The hospital staff has learned all of Shin's moods, and if he weren't a couple years from hitting thirty he'd probably throw a tantrum of epic proportions over the fact. 

Shunsuke-kun, bane of Shin's existence, seems to delight in making Shin's life a veritable hellscape, because each and every time Shin thinks he's scared the nurses into skipping his room when they make their daily rounds, there's a new face with a plastic smile goddamn welded into place popping in, asking how he's feelings, if his injuries are faring any better this morning, this evening, whenever. 

Besides his demon-spawn caretakers, though, only Amon's dropped by recently. Shin can't say he minds; having Emi's divided attention would likely only grate on his freshly-mollified nerves, and he bets that any of his coworkers appearing in the doorway would leave Shin with a bad taste in his mouth and crescent marks in his palms. The issue with Amon visiting is that he's done so empty-handed; apparently he hasn't been able to gain access to the data room despite having resolved to carry out Shin's wishes. Normally it wouldn't pose much of a problem, but every day that Shin is laid up in a hospital bed is another day he has to come to grips with his inherent uselessness. Amon assures him he's no need to feel that way, that he's done enough for this investigation by putting life and limb on the line, but Shin's not so generous that he takes any of the rookie's platitudes to heart. 

Shin leverages himself into a sitting position, gritting his teeth against the wince threatening to ripple throughout the whole of his body. He's healing, slow and steady, and he'd give a hell of a lot to speed up the process; aside from his knee-jerk reaction to people fussing over him, he's never liked hospitals. He and Emi were in and out of them semi-frequently where they were kids, visiting ailing relatives they didn't know the names of, for broken arms and dislocated shoulders. Their mother spent time in one for the better part of year, which their father had explained by telling them that mommy needs a break from being mommy.

He snorts, just once, then scowls as the muscles around his mouth twinge, conveying their extreme displeasure at his decision to emote for once. Lesson learned.

He'll never get over how easily parents lie to their children. It's hilarious, in retrospect. Instead of sitting them down and detailing to them what depression was, his father had - intentionally or not, Shin could never be sure - made his kids sick with guilt thinking they were to blame for their mother's disappearing act.

Oh, well. Good thing Shin doesn't have any kids to pass along bad habits to.

After a while of mindlessly (re: petulantly, with a hint of self-directed bitterness) staring a hole in the ceiling, Shin distracts himself by going over his injuries. It's a fruitless task, he's well aware of that, what with all the on-call doctors and Shunsuke's lengthy medical reports he has drawn up daily; but it gives him something to do, so Shin sets about cataloguing scrapes and bruises, aches and pains. There's a tie for first place in the category of worst thing he's ever felt in his goddamn life between the gaping wound on his neck and the slash-mark that dominates his torso. A constant throb of pain emanates from his neck, doubling whenever he so much as swallows, and he can't rotate his left shoulder more than a few few degrees without his stomach surging into his throat, which just further agitates the bite on his fucking neck. All in all, Shin wouldn't be surprise if this puts him out of commission for good; if he can't regain full use of his shoulder, swinging a quinque around will be about as feasible as Amon admitting his feelings for Rui. 

If he has feelings. If it's something more than platonic protectiveness. Again, Shin's having a hard time reading Amon when it comes to his relationship with the pink-haired ex-journalist.
He's just about finished mumbling half-hearted curses to himself when hears the unmistakable click of the door opening. God, more nurses. Hasn't he been tortured enough? Really, he would have thought the combined humiliation of being both taken out and rescued by a ghoul would serve as whatever divine punishment he was apparently in for, but no, there's always something else, isn't there? Reeling in the more self-destructive components of his personality, Shin knits his brows together and curves his mouth into something in the family of a sneer, but not quite as condescending. 

But the expression slips into confusion when he sees who's just walked into his room.

"Kitamura?"

She smiles, wiggling her fingers in a wave as she closes the door behind her and moves to drop into the chair beside his bed. 

She looks like shit, and that's Shin being kind. Dark smudges hang beneath her eyes like someone dabbed at her cheeks with charcoal, and the rest of her skin has taken on the sickly pallor of the dying. If not for the fever-bright sheen of her eyes he might've thought she was already counted among the dead. 

