damned_institute | Day 63: Bus 3 (Evening)

Sora had to admit, that soup had definitely hit the spot even if he'd had to force the first few bites down. His stomach was full and warm and while the fever was definitely still there, it felt more manageable now that he had some fuel in his system. It was too bad he couldn't carry a water bottle around or something, since that would have also been a help with cooling him down.

Then again, the wind seemed to be doing a fine job of that on its own. A nurse made sure to walk with him as they moved back toward the buses, doing her best to shield him from the wind with her body. It was something that Sora actually appreciated; she didn't have to do that, after all, and with how weak he felt right now fighting the wind was pretty tough.

Still, they made it back safe and sound, and Sora boarded the bus, realizing at a delay that he hadn't even bought anything on the trip. It was a waste, but he wasn't going to dwell on it too much. He already had enough on his mind as it was. Like the fact that he hadn't seen Riku and Kairi all day and couldn't have told them about his illness even if he wanted to. He'd at least had the chance to make plans with Tsubaki, but still, where were his friends? If there was a time when they should have been around, it was now.

Sora leaned against the window, keeping an eye on the other patients that were approaching. He wiped his hand over his forehead and found that it was still covered with a thin sheen of sweat. Not much he could do about that unless he found some medicine or Dr. Facilier worked out a cure. One step at a time, right? He could beat this.

[For Albedo and Nigredo.]

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There was always the chance someone would sit down beside her first, but Tsubaki rather hoped she would be able to talk to more of her acquaintances. Daylight was fading fast and being able to check up on people would be especially hard once night settled in.

There were some familiar faces engaged in conversations of their own--she found herself listing them off in her head (as well as covertly looking for signs of illness) before movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention back to the boarding prisoners. Hmm? There was a tall figure in the aisle, one that Tsubaki immediately recognized. Oh hey, Kurogane was on her bus again! That was a fortunate coincidence. He, on the other hand, seemed to have no interest looking for a spot amongst the other prisoners. He went straight to the back and squeezed himself into a seat as she watched.

Hmm… this looked like an opportunity! Without further ado, Tsubaki slid out of her seat to join the man in the back. “Kurogane-san--”

But that was as far as she got before being interrupted.

Toward the front of the bus, another tall man talking, projecting his voice over top of the chatter, and it effectively drowned out what she had been about to say. Huh? What was going on?

Itchy though his arm had been, Kurogane had been keeping from drawing any attention to it through even so much as one scratch. Acknowledging that the Head Doctor had done something to him was bad enough without others having to see what he considered a weakness. The alcohol had helped with ignoring most of his troubles, if only in his head, but he knew he'd have to find a way to stop this illness or whatever it was somehow. He couldn't function like this.

His attention towards his arm dropped, as did the arm itself as the sound of a familiar voice saying his name lifted his head. If he'd been paying more attention upon getting on he might've noticed that Tsubaki already boarded before him, upping the chances that she would come and find him in the back. There was no getting by the girl, but he knew that had to come from her being a ninja as well.

Where she could only get his name out, he was just barely able to acknowledge her before the outburst drew his attention to the front. He looked up further to see the large man shouting along the lines of rebellion. If it had been earlier, closer to when he'd arrived, Kurogane might have jumped at the chance to give the nurses a beating. As stood, he only had the energy to glare and sigh his frustrations at the raving patient.

If stuff like that had worked, didn't the guy think most of them would have been out of there by now?

Tsubaki had only enough time to witness a flash of red on Kurogane’s skin before he let his arm fall. The moment was stolen by the growing commotion at the front of the bus--a call to arms that had changed the atmosphere in the bus from one of peacefulness to tense wariness.

The blond man wasn’t wrong, but…

"Is he trying to start another riot on this bus?" She knelt on the seat beside Kurogane, keeping her feet underneath her in case she needed to spring up quickly. This had the potential to go bad, really bad. Not to mention Kurogane was... She glanced over at him, trying to gauge his state.

