damned_institute | Night 46: Main Hallway, 1-West

Hokuto nodded. "Pleased to meet you!" The sword he had made her a little jealous; the shovel she had worked well enough, but it just didn't look cool! Compared to some people, she might as well have a cooking bowl for a helmet.

He was definitely eying her; he probably thought she didn't look like much of a fighter. Which was understandable, but she was still a little indignant about it. "Do you like what you see?"

So this girl was indeed Hokuto. It was a good thing she had found him first; Kratos would have never been able to identify her, even with her strange taste in clothes - not to say his was much better.

He was not happy at all, however, about being caught sizing up his teammate, for not only was it embarrassing, but it also suggested a variety of things that he had never wished implied. "I suppose," he said, and it came out sounding just as peeved as he was feeling.

She grinned a little. "I'm kidding. I know I don't look like much of a fighter, but I do have training; mostly in hand-to-hand, but I'm not bad with my wannabe bladed staff here." Okay, so her formal instruction had only been in keeping herself safe from non-powered fellow humans, but she had survived more than two weeks here and rarely even got hurt in the process... nevermind the time she'd been thrown into a wall.

"Are you a soldier?" He looked like one, and that outfit of his sort of looked like it could be a uniform of some kind. No metals, but they could just be missing.

"Mm." Kratos nodded vaguely as he absorbed the information. As he had surmised, she did indeed have some ability, although her skills had yet to be observed or spoken for. But if Hitsugaya had placed her on the team, she had to be at least Faize's level, if not better than the green-haired boy.

"A mercenary," he stated blandly, using the cover that he had assumed throughout the Journey of Regeneration. It made things simpler for him to explain.

"Got any magic? I have some, but it's mostly good as a distraction." And then only if she had the element of surprise, but at least she was used to her magic being weak.

Kratos was definitely the stoic type; he didn't seem as quick to scowl as Hitsugaya, but Hokuto could guess that he wasn't going to be all that social. Well, maybe he'd open up if he got to know her?

"I do," Kratos admitted. "Mostly offensive, but I can heal light wounds. It's not something I can use lightly, though." But she probably already knew that; Landel's power-hampering abilities were no secret. At the very least, however, Hokuto would have some idea of what he was capable of.

And if he had the ability to read minds, he would have laughed at Hokuto's thoughts. She could certainly try to get him to open up as many before her had, but he wasn't about to encourage her.

It wasn't long before the one they were waiting for joined them, casting an irritable-looking glance between the pair before he nodded a greeting. "Good. You're both here," Hitsugaya observed, though sounding mildly disgruntled at the fact that both members of the team had arrived before he had. "If you're ready to go, let's get moving. We've a lot to accomplish and little time in which to do it."

[tiassa]

Hokuto turned, a little startled, and automatically bowed to Hitsugaya. "Good evening." She suddenly had a bad feeling about something, but she couldn't put her finger on it. He only seemed a little disgruntled, but he wasn't the expressive type. He'd been late, which did not seem like him, so maybe he'd stopped to see someone, or check something, and gotten bad news?

"Is everything okay?" She wouldn't be surprised if he brushed her off, but she had to ask.

As he had feared, Hitsugaya was indeed the last to arrive. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he recognized Kratos and Hokuto even at a distance. He was about to call out to them when something stepped into his line of vision. That wasn't unusual. By this time, the hallways were thriving with activity as patients and non-patients roamed the building. However, the strange thing was that Hitsugaya had heard his voice, even though he hadn't spoken yet. Taking another glance at the figure, he found startling similarities between himself and... it.

At first, Hitsugaya was dumbfounded, but then he remembered what Hinamori had said to him the first night they had reunited. A fake... When he realized what the creature was, Hitsugaya's eyes widened in surprise. In a fraction of a second, his veteran mind devised the best course of action he could take to ensure their safety. Hitsugaya had considered taking a stealthy approach, but it was unlikely that he would get by Kratos undetected, and in the worst case scenario, he might be mistook for the fake. In a heartbeat, Hitsugaya drew his blade and ran towards his comrades, but he was too far. There was only one thing left to do. Warn them. "Watch out! It's a fake!"

