Day 64: Patient Library (Fourth Shift)

[dividedby]

... ... ... ...

It was shock, like failing to recognize some heavy injury following a traumatic accident. Zero's mind was reeling, still trying to accept the fact that Ciel - or else, someone who looked and sounded exactly like her - had been standing right before him, calling him by a different name. She'd spoken untruths, supporting the Institute's idea that he was mad, but her face, her voice, her mannerisms...! It had undeniably been Ciel!

No, his mind couldn't accept that. Not yet. The so-called superior thinking power of the human brain couldn't do anything to help him.

And so the once-Reploid slowly walked out of the visitation room as if in a trance, following behind his forever cheerful nurse. She, of course, thought that there was nothing wrong and began chattering to herself about how healthy that visit must have been for him.

'Healthy'.

On any other day, he would have let out some sort of displeased grunt or, better yet, some rude remark about just how 'healthy' such a visit had been for him, but any sort of response became impossible when his brain was too busy just trying to process simple facts. So he simply stared past the nurse instead, only vaguely aware that she even existed. (Not that she seemed to notice. In fact, she probably took his lack of rudeness as a good sign. Wouldn't be surprising.)

Thankfully, it was only a very short walk back to the Sun Room and, therefore, only a short amount of time spent with that woman. Zero abandoned her and then slipped into the library in order to find some peace and quiet. He could sit in a chair somewhere and try to think about what just happened...

...He ended up standing in front of a random bookshelf mindlessly staring at the rows of paper-made novels in front of him rather than sitting, but oh well. His mind was in the same place either way.

[Long Hair Brigadiers UNITE!]

Comments

[oneman_onekill]

Ah, crap, this was why he didn't want to tell anyone about this. It was just so...awkward. And complicated. And just--HNNNGH.

"H-hey, I tried, okay!" Niikura said defensively, crossing his arms. "And I already asked her what she'd want me to do if it came to--you know, that."

'HNNGH' was indeed an accurate way to describe how he was feeling at the moment.

"I just..." He sighed heavily. Maybe this was it. He had to just say everything and get it over with. Couldn't keep secrets forever. Mike deserved to know what he was working with anyway. "Either way, I'd never forgive myself, y'know? Go to the basement, she dies; look for a cure, who knows what she'd do..." He looked away. "She doesn't want to hold me back, and she's too stubborn to have it any other way. And I..." Niikura pinched the bridge of his nose. "'s kind of my fault she's that way about me, since I was dyin' all over the place--well, not me, but rrrrrgh..."

[hiddenbadass]

Mike listened to him, swallowing up the information as quickly as he could. Urgh. Interpersonal relationships. He used to be better at those, but he wasn't anymore.

All Mike knew was that Niikura and Shiina were both being stupid about this. It was stupid. Incredibly stupid. 'Oh, but she wants to go to the basement! She doesn't want to hold us back!'

Yeah. That wasn't going to work with Mike.

Except his entire thought process derailed right off a bridge at that last bit. Dying. Multiple times. What--

"Dying? What do you--" Mike started, then stopped himself with a shake of his head. "Shell, tell me later."

He looked back up to Niikura, frowning deeply. "You both need to stop being idiots. We need to find a cure, 'cause she ain't exactly any use to us if she does change into one. Havin' the possibility of her turnin' into a monster at any moment means we gotta keep our guards up against her, too, instead of focusin' all our energy on our goal. Dead is dead. Dying sucks. She's a kid, and there's no way in shell I'm puttin' her through that if we can save her!"

There was no discussion from Mike's point of view.

[oneman_onekill]

Niikura had suspected all along that he was going to have to punch his way through Shiina's logic and simply force her to accept that she was sick and that it didn't make her any weaker in his eyes. If there weren't so many awkward feelings standing between them, he might have even done it earlier. As things stood, though, it was nice to hear what part of him had been saying all along from someone else's mouth.

It also hurt because man, he really was being stupid, but he wasn't going to try and save face; he wasn't that puffed up about himself.

"...right." He laughed. "Pretty bad, huh? That I'm willin' to put our goals ahead of her." It was just so much easier to deal with, for one thing.

[hiddenbadass]

Mike shook his head, "No, you're stupid for puttin' her wants before her needs."

It was as simple as that. Clear-cut. She couldn't want anymore if it was dead. Mike didn't have to go on and on about philosophy or even wondering about the choice just now. From his perspective, it was the only one that made sense. The only one that offered possibilities.

"If you love a person, sometimes you gotta do what they don't want."

Splinter did. He forced Mike to train. To study. To not sluff off. It was because of him that Mike had lived for so long back home, and why he was able to adapt to this place now. All because Splinter made him do things he didn't want to do.

It calmed him that Niikura caved so quickly. Stupid kid. A little too romantic for his own good, sometimes, but a good kid, really. Both of them were. Shiina deserved to live.

[oneman_onekill]

Niikura gritted his teeth. "Don't use that--y'know what? Never mind." He waved a hand dismissively. "I gotcha."

Well, maybe he'd give it a shot tonight. She'd be hurt, but Hazama definitely wouldn't mind, and hadn't he done the same thing for Katsuragi? Thrown all his being into something that seemed hopeless, even when the other party just wanted him to do his own thing. Right. Things would be different this time, too. He'd set things right.

"Thanks for hearin' me out, Mike-san."

[hiddenbadass]

Mike smirked at the comment, but said nothing in return. The L-word wasn't forbidden, even to a guy that hadn't had much in the way of a family life in around thirty years. As much as he hated what he and his brothers had become... he still loved them deeply. He also loved April like the sister he never had. Mike just had a harder time of showing it.

As for the thanking, Mike gave him a brief thumbs up, giving Niikura a genuine smile, "Anytime, man. Just let me know if you need some back-up with it, and I'll be there. I'm used to talking to stubborn morons."

Although, really, he was truthfully the best at pissing them off. Raphael for example. But pretty much anything pissed that turtle off.

[oneman_onekill]

Well, it wasn't like the word "love" was off-limits or non-existent in Niikura's vocabulary; it was just that with Shiina, that word took on a few more meanings than he wanted. He was starting to think that he was fighting a losing battle with his own feelings about her, but nope, he'd be in denial about those for as long as he possibly could. (Stupid teenagers indeed.)

"Oh, thanks," Niikura said with a smile as he rolled his eyes and elbowed Mike. "Makes me feel that much better. Anyway, see ya tonight, okay? Let's get some stuff done for once."

[hiddenbadass]

Mike just smirked. He wasn't precisely talking about Niikura, but it applied here, too. Niikura was a stubborn moron, but he had street sense and was a good fighter.

He was also a good friend. Besides April and a handful of others in the Resistance, Mike hadn't had one in a while. Not one that was this "whole" anyways. Niikura wasn't weary like they had been when only moments of happiness could be snatched from the constant depression of a subjugated world.

"Anytime, bro'," Mike continued smirking. "I'll see you later. Try not to get into trouble while I'm not there."