Giriko

Justin followed, raising an eyebrow at Giriko's question before leading them to the basement where Noah probably was. "I don't believe so, no. Maybe once, if ever." Shibusen had possibly mentioned something like that, although rather cryptically from what he could remember.

"Is there a particular reason you're asking? Because I doubt you could somehow attack someone by doing that." Justin doubted that there was much that could warrant that much damage. He turned his head to read Giriko's answer as he continued to walk.

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Giriko chewed on his lower lip, but he didn't want to talk about this where Noah could hear it, so he couldn't procrastinate for too long on his answer.

"Some asshole told me that was gonna happen to me," he said. "Like...that I was gonna fight some Shibusen guys, but my soul was gonna break and I was gonna die."

Immediately after saying it, he felt like a fool. This was his problem to solve, not Justin's. And besides, telling someone something like that...wouldn't it make him look weak? If he couldn't even fight a couple of kids without his soul breaking apart, he was useless. Noah would probably throw him away.

He clenched his fist and glared down the hallway as he walked, his shoulders slightly hunched as he brooded over it.

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Justin stopped walking and stared directly at Giriko. He was kidding. He had to be. He kept waiting for Giriko to start laughing, point at him and call him an idiot. Nothing.

"So don't fight them," he said at last. It was an obvious solution, but it was also probably the best one. "You can avoid it, can't you?"

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That was probably the last thing Giriko had expected to come out of Justin's mouth. He stopped and turned around, looking back at Justin with surprise written all over his face.

"I guess so," he said. "But what the fuck am I supposed to do instead? I mean, I want to kill those assholes!"

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Justin took a few steps forward so he could speak quieter and still have Giriko hear him. "I'm not planning on staying with Noah forever." Or for very long, for that matter. "He's just going to help me find the location of the Kishin and once he does, I have no purpose in staying here. And neither will you." He sighed. "You'll get your opportunity another time, is all I'm trying to say. Another time when it might not cause your soul so much damage."

With that, he continued walking, figuring the matter was settled.

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Giriko blinked in surprise at Justin's words. After a moment, he moved to catch up, falling into step with the priest.

He still wasn't sure what he'd done to earn Justin's...appreciation. But he was growing more and more happy that he had it. Despite his words during his recent bender, he really did have two people who did, possibly, care if he lived or died. Even if it were just a little.

He didn't dare say anything to acknowledge Justin's words, but he slung an arm around the younger man's shoulders briefly instead, giving him a squeeze that might have even looked affectionate, if one didn't know his nature.

It was an acknowledgement, and a signal of appreciation. He was pretty sure Justin would get the message.

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Justin smiled for the briefest second, reaching to give Giriko's hand a similar squeeze.

By the time they reached Noah, however, Justin made sure that they weren't too close to each other; Noah seemed like he would be the type to exploit any sort of information he could get his hands on. The meeting itself was quick and painless; new orders, kill little miss Albarn, that would hardly prove to be difficult.

Giriko on the other hand had been assigned shinigami-sitting duty for the next few hours. Evidently Woodchuck's - or whatever his name was - bitch slapping hand had gotten tired and needed a break. Justin hung around, not really sure if he should go back to his room or keep Giriko company for the duration of his shift.

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Giriko had the same instinct. He entered the meeting room a moment after Justin, lagging behind by a few steps and slouched in, hands in pockets, as if he had been behind Justin by accident.

He sat up with a bit more interest as Noah gave him his assignment. He'd been curious about talking to the Shinigami kid ever since he arrived, but hadn't wanted to talk to him while Gopher was around.

Noticing that Justin was hanging around, he met his eyes and smirked widely, then jerked his head slightly. Then he turned to head towards the room where the Shinigami was being kept.

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Once Gopher and Noah stopped paying much attention to him, Justin followed Giriko into the room where Kid was suspended from a sheet of paper.

At the moment the little Shinigami was sleeping as best he could, head tilted at an odd angle so it was leaning on one of his raised arms. He didn't stir when the two men entered the room, his exhaustion allowing him to sleep soundly despite the awkward angle of his neck.

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Giriko was quiet for a moment, watching him. His skin was marked with bruises in places, and his hair and clothes were ragged. He looked pretty small and pathetic right now, helpless.

He glanced at Justin, assessing him with curiosity. Justin had been at Shibusen for a long time, hadn't he? Maybe he and the little Shinigami had been friends before the little brat helped to invade Giriko's home and kill his Mistress. How would he feel about this?

Giriko slapped Kid hard across the face. "Wakey wakey, brat."

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Kid bit back a grunt, and forced himself not to wince too obviously. He'd long since learned he'd end up screaming his throat raw if he didn't keep himself quiet. Besides, he wanted to keep his pride. No matter what happened to him, he wanted his pride when he got out of this.

The side of his lip curled into a smirk. "No wonder you couldn't protect Arachne if that's how you hit." Truthfully it hurt like hell, but he couldn't admit that.

Justin remained quiet, trying to not draw too much attention to himself. He wasn't too sure he wanted Kid to notice him and officially declare him a traitor. But he didn't know Kid that well, either. He'd pretended to be his friend but other than that, he knew nothing about him.

