damned_institute | NIGHT 62: MAIN HALLWAY, 1-Center

"Supplies," Lust confirmed, following after Lingormr with one last look to Scar. She hoped everything would go smoothly tonight. And no one seemed to care that Lingormr's name had never actually come up. Thank whatever gods were watching for that.

"Small wounds are fixed up come morning but that does no good if someone's broken something or lost a limb. Ironically there's no medical care at night in the hospital."

Scar made sure to keep up pace with the newcomer (whose name he never got, and didn't particularly care to) to avoid being tormented further.

"They don't even try to keep up the facade at night..." he mumbled in coherence with Lust's statement on the lack of care at night. How were these freaks supposed to convince their so-called 'patients' of their fake lives if they did not live up to their hospital cover-up 24/7?

But the illusions were frighteningly real, Scar thought as he subconsciously touched a hand to his pants pocket.

"We'll just have to hope that nothing too serious happens, then." Because Scar was quite adept at acquiring serious injuries.

[To here]

[From here]

Hakkai's pace slowed a little as he neared the doors to the Sun Room. He was starting to have second thoughts - the main halls of the institute were dangerous enough at night. They'd narrowly avoided whatever fight had been going on in the Sun Room the night before, and something hidden was likely to be doubly dangerous. And he couldn't rely on the power of his youkai form - as much as he hated it, it was secretly just a little comforting to know that he had it as a trump card, of sorts. But now... if he changed, there was no guarantee he could change back. The risk wasn't worth it.

[For Gren!]

[From Here]

The main hall wasn't busy, and thus it was easy to pick out a familiar figure lurking around the Sun Room doors as if trying to decide whether to go in or not.

Gren paused, trying to decide if he ought to approach or not He liked Hakkai, but that afternoon had been... awkward, and he wasn't so sure his presence would be wanted. After a moment of indecisiveness, he finally headed over.

"Hey."

Worse came to worst, Hakkai would just tell him to go away.

Hakkai couldn't help himself - as tightly wound as he was, he whirled, flashlight aimed at the sudden noise before he managed to process that it was a voice, and a familiar one at that. He forced himself to relax a little, and gave Gren a somewhat shaky smile, heart still racing.

"Aah - hello." This afternoon had been... awkward, but hopefully they could just avoid that subject of conversation.

"Sorry," he commented when it became apparent he'd accidentally surprised the other man. "Didn't mean to startle you."

He glanced towards the Sun Room doors, then back to Hakkai. "Thinking about seeing what's at the bottom of that ladder?"

[from here]

Heine stumbled down the hall and turned the corner, following the same route as last night. If nothing else, he could manage to find Badou a pack of his shitty cigarettes so he'd stop whining. Though when he had to pause to dry heave near the wall, he felt he'd be much more satisfied in fetching the item, just to trample it and see if Badou would actually cry. Odds were definitely in his favor.

Still, he owed the little shit; the maps, whether they got used for their original purpose or not, were useful. Which was more than he could say for most of the things he got from Badou.

Hakkai waved off the apology. "Not your fault - I'm just a little jumpy tonight for some reason." He avoided saying why - that would invite questions he didn't particularly feel like going into right now.

Instead, he turned to glance back at the Sun Room door, and nodded in reply to the question. "Mm. Though I wasn't sure if it was too dangerous to go alone."

"I imagine a lot of people are," he replied. It made sense, with the head doctor taunting them all like that. He would have been, himself, if he wasn't just so worn out on it already.

"Yeah... That's what I was wondering, too." A part of him knew he should stay where he was (relatively) safe while the other part just didn't give a damn anymore.

Hakkai breathed an inward sigh of relief. Gren wasn't going to ask, thank the gods. They could avoid a bit more awkwardness for the day.

He gave Gren a somewhat lopsided smile. "Well... if we go together, it isn't going alone any more, is it?" Not that it made the dangers any less - but it was still reassuring to have someone he could trust at his side.

