Day 57: Sun Room

[bodhiandspirit.livejournal.com]

It figured that night would end before Rita and Taura could progress any further. Rita wasn't particularly disappointed to wake up abruptly, as they had reached a dead end. Really, the institute was doing them a favor by bringing them back to the starting point, where they could regroup.

What she didn't appreciate was the loss of valuable time, and the fact that her equipment had been confiscated once again. Rita didn't have time to mess around... which was precisely why the cheery voice broadcast over the intercom only served to grate on her nerves more than usual. In fact... how was the Head Doctor even giving that announcement? She doubted he'd managed to take the institute back in such a short amount of time, though the broadcast itself was suspicious for a number of reasons. Even though she could clearly hear the man's voice, it didn't necessarily mean that he was there. She had to look at things critically.

Still, it seemed almost as if everything had returned to normal... with a few exceptions. The different staff was one, and her lack of possessions was another. It didn't seem like the staff was expecting to fool the patients into thinking this was the same old institute, so why...?

Even as she went about preparing for the day and walking to her first destination, Rita kept her most pressing questions in mind, coming up with multiple hypotheses to explain what was happening. Since she didn't expect that the Chapel would hold anything of interest to her, Rita opted for the Sun Room instead. She was interested in seeing the bulletin board, for one.

When she entered the Sun Room, Rita brought a pen and her journal with her. If no one approached her, she would at least have a chance to document her discoveries from the previous night. First, however, she checked the bulletin board, only to find it completely empty. That confirmed a few suspicions of hers. Content to see evidence supporting her ideas about the strange occurrences, Rita sat down on a couch, opened her journal, and began to write.

[Free!]

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[hersalvation.livejournal.com]

... The head doctor?

Lion hadn't been present in the institute for long-- it was the third day counting-- but she had come to be familiar with this certain man's voice. But in that same day that she remembered all too well, his rule had been overthrown. ... Supposedly, anyway. Why was it back?

Not to mention, her own attire had suddenly changed-- again. Instead of that military uniform, Lion had now donned... something far more casual than a uniform. And something far more appropriate to be rolling out of bed with. Much to her surprise, as well, she found there wasn't any other uniform she would be changing into; no, this was it. She would be walking out in something as unflattering as this.

It was hardly presentable; if she had a choice in the matter, at least the previous uniform hadn't been so sloppy looking.

Nonetheless, there was no debating it. After her very first morning within this building, if there was one thing Lion had quickly learned, it was to not argue with the staff; they had the upper hand and listened little to complaints, and after that embarrassing display she was reluctant to get into any more unsightly matters.

There was no more trips to any sorts of towns for today-- apparently, that was only a once a week event-- so the morning went as, Lion assumed, the normal routine went. She was left to do as she pleased in the sun room, and already there seemed to be some activity happening around the large bulletin board. She had yet to utilize it much for herself, but had been told to keep a close eye on it. With nothing else in mind to do, perhaps it was a good idea as any to take one first glance at it.

With a few notes skimmed and nothing in particular directed at her or needing attention, Lion took a moment to look up over her shoulder; this is where she had caught eyes with another girl, someone who had to be close in age... Or so she thought the other had noticed her as well, as Lion soon noticed she seemed more caught up in thought that Lion herself.

Nevertheless, Lion hadn't wanted to be rude. "Good morning," she greeted, with politeness and pleasantries and all, turning to face the other girl better. "Hopefully the day is treating you well so far."

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

Tsubaki felt more like a messenger, clinically delivering bad tidings of someone else vanishing from the Institute, rather than someone missing their roommate and friend. It felt like she’d only been having dinner with Sakura a second ago, but there was so little time to mourn. Already, she could feel the weight of unfinished tasks pressing on her. What could she do besides sit and brood and turn over every moment of their interaction to see if there was a clue that Sakura was about to disappear?

The answer was, Tsubaki could do very little. And it was a frustrating reality.

What bothered her the most was that she couldn’t tell if Sakura’s absence was the Head Doctor’s doing, or the new man in charge, Aguilar. Could it have had something to do with… her failure to find Marc? Surely the Head Doctor had been aware that Tsubaki was rooming with a look-a-like Sakura--would it be his idea of a punishment to send the second Sakura away because the group was taking so long? With him seemingly back on the intercom, the possibly felt real. But then again his speech sounded an awful lot like the exact same one he’d given the first time suggestion boxes and movies had come up, and the soldiers were still around, dressed up as nurses…

The girl was indeed more distracted by her train of thought then what she was doing, so when someone standing nearby spoke up to her, Tsubaki blinked and turned to Lion as if seeing her for the first time. Having her head stuck in the clouds wasn’t a good thing.

“Oh, good morning,” she returned, putting on a soft smile. The day hadn’t had too many high points, to be honest, but that wasn’t you dumped on a person for no good reason. “Yes, it’s going all right. Excuse me…” She gave a bow edged with sheepishness over her harebrained attention. “I’m Nakatsukasa Tsubaki.”

[hersalvation.livejournal.com]

She must have been more distracted than Lion had thought, with that sort of absentminded at first response. Something must have obviously been on her mind; no doubt about it, considering where they were at. It really was a shame, Lion thought, that such a gentle looking girl would have to deal with whichever troubles this place decided to cause.

"I'm glad to hear so." Nonetheless, Lion went along with her words. "No need to be ashamed, it happens to the best of us. My name's Ushiromiya Lion; it's a pleasure, Tsubaki."

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

Rather than ask Tsubaki any questions, the stranger took the moment in stride, giving Tsubaki an excuse to avoid answering why she might be acting inattentively. It was an opportunity Tsubaki appreciated. If it was two-faced, it was still better than spewing list after list of depressing reflections, and Landel’s had ensured there was enough stress to go around.

She smiled. Even so, she was happy to give her attention to something positive, like making a new friend, than mulling over something that couldn’t be fixed right away.

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you… um, Lion-san?” The other had used Tsubaki’s first name without an honorific, but with no way of telling what kind of world or culture a person came from, she felt safest slipping into her native Japanese during moments like these.