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Giriko snarled and caught Kid by the chin, forcing his face up. He turned his head this way and that, his fingers digging cruelly into his face.

He didn't mind if Justin kept quiet and watched.

"No wonder what you say don't mean shit to me, when you look like a pathetic worm hanging in a spider's web," he sneered.

Then he smirked wickedly "And your right side's all swelling up now. Look at that. Left side's okay, though. Want me to hit you again?"

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Kid ignored the pain as best he could. Truthfully, the blow to his face had hurt, but he didn't want to give Giriko a reaction. And that was the one reason he didn't beg to get his again to balance out his symmetry - how pathetic he would sound doing that?

He wondered if Giriko wouldn't hit him again if he did, just to mess with his head. "I already know you're going to hit me again. Why bother asking?"

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Giriko probably wouldn't have hit him if Kid begged him, because that would have been even funnier. The kid's words made him laugh, even still, and he let go of his chin, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

"I might hit ya later," he said easily. "Wouldn't want to make you scream too much. Though you must be fuckin' bored of Gopher's love taps by now. He probably can't hit for shit."

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"I don't scream," Kid said simply. Now a little more at-ease - at the very least, Giriko wasn't Noah - he felt relaxed enough to realize there was someone else there.

A look of confusion flashed across Kid's face before he glared at Justin. "Sanctimonious son of a bitch..."

Justin just chucked and rolled his eyes in response. Kid was always so melodramatic. He probably managed to figure out that Justin was the mole, but it was hardly a concern for the priest; it's not like Kid was going anywhere anytime soon.

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"Bet I could make ya scream," Giriko purred quietly. Then Kid noticed the priest standing behind him, and he grinned wide at the reaction.

"Oho, didn't expect that, did ya? Guess you didn't know some of your friends as well as you thought. I wonder how many others aren't who you think."

He reached out, pressing his hand to Kid's stomach and rubbing up, lifting his shirt. "Gotta wonder if they think you're the traitor, comin' to live with us like this. Maybe no one'll come for you at all."

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Kid was just about to tell Giriko to shut the hell up, but that all quickly turned into a rather obvious flinch away from Giriko's hand, though he couldn't get far thanks to his hands being tied. "Someone's coming for me!" Because Liz and Patti must have been able to get back safely and tell everyone what had happened. Because Professor Stein had promised he'd make sure they were safe. And they had to be safe. They had to be.

Justin scoffed. That little Shinigami was so pathetic sometimes. "Giriko? You want me to leave the two of you alone? I'd hate to get in your way." Besides, this might actually save him from having to deal with Giriko's rather insatiable sexual appetite himself; Justin wasn't entirely sure he knew how to handle that and still run his little errands for Noah anyway, but if Kid actually managed to keep him distracted, Justin was mostly off the hook.

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"If they can ever find you," Giriko replied mercilessly. "You don't have the first fucking clue where you are, do you? Neither do they."

He glanced back at Justin over his shoulder. "Fuck no I don't want you to leave. C'mere." He wasn't planning on letting Justin off the hook, anyway, whether it was before or after he went to run those errands of his.

"I got some questions for ya," Giriko added, turning back to Kid.

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Justin came closer, figuring he still needed to wait for a better opportunity to escape. He had places to go and 14 year old girls to kill, after all.

Kid resisted the urge to snarl and simply raised an eyebrow in response. "Ask away, if you absolutely must."

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Giriko slung his arm around Justin companionably, drawing him right up close to Kid.

"Yeah, so your friends...Maka and Soul are their names, right? You know what kinda powers they've got?" Kid would probably not want to tell him, but that was all right. It would just give Giriko more of an opportunity to rough him up.

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Justin exhaled slowly. He was slightly annoyed at Giriko for the embarrassing treatment - he didn't mind it when they were in private, sure, but in front of people? Honestly? - but he refused to show that and give Kid something to pick up on.

Kid snorted, rolling his eyes. "What makes you think they're my friends? It's not like I keep tabs of the entire school." He stared a little down and off to the right of Giriko, where his gaze fell after he got done with his eyeroll. "Why not get Justin to tell you?"

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"Cause I ain't a fuckin' moron," Giriko scoffed, leaning in closer. "You showed up on the island with them. And they were there at Arachnophobia. They ain't just some other people in the whole fuckin' school. They're people you've fought beside."

He leaned back and glanced at Justin. "Now Justin, he don't know shit about them, because he's been off with me, right?"

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Justin glared softly at Giriko. He very much wanted to be left out of this. Especially if he was going to imply... Anything to Kid in the slightest. "You already know that's true, Giriko."

Kid, much to Justin's relief, either didn't notice or didn't care much about Giriko's comment. He resisted the urge to crane his neck and lean as far away as possible, and instead stood his ground, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'd rather die than give any of you monsters any sort of information."

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Giriko grinned at Justin, then lashed out violently towards Kid. He didn't even bother to look at him, delivering a powerful punch to the midsection that could easily break a rib.

"Don't call me a monster," he said with a smirk, finally looking at Kid to admire his own handiwork. "You just gotta tell me one thing, brat. Can Maka and Soul do something to break a person's soul? Make it explode?"

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