"Rui-chan, you don't have to--"

"I do, Hinata-kun. I just... what sort of person would I be, if I didn't go see him now?"

Whatever it is, that's what you've been becoming, a voice whispers to her, from somewhere within the depths of her own, traitorous heart.

Rui shakes off the premonition and continues gathering her things, snagging her jacket off the back of the couch. Hinata's hand closes over hers just as she finds her keys, and she swallows hard before she lifts her gaze to meet his.

"Rui-chan..."

Confusion pools in the muddy waters of Hinata's eyes as he watches her through lowered lashes, but there's something else, another emotion Rui can't quite put her finger on. Or, is it just that she doesn't want to name it? Because she knows whatever it is, it'll make her see Hinata differently?

"Don't go," he pleads, squeezing her fingers, mouth quirked into a very effective frown.

But Rui shakes her head, again and again. This is something she has to do, something she wants to do, despite her past encounters with Shin, despite her own grief.

"I'm going," she says firmly, pulling her hand free of Hinata's and dropping her keys into her pocket.

"Wait" - Hinata follows her to the entryway, hands caught on the sides of the open door, still imploring her to reconsider - "it's not like you can do anythin' for 'em, Rui-chan. And, I mean, would he even wanna see ya?"

Probably not, Rui thinks wryly, recalling the surly attitude Shin gave her the last time they met face-to-face. He doesn't seem the type to court pity from others, and even less the type to want random acts of kindness from people he barely knows. That doesn't matter to Rui, though.

"It may not be much, but... I can do something for Nomura-san. He's hurt, Hinata-kun, he's hurt because of that... that horrible ghoul, the one who..." She bites her tongue, resisting the urge to think about that night, to ghost her fingers over her scarred shoulder; she knows it causes Hinata enough guilt without her reminding him of it. "And since I really can't do anything for the dead... I can at least help the living... can't I?"

She's wringing her hands again, looking anywhere but at Hinata. His rejection would sting like nothing else to her.

"I... don't like him, Rui-chan."

Rui looks back, smiles a little, and Hinata's expression changes, opens up and warms.

"He's not that bad, Hinata-kun," she says carefully, seeing as she hasn't actually sorted out her feelings for Nomura Shin, First Class Ghoul Investigator and doesn't know whether or not she can tolerate him as a person. Well, that may be too harsh; he was as compassionate as she's ever seen him when he called her about his investigation into Akane's death. "He's rough around the edges, but that doesn't mean he's an awful human being."

Hinata furrows his brow, leaning farther out from the doorway, knuckles bleeding into white.

"When we met the first time, he..."

"He...?" Rui prompts, head cocked.

"...Nothing. He rubbed me the wrong way, is all." Hinata hangs his head for a moment, breathing out a slow, deep sigh, before looking back at Rui. There's a smile on his face but it hardly reaches his eyes. "If ya really wanna go, then I'm coming with ya!"

Rui frantically waves her hands to convey that no, that's really not necessary, not because she doesn't enjoy Hinata's company (obviously, she's actually come to need it), but because she's sure Shin will be bothered enough with just her visiting him. And judging from when they met in the cafe, Shin and Hinata are like oil and water. More accurately, Rui would say they're kerosene and a lit match - they set another off.

...Hinata's the lit match in that scenario, she thinks.

But she's saved from having to convince Hinata that his presence would only be incendiary (without crushing his feelings) when some western song suddens begins blaring out from Hinata's pocket. Startled, he takes two tries to fish the phone out, and he only takes the call after looking to Rui for assurance that this is okay; she nods hurriedly, not wanting Hinata to annoy whoever's calling him.

"'Sup?"

Hinata's eyes widen, and Rui blinks, baffled by the wounded look he's wearing now. Who could be on the end of the line?

"Ah... yeah. Yeah. Just... give me a few minutes, I'll head over real quick, okay?"

"What's wrong?" Rui asks once he's stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

There's that forced smile again...

"Kimi called," he says, chipper as the day they ran into one another but lacking in any sort of sincerity.

Rui wonders if he realizes just how much he reveals to her with his simple, subtle quirks, the curling of his lips, the wrinkles of his brow, the pitch of his voice. She doubts he knows she's always excelled at reading people, and she's in no hurry to tell him. That gives him a chance to school his features, to work out just what she's reading and disguise it. And if he won't be honest with her verbally, then she'll have to find the truth herself, because for Rui, honesty is important.

"She wants me to come by, so..." Hinata scratches his cheek, gaze dropped to his boots. "Guess you'll have to visit Dove-san alone... sorry, Rui-chan..."

