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[10th/Closed] Week ---: Like Rats

Ilsa nodded slowly. "I never thought about what it would be like to grow up in a family of shinigami.” Fiddling with the chunky purple and green beads around her neck, she continued. "I’m sorry to hear about your father. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose Dad.” Just the thought made her mouth go dry with fear. "For what it’s worth, I think it’s a good thing to want to be a shinigami for yourself, instead of somebody else.” Ilsa’s cheeks reddened in the dim light. "Um... that didn’t make much sense, did it.” Her tone was that of a statement, not a question. She grimaced and stood back up, flipping her thick blonde braid over her shoulder to hang down her back. "Never mind. We should probably get going.”


134/2351​
 
Note
Short turn I know....but I was crushed for time and was having a bad April First....


With a nod the shinigami stood once more and brought Yakekoge back to life.

"Let's just push on straight."

The pair stood and walked on straight through the intersection. It was a rather short walk, seeing as how the pair was greeted by a dead end. The boy sighed. This was his fault. If he had chosen right this wouldn't have happened. With a silent motion and a grim disposition he looked down.

"It's a dead end..."

[77/2190]​
 
With a loud crash, a heavy metal gate fell from the ceiling behind Daichi and Ilsa, sinking into a groove in the floor. There was no handle or marking on the steel plate, nothing with which to grab a handhold even if they possessed the strength to lift it.

The two shinigami were now trapped in a tiny cubicle of a room, stuck in the dead end they had walked into.

 An unmarred metal wall at their back, two plain stone walls at their sides, and... something written on the wall in front of them?

 In the flickering light of Ilsa's spell, the two shinigami could see words engraved into the stone, revealing a riddle or a test:
Two shinigami were trapped in a tiny room. Though there appeared no escape, there was one kidou they could cast which would fill the room in its entirety and yet safely effect their escape. After much thought, the answer dawned on one of them.

What bakudou did they cast?
​
Beneath the words there was a raised block with an arrow pointing inward. After the two shinigami looked at each other, Ilsa reached for the block, giving an experimental push. The stone moved only slightly, but there was a grating noise. Putting more muscle into it, the tall woman pushed the button all the way in.

 All across the wall, shapes and blocks rose out of the stone, dozens of them. Each raised stone bore the name of a hadou or bakudou.

[250/650]
​
 
"Well... crap.” Ilsa glowered at the cryptic words engraved before them, then sighed and knelt on the floor once again. No point in standing hunched over if they weren’t going to be walking anywhere for a while. "At least it isn’t a demi-Hollow or arrows coming out of the walls or anything like that.” Frowning, she crossed her arms under her breasts as she read the riddle. "How do you use a bakudou to break out of a prison, anyway? That’s what hadou is for. Lots and lots of hadou.” A thought occurred to her, and she looked down at the katana at her side. Its engraved crystalline tsuba glinted in the flickering yellow light. "Or maybe a zanpakutou...”

Don’t even think about trying to use me to get out of here, Hinometori stated flatly. You don’t think Sayis-taichou will have anticipated that? All you would do is break me, and I would be extremely upset.

"That probably won’t work here, though.” Ilsa sat and pondered the names on the wall, absently rubbing the back of her neck. "Clay... no. Shouaku... hah, I wish. Inflamari... is that the pillar of fire or the wave of fire? I always get those two mixed up. Either way, it’s a hadou, so that’s not it.” Fire... Ilsa looked at Daichi’s fiery hand. "Daichi-san, how about if you cross out the ones that we eliminate? That might make it a bi easier.”


238/2589​
 
Shukumei went quiet for a short while after the conversation with Mitsuyo, leaving the seemingly confused redhead to his own thoughts.

He seems so torn between what he wants to say and he what he thinks he should say. He'll say something as part of a conversation and seem interested then just completely change attitude and pretend he's not even interested in the slightest. This guy changes moods quicker than a baby changes nappies.

"We should be coming up to the turning again soon," Shukumei informed, just to make sure Mitsuyo was keeping track of where he was, as well as everything else going on in his mind.

Wait...maybe he's talking with his zanpakutou in his mind at the same time? I never anticipated that before. Because he's so short and doesn't seem to even give a damn, I never once thought he might be at shikai level. Actually, it's pretty rare for someone to reach shikai. What am I even thinking? I can't make assumptions before I even know the answer. Though if he has reached shikai with his zanpakutou he's quite a bit stronger than me. Whether his constant changing attitudes is meerly an act or whether he's trying to avoid relaxed conversation completely, I'm going to have to be careful with him.