And now you're just being overdramatic, he chides himself, because, well, he is. He's been cooped up in his own head so long it's making him go all maudlin. 

"Hello, Nomura-san," Rui beams, and it's tired and listless, but it's a real smile, and that's what he doesn't get. He decides it's not worth asking about, though, and merely tilts his head to indicate he's listening as she goes on. "Amon-san asked me to visit again." Her smile dims a bit, curls down at the corners in an imitation frown. "I, um, I meant to come back sooner, but..."
Shin swallows down a sigh and studiously resists the urge to smother his face in a pillow. He can't believe this woman sometimes. She couldn't stand the sight of him a few weeks ago, and now that he's painted black and blue she's concerned. Well, he supposes that's the natural reaction, but still. He'd prefer she doesn't run herself ragged worrying about him, of all people. 

"Kitamura, I never asked you to come back."

Her mouth twists with indignation, but she does a good job of keeping it out of the rest of her body language.

"You're right," she says, "Amon-san did. But I'd come anyway, Nomura-san. Whether you like it or not, we're connected, by the investigation and by..." She trails off, her hand straying to her shoulder, fingers kneading lightly into what he presumes to be tender flesh. He doesn't think she realizes she's doing it; it's an unconscious movement, and he can't say he hasn't been doing the same thing since he first woke up here. "By Skinner."

She says the name like a curse, and Shin can't help but agree with that sentiment.
But Shin has seen the bandages poking out from the neck of her shirt, before all of this. He hadn't thought much of it at the time, wrapped up as he was in the investigation. His mouth goes dry, heartbeat spiking. 

"Kitamura, I swear if you've had that thing's teeth in you and you didn't bother reporting it--"

"What?" Rui squeaks, glancing down at her shoulder and immediately throwing up both hands in a placating gesture. "No, no, you've got it wrong, Nomura-san! I haven't... that's not from..." She swallows thickly, shakes her head a little. "This was an accident" - and she's telling the truth, he can hear the notes of sincerity coloring her words, but it doesn't sit right in his stomach still - "and it had nothing to do with... it wasn't because I ran into Skinner," she says. "Please, believe me, I only meant that because... because of what they did to... Kaori and Akane, I... I can sympathize, Nomura-san."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Shin hisses, more from the sudden flare of pain along his chest than any real animosity towards Rui. Her lips compress into a flat, worried line, but she doesn't say a word to him, just tucks her hands together in her lap and nods. "So why are you really here, kid? I have to assume you're working an angle here, because, as you can probably guess, I'm not exactly overrun with friendly run-of-the-mill visitors."

As if Shin's cynicism somehow offends her, Rui purses her lips, drumming her fingers against her knee while she considers Shin's question. 

"First of all, Nomura-san, from what Amon-san has told me, you can't be any older than twenty-eight, which means the age gap between us isn't wide enough for you to call me kid. Second, I resent that implication. Third," and here she smiles sheepishly, bending down to fish a stack of slightly crumpled papers from the messenger bag at her side, "I thought you might be able to tell me more about the Closed Ward."

"Shit," he says, for lack of a more appropriate expletive, as she presses the papers into his hands. Across the top of the first paper reads, in bold type, GOVERNMENT COVER UP? THE SEVENTEENTH WARD SHUT DOWN AFTER ALLEGED CCG SKIRMISH WITH GHOULS. "And here I was, hoping you had to sense to leave well enough alone."

"I think you know me better than that by now, Nomura-san."

"Unfortunately. Which is why I question my decision not to send the rookie down to your place after all. He could've talked you out of... whatever it is you're trying to do."

Ignoring him, Rui leans closer to tap at the center of the page. "This never got published. Harada-san - my boss, you remember him?" At Shin's reluctant nod, she says, "Harada-san pulled all his reporters off this story within a week of it happening. Strange, don't you think?"

"You're fishing, Kitamura, and I don't appreciate you treating me like a dumbass carp."