"It's... it's alright," she says gently, still concerned about the pallor of his skin and the way he sets his jaw - something's happened with Kimi, she's certain of it. But it isn't her place to ask; Kimi's Hinata's friend, not Rui's. And Rui isn't... Rui isn't anything of particular importance to Hinata. "I'll be fine by myself, please don't worry, Hinata-kun."

He doesn't seem comforted by her words, rather, that furrow in his brow's deepened, and there's even less color to his cheeks now. Sighing, Hinata steps out from her doorway, swinging the door shut behind him. He watches as Rui locks up, then holds out an arm, barring her from walking past him. She raises a brow, silently prodding him to speak.

But he doesn't speak.

Instead, Hinata smiles, and there's real warmth to it, much to Rui's relief - then he closes the small gap between them and kisses her, full on the mouth.

Heat floods Rui's cheeks even as her eyes fall closed on instinct; she pushes off on her toes, angling her head to deepen the kiss. And, as much as she may want to deny it, this feels right - in a way nothing else in life has in a very, very long time.

It's Hinata who pulls away, flushed and flustered, a gleam to his eyes that eases the tightness in Rui's chest. He's more like himself, at least, less somber and more... well, Hinata-like.

"Um... God, I probably shouldn't have done that..."

"Probably," Rui agrees with a giggle - she's too high on the euphoria from that kiss to care about the formalities of their unorthodox relationship.

"I... couldn't hold back anymore," Hinata admits, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his neck, red-stained cheeks dimpled in another genuine smile. "I know we're not supposed to... we're not, ya know... what ya might call compatible, but... I like ya, Rui-chan, I like ya way too much to just sit back and be friends. If that's... if that's okay with you, I mean?"

This feels like a shoujo manga, Rui muses, swallowing another laugh as she takes the folds of Hinata's hoodie in her hands, pulling him closer so that she can place another kiss on his cheek.

"I like you, too, Hinata-kun - m-more than I should, honestly... We... we can, um, figure everything out l-later, alright?"

He grins from ear to ear, bobbing his head and threading his fingers through hers.

"Can do, Rui-chan! I'll meet ya back here once I'm done with Kimi, 'kay?"

"See you t-then!"

__________________________________________________________________

It's depressing how quickly her good mood fades once she's no longer near Hinata.

She can't decide if it's because of where she is (outside of the largest hospital in the eighteenth ward), or because the reality of her situation with Hinata's finally caught up to her.

Their relationship... it makes him even more dangerous to her, if nothing else. They'll be together more often, and they'll be more chances for him to be discovered if Rui keeps up her correspondence with the CCG; even if she weren't receiving calls from Amon every so often, she's been asked to give reports and such to other, lesser investigators more than a few times, and with the increasing body count, she wouldn't be surprised if she was called on to do so more often in the future.

Later, she reminds herself, curling her fingers into the hem of her jacket to get a grip, you can talk it out with Hinata-kun later. Right now, you're here for Nomura-san!

Rui enters through the sliding doors, and immediately she's overwhelmed by the sheer amount of white in the hospital. She hasn't been to one in ages, since her grandmother passed away, but even then, the cleanliness, the order - it always threw her off. Rui's not a slob, far from it, really, but she's by no means a perfectionist, and she's used to a little chaos in her life. The lobby feels almost... empty, a white void of organization. It's unsettling, though she chides herself for thinking so childishly.

"Kitamura-san!"

It's Amon who calls out to her, and Rui hurries to meet him from across the room, bypassing the squinty-eyed receptionist who stares at her with undisguised intensity for seemingly no reason at all. She winces at that; is there something about her that's unappealing to receptionists? The woman at the CCG reacted similarly to her, before she'd even opened her mouth to request a meeting with an investigator.

"I wasn't sure you would find the time to come," Amon admits after they've greeted one another. Clearly, he thought her ill-will towards Shin would keep her at bay. And she can't say she blames him. "But I'm grateful. No one else has come to visit Nomura-san."

"No one?" Even Rui is surprised at that. To have no one who cares about him enough to stay by his side after such a horrific event...

Does he prefer this solitude? Is it easier for him, like she thought it would be for her?

"Well... I've been attempting to get in touch with his younger sister, Emi, but it seems busy at the moment."

"Busy? What could be more important than her brother?"

"Nomura-san's told me she's an artist; he assumes she's working on a commision."

Rui bristles.

"That's still no reason to put off making sure your brother is alive!"

"I feel the same way, Kitamura-san," Amon says, placing a placating hand on her shoulder as he steers her towards the elevator. "Family is... irreplaceable."

His grip on her shoulder tightens momentarily, so much so that Rui bites back a squeak of alarm; then it disappears altogether as she enters the elevator. Amon stays behind, smiling much too stiffly.

