damned_institute | Day 62: Breakfast

A misplaced sense of familiarity met Barnaby the moment he opened his eyes, and the sight of the blank, white ceiling from yesterday morning greeted him. After rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, Barnaby sat up and felt around for his glasses. Had he blacked out again and wasted an entire night? Where was Kotetsu? And what had become of the man who had seemingly vanished before his very eyes at the end of dinner?

Once Barnaby slipped his frames onto his face, the world came into clearer focus, even if he didn’t get any answers out of it. He was in his room, and someone had apparently stripped him out of his street clothes in favor of the hideous hospital pajamas. Barnaby wasn't sure what he found more offensive -- that someone here had once again touched his things without his permission, or that he’d been undressed while unconscious for the second time since his arrival.

The thought made his skin crawl.

Just as he looked over to find a lump in the bed next to him, though, his assigned nurse came to retrieve him. He would have to confirm Klavier Gavin's whereabouts later. For now, he had no choice but to allow the nurse to escort him into the cafeteria. Strangely, she seemed to be under the impression that he and the other patients had slept soundly the whole night. While he might have assumed it was an act, Barnaby got the feeling that she genuinely believed what she was saying.

Regardless of her intentions, he knew she wasn't going to be any help. Instead of trying to ask her anymore questions, Barnaby left a note on the bulletin board concerning his roommate. If his observations from yesterday were any indication, he'd get some responses, at least. While he could have taken the time to leave something for Kotetsu, Barnaby didn't feel inclined to do so, especially when he knew he probably wouldn't check the board anyway.

He had no appetite this morning, but his nurse wouldn't leave him alone until she'd assembled a tray of fresh, fluffy pancakes for him. Honestly, Barnaby didn't see why some people felt the need to butt into his personal choices like this. At least there wasn't anyone forcing him to eat -- for now, at any rate. He sat down at an empty table close to the wall after setting his food down, privately hoping that she wouldn't try to find a "friend" for him to eat with this morning. He was tucked out of the way, so maybe she would forget about him for a few minutes as long as he didn't draw any unnecessary attention to himself.

Hands neatly clasped on the table, Barnaby didn't look at anyone in particular as patients filtered into the cafeteria for their morning meal. There were too many questions buzzing in his mind for him to focus on the names and faces of people he didn't care about. If Kotetsu wanted to find him, he could. It wasn't like Barnaby was going anywhere.

[For Kotetsu.]

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For some time his nurse had been going to get his food for him, an action Kurogane had associated with the bracelet he'd been forced to wear, and though it bothered him a little, he hadn't much complained for it. The woman had gotten better about not getting him stuff he didn't like at least, probably because she'd realized he wouldn't touch sweet things.

"Tried for the basement," he answered, leaving Fai to infer the rest as he brought the sausage to his mouth. It was always trying for something, but never succeeding in this place.

He managed a couple bites of his waffles before Kurogane answered him, though the response wasn't at all what he expected to hear. Yet still, the ninja continued to eat his breakfast as casually as if he'd said he'd gone for a walk in the park last night.

"The basement-... Why" he couldn't stop the automatic response. Of all places to go, Kurogane knew that one was one of the most dangerous. He knew that. Why then, would he try to reach it?

For Kurogane, it wasn't that he wanted to go to the basement, it was that the area was his last option. He'd never been there himself outside of Landel's damned transport magic, and with how he kept getting held up from reaching the place, his gut was telling him something down there had answers.

"It's one of the places we know he's been," he answered, knowing his own reasoning well for how long he'd thought on it, "Already searched through the Chapel, little good that did, and with the third floor out of reach, the basement's the last lead for finding that damned doctor."

As he explained, his teeth ground harder into his food from the continued frustration of it all. "There's no point looking for something without at least some lead. Started heading there looking for Landel and got the radio message halfway through. Might not be Landel making a mess in the basement, but if it isn't, then the radio guy's doing something."

Some of it made sense, but just because they knew the doctor had been there, it didn't mean that he'd be found just wandering about in the basement. And the only place they'd actually seen him was that coliseum. No telling how he'd gotten there or if he'd even be there if they went again.

"We already know what's down there," he tried, pushing around the rest of his food, "it's a dead end, isn't it?"

Kurogane paused mid chew and looked up at the magician. He'd known that Fai had been down there because of that arena, but as for other things, the man had never spoken. Of course Kurogane had made his inferences, however he'd yet to know exactly what the basement entailed, having never been himself.

"You know what's there. And unless you can say that you've been through every door and hallway, without lying, then there's still a reason to go," he continued to reason, knowing that there had to be more than even Fai knew of waiting below. Landel had spoken of the basement countless times, but now with Marc sending clues about it, there was something they were missing.

The accusation hung in the air, but Yuui refused to let it be. To be fair, it wasn't his own work or merit that had earned them the prizes in the basement. That was mostly on Touya and Yue and Yukito. They'd only asked him along so that they'd have enough people and so that he could help them protect Sakura.

He wanted to beg the other man not to even try. To warn him that a wrong move could land them in that same coliseum, facing down one another on the sands. But he couldn't manage to put it into words. "I'll go with you next time."

"I'm going tonight."

And unless he reached the place, it would be his last time trying for a while unless the radio kept babbling on about it.

Tonight? He might have been surprised, but it was Kurogane afterall. The man was always very straight and to the point, no matter the goal.

"The Sun Room is usually messy. I'll meet you on the field," he decided, pushing aside memories of meeting a very different version of Kurogane in that same place.

Since Fai was actually making his own decisions on this, Kurogane didn't protest him deciding where they'd meet. He avoided the Sun Room often himself for the same reasons. Too many times he'd had to fight something in there.

"Fine," he agreed letting hang the assumption that he'd go looking for the man should he not show up.

[Sasuke is joining Kuro this night through a monster fight, so it'll be the three of us unless you have a problem with that?]

There was hardly any emotion in the ninja's response, but at least it hadn't been a rejection. Lately he was so uncertain of where they stood that it made conversations that had once been light and easy much more difficult. He nodded once, then went back to his food.

[That sounds fine! As long as you're ok with having me!]

Day 62: Breakfast

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