damned_institute | Nightshift 24: Second M Block, Near the bathrooms and exit

Light'd had a 50% chance of getting it right when deciding which twin was standing in front of him, but Hikaru was still genuinely impressed that the older boy had gotten it right after just one meeting. That usually wasn't the case.

"You see all sorts of things at Nightshift," he said, shrugging. "And they keep me and Kaoru in separate rooms (bastards), so I'm going to swing by his room and get him before we go see a friend. Want to come? I mean, this place isn't exactly friendly at night."

If Light had been inclined to do that sort of thing, he would have congratulated himself on picking the right name for the right twin. Instead, he was beginning to grow a little suspicious of Hikaru's motives. The offer might have been made in sheer friendliness, but what if it was just a delaying tactic? If there were no monsters and Hikaru was just trying to make sure that he never found out...

That didn't sound right, even in his head, but Light had gotten so little information about this place that it seemed only natural to continue suspecting everyone. After all, if he actually let himself start to believe him and his initial assumptions about this place turned out to be correct, it would all be over.

With that in mind, it would rather be suspicious of him to decline Hikaru's invitation. He still had plenty of time left (or so he thought-- he really did miss his watch), and patience was one of his strong points. He might even spot on of those monsters on the way over.

Nodding sympathetically along with the twin's explanation, he hesitated for just long enough to seem a little reluctant before saying, "Only if it's not too much trouble. With the things you told me about earlier wandering the halls, having too large a group would attract a lot of attention, right? But two or three people isn't that big a group, is it?" He gave a small, slightly self-deprecating laugh. Oops, silly me, it seemed to say. He was completely harmless, really.

Hikaru's motives for inviting Light along were also not entirely pure. There was just something so profoundly...off about the guy--especially how he sounded--and he couldn't quite place it. And it wasn't just the weird sense of familiarity he got every time Yagami opened his mouth, either. It was...other things. Light's reactions to things were almost too perfect, like he'd schooled them to be as "normal" as possible. It was like Kyouya cranked up a couple of notches, and it gave Hikaru the creeps.

"Nah, not a problem at all." If you get eaten, I'll never be able to figure out ~~and exploit~~ just what it is you're hiding. "And yeah, small groups are the best. Traveling in a large one is almost as suicidal as traveling alone."

(From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/117515.html?view=8083211#t8083211))

Tamaki was never so thrilled as to see Hikaru-or-Kaoru as he was right then. He had been terrified of having to go into the main hallways of the hospital by himself. But there was one of the twins - and another boy Tamaki didn't know - before the patient wing gave way to the more dangerous places.

"There you are!" he announced with a smile, trotting up, flashlight in one hand and sword in the other. "What about the others? Ah, and hello." He nodded to the light haired boy, who he assumed he'd be properly introduced to.

The easiest way to get around not being sure which twin it was - don't use any names!

If Light wanted monsters, he got them. These monsters, however, were experts at remaining undetected and they skulked through the shadows toward their prey silently. It was unusual to have two cats hunting together, but with the greater number of patients, even the monsters knew that hunting parties had a better chance of catching dinner.

They positioned themselves on opposite sides of the group and, just as they group passed between them, they attacked, razor sharp claws extended as they swiped for the legs.

[Kaze]

He forced another laugh at the "suicidal" remark, even though the word caused his tightly controlled anger to flare for only an instant. He didn't like the implication that he didn't know what he was doing, even though in this case, it was at least partly true. To wander around by himself at night with strange creatures running around was suicidal, but--

And that was when what Light assumed to be Hikaru's friend arrived, but whatever distraction he felt at that or at the sword the blond was wielding was immediately swept away when he heard his voice. Immediately he froze, and, apparently forgetting himself entirely, he narrowed his eyes and gave the boy a long, piercing stare that was quite at odds with his earlier innocent look. It sounded crazy, but aside from a few minute differences, the two of them sounded exactly the same. Even Hikaru and Kaoru had more of a disparity between their voices, and they were twins! What were the chances that two completely unrelated people would have such similar sounding voices?

