damned_institute | Day 47: Sun Room [2nd shift]

Cloud knew he should be taking the opportunity to check out the rec field during the day. The fresh air would be a welcome change from the crowded stuffiness the Institute usually provided, and he would have a chance to scope out the area when it wasn't all under the cover of darkness. When offered a choice, however, he remained in the sun room. He told himself it was so that he could watch the bulletin, him still being fairly new and needing all the information he could get, but the thought rang hollow.

The real reason he was here, he knew, was because he would be out there. Maybe it was weak of him, but he needed a chance to breathe. Ever since he'd arrived it had been nothing but one shock after another, and seeing Zack standing in the cafeteria that morning talking to Aerith had been the final card that caused his tower to crumble. He needed to just sit back somewhere out of the way and start rebuilding.

Being able to watch the bulletin from here was just a perk. Cloud made himself comfortable on one of the sofas, watching people come and go but not really paying attention to them. He took the time to try and rate this on a scale of the biggest messes he'd ever gotten thrown into.

(for Sheena)

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The girl shook her head. "No, they're more than fine. We've learned to work together pretty well." All of them and Hokuto, but she wasn't sure if Hokuto was still interested in A&C. Senna needed to call a LDGC meeting and see where everyone was standing at night. She still didn't know where Falis went at night. Senna didn't want everyone just running off to get hurt, like how Meche had described.

She shook her head. "So that works."

"Good," Hitsugaya replied. He'd thought as much. In the previous excursions, Senna had typically been assigned Mercedes, Soma, and Hokuto, so it only made sense that they would have good teamwork. However, this talk about teams had brought up another important issue for the club. "Speaking of club members, our numbers have begun to dwindle recently. What do you think about trying to recruit other patients?"

Recuit, huh? Senna thought about it. "It's not a bad idea," she answered slowly, still trying to get used to the fact of Hitsugaya asking her opinion. And it wasn't. Meche had been dragged in that way, and Senna agreed completely. Having all her friends in one place was a good idea to her.

"I think it'd be good," she said. "But are we recruiting them for something, or just to replenish numbers?"

"If I had to choose, then I'd say replenishing our numbers. Our club has neither the information nor the resources to achieve any of our larger goals at the moment. Last night, I noticed there were barely enough members to assemble two teams, so our operations were limited. With more members, we could carry out missions on a larger scale and get closer to our ultimate goal." It was a little frustrating having to take baby steps to achieve their goals, but Hitsugaya was a patient, meticulous man. He could do this.

"Recently, I've been trying to see if any of the other resistance groups might be interested in forming an alliance. I talked to the Cooking Club a few days ago, but due to some failed attempt at an alliance in the past, they've expressed hesitance to forming a new one. Since then I haven't heard back from them even though I posted on the bulletin board." Hitsugaya didn't think Hughes would purposefully ignore him, so the only other option was that something had happened to the man. Celes was unresponsive to his board posts, but according to Hinamori, the woman seemed to still be here. At the moment, the Cooking Club probably had their issues, so they couldn't be relied on. "That's why I've concluded that bolstering our ranks would be more reliable than forming an alliance at the moment. I'll still continue to talk with other groups, but negotiating alliances will be a secondary priority."

All he said made sense, except... "An ultimate goal, huh?" The girl tilted her head in loose thought. "Like everyone else probably. Take down Landel and this place, right." There was no emotions tied to the sentences. There was no need for Senna to insert her own opinions here, of all places. Her alter ego had done enough to give her away two days ago.

And that wasn't even the point now. "Yeah, makes sense," she said, nodding. "I can try and see if there's any people I know that would wanna join up, too." It'd be fun, was a statement she knew would be taken wrong. A bit more reserved, Senna left it at that.

"That's correct," Hitsugaya said, confirming Senna's assumption. It was disappointing that even though all the patients should have had the same goal, they couldn't put aside their differences and work together.

"Then, I'll leave the recruiting to you, if you're willing? Right now, there are multiple issues I have to deal with, so I can't give recruiting my full attention." Leading a division wasn't easy, and a ragtag resistance group was even harder. Since they were all volunteers, there was no clear chain of command, and strict regulations couldn't be imposed. If he was back at his office he could delegate various jobs to people he trusted, so his division could work like a well-oiled machine, but he couldn't do that here. Hinamori, the only person left that he knew he could trust, wasn't available. Hitsugaya had no complaints about shouldering the burden, but their current way of doing things just wasn't very efficient. However, since she was a shinigami, Hitsugaya was assuming that Senna had at least been trained for a management position at the academy regardless of whether or not she had actually become a seated officer. That made her more qualified than others who might not have had any training.

The girl blinked, half surprised. "Um." Recruit? "Yeah. Sure." Though if she was recruiting, recruiting... It'd be sorta weird to try to draft people into it. She could always drag in her friends, and try to branch out from there, she guessed. Senna bit her lip, cocking her head to the side in thought. "Got anything in mind? Or just whatever I can come up with?"

"I'll leave the matter in your hands, but I'd suggest using the bulletin board for advertising. Keep in mind, we're not drafting soldiers. Some of the other patients haven't even been properly trained for combat or warfare. We're just looking for volunteers that might be interested in working with us," Hitsugaya said. It went completely against his usual way of doing things, but after his talk with Hinamori, he knew that's how it had to be in this place. "It doesn't matter who they are, as long as you think we can trust them as allies."

Day 47: Sun Room [2nd shift]

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