"Safety in numbers," he joked, giving Hakkai a lop-sided smile that hopefully hid the hint of uneasiness he was still feeling. It was funny... he was already dead, technically, and yet... well. He wasn't looking forward to being that way permanently. Still, it was the first new, good lead he'd had in days. It would be ridiculous not to follow up on it.

"I'm game if you are."

[to here]

"Nothing to lose, mm?" The smile was a fragile one, but there nonetheless. There was always something more to lose, but given how much they had lost just being there... the benefits were worth the risks, maybe. Particularly if it lead to an out. And if the dangers were all physical - that he could handle. Was used to, even, though it was a terrible thing to be used to.

He pushed the door open, and glanced back over his shoulder at Gren, the smile solidifying into something with more of an edge to it. "Shall we, then?"

[To here]

Edited 2012-03-30 07:20 (UTC)

[from here]

"Ah, by the way, I wanted to take a poll," Niikura said as they entered the next hall. "So I guess what's next for us to take on is either some fighting challenge or this elemental room thing; we get to pick one or the other. My vote's for the fighting, seein' as some of us are pretty good at that already, plus it sounds like we'd finish faster, but y'know, if you're up for the other thing, we'll try that instead."

"We're headed to the basement, if you're wonderin'," he added, glancing at Badd.

"If I'd known this was gonna be a party I'd have dressed up," Badd mumbled as he was swept along with the crowd. And now this Mike guy, for no obvious reason, with bats stuffed down his shirt. Badd was beginning to feel like the babysitter in this situation.

He took up a position near Niikura, but kept his eyes on the other two. Outnumbered three to one, but if they were packing anything severe they hid it well. Badd still favored his chances. "Basement's fine with me. I've been wanting a peek at it anyway."

Shiina greeted Mike with a nod, thankful to see him joining before things got any more awkward. Now that there were four of them they needed to make tracks. Hopefully their numbers would keep monsters at bay as well.

"I'm up for whatever everyone else is for..." She tightened her grip on the bat again, then relaxed. It wouldn't do to try and hit something if she was wound so tight she would shatter upon impact. As it was, she didn't care for the idea of fighting anything or anyone if they didn't have to, but she wasn't going to disagree with Shou. She needed to prove she could keep up with their pace, no matter the obstacle before them.

Shiina missed the way Badd oriented himself in comparison to the rest of their party. She was a little too busy doing her best to keep her discomfort from showing. Luckily, he long bangs hid the sweat that had begun to bead on her forehead. She prayed silently to whatever deity might hear that her fever would break and her worries would be for naught.... Seriously, anytime now.

"So there's two of each age bracket," Mike added with a smirk as he nodded in Badd's direction; oh, he could go about this all night.

As for what was interesting, he shrugged. "I'm good with anythin', but I'm better at fighting. Just as long as we don't have to answer anymore dumb riddles."

Mike noticed the position that Badd took up. Interesting. The guy was keeping an eye on all three of them by the looks of it. This was gonna be an interesting night, he suspected. The guy didn't seem to be all that friendly. So, how exactly did Niikura know the guy?

As he casually watched Badd take up his position, all Niikura could think about was how this was definitely one of the more reckless things he'd ever done--and the best part was that Shiina had no idea! (Yet.) Things were really going to be interesting; it was one of those times where he wished mind-reading was one of Akumetsu's many talents so he could just catch a glimpse of what was going on in everyone's head.

"So I guess that settles"--he shot Mike a look of exasperation again--"that, huh? Cool."

The door to the Sun Room was ajar, which meant that they weren't the first ones in. Well, with the way someone had been lagging...okay, he wasn't going to bring that up. He was going to show that he could be the mature one while someone decided to act a third of his age.

[to here]

[[from here]]

Tuna, however, and anything quite so distant or light-hearted as food or unexplained circumstances of the past, strayed away from Sasuke's mind as he realised that among the footsteps of those moving alongside or past him there were others that seemed more purposeful. It could have easily been happenstance, with how many patients passed this way, but he slowed nonetheless, head tilted to listen.