"My apologies, Kitamura-san," he says to her curious expression. "I have to return to the office. It seems they'll have me finish out my training under another investigator while Nomura-san recovers, and they want me to meet with him effective immediately."

Rui wants to scream at that, much to her own surprise. Shin is hurt - he almost died. Is no one going to give pause at that, stop and think about the life that could have been snuffed out of existence forever? Does anyone care that a man is lying in a hospital bed, bloody and broken, because he was doing his damn job?

She thinks about the impact Kaori's death had on the paper, imagines it was the same way with Akane.

Death may be more frequent in Shin's line of duty, but does that make it less important?

Gripping the strap of her messenger bag tighter, Rui nods dutifully, rather determined now that she's heard all the facts.

"I understand, Amon-san," she says, and he blinks at the steel in her tone. He'd been under the impression - even now - that Rui was a willowy girl, breakable as glass. He hasn't seen this side of her before. "I'll give Nomura-san your best wishes, if that's alright with you?"

"Yes, please do," he says, just before the doors close, and Rui's alone in the elevator, staring at the ceiling, the flickering lights, and wondering what is so very wrong with this world of theirs.

She steps out on the fourth floor, having been informed of Shin's room number by Amon prior to parting. It takes her a bit of time to locate the right room; she's used to her apartment's layout, and this is not at all the same. But she does find it after about fifteen minutes of searching, and she's about to rap her knuckles on the door and ask for permission to enter when a nurse tugs on her arm.

"Miss? Only immediate family is allowed to visit Nomura-san at this time."

But he doesn't have any of that! she wants to shout, annoyed that even this man, who can't possibly know what Shin has been through, what Rui has been through, wants to make things unnecessarily difficult for them. But she doesn't shout, she doesn't beg, or demand that she be let in. Her mind races, thinking up an excuse, a reason for her to be here.

What pops out of her mouth isn't exactly ideal.

"G-Girlfriend!"

"Excuse me?"

"I-I'm... I'm Nomura-san's g-girlfriend... We're getting married! Eventually, anyway... Nomura-san..." She swallows hard, hopes the nurse won't notice. "Shin's not... he's not great with commitment, ya know?"

The nurse's eyes widen.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have assumed... Please go in..."

"Rui," she rushes, filling in the blank for him, "Kitamura Rui!"

"Kitamura-san." The nurse nods, releasing her arm. "Again, I'm sorry. Go right ahead."

As soon as the nurse has disappeared around the corner, Rui bangs her head against Shin's door. Then she does it again, just for good measure. Girlfriend? Was that really the best she could do? It has to be hormones - the rush of joy and adrenaline she felt after her kiss with Hinata--

Oh. God. Hinata.

He can never find out about this - he'll hate Shin even more than he does now. Even if Shin had nothing to do with it himself.

Sighing, Rui peels her forehead from the door and reaches for the handle, turning it and pushing in to open the door. She slips inside once the opening is large enough.

White, white, white; beeping machinery; tubes and fluids. And then there's Shin, laid out atop the white bed, smothered in white bandages, white-faced and eyes closed. Rui bites her lip, uneasy; it's too bright for her, too bright for Shin. Like the chime of that cafe's bell, it's as if the whiteness is mocking her, mocking Shin for everything they've lost, everything they've suffered through. And she hates it.

No wonder Rui's lost sight of her optimism.

"Nomura-san?"

No response. He's asleep, then, she supposes.

Rui pulls a chair up to Shin's bedside and takes a seat. She crosses her legs, uncrosses them, then crosses them again. She sighs, blowing her bangs from her eyes; a moment later, she tucks her hair behind her ears. Her hands clasp together in her lap, knuckles white - she pulls them apart, sits on them to keep from reaching for her phone.

She's uncomfortable, and she'll be the first to admit it. But it's not because she's alone with Shin - not really, anyway. It's not because he's asleep, either. Sort of. Okay, maybe she is nervous because there's no one else here and Shin is intimidating even in his sleep.

He's breathing deeply, nestled in his blankets. Rui shifts in her seat, leaning closer to inspect the stitches she can see peeking out from beneath the neckline of his gown. Shoulder wound?

Kaori's voice is ringing in her head again, urging on her troublesome curiosity, and she's loathe to silence it now.

Before Rui's even realized what she's doing, she's leaning over Shin, pulling back the neck of his gown to peer down at the line of stitches that follows the curve of his shoulder, cutting a bit into his bicep. Her stomach flips at the sight. But it's nothing compared to what she imagines in beneath the large pad of gauze he's had taped over his throat. It's just the size of her bite mark - perhaps a little smaller, but somehow, she doesn't doubt that's what's covered up.