Shukumeis smile faded into his thoughts and his frown took its place. He began to run his fingertips down the right wall, keeping an eye out for the left turn that was certain to turn up soon down this path.

[255/3153]​
 
The flame fingered shinigami nodded. That was actually a really good idea. With a swift and gentle movement the names of a few known hadou and a few known bakudou that were obviously not the answer.

"The part that confuses me is the 'fill the room' part....I don't know any bakudou that can fill an empty space......Well..not with anything tangible...there's Blue Mist and...there is this higher one..a level fifty five I think...Black Tide? They essentially fill the room with mist or wind, but I don't see how that would help us..." The shinigami sat down next to his partner. This was one odd situation. However, it is infinitely better than having to fight some kind of monster or dodge flaming spikes.

[121/2311]​
 
"Yeah, that part is confusing me too.” Toying with her multicolored beads, Ilsa’s gaze unfocused as she thought out loud. "If you’re going to fill a room with something, and not hurt the people inside, it’s got to be a gas or liquid.” She frowned, turning her head to look at the metal wall behind the two shinigami. "Then the increased pressure could push the door out, or at least deform it enough to escape... provided it’s relatively water- or airtight. Or maybe an explosive gas... no, that would really hurt... acidic gas, no...”

Ilsa sighed and flopped down on the stone floor, legs up against the steel gate locking them in. Her hakama drooped down partway, revealing a pair of pale but well-muscled legs. "I don’t get it.”


129/2718​
 
Mitsuyo watched the way his shadow shuddered and flickered around him, ever skirting away from the glow of his Ghost Fire. "I know,” he said vaguely, although he didn't really. He wasn't exactly counting steps. It wasn't like it mattered – when a left turn popped up, he'd take it. It wasn't a complex science...although maybe he should at least try to keep his eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Sayis had hinted at traps – probably not of the 'life-threatening' variety, but almost definitely part of the 'annoying enough to spike Mitsuyo's temper' family.

True to Chuuchuu's word, the wall brushing the redhead's left shoulder soon gave way to another, unexplored passage, partially illuminated by the dancing white light above their heads. With a sigh, Mitsu made the turn, sandals scuffing at the rock beneath their feet.

The silence was bothering him.

"When I was a kid,” he started abruptly, speaking to the cold, still air, "I would have been running at full speed through here.” No, of course Shukumuu didn't know. Mitsu elaborated. "To win this...race-thing. I'm actually kinda competitive. But after awhile,” he rolled his shoulders and continued to keep his eyes straight ahead, "I decided it's easier to lose if I'm not even trying from the start. If that makes sense.”

There. He'd said it. And so help him if Mr. Wibbles tried to lecture him about how lazy that was, how important it was to try, he was going to get pissed off in record-breaking time. He realized that his hands were curled into fists, anticipating it, even.




[261/4504]
​
 
Shukumei followed Mitsuyo around the corner as his thoughts gathered together, only for Mitsuyo to start talking about some events that happened when he were younger. Shukmeis ears perked up, filled with interest in the almost enigmatic red-haired Shinigami.

His eyes wandered from wall to wall, occassionally fixating on the back of the redheads hair, Mitsuyo only just about shorter than himself, yet he still listened contently to the story he continued to tell.

"I'm not you, so I guess I wouldn't understand as much as yourself," Shukumei spoke in his usual calm voice, yet without a hint of his usual optimistic enthusiasm.

"You're a very quiet person, or at least when you first meet someone. I can see why your open enthusiasm would deteriorate. It's no bad thing, I guess; if there's nobody showering you in praise or making a big thing out of you, you won't get recognised for your potential. That way, it makes things quieter for yourself," Shukumei explained his thoughts openly.

Come to think of it, that's no bad thing. Nobody pushing you to increase your own skills, nobody to hassle you when all you want to do is hang around and watch the days go by.

"Ehhh, as if you really wanted my opinion much anyway. It isn't my place to judge," Shukumei smiled, scratching the back of his head lightly, "Everyone is different. Some people enjoy being in the spotlight, others despise it. It all comes back to the conversation on the way all of us Shinigami vary in so many different ways, though I don't doubt you've had enough of that conversation anyway."

Shukumei chuckled lightly and then toned down the conversation; he didn't want to run the risk of boring Mitsuyo to death.

The young Shinigami suddenly began to notice how the corridor began to swirl, left and then right, as if it were a serpent slithering through the caverns.