"Nomura-san..."

Shin nearly growls out a response, but bites down hard on the inside of his cheek, throwing back his head so that he's staring through narrowed eyes at the ceiling again. He should have suspected she'd go hunting for answers on her own; it's not like he hasn't been doing the same damn thing. They're too similar, he and Rui. Not in trivial ways, they'd never be mistaken for siblings or anything of the like; but their core fundamentals align in a way that makes his skin crawl with unprecedented anxiety. She can't give up on this any more than he can, even beat to hell like he is. 

"...I'll ask one more time, politely, Kitamura, that you leave this to the professionals. You may have your doubts about the CCG's capability after my failure, but you can have my word that their are investigators far more talented than I am that can handle this."

"Do they know that S-Skinner's from the Closed Ward?"

Ah. That. He supposes he could solve a lot of his current problems by simply informing his higher-ups of his hunch regarding his former case, but he knows without really having to consider it how that conversation would actually pan out. They'd deny everything he said, blame it on the offensive amount of painkillers he should be taking. The Closed Ward is a sensitive topic in all circles, but none more so than that of Ghoul Investigators. 

"I'm not even sure how you figured that out," he says instead of answering. Rui looks disappointed, possibly disappointed in him, though the only telltale thing about her expression is the set of her jaw and the arch of her brows.

"It makes sense, doesn't it? That's where Kaori..."

He's not so cruel that he makes her finish that hanging sentence.

"It's still a guess. Lacking in substantial evidence, based on your assumptions. And a guess, Kitamura, isn't something you should stick your neck out for. Not in this line of work."

If Amon were here, he'd probably be glaring at Shin for being the hypocritical ass that he is.

"...it isn't that I have doubts about the CCG," Rui says, quietly, her gaze dropping to her lap. She's fiddling with the hem of her shirt, a nervous tick, he'd say. "Your... it wasn't a failure, Nomura-san, it was just... unfortunate, what happened to you. I... Kaori's gone and I... I have to know the truth, Nomura-san."

Shin does not get paid enough for this.

He'd tell Rui as much (and in no uncertain terms forbid her from dying on behalf of an already dead mentor, because he's nice like that), but his attention is snagged by the chiming of his phone from where it sits on the bedside table. Rui reaches for it automatically and, without even glancing down at the screen to check who's texted him, hands it to Shin. He blinks, but dismisses his momentary bafflement and unlocks his phone to view the text.

It's from Amon. Just four words:

Nomura-san, I did it! 

A flash of a smile spreads across Shin's lips, there and gone in the blink of an eye. He knew there was a reason he liked that rookie. 

"Maybe you'll get your answers after all," he murmurs, eyes locked on his phone despite sensing Rui's eyes boring into him. She opens her mouth to question him, clearly, but she's cut off by the sound of a high-pitched scream echoing down the hallway.

Shin's up and moving before he's even realized what's going on, lunging from his bed and staggering to his feet with only minimal swearing on his part. Rui joins him after a beat, staying close to support Shin when his body sways dangerously; her hands are warm where they hold onto his sides in a trembling grip. 

"Nomura-san?" 

It's not just her hands trembling.

"Hell if I know what's going on," Shin mutters, taking a few dodgy steps towards the door, Rui clinging to him all the while (he says clinging, but in reality he's relatively sure he'd have collapsed by now without her taking a third of his weight). 

Another scream, this time closer. Followed by the pounding of footsteps, the blaring of an alarm. The fire alarm? That doesn't explain--

He gets it the same moment Rui does, when he's yanked open the door and they watch as a panicked nurse darts past the room, never sparing them a glance - leaving bloody footprints in their wake.

Shit.   

Did you guys catch on? Considering the last chapter, I think it's safe to say y'all can figure out where this is going~ Still, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Criticisms, too, any improvements I could make. I know my writing isn't quite the same for these new chapters as it was for the older ones, but, well... I'm trying, because I really do want to finish this story. So even if I'm not completely happy with each chapter, I'm not keep writing them until Rui's story is told. Hope you guys don't mind it being a little rough around the edges until then.