The Deep Stacks

"What? I don't uh... Uhhhh.... uhhh.." He trailed off as they exited the bookshelf... His eyes widened and his mouth hung agape. He squeezed Yuzu tight to him, if only because he knew he would drop her otherwise. Some day he would remember this moment, staring at his arms in wonder. But right now, he wasn't even just scared. He was dumbfounded.

They were in the library... but not like he had ever seen. Vast and dark, covered in dust and absolutely littered with great tattered rags that hung about the place like ghosts... This looked... like... He didn't even want to try and think of what... He walked forward some. He... He could see places where the same shelves were...similar architecture... but... older... more archaic... Never redesigned... or kept up... There were books littered about the place, sometimes in stacks, sometimes thrown about. There was also a cold draft. Even their breath would start to come out as fog. "Y..Yuzu?" He whispered suddenly very quiet. He spied a table a short distance away and slowly, cautiously, crept to the table and... Only now letting Yuzu down, valiantly suggested "We should hide..." He said, taking her wrist and attempting to guide her under the table with him.

Yuzuki was glad of the support, Hideki holding her like this meant she couldn't fall over from shock. As he pulled her to him tightly, she clung back just as much. He was the only familiar thing in here and he was WARM. It was chilly enough that her breath made little fog clouds and she shivered a lot.

The library, while she had little experience with it, was much changed. What and where were they?! Noticing the books, it took her a second to think of the implications and her breathing quieted. Hideki was taking them over to the table and she slipped from his hands as quietly as possible. She followed him under the table, still in a bit of shock as she wrapped her arms around her legs. The noble didn't even care if he saw anything as she tried to warm up a bit. If she shivered she could make too much noise... Wherever they were, she didn't want to be found by what had thrown the books around. Her voice was a quiet tone as she leaned close to his head. "Hideki...where did we go? How...do we get home?"

Maybe it was his brain not processing what was going on exactly... Maybe it was that he was starting to get some LOOSE grasp on what happened to them... Or maybe it was just being clung to that tightly, but Hideki's brain was at least working a little bit, if at minimum capacity... He crossed his arms, giving a little shiver. Okay.... Okay... so the place... looked just like the library.... What did that mean... What did that mean... shit.... it was still so hard to think. It was cold too. He looked over and saw the shivering Yuzu... Saw too much of her for her sake... He paused.. She was... so scared that she'd clung to him for life. So scared she didn't even care about how much skin she was showing.

He scooted over to her and, silently, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight. It might give her some security and moreso it would help keep her warm. "I don't know." He said, forcing his voice calm. He hesitantly lifted one hand and rubbed her head gently, trying not to play with her hair while doing so. "But we'll be okay. Just..." stay calm was an awful thing to say. "I'll figure this out, okay?" His teeth felt like they were going to start chattering if he so much as slightly untensed his jaw, but letting her freak out would just freak him out... Besides, it was his stupid map that had gotten her into this, right? He just needed to warm up for a few seconds, catch his breath and figure out a plan of action...

Yuzu relished in the comfort, leaning against Hideki. This was too hard and scary. She wanted to think, but under pressure she wasn't the greatest. She was still young, she still... knew so little about anything. She didn't like being cold and tired and scared, but Yuzuki wasn't stupid in the least. Her complaints could wait a bit.

It was his gentle touch on her head that broke her calm a bit. Her stubbornness shone through even as she took comfort from the shinigami, deciding that emergencies called for emergency action. For now they needed to warm up and calm down a bit. Her arm wrapped around his waist and she mode sure as much of her was touching him as possible. They needed warm and this was the safest way right now. They needed to get information about the area, they needed to be careful... "We'll...do it. Not just you. Together. Once we warm up a bit... we have to move."

He tried not to blush just a little in the darkness, hidden under their table as she leaned into him... but then she wrapped an arm around him and practically wrapped herself around the lieutenant.  He was glad for the dark, because his face was about as red as it could get.  He wasn't really prepared for it.  And he certainly wasn't prepared for what she said.  He opened his mouth to protest but found he couldn't really say anything.  He eventually shut his mouth and gave a grumpy little smile.  "All right... We'll come up with a plan..."  Maybe it was the fear, but he couldn't keep himself from continuing to talk.  "I..In a minute.. I just...  I just...wannaholdyouabitmore..."

"I need a minute too..." Despite her strong words, driven by stubbornness and an inability to give up, Yuzuki was the most scared she'd ever been. Her brain was a few steps behind her guts. She had her eyes clothes tightly, trying to not think of how many rules she was breaking with this. How much she was touching someone who wasn't family.

And also not thinking about what could have tossed over those books. That would send her spiraling into terror again. Still something he said was...odd. What had he mumbled there at the end? Was it important? "What...was that last part? I didn't catch it Hideki."

