under impact it became only increasingly frantic to get away.

There went his weapon again. What he wouldn't give for a proper sword for a change?!

Knowing that there would be no point in trying to fight the bird for his weapon back, in one piece anyway, Kurogane held it hard and let the bird hold on as it would. He still had it on the ground this way and was going to keep it there until he could be sure it wouldn't get at anyone he was defending. It shouldn't have taken too much to manage that if the others had done as he'd said and left, but they just couldn't listen could they? No, that would have been asking too much.

Instead for yelling at them for not listening and being idiots, Kurogane chose to go with it, forcing the bird's head away while the others went for the body.

As much as he might waver in indecision, he was too involved now to back out (now where had he heard that before?). It was hard to completely avoid the flailing talons and their razor-sharp tips clipped his upper arm, sending him back a step. The thing only had an advantage if it was in the air, otherwise it was outnumbered and sure to be quickly put down. He just had to find a way to keep it grounded.

He aimed his next kick for the bird's left wing, high in the bones that supported it, aiming to break them if possible. It was a shame none of them had any proper weapons.

All three hits connected, and Ururu could feel the bird's bones giving way under her fist. That was a very good thing, because it meant that they could win the fight. But it was too soon to be happy, because a moment latter there was blood in the air, and a quick glance to the side told her just whose it was.

Fai-san had gotten hurt.

Ururu could feel her heart racing at the thought, but it didn't look too bad. Even though he stumbled, Fai-san recovered quickly, and kicked at it's wing. Kurogane was holding the bird's head back, and the little girl dashed back, both to avoid the talons, and to take advantage of the newly open spot. Her leg still ached though, and a claw managed to get her across the chest. Ururu let out a little cry, but she didn't let that stop her. Not now, when things were almost finished.

She had to be careful. But she had to end it. The bird was an enemy, and it wanted to hurt her friends. The cut was bleeding, but it wasn't a lot. She could still fight.

So she ran around Shiki, ignoring the pain, and aiming a sharp kick at the bird's revealed neck.

Shiki cried out as one of the bird's claws slashed across her shoulder, but they were too close to defeating it to stop now. She gritted her teeth against the pain, trying to put it aside. She'd show everyone what she was really made of. She was determined to do so.

She looked to see where the others were, and decided she wasn't going to risk kicking one of her friends by going directly at the bird's neck. Instead, she aimed her second kick just below where the others were, hoping it would just add to the damage. She followed it up with a quick third one.

The aquila was on the ground, surrounded, and beseiged. Even though its flailing had drawn blood, spurring its hunger to new heights, it could no longer adequately fight off the attacking humans.

It gave a shriek of pain at Fai's and Shiki's strikes, the fragile bones of its wing snapping beneath the blow, the other wing flailing all the harder as it struggled in vain to escape. But the cry abruptly cut off into a gurgling choke when its windpipe collapsed under the kick delivered by the deceptively small child.

Though the creature yet thrashed and fought, this time it knew there was little that could be done, and its movements grew weaker by the second.

She told herself it was the wind that made her eyes water. Hitsugaya...

By the time Orihime got to the group, they had the bird down and almost defeated defeated but they were all taking a lot of damage. She stayed back, not wanting to disrupt their concentration, but she recognized them as soon as she got close enough. It was Lost and Found. Her friends.

And Ururu had just crushed the bird's throat, so there would be no more fight left in it soon - but it was still clawing. Without thinking even, three of her shunshunrikka darted into the group and a triangular green shield appeared between the bird's talons and the people on top of it. It wouldn't injure the bird any further, but it would keep those talons from tearing into her friends while it died.

"Hey." Orihime said, smiling a little wearily. "Sorry I'm late."

Kurogane didn't like not being the one dealing the blows, and he especially didn't like that it was a couple of girls (and the magician) who were.

When the creature's neck cracked, Kurogane finally released the almost completely shredded crutch, but before he could take the chance to do anything more he was forced away by something green. "What's it doing?" he muttered, but then heard the voice and, sighing, he looked to see the orange-haired girl there. Orihime may've been one of the girls that he could tolerate more, but not tonight. Not when he'd had to babysit the other two and Fai already.

"You're not late," he said first, then turned and started for the door, no questions and no pauses to check the scratches the bird had gotten on him or the splinters he knew were in his palm, "We're going," he caught Shiki's eyes to indicate that he meant her.

He'd felt much better than yesterday, but with all the running around tonight, after the fight he was a little winded. He wasn't terribly concerned with his own exhaustion though, as he stumbled back from the broken bird. Orihime's magic would keep the others safe, hopefully, until the creature died, but Kurogane was already trying to get moving and leave with Shiki.

He'd seen Ururu get scratched and it looked like Shiki was injured too. Kurogane had taken plenty of injury himself, though he knew the man wouldn't admit it. His own arm still bled slowly, but he hadn't even bothered to look at it. Much as Yuuhi might want to split off from the group, or let Kurogane and the others go their own way, he didn't want the girls to go without at least letting Orihime look at their injuries. Granted, the field probably wasn't the best place for that, but...

"We should get everyone inside," he suggested, giving Orihime a half-hearted smile. "The girls have some scratches," he added, though he kept silent about Kurogane's injuries. His own didn't even enter into the equation. Besides, with his black gloves on, the blood wouldn't be terribly visible in the dim lighting. A few days ago he might've said something, but this place left him uncertain, and Kurogane's recent seriousness(as opposed to the death threats yelled at the top of his lungs or swinging his sword around like he had something to prove) made him hesitate. He did, however, make sure he mentioned the girls' wounds loud enough that Kurogane might pause, if nothing else, long enough for Orihime to check on Shiki.