Her her shoulder throbs in time with her racing heart the longer she stares at Shin's battle scars.

He... really nearly died.

The world almost lost Shin.

She... she may not get along with him all the time, but.... But she'd never wish him dead. She's lost too many people to ghouls already. Shin would just... his death wouldn't destroy her the way Kaori's did, but it's too painful her to even imagine.

"Kita...mura?"

She jumps, tumbling back into her seat and nearly knocking the both of them to the ground, only steadying herself by grabbing onto the edge of the bed. She's breathing rather hard, and she shakes her head, trying to compose herself. The last thing she needs is Shin asking strange questions about her appearance.

"Nomura-san, you're awake," she breathes, smoothing out the wrinkles she's just made in his sheets. She doubts he minds, but it's something to distract her. "I, um... Amon-san called me. He couldn't stay long, and he wanted someone to keep your company when you woke up..."

Shin stares at her a moment, as if attempting to reconcile her being here with the last time they were together; then he closes his eyes, letting out a soft che of frustration.

"That bastard," he mutters, "overstepping his boundaries again--"

He cuts off in a hiss, his bad arm half-raised, the opposite hand sunk deep into the sheets. He'd forgotten about his shoulder and went to run a hand through his hair, only to end up with bolts of agony shooting through his arm.

Rui grabs his hand and gently lowers his arm onto the bed, ignoring the look of indignation he shoots her. Being helped out by her is hardly the most demeaning thing about his current situation.

"Amon-san said you gave a statement to the CCG already, right?" she asks. "So you... remember what happened, Nomura-san?"

"I remember," he croaks, which is quickly followed by a low curse, as he apparently can't stand the ragged nature of his voice. She almost laughs but bites the inside of her cheek; irritating Shin further doesn't seem to be the best course of action for her. "I got my ass handed to me by a demented ghoul with a rag over its face. And then I was saved by a random woman who was passing by. What a great story to tell my grandchildren."

Rui rolls her eyes. Shin's attitude is nothing new to her, though the sarcasm feels fresh. She thinks he might only resort to it when he's bitter over something; it would be a common habit among people with his personality type.

"You act as though you weren't heroic," she murmurs.

Shin snorts. "Hero and Nomura Shin don't add up, Kitamura. I thought you would have understood that after our first encounter."

"Hero's don't always act like princes," she laughs. "Nomura-san, you fought with the ghoul that's been terrorizing the whole ward. You risked your life against them. You're a hero to a lot of people, even if you don't want to admit it."

He pauses, watching her again. There's nothing heated behind his gaze, but it isn't dull like it was before. He's looking at her, gauging the sincerity of her words, curious rather than hostile. Rui wonders if it's a result of all the drugs he must be on.

"Is that so?" he says at last, and nothing more after that.

There's silence between them for a while. Companionable silence, though, such that they don't feel awkward, or pressed to make paltry conversation.

Then Rui leans a bit closer, and Shin pulls his eyes away from the ceiling to look at her, her earnest expression, the questions dancing in her eyes.

"Nomura-san... the ghoul... S-Skinner... got away?"

"...Yes. I'll have to apologize for that, Kitamura. I said I'd take care of this, and look where I got myself? Off the case and bed-ridden for at least two weeks." He doesn't sigh, but his expression says he wants to. "Some hero, huh?"

Rui opens her mouth, ready and willing to defend him - but the words won't come. He won't accept them, not from her, not from anyone Nomura Shin has decided he's failed, and for him, that's all there is to it. So she swallows down her compassion and ducks her head, curling her fingers around Shin's hand as a sign of her true feelings on the matter.

After a moment - and a sidelong glare she isn't sure how to react to - he flips his hand around to squeeze back.

She's surprised, evidenced by the heat flooding her cheeks, but she doesn't get the chance to react. In the next heartbeat, the door slams open, and in walks a woman a few years older than Rui, dressed in a pair of paint-splattered jeans and an oversized button-down (also stained with a multitude of colors), her dark hair pulled into a sloppy knot atop her head.

All Rui can do is stare.

The woman takes one look at the room, settles on their entwined hands, and a smirk pulls at the corner of her mouth.

"So... I take it you're my brother's fiancee?" 

Haha, I got the idea for Rui to claim she's Shin's girlfriend from an RP Unchained and I had going in (though in that situation it was two guys and it was much funnier). Also! Don't hate Shin for his (barely there) affection! He's actually a caring guy - you just gotta earn it from him. Plus, you guys finally got the kiss scene from Rui and Hinata (which I think was appropriately mundane for the two of them) so no Shin-hating, 'kay?