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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"...Uh... well, they only target... virgins," Hokuto admitted. She glanced at Senna, but chose not to outright ask; the implied question was clear enough. "They'll leave me alone."

Embarrassing to have to talk about, but it was nice to be safe this time!

"Well. Hell." Senna sighed with a half-shrug, seeming pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. "I guess I'm up for grabs." Scratching the back of her neck, she added wryly, "I would think."

Hefting the wooden spear in her hands, she glanced at Orihime before looking back at Hokuto. "So we're not fighting? Where are we trying to get to?"

"It's good you'll be safe." Orihime added, since she and Senna were targets. Or, she thought so anyway. Senna didn't seem very sure if she was a target. Just how close had she and Ichigo --

"I'm not sure, but I want to take a look and make sure those people are alright." Orihime replied, touching her hair clips absently. "I'll be right back. You two can go on without me, if you want. Abarai-san is important but..." he's already dead.

"I should go with you," Hokuto said quickly. "You'll need someone to cover you." No offense to Orihime, but she really didn't seem like a fighter.

It meant Senna almost had to come with them, but there was safety in numbers anyway. Hokuto didn't mind if she didn't. Turning to her, she asked, "Are you a shinigami?" If she knew Renji, then she probably did, and it would mean she didn't need to bother with much of a skill/power explanation.

Senna looked towards where Orihime was refering. Was that a kid over there... no two kids. No way was Senna not jumping in, especially, if Orihime was going over there, too. She might not have known the girl that much, but she was still someone Senna would like to know, like to be closer with. "Yeah," she added enthusiastically to Hokuto's response, "I'll come--"

And then there was a breeze.

She recognized the Shinigami from before, the one who had led them here, but Senna didn't see her, just felt her as she spirited away. Flash-steps? Didn't Hitsugaya say that the Shinigami here coughed up blood if they had to use it? Why the hell would she risk that? Very distracted, Senna turned to look towards the building. Why--

The purple-haired girl felt it then. Maybe it was because she was both Shinigami and Shinenju, or maybe just because she didn't usually bother to focus on stuff like that, but she felt it now. A presence that had just dwindled down to nothing. One that she knew. Knew as well as she would Rukia or Renji. And now it was completely gone.

Eyes wide, she kept staring towards the building. It wasn't as if they were close. Hell, she feared him more than anything, and maybe that was it, maybe that was why she couldn't believe that someone that strong, that commanded such presence was gone. If he fell....

And in the middle of the outside battlefield, where virgin-eating birds attacked children and their family, Senna finally realized that her paradise wasn't something that was good. "...Hitsugaya."

She didn't want to drag either of them into it, but Orihime knew she was no fighter and she was grateful for the help - it meant she could focus more on healing the ones who might be injured. "Thank you, I would --"

If she hadn't seen the shinigami use flash step before, she might not have realized where they'd gone. But why would they? Senna answered the question before she could voice it. She didn't have to ask if he was still alive. One look at the other girl's face told her enough.

And just like all those times before, crying or running around with no direction wasn't going to help anyone. Tomorrow, she had to be with Matsumoto. Tonight... She tried talking, since the other girl had shied away from her hand before. "Senna-san, if you hurry you should be able to catch them. Do you want to go with them, or come with me to help those people? If something was strong enough to... they might need you both."

The bird was already down anyway, and almost finished she thought. Unless more came right away, they would be alright if she could get them all inside. That was it. She had to focus on what was right in front of her.

"No..." Hokuto whispered, barely audible. She was almost sure that a shinigami killed here would simply be returned to Soul Society--maybe not unharmed, but safe and sound. Still, she could guess how devastating it would be to see it happen to a loved one and not know if they were okay. And Momo... her throat closed. When Landel's finished breaking a person, they vanished.

And she could far too easily imagine Momo breaking over this. Worse, she knew a lot of people had depended on Hitsugaya. Renji dying had been bad enough, but him too, the very next night?

Please... she said silently, not even knowing who she was praying to. Please don't let this do as much damage as it could. Please.

Senna was blinking, trying to gain a mental foothold in the crumbling space around her. She couldn't think, couldn't accept... and couldn't continue like this.

She shook her head slowly, hearing herself respond somewhere far away. "No... they wouldn't want me there. It's not like....

"I'd be unwelcome," her voice finished with a note of finality.

And it was, wasn't it? Final. With Hitsugaya... gone, there was no one here to know who she was. To know that she should have been destroyed. But should she have been destroyed to begin with? Her talk with Demyx, and Ichigo's resolute belief that she had a right to exist, pulled at her. And now... no one would say otherwise.

It seemed a high price.

"It doesn't matter if you're welcome or not. You should do what you want to do." Orihime's voice was gentle and resolute. Try as she might, she couldn't just yell like Ichigo or Renji - and in Senna's current state, she wasn't sure that would be enough to get through to her. It had always mattered before, being polite and welcome and wanted, but this was somehow more important than all of that. "Everyone here needs all the help they can get."

She turned to Hokuto, her previous resolve crumbling into worry and sadness. She bowed quickly. "Please..." Please what? They barely knew each other and she didn't know what to ask. She glanced at Senna, and hoped the other girl would understand. Stay with her. "I have to go."

Orihime turned and ran.

Hokuto hesitated, but Orihime didn't seem to need her and it looked like Senna might. She nodded to the girl, and let her go.

To Senna, "She's right." Her voice came out very quiet, but she was managing not to cry. "If you want to go... do it, no matter what other people might say." She didn't understand what was going on, but Senna was a shinigami, and if the others liked her or not, she should probably go join them. "I can't flashstep... well, obviously... but if you want company, I'll go too."

Senna watched Orihime go; the purple-haired girl silent for once. It seemed like a lot to deal with, the outside part of her reasoned. Being something that's not supposed to exist, dying, coming here, no Ichigo, Rukia disappearing, Renji dying, Hitsugaya... still too soon... and it seemed like it was a lot. Orihime was using some strange power, but it seemed like they were going to be all right.

So she should....

Maybe Orihime was right. Maybe there was something still there, and she should go help. Maybe she should go, and for once, prove that she wasn't a coward. Maybe....

Damn.

Her eyes focused, though her voice still sounded far-off to her as she turned to Hokuto. "I'm going. You can come if you want," she said, then headed inside at a jog.

[skipping to here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/517557.html?thread=43371445#t43371445)

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Nightshift 37: Soccer/Recreational Field

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