Kurogane's eyes slid back to the girl at her word choice. Another? he thought, remembering back to the days he'd been there. The only other time there had been an issue on the buses was when they'd gotten left, but with the buses underway, that didn't seem to be what was happening here.

They weren't back yet though.

His thoughts went back further to the only other riot the patients had managed and, remembering how badly that had turned out, shook it from mind. "Let him be," he mumbled through another sigh. There was no point getting involved with guys like that. Watching on wasn't a problem though, as Kurogane was quick to return his attention to the man who had yet to be subdued.

“Huh, but…”

To say the threat of rebellion made Tsubaki nervous was a bit of an understatement. They were on a moving vehicle with sick people on board! Causing a ruckus would put people in harm’s way, if anything. But the man had a point--there were more important things for her to worry about right then. Like Kurogane himself. Kurogane, who… did not really look like himself.

“Are you okay?” she asked suddenly, leaning further down so that she could sit closer. “When I came over here… was that a rash I saw?” His health was definitely something that took priority.

Kurogane didn't believe the man would get anywhere, even with them in a moving vehicle. There were more than enough nurses, as always, to subdue the guy. The ninja had enough experience to know that much. More than enough. He'd earned his fair share of sedation needles and had taken some he hadn't earned as well. The guy would be dealt with quickly enough.

"It's fine," he answered simply, still keeping his arm from view.

"It’s fine" was more or less a “yes.” If she asked if he had other symptoms, she supposed she would get the same sort of answer and he would probably conceal them if he could. But if Kurogane had a rash, then…

"So you are sick." The girl shifted, keeping one eye on the blond man as she worked to process the implications. She hadn’t been able to tell when she’d spotted him on the bus that morning, but the glimpse she’d gotten of his arm told her the worst. All of the friends she’d talked to that day… Sora, Leanne, Kurogane… they were all ill, every one of them!

What did that mean? Were all three of them only going to get worse from this point on?

"When did that happen?" she pressed on. "Did it start yesterday like the oth--"

Tsubaki had been prepared to push Kurogane for a truthful response if she had to, but the violence that broke out at the front of the bus halted her in her tracks once more. Not only had the prisoner knocked a nurse to the floor, he was struggling hard enough to injure the woman who’d tried to stop him. Now things were going too far! She heard a familiar voice call out in protest, but his was one of the few, leaving her to bite the inside of her cheek out of a mix of adrenaline and anxiety.

"Hold on a minute," she told Kurogane before straightening in her seat and shouting, "Stop fighting! You’re going to hurt people!"

Kurogane's gaze turned from the girl following her question, and he watched the world go by out of the window as he waited for the expected - her persistence that he wasn't fine. He'd been around enough girls there to know how this went, yet experience hadn't kept him from continuing to be his stubborn self.

He didn't want any help or concern from others whether he knew them or not. Chances were she couldn't do anything even if she did know. And besides, he wasn't sick or breaking out in a rash because he wanted to.

When she stared off on him that he was sick, he sighed internally, just loud enough to not hear her continued words which made her sudden break in berating him surprising. He brought his attention around in time to see her standing and heading for, of all things, the commotion near the front.

"Hey, I said let him be!" he called after her, only rising enough to see what was going on. There was another patient involved now, and more nurses as well. Tsubaki didn't need to get in the middle of things like that. "Don't get involved!"

If there was anyone who didn’t need to be involved, it was Kurogane, who was probably feeling ill if his rash was like Sora’s and Leanne’s. Not to mention all the people on the bus who were going to be collateral damage! “You stay there!” she told him, brows furrowed.

She was in the process of looking back toward the couple at the front when she felt the first rough bump from under the wheels. As she steadied herself with a hand on a seat, the bus jumped again, wheels skidding on gravel.

Oh no--

Day 63: Bus 3 (Evening)

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a late conclusion to the thrilling bus antics--!