It was just as he was about to focus more carefully on the surrounding noise that the intercom screeched into eerie song. It was a child's song, to be certain, but Sasuke's childhood rhymes had had a great deal more shinobi philosophy (and sometimes blood and guts): it was not one he recognized.

The frown deepened as the noise continued, Sasuke's grip on his sword tightening as he tried to make head or tail of the din and still track the sounds more immediately around him.

[[for Japan!!!]]

[from here]

Gumshoe didn't like letting her go in front (this was the exact same problem he'd had with Ms. von Karma), but he kept quiet. He reminded himself that she used to be on the force, which helped a little. But it was more because he was too nervous that he decided against saying anything.

He frowned at the back of her head as they walked, not knowing what to say while knowing he should say something. It was just as well she started talking again. A confused expression parked itself on his face at the first part, but she hadn't finished explaining yet. "W-Wait..." he said, leaning forward and tilting his head to look at the ring on her finger. His face scrunched up in thought. "Are you saying that ring... can take us to different places...!?" He didn't dare tell her what his first thought was; that that was impossible! But she sounded pretty sure of herself.

"You've been here for a while, Detective. Surely this isn't the first time you've heard of this?" It seemed more believable when she was pointing it out to someone else, in a confident, collected tone. Most things did.

And Detective Gumshoe was rather good at giving her opening lines. If she were a less charitable person, she'd have wondered if that was why Edgeworth worked with him. But he was also quite sincerely concerned for her safety. Ema's, too, and he'd known exactly what would have cheered her up last night.

[to here]

[from here]

Just as Japan made it into the next hall, the Intercom screeched to life and began singing one of England's creepy children's songs. Or, at least, Japan assumed it belonged to England. It was in English and it wasn't as if America had ever had to deal with the plague with posies. Although, on second thought, dealing with plagues with flowers did seem somewhat like America's style. The song devolved into numbers and Japan tried to catch what was said, but he could not. Although he recognized the code as binary - being a nation supported by its technology for so long, how could he not? - he caught on too late and the sequence was broken by then.

And while he wanted to stop and consider what he'd just heard and what ominous foreshadowing it indicated, he really had no time for that. Operation Follow That Ninja was far more important and, at the moment, it was in peril. While he had been listening to the intercom, he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. He knew the basic path Sasuke was taking and had followed it, but it wasn't until the message ended that he realized the ninja had paused. The boy was waiting for something and Japan was practically right on top of him (by his standards, at least. Sasuke was well within the six foot personal bubble Japan liked to keep), causing the nation to freeze mid-step.

The way Sasuke was listening... Japan wasn't sure which way to move and so he remained silent, one foot hovering above the ground.

The trailing footsteps paused not long after Sasuke himself did, but no form of address arrived. Sasuke waited a few seconds, just to be certain, but then it was clear: this was nobody that knew him, or at least not well enough to speak first. That, or this was someone -- or something -- who was hoping they had not yet been noticed.

Whatever the case, it boded ill in the middle of the night. Sharingan flashed through his eyes, lighting them a brief deep crimson for just enough time to ascertain that this particular person seemed human --

-- human, but with a most peculiar, strangely teeming chakra. (And in a strange one-footed pose, which also made little sense.) Sasuke's gaze narrowed even as the doujutsu faded from his eyes, and then in a breath he swept around to face the mystery stalker and flashed his sword into threat, the point clearly angled to attack whoever this might be should they provoke it.

"Name yourself."

[from here]

"Try the ones here first?" S.T. jerked a thumb out towards the Institute's front doors. "If the bureaucracy is firing on more cylinders than their fearless leader, everything will be filed everywhere. Triplicate, signed in blood, translated into Swahili and Braille, yada yada."

Sometimes Landel went all-out on the realism. Maybe he just got so bored between intercom jingles that he actually did his own damn paperwork. Or had an army of tortured elves doing it. Like an Evil Santa Claus. Torture for all the good girls and boys. Actually, if he pasted on a fake beard, it almost worked.