He was so caught up in this mystery that he didn't notice the cats until they were already attacking. Reacting as quickly as he could, he grabbed the closest person (who just so happened to be Hikaru) by the arm and yanked him out of the way while trying to dodge the strike himself. It was a very, very near miss, and Light swore he had felt the cat's claws catch on his pant leg, but otherwise he seemed to be all right.

Once he was sure of that, he brought his flashlight around to shine it on the nearest cat, still determined to see the thing even though they were under attack. He didn't catch much more than a glimpse, but what he did manage to see made his eyes grow wide. So there really were monsters...

Hikaru's eyebrow arched when he saw the sword. Where had the other boy gotten that? "You'd better know which end of that thing goes into the monsters, Milord," he dryly. "I just told Yagami-san here that..."

But he trailed off, distracted, because he'd just realized something.

Tamaki and Light sounded even more similar than he and Kaoru did. That was why he had found Yagami's voice to be so unsettling.

It was coming out of the wrong mouth.

But...how was that possible? And what were the chances of two total strangers having the same voice?

Apparently Light had realized it too, because he was giving Tamaki a very strange look.

But there was no time to think, because suddenly there were paws and claws swiping at them, and a jerk at his arm told Hikaru that Yagami had just pulled him out of the way of a potentially painful injury. He looked up at the older boy, eyes wide.

"Th-Thanks. Oi, Tamaki!" he called to the Host Club's President. His voice cracked. "Now might be a good time to prove to us that you can use that thing after all!"

"The sharp end, of course. Really, I'm not so...."

Why were they looking at him so oddly? And...what was that....?

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.

Tamaki had seen monsters before. He'd seen fights with them. he'd seen much worse monsters than this. but every time, he'd had someone with him. And the monster had never gotten close, because someone else had been there! Someone who could fight! Someone who had a weapon....

Oh, wait. He had a weapon! The blond teenager swallowed hard and lunged forward, stabbing inexpertly at the cat that had torn into his legs with the blade. All he had to do was stab downwards, aim for the thing's neck. But it hurt! He hadn't been lucky enough to get out of the way quick enough. He could feel blood on his leg, and it was all he could do to keep shoving the blade downwards, trying not to pass out. Tamaki had never been able to handle blood very well.

This wasn't about finesse or showing off, this was about not dying!

When Light and Hikaru moved out of the way, the cat attacking them had landed on the opposite side, sliding along the floor for a moment as it turned around to face them again. Despite being twice their normal size and bloodthirsty, they were still amazingly graceful. Quickly, it spirited away from the flashlight's beam, jumping to the side before launching itself at Hikaru and Light again. It didn't care which one it hit, so long as its claws sank into one of their backs.

The other cat had the unfortunate luck of facing the only one with a sword. While it had been able to get its claws shallowly into Tamaki's legs, it too had slid like the other and had to quickly dodge the oncoming attack. Thankfully for the monster, Tamaki's clumsy attack only nicked the other cat's neck as it sprang out of the way. The cat yowled and backed up, blood leaking from its neck. While Tamaki's untrained thrusts were easily avoided, the cat soon grew frustrated and leapt at his sword arm, hoping to disarm him.

[From 'ere (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/120828.html?thread=8184060#t8184060)(hope you don't mind!)]

Robin was singing to himself as he strolled along the corridors. He supposed he ought to make himself look carefree, put people off guard and attract attention. You had to put yourself in danger if you wanted to get out of it after all.

It was all going quietly until he heard panicked voices and some sort of scuffle. He jogged along, still wary of his surrounding, when he saw two familiar boys and their friend being attacked. By not-quite-so-wee-little beasties. What peculiar creatures. And vicious too!

He swung at the first lunging cat, knocking it away and hoping it would give him time to plan the next attack. He desperately needed a weapon.

