damned_institute | Night 41: Main Hallway, 1-West

Charade.

"I am quite calm. I've been imagining his reiatsu all day," Momo replied, her sword not wavering. "You are simply using my own mind against me. But I know you are not real; the dead do not come back to life here. You can never erase my memory of his dead body in my arms."

Her eyes hardened and she tightened her grip on the flag in her off hand, the one with the cast on it. "I have something I must do and you are delaying me. Step aside or I shall cut you to ribbons."

Damn. Was Hinamori originally this stubborn? He couldn't remember. All he could see was the blade still pointed at him. The strong intent behind that weapon pierced his heart better than any steel.

"Matsumoto already told me about the... other me..." he said. "She also told me how Landel kidnapped people from different times and places. I just arrived today. From my memories, I just left you in the 4th Division's infirmary, after we were betrayed by Aizen."

He didn't know how this Hinamori felt about Aizen, or if she was from a time before the former Captain's betrayal. The latter case would be bad. It might even mess up the time line, but Hitsugaya couldn't think about that now, not with Hinamori displaying such animosity towards him.

"I don't intend to get in your way. I just want to talk to you for a moment."

He lowered his rod as a gesture of good faith. Hitsugaya wanted to believe their relationship was strong enough that she wouldn't really attack him. That somehow she could feel past whatever she was feeling and see the truth, but he remembered when she had attacked him in the past. The real reason he lowered his weapon wasn't because he had faith in her; it was because attacking Hinamori was so abhorrent that he probably wouldn't forgive himself if he hurt her again.

At the mention of Aizen, Momo's eye twitched - the sightless one.

Maybe she wasn't imagining Hitsugaya's reiatsu. Maybe this really was another him. From the time this one said he came from, it was before her Hitsugaya. The tip of her sword wavered just slightly before she steadied it again.

"Then speak, but be brief. Time is never on our side," Momo replied. "Though, should you come within my sword's reach, I will end you unless I decide you are not a creature of this damned place using the face of the man I love against me."

Did she just say she was in love with him? Obviously, she wasn't very shy about her feelings. Hitsugaya tried to suppress a blush, but the warmth from his face told him he was failing. Wait, why was he blushing? Hinamori and him were strictly friends, fellow Shinigami. He never thought Hinamori would ever feel anything beyond friendship for him. After all, he wasn't blind to the adoration that she showered Aizen with. What the hell had she and his other self been up to while imprisoned here? Thinking about that made his brain feel like overheating.

"I-uh..." he sputtered. Hitsugaya coughed into his free hand, trying to buy some time for regaining his composure. "I just wanted to find out how you were doing. According to Matsumoto, you've been through a lot. I heard that Abarai died and Kuchiki disappeared. She also said several of your friends vanished. As a Captain, it's my responsibility to look out for the physical and mental well being of my comrades and subordinates."

Never mind the fact that Hinamori wasn't his subordinate; he would've wanted to check her condition even if she were a fellow captain. The protective tendency he felt towards his best friend would never vanish.

Was he... blushing? Momo was finding it very hard to believe that one of those creatures had the capacity to create such a realistic... reaction. She lowered her sword some.

"Renji died, then you died and then Signum died. I would have preferred vanished, Shiro-chan," Momo replied bluntly. "Then I would have been able to hold onto the shallow hope that maybe they'd been returned to their proper place."

"As for my well being, I am broken. I am a liability to any organization I may be associated with and will only end up getting people hurt. I only bring death to those close to me. If you are truly Hitsugaya Toshirou, stay away from me. I am not the woman you know, and you are not the man I love."

"Baka, don't ever think that," he said, dropping all pretenses of formality. Only Hinamori could make him feel like this. The memory of her bleeding on the floor, seemingly dead, was forever etched into Hitsugaya's mind as a nightmare. He wouldn't let that happen again, and God forbid anyone get in his way.

Hitsugaya tightened his grip around his rod. He was angry at Landel, Aizen, and all the others who had forced Hinamori into her current predicament. His emotions were bubbling over; his cold heart melting beneath his growing fury.

"So what..." he said, starting in a low tone that steadily rose. "What does it matter if I'm not the Hitsugaya Toshiro you know, or if you're not the Hinamori I left lying in the 4th Division's infirmary? I would still protect you. It doesn't matter what time or world you or I are from. Things like that are nothing compared to our feelings. You're still 'bed-wetter' Momo. I definitely won't abandon you, even more so in your current condition, because you're my friend, and the existence of Hinamori Momo is important to me!"

This is what he had decided earlier when Matsumoto revealed everything. He had resolved to protect this Hinamori simply because he cared about her. There was no logical reason. Perhaps his Hinamori was still in a coma back in Seireitei, but that didn't matter here. All Hitsugaya saw was the one in front of him, who was broken and needed him.

"I- Don't- Shiro- Not now-"

Momo shifted the grip on the sword so she could put her hand to her temple, her eyes partially closed. This was getting confusing and this man's words were so much like his. She was starting to get overloaded.

"Time. Look. I need time. What would you do if I died and you knew I was dead because you held my body, held the blade I was using, and then, days later, suddenly reappeared?" She shook her head some. "I'm not as strong as you; I've never been that strong and I've changed so much from that woman Aizen-sa," she cute herself off from completing the ingrained honorfic, "Aizen almost killed. Just don't force... rush..."