The corridors making an odd pattern. Perhaps this is a sign we're near the end? But what about the dangers Captain Sayis spoke about? I guess it isn't really as close to the end as I'd hoped.

[356/3509]​
 
Not exactly, Mitsuyo thought, but I'd probably be more annoyed if you did understand it completely. A part of him wondered where the fuck this mellow-ass mood had sprung forth from. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Shukumei's voice sounded more...down-to-earth now; none of that gooey, cheesy, overly-optimistic tint that felt so shallow.

It's not that I don't want to be acknowledged. But no matter how much you achieve, people only expect more and more from you – and what happens when you disappoint those expectations? It's like you never accomplished any-fucking-thing in the first place. It's exactly the same. Failure is failure is failure...

"Being in the spotlight only makes trouble,” he finally added, noticing that his hand was trailing over the rough edge of the left-hand wall again, following it through all the turns. He let it be, though. The texture on the pads of his fingers was reassuring. "If not at first, then eventually.” He sighed, and finally, finally glanced back at Shukumei over his shoulder. "Nobody's perfect, but if you're in the spotlight, people tend to expect you to be.”

He glanced ahead, and felt something like laughter bubbling up in his chest. The light was playing around in the dark now, carving out lines and angles where there should've been none. "So, Shuu-mi,” Did I just call him that out loud? "On a scale of one to never ending-love, how much do you like dead ends? Just, you know, asking.”




[254/4758]
​
 
Shukumei smiled as Mitsuyo began to loosen up a bit, his eyes scanning over to Mitsuyos trailing arm before returning to the back of his head, truly an interesting sight to behold in the foreground of the never-ending dark passages.

Taking in the opinion of the redhead, Shukumei could understand what Mitsuyo meant about being in the spotlight.

It's a good job we're not the strongest in our division, otherwise we would be in the spotlight on a constant basis, especially from Captain Sayis.

Shukumei suddenly heard what Mitsuyo called him and raised an eyebrow, changing his facial expression to one of puzzlement for several seconds.

What did he just call me? Is my name really that complicated? I guess I've never heard of anyone with the same surname before, but I guess they will be out there somewhere. It's not my fault my name is rare now, is it?

"Errrm, it's Shukumei," the young Shinigami replied with a previously unseen abrupt and cold yet quiet tone of voice.

"Dead ends? Well, I don't know. I guess they're not the worst thing in the world. Though they are kind of degrading-"

Shukumei took a short moment to think about what he was saying (for once, in an attempt to refrain from babbling on) and realised what the true meaning behind Mitsuyos question was.

"We've reached another dead end haven't we?" Shukumei began to chuckle quietly.

[235/3744]​
 
The diminutive pair of shinigami whirled at a noise behind them, watching steel shafts shoot from wall to wall, blocking off their retreat. No more than four inches between each bar, there was no hope of squeezing through. The room abruptly grew warmer, and brighter, as flames began to churn and grow behind them, a menacing hiss of lighted flames.

No fires spewed forth, though, and no skin was scorched from their bodies. As they turned, they saw six large sconces, two on each of the three walls surrounding them, their bright flames dancing and throwing shadows around the corridor.

On the wall at the dead-end, words were visible, carved into the stone:
The loftiest cedars I can eat,
Yet neither paunch nor mouth have I,
I storm whenever you give me meat,
Whenever you give me drink I die.
​

Beneath the words, there was a protruding stone with an arrow on it. After an insistent shove from Mitsuyo, Shukumei stepped forward and pushed the stone, struggling to force it into the wall. As it gave, dozens of others pushed out of the wall, covered with a myriad of random words and names, from things mundane to those esoteric.

The temperature around them seemed only to grow, sweat beginning to bead on the foreheads of the shinigami. The only faint relief came from the gaps between the steel bars behind them.

[231/881]
​
 
The way Shukumei corrected him – the shift in tone, and the frost that glazed his voice for that single moment, was the sort of vindication that Mitsuyo hadn't actually been expecting. Tangible proof that Shukumei's persistent use of sugar-coated optimism and soft warmth was just a shallow cover for much deeper (and less friendly) emotions.

The confirmation of his suspicions wasn't all that reassuring, though. It...he wasn't disappointed or anything, because anyone maintaining that sort of cheery smile for prolonged periods of time had to be faking...but, well, okay. The small redhead was a little taken back by the (slightly) taller shinigami's sudden coldness.

Hell, Shukumei didn't even give him a chance to apologize for it (something like "It was supposed to be a nickname, actually,” which wasn't much of an apology but it was something) before he was cracking jokes and laughing softly as though nothing had happened at all.