Robin looked back over his shoulder to Tamaki. He didn't seem very well trained with that sword, but no matter.
"Don't hesitate, Lord Tamaki! Just strike it down!"
Perhaps the boy had never killed before. Or harmed, even. He did seem a nice sort... And some of the Nobles were very much against danger. Prince John couldn't fight to save his skin, that's why he had to order others about.
As for others... Wasn't that twin supposed to be a knight? What a poor state of affairs. These kids needed some training.

Light tried again to keep the flashlight trained on the cat, but the thing was just too fast. He was somewhat reassured by the fact that the cats seemed to be splitting their attention between the three of them, but the fact that it seemed like none of them had any real training in fighting caused him a considerable amount of worry, especially since it seemed like the blond (Tamaki?) was more likely to accidentally stab himself than the cat he was trying to.

Tightening his grip around the flashlight, he gave up on trying to catch the cat directly under the beam and just tried to track its movements in the dark, holding the light like a club. He didn't have much faith in it as a weapon, but what choice did he have?

Luckily for both he and Hikaru, though, someone came to their rescue. Light spotted someone with red hair and freckles rapidly approaching an instant before the man took a swing at the cat. He didn't recognize him, but judging by the fact that he then addressed Tamaki (Lord Tamaki?), Light guessed he had to be one of the blond's friends.

As long as they got out of there alive, though, it didn't really matter to him. Allying himself with this group would probably come in useful, but right now surviving was his highest priority.

...And here came the calvary. Quite literally, in the form of an...eccentric young man who thought that he was Robin Hood.

A FOX Robin Hood. Like the Disney movie with anthropomorphic Englishmen whose soundtrack had spawned an annoying web video involving dancing hamsters. But there wasn't any time to dwell on that, because Tamaki was stabbing wildly (he'd almost taken off his own ear, the idiot!). The other boy's trouser leg was covered in blood, and Hikaru couldn't help but wonder how much was the cat's blood, and how much was his own. "Dumbass! Stop waving that thing around like that! You'll get yourself killed!"

That was Hikaru being worried. Really, it was.

Strike it down! He was trying to strike it down! But it was coming right for him! He felt claws brush against his arm before he stumbled to the side, trying to avoid it.

Tamaki lurched backwards, bringing his sword around in an arc, hoping to stab the cat before it could do him any more damage. His leg stung, and it was already sticky with blood. What if it got infected? What if it needed to be amputated? What if there was poison on the thing's claws?

Fear and panic fueled Tamaki with a surge of adrenaline. The young blond gripped his sword more firmly and lunged forward, aiming for the animal's neck. He was trying to be careful! But this wasn't what he knew how to do! Damn it, he could make pretty stances! He wasn't a fighter!

But he had to be, now.

Tamaki had never harmed another living creature before, but right now, it was kill or be killed. He didn't have a choice. And Hikaru and his friend were unarmed! And in danger! At least Robin Hood was there. Robin Hood was a hero of legend! If anyone could defeat a demonic mutant zombie cat bare handed, it was Robin Hood!

The claws had almost reached Light's back when a fist came out of nowhere and slammed the cat to the floor. It yowled in pain as its shoulder hit the floor and rolled, limping slightly as it backed up. Three against one were not good odds and the cat hissed low and long. Robin seemed to know how to fight and Light was brandishing the flashlight as a weapon, so the cat darted into the darkness. The pain in its shoulder slowed it down some, but it still was quick when it came back at them, aiming its claws at Hikaru's side.

The other cat screeched when the blade actually struck home. It didn't hit the neck, but it buried into its shoulder and blood began seeping from the wound. Whether the blow had landed due to skill or dumb luck was inconsequential because the cat was now howling in pain. In a rage it struck at Tamaki's legs, nearly ripping the blade out in the process.

"Well done! Now again!" he cheered at Tamaki, turning back to check on the other cat-like creature.