He felt his heart practically lodge in his throat. Why was she so damned perceptive? Couldn't a man enjoy a moment of weakness about a half naked girl he was currently cowering in a life or death situation with? Still... She was shivering... Shaking even... He frowned. Well, they might die here and either way, he might as well give her something besides the scary to think about.

"I just said... that.. I wanted to hold you for just a bit more." He said, petting her head again softly. "I.. I-I know we're doing this for warmth.. I just.. Uh.. I just... never held a girl... or ANYONE... uh.. like this is all.." Even his family he hadn't ever squeezed this tightly...

Yuzuki's face turned into something akin to horror. He was...enjoying this in a way... that was not allowed at all. In any shape or form. She was wrapped around... Oh no. Her brain fizzed out and her normal reactions sunk in as she pushed herself away from Hideki, her face the deepest red it had ever been in her life.

"I haven't either! I Shouldn't either! Y-You touched me so much and it... was.... and...I just was cold and scared and you were too and I wanted to make it better and...." She moved back out from under the table, stuttering as their predicament was pushed aside in favor of her brain choosing the easier thing to deal with. She ran into a pile of books with her skidding backwards, knocking them over in her haste to stand up and flee.

Wh..What.. What was. Okay this was bad. Holy shit. no no no no, why are you skittering. Stop skittering. He crawled to the edge of the table, whisper shouting. "GET BACK HERE!" He hissed. "What are you freaking out about, do you want to get us killed? C'mon c'mon c'mon... G-get back under here!" He was feeling panic set in. Holy shit... What if something was in here... What if it was nearby.. Why was she freaking out so damn much! He just said he liked holding her. He was already holding her. She was cold, but she didn't care two seconds ago. What, did she think... Shit, DID she think?

"YUZU! I... I didn't mean in like... like a pervy way. I swear... I SWEAR on... On my Zanpakuto.. If I'm lying you can HAVE my Zanpakuto, now get back under the table!" Before you get us both killed, you panicky dolt!

Killing would be better than going back under that table! Yuzuki's mind rebelled and she moved back further from Hideki's reach, even though it was impossible for him to touch her this far back. She was in a bit of a panic even now. Nonononononononononononono.

"Oh... Oh..." That small exclamation escaped her lips, his offer of his zanpakuto reinforcing the swear. What was she doing... even if he had been touching her, living was more important at the moment. He hadn't been thinking wrongly... and instead she had made quite a lot of noise in her movements and she became paralyzed. What if she moved more? Would it make more sounds? She tried to shift her body, but it wouldn't work. "H-Hideki... don't...panic...I can't...move."

He gave a very 'well duh' expression with his hands as she responded with a simple 'oh'. Come on Yuzuki... don't die... don't make us both die... come over to the... why was she not coming over to the table? Oh god... Yuzuki... You can't still be...

"Oh...oh.." It was his turn to feel silly. Great... she couldn't move... Well... Whatever. They were probably going to die at this point anyways... He looked around. Something felt... off... in the air... Fuck it. He darted over to Yuzuki. "Don't worry." He said softly, picking her up. "Like I said. We'll be okay."

He looked back at the table.... then to the bookshelves they came from... then over his shoulder...... There was some part of him that ever so badly wanted to explore more of this place..... to see what was at work here... but there was also this adorable girl in his arms who's life was SO much in danger if he did that... He clenched his teeth and ran. Ran straight for the bookshelves.

And it wasn't more then a second or two after he did that IT appeared, rustling from between some of the aisles behind them. A great leathery monstrosity, with a giant jaw and too many teeth, bestial eyes setting on them before roaring, seeing a potential meal trying to escape.

Needless to say, Hideki forgot how to STOP running.

It was too still. In the library it was too still. Yuzuki's instincts called to her to flee. Instead she made a decision. She was a liability, he had to go and escape. As Hideki moved out from under the table, she opened her mouth to speak. It was quickly shut as Hideki grabbed her and tried to soothe her... which was nice but rather ridiculous at this point. Her voice was small and subdued. She felt useless. "Yes...we'll be okay."

Still, there was hope as he ran towards the bookcases they had come from. Making it back would be their best bet! Which honestly they both should have thought of. That mirror was way better than this place, even if it was creepy. But that thing.... Would they make it time? Looking between the bookshelf and the monster... Yuzuki made a bad decision. Or a good one. Closing her eyes, she squirmed and pushed herself out of his arms. "Sorry Hideki! RUN!"

Hitting the ground to the side she yelped in pain. She'd at least make a small meal for the monster, allowing him to escape.