And then a lot of things happened, and the two of them were sealed off from the rest of the maze. Pinned between the bland surface of the dead end and the challenging bite of steel bars, Mitsuyo felt a moment of white-hot alarm. Trapped, they were fucking trapped, Sayis had warned them and now they were going to get roasted for being unobservant or not getting along or some stupid random reason that didn't fucking matt-

Calm down.

A bead of sweat slid from the base of his skull, traced its way down the back of Mitsuyo's neck, and seeped into the material of his uniform. It had nothing to do with the sudden heat.

They weren't incinerated. They were only trapped; the source of the fire Mitsu had felt at his back was numerous sconces that had decided to erupt into existence when the two shinigami weren't looking. The new wall ornaments positively bathed their shiny new cell in animated light (how fucking thoughtful, some distant part of the redhead's mind was settled enough to mutter).

Enough light to illuminate the riddle carved into unyielding stone.

Enough light to read the various choices that appeared before Chuu-ch...Shukumei and himself upon forcing that first (retardedly heavy) stone into place.

"A riddle. I thought we were gonna get nuked..." he sighed to himself, embarrassed and annoyed. His heart was still stuck in his throat as he murmured the riddle aloud, under his breath.

Huh.

For a few moments after he was done reading, Mitsuyo just stared at the riddle, letting the heat catch in his clothes and dampen his skin. He read it again, in his head.

And then a third time, certain he had missed something.

Can't be...

It really couldn't be.

But it fit.

Wasn't that...? With the torches and the heat...

Had their captain really given them such an obvious question? It had to be a trick, didn't it? There was no way the answer would click that easily.

"A paunch is like a stomach, isn't it?” he heard himself asking from a world away, staring hard at the carving on the wall.

As if in a trance, he scanned the various protruding stones for one that matched up with his idea...and then he remembered Shukumei.

"It could be...” He immediately felt a rush of self-consciousness. Man, he hated this stupid uncertainty. "Doesn't fire fit the riddle? Or flames?" he asked, hoping he didn't have to explain himself.

He refused to meet his partner's eyes (if the other shinigami was even looking at him). "Is there an answer like that among these...?”



[575/5333]
​
 
"Well...let's think about this..." The young shinigami began to pace. "What can fill a room without causing harm to those inside the room?" A small thundering echoed through the back of the recruit's head.

Just what I need...a headache... This puzzle wasn't getting any easier to him and all he could think to do was cross out options that he knew wasn't the right answer. There were only a handful that he managed to cross out before he sat back down again.

"Is Inuzuri-taichou always this....eccentric?" The question seemed ridiculous now that is was said. If their captain was not eccentric, would they be in a locked room in an underground maze? Chances of that were unlikely. The boy let out a small sigh and let his mind drift as he watched the shadows dance off the words that jutted from the stone walls. The play of light and dark was calming in a way, and the recruit could feel his headache melting away. Maybe the answer would come in a moment of free thinking...

Finally the shinigami chuckled and looked over at his partner.

"Have any bright ideas, cuz I'm all tapped out..."

[194/2505]​
 
"I haven’t actually interacted with Sayis-taichou that much, to tell the truth.” Ilsa lay on her back, idly playing with her Ghost Fire kidou. The little balls of yellow flame twirled around her fingers. "He does seem to like asking complex questions that seem simple, or vice versa.” With a thought, the ghost lights hopped up and down her arms like fiery rabbits. "He... really intimidates me,” Ilsa admitted. "I mean, captains are probably supposed to intimidate us lesser shinigami. They have powers that most of us can’t even dream of.”

Her balls of yellow fire spun in a circle as if thrown by an invisible juggler. "But I spent a little time training with Saika-taichou of the Ninth. Everyone knows he has crazy experimental devices and powers. People say he’s walking the line between genius and insanity. When he released his zanpakutou, his reiatsu nearly flattened me.” Ilsa shivered at the memory. The yellow flames, now perched on her toes, flickered in time with the motion. "But of the two, Sayis-taichou still intimidates me more.”

Silence fell on the enclosed room. The shadows shifted and danced in time with the Ghost Fire, a crazy patchwork of light and darkness. Ilsa let her mind drift, hoping that a solution to the riddle would hit her. Sometimes that worked when she was faced with a particularly difficult problem.