Ah, and there was their captain. Kratos nodded his greeting, sensing Hitsugaya's slight irritation. "Agreed." The basement was extensive, after all; they needed as much time as possible in order to make the most progress.

And then all of a sudden there were two Hitsugayas, one of which was acting normally - if not somewhat peeved - and the other of which was screaming them to avoid the...fake? In the limited beam of his flashlight he had noticed that the second Hitsugaya was wearing a uniform that Kratos had never seen him in. He couldn't possibly be a Special Counseling patient, though; there was no reason for him to warn them - unless this too was a part of the ruse.

Confusion rising, Kratos opted for a defensive reaction in order to let things develop. Drawing his sword, he backed up out of the way of the second, charging Hitsugaya while at the same time sliding ever so slightly in front of Hokuto. The air around him grew heavy as he summoned up the energy for a spell; he got the feeling that they would not be escaping from this encounter unscathed.

The first Hitsugaya's eyes widened slightly at the sound of his own voice, but that was all the reaction he allowed himself to visibly make. He stepped between the other two party members and the newcomer, dropping into a half-crouch as though preparing to fight.

"You two, keep moving," he ordered, without looking back. "I'll deal with this and join you soon. Go!"

"U-um..." Hokuto looked back and forth between the two, hopelessly confused. You'd think I'd have a better idea what to do after seeing this exact scene in so many anime! Not that shows like Danger Mouse were the greatest guides to places like this. From what she'd heard there wasn't even any point to quizzing them both to see if they could trip one of them up.

Maybe if I ran and got Momo-chan? Spirit threads would actually be an excellent test. The problem was, there was a damned good chance Momo was already gone, and she didn't exactly know how to track down anyone else... she looked at Kratos, helplessly. He looked like a seasoned warrior, maybe he knew what to do.

"We agree on that point," Hitsugaya said to his doppelganger. As soon as he was within range, Hitsugaya's sword slashed at his doppelganger, aiming at his torso. Kratos had moved in to protect Hokuto and they were both out of his path, reducing the danger to them, but Hitsugaya wanted to further increase the distance. While he wouldn't mind drawing his opponent's blood, Hitsugaya's main purpose was to push his double away from his teammates. His fake was still a little too close for comfort to his comrades, and the last thing he wanted was to draw them into his fight.

Hitsugaya considered attempting to prove his identity to his comrades but ultimately decided not to. His double looked, sounded, and acted the same as himself, so he could see why his comrades might be fooled. In the worst case scenario, his fake might somehow have access to his memories. The concept wasn't far fetched; he'd heard of hollows that were able to read shinigamis' hearts. If the illusion ran deeper than appearances, any talking would be a waste of effort and a distraction.

Kratos indeed had an inkling of which Hitsugaya was the real one. From their clothing, he had gotten the sense that the one in the strange uniform was in fact the true Hitsugaya, since there was no reason he could think of for a mimic to wear that sort of clothing. Most patients still wandered around in the Landel's uniform; to deviate from that would mean drawing unnecessary attention and suspicion.

And of course he had suspected the strangely-dressed Hitsugaya of being an SC patient, but the more he thought about it, the less it seemed reasonable that an agent of the institute (even if it was just for one night) would attack another and give time for him and Hokuto to escape.

There was one problem, however, with his hypothesis: it was a hypothesis. Kratos disliked operating on conjecture, and until he had definite proof of which one was true, he would not interfere, not if he ran the risk of injuring the real Hitsugaya. The institute did sometimes run contrary to logic, after all.

Still...he wasn't about to be caught unprepared. Tilting his head back, Kratos muttered to Hokuto, "I suspect the second one is the real thing - suspect." Even as he said that, he was pushing his teammate back, giving himself some room and her more leeway for escape, and shifting into a better position for attack.