He'd hoped to stun the cat, but apparantly it didn't want to go down quite so easily. And he was NOT suggesting they run. Heavens no. If he could get a good hold, he'd snap its neck. And that was the sort of thought rarely to go through Robin's mind. He was a troublesome creature by nature, but not at all violent. Not until innocent people were threatened. besides, these were creatures, there was no reasoning with them either way.

There was a day when he'd have been to busy thinking about dinner to take note of any violent thoughts. A fox had to eat. A bear did too, and Bears could eat a lot.

"Twin, move!"
Robin was too slow to knock the cat back this time, his arm swung by and missed by an inch. He aimed a kick, just in case Lady Luck wished to favour him.

It was oddly satisfying to see the cat hit the floor like that, but with so many things going on at once, Light was unable to focus on that for very long. He could ignore the comment Hikaru made with little difficulty, but the loud screech the second cat gave was much harder to block out.

Distracted, he glanced over long enough to see the cat howling at the sword stuck in it before quickly looking back, seeking out the first one. When he didn't find it, he flipped the flashlight back around to search for it-- too late.

He heard Robin's call before he actually saw it. The cat was moving slower than before, but Light wasn't that much faster. Hurriedly, he tried to rearrange his grip on the flashlight so that he could follow Robin's lead and take a swing at the thing, but it looked like this time Hikaru would need to deal with the cat himself.

Hikaru should have been paying better attention to the fight. He should have kept focused on the hideous giant cats that were attacking him, and not petty things like what someone said to him in the heat of battle.

But he didn't. And he ended up paying for it.

"My name is Hikaru, damn it, not 'Tw--aaugh!" Because suddenly his side was on fire with pain, and he looked down to see his shirt in bloody tatters, deep claw marks scoring his skin. If not for the fact that he had jerked in response to Light and Robin's sudden movements (and his initial reaction to the pain itself), the cat would most likely have still been hanging off of him.

Pale and dazed, the Host stared at the not insubstantial amount of his own blood coming from the wound. "F-fuck."

Too many things were happening at once. Tamaki could hear everything, but it was like it was all coming from far away. Like he was under a bridge, listening to a train somewhere down the tracks - that distant, muted sort of sound. He heard people calling out, he heard Hikaru's muted curse, and he knew that his friends were in trouble.

They were all in trouble.

A pity things didn't seem to be moving in slow motion. Oh no, they were moving all too fast. He clung desperately to the hilt of his sword, so glad he'd asked for a guard. His hand was wrenched against it and the metal dug into his skin, but it helped him keep a grip on the weapon. Even as he felt that slice of claws once more, another gush of blood, he refused to let go of the sword.

Instead, he wrenched it. He twisted it with all of his strength, praying to whatever might be listening that he severed something important.

He really, really didn't want to die.

The cat that attacked Hikaru was turning now, blood on its paws and the desire for more in its eyes. It was unfortunate it hadn't gotten its claws buried into the boy's side, but at least he was weakened. But now the group of three were all looking at him. Behind, he could hear the screams of the other cat as Tamaki twisted the blade. For a second, the cat hesitated and then it darted into the dark again. It waited just long enough for people to look the other way and then it attacked, aiming for Light's calves with its razor sharp claws.

When Tamaki wrenched the sword, something in the cat snapped. The fragile bones gave way under the pressure and the cat screeched, a high and horrible sound. Its shoulder cracked and the sword jumped, sliding into the vulnerable organs inside. The cat gurgled, blood spilling from its wound and its mouth, but still it tried to scratch even as the life left it.

Robin's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak as Hikaru complained about the 'twin' comment. Cringing as the cat struck the boy, Robin reached out to try and help. The cat, luckily, darted off into the shadows.
"Hikaru, I'm sorry. I only meant to warn you...not distract you."
He scratched his head and smiled a small, apologetic smile. He'd make it up to Hikaru when he had a chance.
For now he wanted to check on Tamaki.