Wonder what the other team’s doing? The redheaded kid looked kind of cranky, but maybe he just had a bad day before the captain sprung this ‘training exercise’ on us. Ilsa stuck the golden lights together in a sort of mitsudomoe and spun it slowly. This place is so dark! I hope Shukumei-san or his partner know Ghost Fire, or they’re in for a world of hurt. How are you supposed to find the exit if you can’t see?

Ilsa froze, and the kidou fires stopped their dance. Find the exit if you can’t see... She sat up, turned around, and read the riddle again. Though there appeared no escape... The light, so to speak, dawned on her. Could the answer possibly be that simple? "Oh, sweet mother of souls,” she breathed. "Maybe the trapped shinigami are in the dark! They filled the room with light!”

Hastily reading the inscribed blocks on the wall, she found the block labeled ‘Ghost Fire’. Ironically, it was one of the ones they had crossed out. "I feel incredibly stupid now, Daichi-san. We’ve been using the answer all along!” Ilsa braced herself and pushed on the block.


420/3138​
 
For a moment, nothing happened. The room was filled only with the light of the kidou and the two shinigami trapped there. Nothing shifted or moved, no sounds rose up around them.

Then the light went out.

Ilsa and Daichi felt the cool touch of air against their skin, a subtle sensation they would not have noticed if not for their previous confinement. Quickly, the tall blond called up more ghostly flames. The two stood in a small threshold in-between two hallways.

Daichi checked immediately for any scorch marks on the walls, recognizing that they were in a completely different area of the maze. There was no indication that they had passed this area... but the wall on one side appeared to have writing etched into it. The two stepped out of the threshold, closer to the writing.

Both of them gave a slight jump as the ceiling dropped behind them, sealing off the path behind them. The corridor they stood in was smaller than expected, the floor slanting down in both directions to end in lowered squares no more than fifteen feet in either direction.

With no other direction open to them, Ilsa lifted up her light and the two read the words inscribed in the wall:
By virtue of but one misstep, you have found yourself trapped. No way forward, nor back, this place you have entered has only one way out.

Even in such a situation, though, there is always some slight choice open to you: what you do here will determine your end.

Make one statement. If that statement is false, then you shall boil yourself in water. If that statement is true, then you shall fry yourself in oil.

What is your choice? Make your statement.
​

There was a button underneath the words. Sharing a nervous glance with Ilsa, Daichi reached out, pushing the stone into the wall. This time there were no other buttons rising out of the wall, no multitude of choices open to them. The squares at either side of the hall sank lower, and began to fill from pipes near the floor: one with clear water, one with yellowish oil.

[359/1240]
​
 
Shukumei jumped out of his skin as the walls closed down behind him and the room lit up.

At least we don't have to rely on Ghost Fire now. With every fall we get an uplifting-

He never thought something would be strong enough to interrupt his rambling thoughts but he was severly proven wrong. His eyes widened as he felt the drop of sweat rolling down his head.

Now usually I would make some whitless, dumb, blatantly obvious comment like 'Wow, isn't it getting hot in here?' but I think that may be inappropriate considering there are flames laughing at us from several directions.

As all of the other stones now protruded out of the wall, Shukumeis eyes glanced up and down, left and right, quickly scanning all of them but failing to process all of the words his eyes managed to fixate upon, simply glazing over them.

Shukumei froze in the increasing heat, deciding to take a separate approach and read them slower. His eyes began to take in about three of the stones before his mind began to panic.

I can't take my time with this, time is the most important thing we have in this situation.

Shukumei began to breathe in and out quickly a few times, his mind concentrating on too many things at the same time.

Take control.

Shukumeis eyebrows arched inwards, signalling his current change of mind and he almost completely blanked out Mitsuyos comments.

"The riddle has to be describing fire. Whether that is too obvious or not, we don't have time to take it into consideration. It eats cedars, metaphorically referring to forest fires? Fire doesn't have a mouth or paunch - yes, a paunch is a stomach. Feed it meat and it will storm - perhaps this is simply a prelude to the final clue; give it drink and it will die. Drink...drink..."

Shukumei repeated the word, his voice fading as his mind worked.

"Drink can be generalised as water, liquid. Water, liquid..."

Shukumei began to rub his hands gently across all of the different words, his eyes alternating between which stone he was touching with which hand.

It can't be fire, that would be simply far too obvious. Even water or liquid would be obvious, yet perhaps this is a simple task made difficult by testing out ability to work under pressure? Gah, I just said we don't have time to think up conspiracies!

Shukumeis eyes fixed upon one stone that his hand rubbed across.