Despite his odd position and the very high likelihood that he was about to be shanked through the throat, Japan felt strangely giddy. Giddy was perhaps a weak word, but ecstatic was too strong and fulfilled...wasn't an emotion. At least, he didn't think it was. How he described this sensation, however, wasn't important. What was important was that Uchiha Sasuke had just activated the sharingan right in front of him. There was a dull flare of crimson and then Sasuke wheeled around, bringing his sword up to an offensive position.

If Japan could sparkle, he would have.

He was being accosted by Uchiha Sasuke.

This was so much better than simply following him for the night.

Sasuke was talking to him.

Threatening, was actually the more appropriate term, but Japan hated to let little things like reality interfere with his life. Slowly, carefully, Japan raised his hands, still balanced on one foot. He should have known that sneaking after a ninja was a bad idea, but old habits died hard and his otaku spirit was headstrong and a little fatalistic.

"I didn't mean to startle you," he said quietly, keeping his voice even. "My name is--" Wait. What name to give? Japan had to consider for a moment, until he realized that Sasuke wouldn't know his country name anymore than he would his human name. "--Japan. I mean no harm."

Edited 2012-04-04 06:19 (UTC)

"It's probably both," Harvey responded to Sangamon's statement about Landel's opinion of both his patients and himself. Then again, if the Head Doc really thought they were idiots he wouldn't have put such exhaustive security measures in place. Harvey figured it was more that the man had them where he wanted them and was therefore treating them however he wanted.

As for the nursery rhyme, he couldn't say whether or not it was about the plague, but it didn't matter. The message was pretty clear, and with what he remembered from the man's earlier announcement, it made sense. We all fall down. Hadn't most of them hit rock bottom already? But turning into a monster -- that would take it to a whole new low.

When Sangamon made a suggestion about where to go, Harvey glanced at the door indicated. He'd only been in the room beyond it once, and the experience was one he did his best to forget. The things he'd hallucinated that night...

Not that he expected that same creature to be there this time around. If there were files to search there, then it made sense to go. After only a few seconds of hesitation, he nodded and led them through.

[To here.]

The response that came was ... unexpected. Sasuke's frown did not lessen in intensity so much as shift timbre from threat to slight confusion, the angle of the line between his brows perhaps changing ever-so-slightly. What the stranger said made no sense, and it was most definitely a stranger: Sasuke couldn't recall the last person he'd spoken to at any length who had been quite so polite, especially during the harried night shift.

Still, it certainly sounded like this was another patient following around for some reason. True that there were creatures in the Institute that could imitate humans, but why would they choose someone with whom Sasuke had no acquaintance at all?

Voice aside, the name that was given was -- somewhat familiar. Sasuke wracked his brains for a second, coming only upon the notion that Aidou had mentioned a very similar-sounding name. But surely that had been a place, not a person, or Sasuke would have attached a more particular tangible description to what the vampire had said?

Trying to remember exactly the significance of that vague familiarity had to take second place to the million-dollar question, however: "If you mean no harm, why were you sneaking around after me?"

Sasuke's sword remained where it was without changing a millimetre; clearly, he expected a concise response.

It was every fan's dream to hold a conversation with such an iconic character and here Japan was, living the dream. Sure, he was in an awkward position, possibly about to be stabbed if he gave the wrong answer, but what did that matter in comparison to holding a conversation with one of the main characters of Naruto? None at all, of course. He could hardly contain his elation, and though it barely showed through in his expression or demeanor, Japan was definitely happy to be here and most excited about the prospect of further conversation.

"...I wasn't aware I was sneaking," he replied, watching the sword still pointed at his person. It wasn't as threatening as before, but it was certainly still a threat and one he knew he shouldn't take lightly. It was just difficult to be serious about this when the person on the other end of what might very possibly end his life was featured on packages of manjyu and candy wrappers and used to sell McDonald's toys. "But I apologize if my approach caused you any undue discomfort."