Unlike many of the more bestial creatures roaming the Institute at night, this particular one was blessed with an important weapon: intelligence. He was no burly fighter; his style was usually to lure prey into a situation beneficial to him and then strike. Since that clearly hadn't worked, due to the unfortunate interruption of the one whose form he had assumed, he now had two options. Fight or flee.

It took only the barest instant of consideration to assess the situation and decide which one was the better. And only an instant later, it put thought into action - and fled.

The mimic threw himself to one side to avoid the sword blow, turning the lunge into a flat-out run as soon as his balance was right, heading for the safety of the darkness. There was plenty of prey about tonight that would be easier to obtain than this.

"...I guess that answers that," Hokuto finally said, blinking. The monsters here had self-preservation instincts?

It didn't look like Hitsugaya was hurt, but she'd seen too many anime where mimics like that tracked down their original and hurt them before taking their form. "Are you okay?" She knew better than to fuss over him like she would a real little kid, but she was still concerned.

Hopefully, their mission tonight wouldn't be over before it even started.

Even after his foe had fled to the shadows, Hitsugaya stood there with his blade pointing towards the darkness, but after he was certain the danger had passed, he lowered his sword and turned towards his comrades. He wished he could have sheathed his blade to make himself look less threatening; no doubt his comrades were probably still a little rattled and suspicious after a run in with his look alike, but the truth was obvious to see as Hokuto had mentioned. "Yes. I would never abandon my comrades to save myself."

Honestly, Hitsugaya had been expecting more of a fight from his double. To his knowledge, it was first time that a monster had ever retreated from a patient without fighting. Clearly the creature was intelligent enough to recognize a losing battle when presented with one.

"I'm fine," he replied, waving away Hokuto's concern. Although his head wound was still bothering him a little, it wouldn't have an effect on his performance tonight. He'd dealt with much worse before. Perhaps, something within the bundle of medical supplies that Kagura had left him might help his pain? He'd have to check later.

Hokuto seemed to have accepted him as the real Hitsugaya, but Kratos was, as usual, harder to read. And while Hitsugaya was concerned that his teammates might have been harmed somehow by his double, they both seemed fine, at least physically. "My apologies for being late. My room was suddenly changed today, so I had to make a detour. How are you two? That impostor didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"Ah...yes." Kratos stood there blankly for a few seconds, unable to comprehend not only the fact that a monster had actually chosen flight over fight but also that he had been right in his assumption. Which gave plenty of ammunition for hindsight...

But, hadn't things turned out for the best?

He dropped his sword and sheathed it, backing away from Hokuto now that the danger had passed, and giving Hitsugaya a rare, wry smile. "No, he didn't. Your interruption was quite timely." A few moments later, and he was sure that either he or Hokuto would have been injured somehow.

"Nothing," Hokuto confirmed. She was definitely weirded out, but the thing hadn't touched either of them. "He showed up and just said we should get moving since we have a lot to do." If the mimic hadn't managed to get them separated or otherwise in a situation convenient for attacking them.... what would have happened? It would be beyond bizarre if they just had a normal (if there was such a thing) mission while they were unknowingly being led by a monster.

Hopefully, it had taken off in search of easier prey; if it planned on stalking them... well, if she saw any one of a number of people from home she was missing, or friends from here, that might not go well.

"That's good," Hitsugaya replied stoically. He was glad they were both safe, but showing his feelings just wasn't his style. However, due to his experiences in this place, he was trying to change his ways, but it was slow process, like a snail's pace. The only outward sign that Hitsugaya felt relieved was that his glare wasn't as harsh as usual.

After he gave his team a few more moments to calm down, Hitsugaya decided that they had rested enough. They needed to move on. "Since you're both alright, we should go. The night grows shorter, and we have a job to do."

Night 46: Main Hallway, 1-West

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