He smiled at the sight. Tamaki was doing well for himself. For...an amateur.
But his smile turned into a frown when he looked at the cat. It might be a mean thing, but it was still a living creature. "Finish it off," he said softly, pulling off his dressing gown. He was going to have to cover their wounds to stop the bleeding. And, if they were deep, he was going to need a needle and thread. But he wasn't about to admit how awful he was at stitching. He always left it to Johnny to make repairs to clothes and wounds.

It was when he had the dressing gown in his hands that he heard the approach of the cat. Without thinking, he threw the robes towards it. A distraction would be great, but he hoped to cover the cat and give them a chance to kill it. These slippers weren't very good, but their feet might have enough power to break something. Otherwise it was a trip into the wall, head first, for the cat.

Light grimaced when the claws connected with Hikaru's side, but by then there wasn't really anything he could do about it. Damn it! He didn't really care if Hikaru or any of the others got themselves killed, but if the remaining cat turned its attention to him after that...

He made more of an effort to keep track of the cat as it darted off again for this very reason, but it was impossible to keep sight of it in the encroaching darkness and keep a good grip on his flashlight so that he could beat the thing's skull at a moment's notice in if it came back.

He glanced back to the others once he'd lost sight of it, still keeping half of his attention on the area surrounding him. It probably wouldn't do much, but what else was he supposed to do? Besides, if he didn't show concern for the wounded now, that would only lower their opinion of him and likely limit whatever information they might decide to give him later.

Light managed to say "Do you need any--" before the cat struck again. Turning in the direction Robin had thrown his robe, he swung the flashlight towards the cat that would hopefully be caught under it. If he missed, he was going to keep trying until the damned creature was dead. That was what it got for interfering with the god of the new world.

Suddenly it was like someone had pressed the mute button. The only thing that Hikaru could hear was his heart pounding and his own labored breathing. He'd never been hurt this badly before. He didn't know how to handle it.

The boy just stood there, pale and shaking, ignoring everything around him. All he could see--all he could focus on--was the blood pumping out of his side.

Tamaki wasn't thinking anymore. He couldn't think, his mind had begun to shut itself down from the trauma. He wrenched his sword back and drove it in once more, trying to follow Robin's order, shuddering and shaking and beginning to sweat from the pain and the fear.

He was rapidly on his way to being in shock.

The cat was stabbed again and it tried to yowl, but only blood gushed out. With one last feeble swipe at Tamaki, its broken body jerked and it slowly fell to the floor. Muscles spasmed and still the blood rushed out of the open wound. It lay, skewered on the end of Tamaki's sword, but moved no more.

The other cat dodged when Robin threw the robe at it. Leaping to the side, it hissed at the former fox and turned just in time to see Light's flashlight coming down on its head. It tried to jump back, but it was too late. The flashlight cracked down on its already injured shoulder and the cat screeched, clawing at Light. The next blow landed on the cat's head and the creature crumpled like a house of cards, a sickening crunch resounding through the halls before silence descended.

“Well then,” he smiled, “looks like that's that.”
The creatures were done with, it seemed. Onto more imortant things. He looked at Hikaru and his expression softened. Looked like he'd never had an experience like that before.
“Staring at it won't help,” he said, pulling his shirt off. He held the arms out and rolled up the body of the shirt, making it one long length of material with the rolled part making some padding.
“Top off,” he smiled to Hikaru, holding the makeshift bandage out. “We'll stop the bleeding with this and find a place to clean the wound. How's everyone else? You all did well. Tamaki? Smile, it's ok now.”
Well, it would be better once they cleaned the wounds and saw what needed what. Hikaru's injury worried him. He wanted to make sure it had stopped bleeding before they fell asleep and no longer had control. That might mean burning or stitching it shut...

For now, the boys were important. But later he was going to have to see about getting a weapon and training the kids. He was also a little curious as to the upbringing of Tamaki and his 'kinghts'.

Nightshift 24: Second M Block, Near the bathrooms and exit

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