"I've found a stone that reads Conflagration. Didn't you say something about it being fire?" Shukumei asked as calm as he possibly could, given the situation.

It can't be fire. There has to be one here referencing liquids or water or...something that could give us an answer.

[463/4207]​
 

Mitsuyo's mouth pressed into a thin line.

He had no idea what Shukumei was so torn up over. They had both decided (independently, if the other shinigami had been ignoring Mitsu as much as it seemed) that fire fit the riddle, and there was an answer that matched it on the wall(or was at least close enough to home that it didn't matter - conflagration?, did Sayis have a thing for big-ass words?); what else was there to do?

Judging from the way Shukumei was muttering sharply to himself, brows furrowed with concentration, the next step was to start over-analyzing the puzzle. Which was, Mitsu realized, now that he was watching the reaction from an outsider's perspective, probably what could have been the captain's intent. Get them to start second-guessing themselves, and let their hesitation hold them back. It didn't have to be a difficult puzzle...all he had to do was make them panic - they could make it difficult all on their own.

Blinking sweat from his eyes and tucking damp red hair behind one ear, Mitsuyo spoke up.

“Yeah, I did,” he said blandly. “Because that's the answer. Isn't there a stone that just has 'fire' on it?” Sure. Why not pretend he didn't have a doubt in his mind? If he was wrong, at least they'd know. For now, he wanted to get rid of all the fucking fire.



[223/5556]
​
 
Shukumei perked up his ears and listened to Mitsuyos words this time.

He seems pretty confident. Perhaps it is the right answer but I would still prefer to keep checking for any clues to another answer.

Shukumei began to scan his eyes around and feel around the stone blocks for a more blatant monosyllabic answer.

"Fire, fire, fire..." Shukumei mumbled to himself.

It didn't help that there were so many damned stones to look around. The heat began to get to Shukumei and the sweat began to pour from his head.

Damn, it's times like these that I wish I studied up on my colder kidou spells more. Like Ice Prison...I've read up on it but never practised it. Ah well, let's think back on topic now, I'm looking for fire.

"Can't see fire. The only fire related word here is Conflagration," Shukumei informed with a slightly croakier voice.

"A Conflagration is a destructive fire. I was always a bit of a grammar nerd back in the academy," Shukumei smirked slightly as his long-lasting patience finally came to its end.

Just press the damned thing...what am I so worried about? Just press it...

Shukumei scrunched up his eyes as his nerves took control of him again.

Press it!

"Here we go!" Shukumei exclaimed loudly and slammed his fist into the Conflagration button, hoping that he made the right decision for both of their sakes.

Yet after waiting for a few seconds in silence, Shukumei became frustrated.

But I can't see fire anywhere? Conflagration is the closest I can find. I guess I just got to keep looking, there are a few stones here so I may have just missed it.

The young Shinigami let out a deep sigh before continuing to check around the stones.

"You want to take over or are you okay back there?" Shukumei asked croakily, his mouth dry from the heat.

[315/4522]​
 
Mitsuyo managed a vague nod of his head before noticing that the other shinigami wasn't looking at him. "I'm, uh,” he mumbled as an afterthought, "I'm fine here.”

The redhead still couldn't quite convince himself that nothing had happened. Right answer or wrong, he'd expected there to be some sort of...of... reaction – whether it was in the form of a ladder descending from the fucking ceiling to let them escape this stupid trap and this stupid maze, or the form of a fucking fireball aimed at his face, or any number of things in between. Just...something.

It was probably just the heat getting beneath his skin (all that adrenaline in his system from when Shukumei had made a decision, and now nothing to channel it into), but Mitsu was getting really pissed at this whole stupid rat-race-disguised-as-a-training-exercise.

His arms itched to just reach out and start shoving in blocks at random until he provoked a response from Sayis or Shukumei or the wall or something. His blue-green gaze flitted from one answer to another, arms folded over his chest and mouth pressed into a thin, thin line.

Thunderstorm, Kidou, Spirits, Time, Health, Egocentrism, Flames, Sunlight, Sesquipedalian (what the hell was that?)...flames?

Flames?

The redhead's eyes jumped back a few stones, and there it was. Flames. Stenciled into the stone's surface in plain, unremarkable kanji.

"Ah - here.”

Without thinking, Mitsu stepped forward and pressed the palm of his hand against the answer. Why the hell not – they'd already pushed one in, and nothing had happened.

If at first you don't succeed...

The shinigami leaned, put his weight behind his sweaty, clammy hand, and pushed.


[298/5854]
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