He moved closer to Ururu, hoping that since the bird was dying, she wouldn't get too much closer and she'd let someone take a look at her injuries. He'd received similar cuts the last time they'd run into the birds and he wouldn't wish them on anyone, especially Ururu.

There was a feeling of satisfaction when Ururu finally managed to do something good; the bird choked when she kicked it, and the girl pushed off the neck to a safe distance immediately afterward. Even though she had gotten hurt and she was bleeding, Ururu and her friends had done it, making sure the bird wouldn't hurt them or anyone else.

The idea of actually being able to help, to do it right, was a huge relief for the little girl.

It wasn't dead yet, but a shield appeared that she recognized right away. Turning to Orhime, she was glad to see that the older girl looked unharmed. "Hello, Orihime-san." She agreed that Orihime wasn't late, but there were some things she didn't like so much about what Kurogane said.

"Um, where are you going?" If it was just inside like Fai-san said, then that would be okay. But if Kurogane was going off on his own, that might be bad. They were hurt, after all, and Ururu nodded about the scratches. But it seemed that he'd forgotten something else--something that Ururu, being who she was, was happy enough to add in. "Kurogane-san got hurt too. There's a ghost in the Sun Room that touched him. Now he's got a bad mark around his neck."

Fai-san didn't need to worry, though. Ururu knew when something was dying, since she'd seen it often enough. She knew she didn't have to fight anymore.

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/532994.html?view=43280386#t43280386)]

The bird creature was as good as dead by the time that she reached them, the only movement being its death throes as it twitched ineffectually on the ground. Orihime was there already, beginning to heal. She half wanted to drag the girl off, find her captain and beg Orihime to help him, but she already knew that it was far too late for any kind of healing.

She touched Orihime's shoulder lightly. "I'll help with healing if you need me," she said quietly, strained from attempting to maintain her composure. "I'll keep guard against anything else for now."

She didn't feel like talking, just gave a nod of acknowledgment to the others standing around and headed off by herself.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/522796.html?thread=43383340#t43383340)]

Shiki heard Kurogane's warning, but chose - for the moment - to ignore it. She could sense immediately that something was wrong with Rangiku, and she wanted to check on her. "I'll be right back, Kurogane-san. I won't be far, I just want to check on another friend, and ask her to take a look at this." She gestured to the cut on her shoulder as she did. "You can come with me, if you want."

[jumping down here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/522796.html?thread=43383340#t43383340)]

Kurogane wasn't stupid. He knew the girls and the whole lot of them had taken hits after that, and he didn't need the magician's intentional words on it as a reminder. But that didn't mean he was just going to stand there and let Orihime try and heal every last one of them as he knew she would attempt to do. That's why he'd moved to leave first, knowing himself that he could deal with whatever injuries he'd sustained. Calling Shiki to leave was both the same and a different matter altogether.

They had a goal, and it was Shiki's goal at that, so like him she shouldn't want to waste time anywhere. Also, her most obvious injury was not as severe as the smaller girl's (and likely the magician's) own. They had faced the bird longer, taken more hits, and Orihime could stay with them and do what she could if she wanted. All he and Shiki needed were some sheets from a room and they'd be fine enough.

The rest may've thought differently than that, but Kurogane had his reasons. He didn't want to rely on the healer anymore than he had to. None of them should want to either. She wasn't always going to be there whenever something happened, and stressing her every night wouldn't help things.

"To a room," he answered for Ururu. He didn't stop walking or look back at all as he spoke or continued speaking, "And my neck's not a problem right now. You look after those two and I'll see to her." He was not doing well to say who he was speaking to with his back to them, but he believed they weren't so dense as to not figure it out eventually. Orihime would have looked after the rest even if he'd not said anything.

But it seemed Shiki didn’t want to follow orders for the moment. He didn’t scold her for going off towards the other woman he’d heard come and go though – he had told her not to hesitate in her decisions after all – but it still wasted time to be letting themselves get distracted. “Fine,” he muttered. Either way they were away from Orihime and wouldn't have to be pressured into letting her help.

He turned from his pathway to the door and followed after the girl.

There was nothing more it could do - even the slight revenge it might have taken on the humans was denied it now. The aquila's talons struck the shield, scrabbling in vain to reach any of those it had sought as prey, before its movements finally slowed and stopped and the creature went limp at last.

Orihime called her shunshunrikka back as soon as her friends moved away from the bird. She listened mostly, nodding in the right places. She was almost certain that they were all injured to varying degrees even if the boys were being stubborn about mentioning it again.

Rangiku didn't even give her the chance to talk or try to comfort. Shiki and Kurogane would look after her while their wounds were being looked at, so for now Orihime thought it would be best if they got inside. She would talk to her in the morning. Rangiku had to survive the night.

Casting one last worried look in the woman's direction, she turned back to Fai and Ururu. "They'll be ok, I think. Lets go back inside before more birds come."

Yuuhi watched them leave, offering a wave that likely wouldn't be seen before he let his hand drop to his side. If Kurogane wanted to be left alone, that was probably best for now. Even if he was sure to hear about it later, no matter what it was really about.

He turned to pick up Ururu, tucking his arm under her knees, the other at her back in a sort of princess hold. With the injury on her chest, he probably ought to agitate that as little as possible. To Orihime he gave a nod and hurried quickly toward the door.

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/521884.html?thread=43401372#t43401372)]]

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Nightshift 37: Soccer/Recreational Field

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