Hitsugaya's hand reach out to try and comfort her, but he stopped midway. After his steam ran out, he was calmer, closer to his normal composure. Hinamori had been through a lot, and he didn't know if his presence was having a positive or negative effect on her. In some cases, people just needed time, which was what Hinamori was asking for.

"I understand. I won't push you," he said, his hand falling back to his side. His logic understood, but his heart wrenched itself, wanting nothing more than to sweep her into his arms. "Would it..."

That sounded too weak. He needed to be strong for the both of them, except he wasn't as strong as Hinamori believed him to be. She was the one who could pierce the cracks in his armor. The one who made him both strong and weak.

"If it's alright, I'd like to accompany you. Due to my sudden arrival, I wasn't able to coordinate anything with Arts & Crafts club," Hitsugaya said, feeling bad for Matsumoto, even if she did push all of the work onto him most of the time.

"I don't know the Institute's layout yet, and I'd prefer not to waste the night idly wandering the halls," he said, but it was a half-truth. The honest part of him, buried under all those layers of ice, quietly admitted that he just wanted to be near Hinamori right now. Hitsugaya couldn't leave her, given her fragile mental state, but if she really wanted him to leave then...

The vice captain shook her head.

"No... Not tonight. Being near you isn't going to make me figure out what to do," Momo replied, sheathing the sword. "We'll both be very distracted and I can't protect you from the things that roam the night halls. Don't tell me you'll protect me, that you don't need protecting, because you do. Here. At first."

Momo's mind went over the various A&C assignments Rangiku had posted.

"The best thing for you to do, would be to go to M7 - Yamada-san's room - and meet with him and Kira. They could use your help and Kira can cover you until you get used to the limiter these gigai place us under."

Glancing down, he was silent for a moment at her refusal of his company; however, Hinamori wasn't the only one who could be stubborn.

"I've already tried out this gigai, so I roughly understand its physical limitations. Granted, I haven't used any reiatsu, and it hasn't been battle tested," Hitsugaya said, not in the least bit defensive. He understood the logic of Hinamori's words, but he refused to leave her.

From the information he had gathered, Hinamori was severely depressed, possibly suicidal. Could he really risk letting her out of his sight? As a friend, he wanted to tag along, even if she found him annoying, and as a Captain, it was his duty to watch over her. Truthfully, he should have pulled her from the field, but he doubted Hinamori would listen.

"First, tell me what Kira and Yamada's mission is tonight, and what your plans are," he said cryptically. The young Captain would judge the situation based on Hinamori's reply, even though his heart was already set.

"I don't have to tell you anything," Momo replied, eyes narrowing. "You are not my captain." She then sighed. "But, because it's you..."

He was being difficult. She knew this was not going to lead to pleasant things. Especially since she wasn't sure how Artemis would deal with the knowledge that Hitsugaya was here again.

"Kira and Yamada are going to be going to the greenhouse to harvest plants that will be used in an offensive strike by Arts & Crafts. The general area surrounding the greenhouse is not particularly safe," she stated. "I am meeting Artemis Fowl to talk to him about the ruins he needs to take his task force to explore and figure out. Fowl was a close friend of my Hitsugaya, and he is a boy. A genius, but still a boy. I am worried about how he'll handle your presence. My Hitsugauya died trying to rescue Fowl from the tortures of our captors."

Hinamori was being difficult. He may not have been her captain, but since they were both still part of the Gotei 13, he was a senior captain to her, meaning she should've shown him more respect. But the only one Hinamori truly respected was Aizen. Hitsugaya didn't miss Hinamori's slip of Aizen's honorific, and it gnawed away at him that a part of her still felt something for that traitor.

"Alright, I'll go see Kira and Yamada. You meet with Fowl, and see if he'll have any trouble with my presence. The answer will affect how I arrange the teams," Hitsugaya said. He didn't like it, but that was the logical choice. Hitsugaya reached out and touched her shoulder; it was as much an effort to comfort her as well as himself.

"Just be careful," he said, gazing into her eyes, trying to say what he couldn't. Then his icy blue eyes broke away, retreating behind the mask of a captain, and he asked, "Which way is M7?"

At the touch, Momo stiffened, but she did not resist it. In fact, she stared down at the young captain's hand for a long moment, inadvertently giving him a good view of how bad her eye really was.

"It's not me you have to worry about, but the people with me," she murmured more to herself than Hitsugaya.

"M7 is just down this hall, turn left at the next hall and take the first door on the left. It's in that block," she told him. Momo moved past Hitsugaya then, turning her head slightly to look at him. "Don't be expecting me to resume my previous post with Arts & Crafts. I won't."

"The one I worry the most about is you," he said, raw emotion seeping into his tone. Turning his head, Hitsugaya gazed at Hinamori over his shoulder.

"If that's your decision then I'll respect it," he started to say. "Just don't forget to report in, once in awhile. You're still a member of the Gotei 13, and..."

Hitsugaya tried to hide behind regulations, but it was apparent his request had more to do with his personal feelings. With nothing left to say, he walked off, down the hall Hinamori had directed him to.

[OOC: I'll post a link later]

"I'll try," Momo whispered before she, too, headed on her way.

[to here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/633610.html)

[ooc: Make sure to talk to Tia and Sakki about Hitsu stopping by Hana's room, okay?]

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/630419.html?thread=53639571#t53639571)]

[OOC: Already on it.]

Night 41: Main Hallway, 1-West

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