Tomorrow, Together [Yuuto, Mirai]

It was not the first time that someone had made an attempt on his life.

It was, however, the first time that someone else had gotten hurt because of it. So, so many people had been injured and killed, and while his heart ached at his inability to save them all, it hurt even more at who in particular had been caught in the blast: Mirai. A close and dear friend, and yet, he wasn't able to protect her.

But, even if he had failed in that moment, there was hardly a moment where he left her side, and today was little different. Soundless as ever, he stepped into the room, pulled up a chair next to her bed, and sat down. A hand gingerly reached out to rest on top of hers.

He didn't say anything, merely wanting to keep her company and make sure that she was recovering steadily, but quickly. Despite how much he loathed being in this situation, the fact that she was alive was more than enough to give him comfort.

The worst injury Mirai received was the blow to her head. The second were the broken ribs. Other than that, she had a few bumps, bruises, and cuts. Kaido took care of most if it, but not all. As she lay motionless, her mind was swarming with images of fire and blood. Buildings were collapsing around her, and the image of her closest friend falling farther and father away no matter how fast she ran terrified her. She yelled his name, but he kept falling. She shunpo’d and he seemed to get farther away until finally… Mirai suddenly shot into a sitting position.

Suddenly sweating and gasping for air, it took Mirai a second to realize her surroundings. Her instinct was to rapidly grab some sort of pointed object she could use as a weapon. She only calmed when she saw who was with her. Trying to catch her breath, she put her hand over her chest, and the other on her head. The sudden adrenaline rush has intensified what was already a rather bad headache.

"What happened? I don't remember..."

As she suddenly shot upward and immediately went to grab some kind of implement to use as a weapon, Yuuto remained in place, unbothered by the reaction. He knew that she would never intentionally hurt him, as well as knowing that he was more than capable of defending himself, should it come to that. He moved backward, sitting up straight as he waited for her to calm down, before leaning forward again and gently touching the back of her hand.

"Someone tried to kill me, and...and you were caught in it. Some kind of bomb, I'm not exactly sure what kind."

The Captain's eyes fell to the floor, a look of guilt clouding his vision. He should have been faster, sent her home sooner, done more to prepare for a situation like this so that all those who were caught in the explosion wouldn't have been injured and killed. Half of the Second Division's hospital was destroyed in the attack as well, causing stress and upset for just about everyone in the Gotei.

"...I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you."

A bomb to kill Yuuto? Mirai blinked. She looked at her hands, arms, and legs. Everything was still there. She reached up to her hair and eyebrows. Nothing singed. Okay, she was fine. She reached over and poked his cheek, checked his eyebrows, and made sure nothing singed his hair. She didn't bother checking the rest; she understood his power to regenerate enough. She just wasn't sure whether hair came back, or how quickly for that matter. Mirai smiled at him.

Seeing him lower his head, she reached over again and put her hand under his chin to try and get him to look up at her. She was fine and seemingly in a good mood. Her smile widened. "Some bomb," she said, making light of the situation.

"So, how many fatalities and injured?" Mirai erased her cheerful demeanor and replaced it with a professional one. Her smile dropped and she sat up straight, facing him. Now, all she wanted to know was who to kill. "Any leads?"

As Yuuto watched her check over herself, he too made another scan over her, just to make sure there was nothing missed. Then she reached over and started looking and poking at him, causing him to raise his hands in a pseudo-defensive manner, chuckling lightly as her gently pushed her hands away. He was glad that she was in good spirits, despite such a catastrophic event.

However, his own laughter and good mood was brought down as she changed the subject. His expression darkened, and his head lowered again, though only slightly this time. He couldn't help but feel irritated, upset that he had done everything he could to try and save as many people as possible, but it hadn't been enough. Many people would consider it a victory that he still lived, but, when it came to how many lives were lost as a result, he couldn't see it as anything like that.

"I don't know the specifics yet, but, the only lead that we currently have is residual Hollow energy from the blast. The bomb was delivered to the room next to me, which was empty, and detonated not long after it arrived. My first guess is that either there was a suicide bomber that somehow managed to get past everything, or the courier got caught up in the entire fiasco and was innocent. Unfortunately, we can't really prove the latter option, since...well, they were killed in the explosion."

