The Ecstasy of Death [Toki, Ryouko]

To see a literal mound of corpses was hardly something Toki had ever wished to experience. But, in this circumstance, he supposed it was an inevitability. At least he was alive. His mother had made it through alright. He'd yet to make any contact with many others, but he could do little but hope that he eventually found some sign they were alright. As he carefully moved toward yet another pile of bodies, however, and moved the first of them to a more proper place, he stopped for a moment, eyes focusing on someone that did not exactly appear dead.

"...Amou?"

There were any number of questions that one might think to ask of a woman who was currently among the dead. 'Are you alright,' 'why are you there,' 'what happened,' and plenty of others, but any one of them felt as though it was simply avoiding the others. Instead, he simply moved toward her, holding out a hand to help her stand again.

"I'm glad to see you."

That much, at least, was true.

So many were dying, she didn't remember how she got here, she should be safely inside her closet but the battle had drawn part of her to the surface. In that time she roamed the chaos and the corpses until a stray blast had caught her with a section of shinigami moving through the street. So many around her to be amputated by her Yakkaisharan. Each attempt to grow being met with painful resistance until the restraints broke and she laid in a blood of blood, with the remains of it covering her.

She couldn't move on yet, it was still feasting on the souls of the dead and so when a familiar face freed her it was not a concerned look but a blissful expression with glazed over eyes.

"Hinamori... Toki... What are you doing here?"

A smile formed regardless. It was great that he was here. She wanted some company, something like this had to be enjoyed with friends after all. That's what they were, right? Friends. No, they barely knew each other. She always hated that about herself. It was so lonely to not have anyone around her but she feared other people. She wished that wasn't the case.

That's right. That was her wish, she wanted people to care about her and be near her.

Her demeanor was certainly not what he would have anticipated, given what had happened. Shock, maybe? That seemed the most reasonable, at least. Still, if she couldn't move, then he ought to at least help her leave this place. Crouching down, Toki made to carefully pick her up, answering as he did so.

"6th Division is working to identify the fallen."

It was hardly pleasant work. He hated to see so many dead, and to think that there was so much more that could have done. But, what else could Toki, as an individual, have done to stop this? Rather little. Perhaps that was something, in itself, that needed to be rectified.

"Are you injured?"

She was a bit surprised when she left the pool of blood, she kind of missed the warmth but he was even warmer and her own temperature grew to match a little bit.

"I'm fine. Why would I be injured?"

The space between them closed a bit more while she placed her hand on his shoulder and brought herself closer. She looked a little dazed but nothing else out of place, as far as injuries went. If she had confidence though then she wouldn't be lonely anymore. Right?

"Would you like to make sure?"

She asked him with an uncharacteristic grin and pulling herself against him. She wasn't really following what was happening around them or even what she was doing. Everything was a haze except for what was in her sights and tangential thoughts that moved between one another without any rhyme or reason. She felt so free right now and uninhibited by worries that felt like a cage.

Were it not for the current situation, Toki might have been a bit more embarrassed at such a proposition being made toward him. But this was a serious situation, and he could hardly ever think of accepting something like that when there was still such grave work to be done. That said, this was rather uncharacteristic of Amou, wasn't it? She hadn't ever been quite like this, and she certainly did seem out of sorts. Had it been the result of one of the invaders' attacks?

One thing at a time, he supposed. He ought to get her to the 2nd Division for a checkup, and he certainly didn't want to exacerbate any issues that might come into play on account of this headspace.

"I think that the medical professionals would do better at a proper inspection. As for, ah...anything else, that would be better discussed when the medical checkup is over, wouldn't you agree?"

After all, it was likely better to simply delay that sort of thing until he was confident that this outside interference was not in play.

"I don't. I want you to do it. You like me right? You can look if you want. I won't tell."

Everything she said sounded so right and unabashed. It was the kind of thing that would make her mortified to even think of saying to another person without turning into a blubbering mess. All those dreams cut short fed into her own though and she couldn't waste them, or resist them.

If even one wish could be fulfilled in this graveyard - as selfish as it was - regardless of propriety. Shouldn't it? It was all so rationale in her head. Sound and infallible.

Right now she could deal with rejection. It was a fear and consequence that she was so far away from that the idea of humiliation wasn't going to stop the perversion of her ideal by the thing fused into her soul.

"Yes, right, I understand that. But I wouldn't want to do something like that if there's some injury or another that we aren't aware of. Shouldn't a moment like that be shared under better circumstances?"

Toki didn't really have the expertise in this particular front to speak with any actual authority, but he was at least a composed enough young man that he wasn't going to falter simply because of the rather pressing matter currently in his hands. He didn't really know what would be causing this, but it felt as though it was probably something pressing, something that would need attention beyond what he could feasibly do in the field.

To that end, he had little choice beyond being a little bit underhanded with how he handled this. It didn't make him particularly happy, but what else was Toki to do? Indulging this request was out of the question, ethically speaking. He couldn't imagine ever speaking of something like that to his mother, after all.

"Even if I looked right now, it would be colored by worry about your health. I couldn't show you the kind of attention you'd want and deserve."

He had no idea if that made sense, actually. But it sounded correct.

"I don't have any injuries. Ever since my accident, every injury I've had disappears."

It was the kind of detail she'd be shy about telling someone but she was trying to alleviate his worries. Ryouko didn't want him to worry, she wanted to ride out this feeling.

"Hehe, you dodged the question. You do like me."

She gave writhed in his arms while trying to free herself from the carry. Ryouko would show him that she was completely fine. Better than fine even, a twirl did little for the tattered bondage suit she was wearing.

"Look. Nothing wrong at all."

Well, Toki couldn't entirely be displeased that she'd removed herself from his arms, if only because it meant she wasn't pushing herself against him anymore. That sort of behavior still wasn't quite what he wanted to be condoning, even in her altered state of mind.

"Right, I'm glad to see that. But there are still those injuries you can't see, you know. This isn't the sort of place for this kind of conversation, besides. I think it would be better in private, once things have settled."

He wasn't going to budge on these things, but at the same time, Toki was a gentle enough sort that he didn't want to be forceful with her about this. It could potentially be a major problem, given the cause of this was still a mystery.

"Private?"

She leaned forward when she reiterated it. She heard just what she wanted to hear. What she thought she wanted to hear. He kept worrying about her injuries but she insisted they were fine, even the worse kind of injuries seem to heal! Why was he so caught up on these little details? She felt great. Better than great even!

"Let's go somewhere private, come on. Why don't you believe me when I say I'm fine. Do you think I'm lying?"

For a brief moment she looked dejected by the notion that he didn't trust her, and then she went back to grinning and waiting for him to capitulate.