Apologies out of the way, Japan wondered if he could put his foot down now or if he should keep it raised. Any movement out of the ordinary could cause unnecessary injury and that was the last thing Japan really wanted. Being threatened by Sasuke was not as cool as being stabbed by Sasuke, even if it would make for stories. "It's dangerous to wander the halls alone and...I was curious where you were going. I had no other plans so I thought...perhaps I could serve as backup?"

Perhaps sneaking wasn't precisely the word to describe following Sasuke for at least the latest leg of his trip, but what other word was there to cover the action of following without saying anything? Stalking?

It had certainly caused some species of discomfort, though Sasuke wasn't certain if he would have phrased it quite that way -- whoever this Japan was, he was more polite than anyone else Sasuke had spoken to here by far. If anything, he sounded like a recent Academy graduate (and judging by where his voice was coming from, he was about the right height for one). Had he been following Sasuke around in hopes of staying safe or something?

Slowly, Sasuke lowered the point of the sword until it was out of immediate threat, Sharingan flashing in a brief assessment of that odd chakra again. It was nothing he'd seen before -- much like that ridiculous pose.

"... can you fight?" He asked finally. "Is there a reason you are standing like that?"

[from here]

Kratos frowned and looked up as the intercom suddenly came on again. "'I.R.I.S.'..." he muttered underneath his breath. It seemed appropriate that the program be active tonight; it only appeared to herald some new evil being unleashed.

He glanced back toward Sonia and Soma. "The coming days should prove quite telling of people's true natures."

Soma returned the frown as she glanced instinctively up at the ceiling. Whatever was happening tonight--whatever I.R.I.S. meant by that--they probably wouldn't find out tonight. In any case, it was best to keep moving.

"Or their true natures might be forcibly warped," she said, scratching at an itch on her hand. The Sun Room was just ahead; she listened at the door for a moment, then pushed it open.

[to here]

The sword finally began to lower and Japan let out a breath of relief. At least his strange habit of trailing after people hadn't resulted in getting him assaulted tonight. That was a point for the board. Slowly, he lowered his hands and was about to put his foot down when Sasuke asked after his skills - and his pose.

Japan flushed red and quickly adjusted his stance, hands at his side, both feet on the ground, shoulders slightly hunched in embarrassment. "...I thought you might stab me," he admitted as he reached behind him to adjust the bag hanging from the strap over one shoulder. "And yes...."

Ah, the Sharingan! Sasuke must have been checking his chakra to assess his skills! That...was so cool. Japan almost forgot he'd been asked a question as he tried to imagine what his chakra would look like - what color would it be? the size? the shape? where was it focused? - until the katana slipped on his shoulder again and he was forced to roll it down to his side, gripping the purple silk covering in one hand.

"Ah, pardon me, yes. I can fight. Although my Constitution forbids aggressive preemptive combat, I am still able to provide back-up and am allowed to engage in acts of self-defense." He paused. "....I am best known as a swordsman, however. Swords have been used in my country for centuries."

While it was true that Sasuke could very well have stabbed Japan at any point in their conversation thus far, Sasuke was still bemused as to what the man thought standing on one foot was going to accomplish to prevent it. Had he planned to fall backwards and somehow recover into a counterattack? It was hardly a recommendation for fighting skills.

Nor was the apparent difficulty the man was having with whatever he was carrying -- perhaps a sword, as the answer to Sasuke's question suggested -- but what the hell was a 'Constitution'? Sasuke had only ever heard the word used with regard to health (and very long ago at that, indistinct memories of elderly relatives cheerfully congratulating his mother on her second son's apparently excellent constitution).

But if Japan was trying to say that his health limited his combat skills, he certainly wasn't going about it in a coherent way. If Sasuke had had more time on hand, he would have made a point of discovering more cogently what skills this patient had to offer, but as it were ...

"I assume that means you are competent with one," he said finally, deciding not to comment on the fact that one's countrymen's use of swords didn't necessarily relate to one's own competence. If all Konoha-nin shared skills ... Sasuke shuddered somewhat to think of the effect. "You may come with me."

NIGHT 62: MAIN HALLWAY, 1-Center

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