He almost couldn't believe what happened for a moment. She just.. squirmed right out of his arms. He kept running for a few feet, on sheer momentum before turning and looking at her, then at the monster. He didn't have time to grab her and still make it to the mirror. She'd put him in a no win situation. He had no choice. He had to leave her...

... Because that was obviously happening.

He turned, pulling his book out and flipping to page 1000. It took him merely a second to draw a small bundle of throwing knives from the pages of his book and fling them into the darkness at the beast. He had run of the mill aim, having only been doing this for a few years, but his eyesight more then made up for it. Sure enough, the knives hit their mark. The beast's eye. The time it took the monster to rear back and roar in pain was all Hideki needed. "Bakudo #4: Hainawa!" A crackling rope of energy shot from his hands, binding itself around Yuzuki. "Sorry!" He shouted, giving it a strong tug, pulling the girl close enough that he could bend down and pick her up. If he wasn't so full of rage, fear and just pure all the way adrenaline, he might have faltered or dropped her.

Instead, he sprinted. Sprinted straight down the bookshelf, monster in tow. "I TOLD YOU. I TOLD YOU WE'D BE FINE! Why would you do something that STUPID!" he couldn't help but shout. She was insane. "How could you EVER think leaving you behind was an option!" he roared, running as fast as his legs would take him. Behind, the monster started pushing its way through the spiral bookshelf, only moderately slowed down by the effort of pushing through.

Laying there, Yuzuki stared into the maw of her death. It was terrifying, but she merely frowned at it. If this was how she was to go...It gave a sudden cry and stopped, then something wrapped around her body. It yanked, hard and she gave a shriek at the pain before familiar arms held her. There was a rather angry Hideki holding her and she just glared up at him. She couldn't try that move again. So maybe words?

"BECAUSE I was expendable!" Yuzuki hurt all over. She was sure she was bruised in at least five places, probably more. Being carried now was a pain and she winced. That yanking by the bakudo... she'd never had any techniques used on her before and she hoped never again.

She had been prepared to die. To offer herself in exchange. Its what she had been taught, you give up personal for the greater good. You give it all up. Still... she was happy to not have been eaten. Though that was STILL a possibility. The monster was following still. "I wanted to make sure you could make it. I am dead weight. You have more of a chance... Had. Now we are both gonna be eaten. Serves you right."

Hideki was starting to breath heavy, but he just kept pumping his legs anyway, not even daring to look back at this point. He could hear well enough anyway. The thing was really ramming its way through these bookshelves. "Don't give me any crap about expendable!" If he was in something less of a panic, he might have been able to better appreciate her intent, but as was, he was still furious at what she'd tried to do.

He gave an exasperated groan as she kept talking, before finally putting his hand to her mouth. "The snark is REALLY making it harder to focus on running!" he advised, before finally he felt SOME slim sliver of hope as the mirror came into view. He skidded to a halt, placing Yuzuki on the floor as quickly as he could without dropping her. He immediately saw what she'd been saying earlier about upside down. There was only one thing he could think of that might work... and it was either this or death... "And here... we...GO." He yanked the mirror from the frame and turned it over, wincing as the sharp edge bit into his hands before pushing it back into place.

Exhausted, he immediately collapsed to the floor, before finally looking over his shoulder. It... It was gone. "H...Holy...crap..." He sprawled out, completely out of breath, before looking over at the still bound Yuzuki. "Y..You...You okay?"

Yuzuki let out a small sound at the rather uncomfortable placement of her body, but she didn't complain in the least. He didn't seem to understand it would have been easiest to just leave her and right now she was too eager to be home to care. They were so close, the monster was so close... Besides she was letting him keep his focus. Flipping the mirror, he placed it back and... they were home free! She smiled and relaxed as much as she could on the floor. All the tension left her in an instant.

"This was the worst mystery ever! Next time I am bringing adventuring clothes and I demand a better mystery than this mirror." Yuzuki would have waved at the mirror if she could, but she was still bound on the floor. Still the absurdity of her comment, caused by stress and fear, made her laugh. It was a soft and gentle laugh. "I'm fine you stupid shinigami. No thanks to your silly hero antics."

He groaned. "I dunno... I think... any mystery you find stuff out... and walk away from... was a pretty good one..." He tried to push himself to his knees, but failed, slipping back down, a small smear of red sliding from one of his hands. "ugh..." He rolled over onto his back, looking over at her, managing something resembling a smirk. "Hey, silly hero antics are pretty much my entire repertoire for impressing a lady. Don't knock 'em." He gave a dismissive wave, dispelling the bakudo. Well, at least one of them was able to move now.

"Considering you are in no shape to move and I am stuck here... I don't think we qualify. We aren't walking away from the mystery as you say." Yuzuki had words at the moment. Only words, so she was using them to cover her relief.