Mirai was just happy to be alive, and seeing that Yuuto was just fine, as expected, helped keep her spirits up. Even when she lowered that cheer of hers, she was still in a good mood. As he explained the situation, Mirai crossed her arms and looked off ahead of her at the wall. Narrowed eyes indicated deep thought as silence filled the room. The residual hollow energy was what caught her attention. She hadn't sensed anything like that before she left his room, and she was quite aware of her surroundings, so whatever it was must have been hidden carefully.

"I do remember a man exiting, or was it entering... Either way, there was a courier that passed me by as I left. Yes, he was coming in, not leaving, and I vaguely remember him heading your way. However, I couldn't currently tell you what the poor man looked like. If he was unaware of the situation, he's likely dead."

Mirai thought for a moment. "Are we sure that you were the target? Who was in the room next to you, where the bomb was delivered, and were there no other possible targets in the wing? I know it's unlikely, but I prefer to cover all of my bases..."

At the very least, he was glad that the attack hadn't dampened her mood too heavily. Even in his grim thoughts, he could still smile and take solace in that she was okay, both physically and -- at least from what he could see -- mentally.

"From what the surviving staff have corroborated on, they saw him go into a room without any occupants, right next to mine. To my knowledge, there weren't any other targets that would require something of that magnitude. Whoever delivered that bomb wanted to kill something big."

With this situation, it was hardly a matter of just the amount of people in that wing of the hospital -- there were many more factors that went into this, particularly, the intended scale of the damage. With such a colossal blast, he found it pretty hard to believe that the terrorist involved was intending to just kill some random, low-profile patient. There were better ways to go about it, this was too elaborate and large.

"Even if they wanted to kill a specific member of the staff, the courier himself, or just one of the other patients, it wouldn't require something of this scale. There's better, more effective ways to do so, especially without drawing attention...not that this situation has given us any clues about that in the first place."

"So, you? Whatever fuck-up delivered the bomb, wanted to kill you?"

Even in Mirai's good mood, verbalizing that some unknown entity attempted to take Yuuto's life angered her. Her words were dripped in venom, hinting at an unsaid threat. Mirai would find out who dared try to harm her Captain, the man she...

"Yeah, someone's gonna have to die..."

Mirai's eyes widened for a brief moment as something came to mind... Anyone who understood Yuuto's strength would presumably know that a bomb that didn't level half the city was likely not going to end his life. Was this attack made without the proper reconnaissance? Were they ignorant of his abilities? Even though the explosion was large, who would think it enough to kill him, or was this a message?

"It is possible the hospital was also a target." Mirai asked, her eyes narrowed. "If someone wanted to weaken the Gotei, blowing up medical equipment, surgeons, nurses, and anyone else who took care of our injured would be a damn good way to do it. Not only do we have to rebuild a large portion of the hospital, we have to restaff and reequip. That's not to mention the trauma involved in loss. With everything going on in the world of the living, there could be a bigger play here."

Yuuto didn't give a fully verbal response to Mirai's question, only nodding softly. It wasn't a complete certainty, since there were other possibilities, but, with his presence in the hospital, it was one that he felt had much more credence. A bomb being placed in the empty room next to him? It didn't seem like a coincidence -- but, maybe he was just being arrogant and paranoid.

He had considered the idea of the hospital being a target, and it was entirely likely. It was also possible that the perpetrator's plan was to take both him and the hospital out, and him being there gave them a chance to kill two birds with one stone. But, that still left one big question for him...

"But, if the hospital was the target, why did they only get enough ordinance to destroy half the hospital? Why wouldn't they take the time to destroy the entire hospital to make the scenario even worse? They'd end up killing even more people, causing more time to be lost, and eliminating even more resources."

His hand gripped the side of the bed with irritation, his eye twitching briefly as a new thought came to mind.

"...I think someone's trying to frame me."

Mirai was taken aback by Yuuto’s final comment. As she was wrapping her mind around his questions, that was not a statement she expected to hear. Frame him? Why? There was the vizard thing. Could someone be trying to send a message about Vizards in the Gotei? That wouldn’t be too far reaching. There were reasons and fears that Vizards weren’t included before, some of them quite valid.

“Why?” Mirai said, watching him closely. “Is there something I should be aware of, Captain?” When Mirai spoke like a subordinate, rather than a friend, it was her way of telling him the conversation was not hinged on their friendship. He could speak frankly, not have to worry about her feelings on the subject. Separating work from casual conversation was the only way she knew how to help him in that sense.