"Look! You are even hurt!" The red caught her eye, one of the few other colors and matching the marks on her face and body. As soon as he dismissed the bakudo, she crawled over to him shakily, grabbing his injured hand and examining it with careful fingers. "I am not impressed, Hideki. At all."

There was nothing to cover the wound with, other than his clothes... "You still have those knives? I'll cut a strip from your arm and bind your hand."

He hadn't even noticed the cut. It must have happened when he flipped the mirror. Now that he was aware of it, it sort of stung though. He winced as she messed with it. "It's fine, really. It's not that deep and if I cut up my uniform, who knows how long it'll take to requisition a new one. They really slack on this kind of stuff."

He wasn't entirely convinced she wasn't impressed, either. She should be, though. He groaned and sat up. Trying to pre-empt more sassing, he pulled his hand back a little. "H-Here... Careful, I don't want to get any blood on you." He pulled his Zanpakuto out with his other hand and tore some of the sheets out and pressed it to his palm. Not exactly gauze but it at least would work for a few minutes.

"You are a Vice Captain. You can get more uniforms." Yuzuki realized she was touching Hideki and let him pull away as she scooted back a foot or so. Looking down at her hands, the only red to be seen were the wrist markings and arm tattoos. She held them up and frowned. "See? No blood. You were right to be worried, I forgot myself."

She couldn't turn to look at the mirror, though it was like a coal burning in the back of her mind. She knew it was there, but right now she couldn't face it. He was pressing paper against the wound and she flinched, wondering what was going through his stupid mind to do that instead? Well, Yuzu could do one thing. Moving to her feet, slowly but smoothly, she stood up and began checking her body. Bruises on both hips, a mark down her leg from where she landed... There were red imprints on her leg from Hideki's hands... Her arms had scrapes and a few bruises and she winced as they seemed to be already showing up. Maybe throwing herself from his arms at a dead run had been a bad idea. At least she hadn't twisted an ankle or anything. She could still walk and move.

"It's fine..." He decided sitting on the floor like a dip for much longer would look pretty terrible and forced himself to his feet. He was still winded, but he wasn't really injured or anything. He sighed. "Fine... But if I get a complaint about this, I'm blaming the nobility." He said, pulling another knife out of his book, he cut a strip of cloth from his sleeve and wrapped it around his hand. "There. Happy now, princess?" He snarked at her, but after a moment gave a small reassuring smile.

Now that he wasn't bleeding everywhere, he looked her over, too concerned for her health to worry about the oggle factor. "You look a little bruised. It doesn't hurt to walk, does it?" He'd just sprinted for his life carrying her, if he had to do it safely, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

"I'll mark it with my seal, so they will know it was definitely me if the complaint comes in. You shouldn't worry, I will make sure." Yuzuki sniffed and lifted her head up at the assumption she would skimp out on this duty. Seeing his hand wrapped, she then followed the look up to his eyes with a frown on her face. "I suppose it'll do."

Her face slowly grew red as Hideki's eyes roamed her body, innocently looking at the injuries, but still she didn't... Covering herself with her arms and hands, she started walking as she tried to escape this sort of...intimacy. "I am perfectly fine. I can walk until we get outside, then I shall shift back to dog form. I'll be able to make it home easier and no one will question my bruises."

He sighed. "There's no need. I'm sure it'll be fine." He looked up to see her face totally red and frowned, realizing he'd been oggling her whether he meant to be or not. "Uh... You look fine... H-healthy! You don't seem to have any serious injuries. I'm sorry this went all topsy turvy... that was by far the craziest mystery I've found so far." He started walking along side her. "But at least the nightmare's almost over, right?" He had to imagine this must be the worst day of Yuzuki's life, or close to it.

"Of course I am healthy." More sniffs. Yuzuki's voice was rather soft as she continued, much softer than usual. "It...is okay. It was fun in the most terrifying of ways. I wonder what other mysteries need solving in this place? I will be back to find out."

She was moving swiftly along, a good pace for someone who had ran much more than she usually did. "I really would like to know where that was and how it got there. Its odd to find something like that in the seireitei and a library."

He glanced over. "Yeah, I'd... Wait... You want to come BACK?" He tilted his head, eyebrow furrowed curiously. He opened his mouth to ask questions, before intercepting himself. 'Hideki.. do you really want to question this one? I know she's loud... but REALLLY?' He slowly closed it before smiling. "Absolutely. Next time, we can check out the old catacombs. Less horror monsters, but there's trap doors and a slide, so. It should be pretty fun." He said, as if he were describing a regular work day, with a little nod.

"I'll... I'll look into that whole mystery. Now that we know a bit more about it, I should be able to try and dig up SOMETHING.."