damned_institute | Day 66: Breakfast

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Day 66: Breakfast

What Guy had seen on that scan resulted in some mixed feelings. While he had expected to find something in Claude, seeing how he was sick, it hadn't been quite the same as what they'd seen when they had scanned that other ill patient two nights ago. What did that mean? It was possible that the shape of it just looked different because of where it was in Claude's stomach, but Guy couldn't help but feel that there was a deeper meaning to it.

Yet another thing that he didn't understand, then. With a sigh, he got himself up out of bed and went searching immediately for the single leaf that he'd taken from the X-ray room last night. It was stored carefully in his possessions box, which meant that he didn't have to worry too much about that.

While he wanted to quickly sketch the leaf's general shape to post on the bulletin, Guy wasn't given that chance, as his nurse showed up before he could even grab for his journal. He had to relent and let her lead him to the cafeteria for breakfast. While Guy considered stopping by the bulletin to leave a note, that could wait until after he ate. He suspected that Anise or Luke would try to find him as soon as possible to tell him about their findings, so leaving a note for them would be redundant.

He did need to ask about the clue from last night and see if anyone else had further insight on it, but that might be something Claude wanted to do, seeing how he had a better idea of who that baptist was and what it all might signify.

After collecting a small amount of food onto a plate, Guy took a seat near the cafeteria's entrance, keeping an eye out for any of his friends so he could flag them down as they walked in.

[For Anise and Claude.]

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This guy... It was hard to believe how easily he could say things like that. Kyousuke didn't feel feel like he'd done anything to be thanked for, either, since as far as he was concerned, there hadn't been any other options, and in the end he wasn't able to do much good.

"... Don't get the wrong idea. I was just doing what needed to be done," he muttered, averting his gaze slightly. He tried to sound annoyed, but was betrayed by a faint hint of embarrassment. ... He just wasn't the kind of guy who could be thanked directly.

"Anyway, it's too early for that. ... It's not over yet. Last night didn't work, but there has to be another way."

What that was, he didn't have a clue, but they still needed to try. It risked reopening his wound, cracking another rib, and who knew what else, but Kyousuke didn't care. The prospect of getting wounded didn't mean he could run away from what was happening.

Even though it was clear that Tsurugi had been acting on more than just the obligation of "doing what needed to be done," Sora had dealt with enough people like him to realize that there wasn't much point in pushing it. He knew that Tsurugi had been acting out of the goodness of his heart (that same heart that he'd been trying to take away from him so ruthlessly, but he wasn't going to think too hard on that), and that was what mattered.

Still, Sora wasn't exactly intent on giving up. If there was a way to fix this, then he was all ears, but he just wasn't sure how well any possible plans might work.

"Well, there's a chance that whatever's in me can be removed surgically. But... I started to change pretty fast last night, so I don't think it would be that easy to operate on me while I'm like that." He'd probably just try to claw and kick at anyone who got close to him, unless he was completely restrained.

He thought about the exam rooms on the second floor, the ones used for those horrible experiments, and felt a shiver run down his spine. Was that really his only option? He didn't even know if it was possible to get into one of those rooms, even an empty one, so a spot in the medical wing probably made more sense. Regardless, the time it would take to get to either of those places would probably be way too long.

Surgery... Kyousuke grimaced. He still couldn't understand why that was the conclusion people were leaping to. There had been the butterfly, and maybe someone saw something in the x-ray room that night, but it was completely insane. Was everyone so desperate to cure themselves that they'd just leap into the flames? But that clue last night... Maybe they didn't have to.

"There might be another way," he said carefully. "A real way, not something I'm just saying on my own. I don't want to talk about specifics just yet, because I don't have all the details figured out yet. It's possible I'm wrong, but it's still worth looking into."

He knew that was completely vague, and Sora probably wouldn't have any idea what he was talking about, but it was better that he didn't sound too certain, because really, he wasn't, and he didn't want to give any false hope. Maybe he could find the Doctor later to help patch in the holes, or someone on the bulletin would have something. Either way, at this point, Kyousuke wasn't ready to act on what he had. ... But he had to change that quickly. They were running out of time. If they could just buy a little more....

"... We could try locking you in," he thought aloud. "Just for now, until we can come up with the real solution." It wasn't a terrible bet; even if the door didn't hold, they could barricade it with furniture. Dressers. Desks. Sora had been able to shred through the sheets, so he might even he able to force his way past that, but it was a lot better of a risk to take than trying to cut into him.

Another way? Sora was open to just about anything at this point, and willing to try whatever might work. If he was going to consider something like surgery, then chances were he'd be up for whatever Tsurugi had in mind, too. Still, the other boy didn't seem interested in giving out that many details just yet.

"Let me know as soon as you can, then," he said, doing his best not to sound demanding. The problem was that he really only had the duration of the day shift to work this all out, and that felt like way too little time to try and organize anything.

As for locking him in, that was possible, but not the most fullproof of plans. "I'm... strong, when I'm like that. And I won't give up, either. I'll ram that door or claw through it somehow." He didn't like having to talk about how he behaved while he was the Anti-Form, or to acknowledge the fact that he could guess what he'd do when he was in that state. Still, thinking ahead like this might be the only thing that stopped him when the time came.

"I know," Kyousuke responded, and left it at that. He couldn't make any promises, and asking someone to put their faith in someone they'd barely even met would be unreasonable. So, there was really no point in giving out reassurances, or asking him to believe that he'd find a way. If he wanted him to think that, then he'd have to show him first, and right now, he couldn't.

He did believe Sora when he said he thought he could claw his way out of the door. Kyousuke could probably break it down himself—he'd done it before—and Sora seemed to be stronger than him when he was in that state. He had a good idea of how to drive him back if he tried to attack now, but that was a problem too; he couldn't predict where he'd run, and once he was gone, he wouldn't be able to catch him again. Then, what, did he just fight back and hope for the best? He was stronger and faster than a human like that... And so was Lancelot, but he wouldn't have the room to use something like that inside.

Then maybe the key was to do it while Sora was still human. He didn't like it, but what choice was there?

"... I can knock you out while you're still human," he said after a pause. He'd never actually tried that before, but he knew he was strong enough, and thanks to Gouenji-san, he knew exactly where to strike—he'd once seen him knock a man unconscious using only a single hit from a soccer ball. "You can't do anything while you're passed out."

There was an idea. If he passed out before he even turned into a Heartless, then he would be completely ineffective once the inevitable did happen. Sora nodded, because it was a better idea than anything he'd come up with so far.

"We can try it," he agreed, "but you really don't have to get involved in this again, you know." Sora didn't want to hurt Tsurugi again, not when the boy had been nothing but kind to him in the grand scheme of things. He didn't know why Tsurugi had gotten so invested in this so quickly, and while it was touching, it also worried him. Wasn't he dragging enough people into this already?

Then again, Tsurugi's room had to be close to his, if he'd been out in the hall so soon after the doors had opened last night. So he might be the only one who was capable of reaching him before he started to turn.

"...I might wake up again after I turn, but maybe that would buy some time to barricade the door." There was only so much that a berserk Heartless could tear through, right? Sora hoped so.

When Sora suggested he Kyousuke simply snorted. "Isn't it a little late for that?" he responded dismissively. Turning away just wasn't an option for him. He didn't have a real reason for it, but then, he didn't need one. ... Raimon spirit, he supposed. His friends might not be here, but this was them. This was how they always did things.

"It's worth a shot," he agreed. If Sora was out, that would probably give him enough time to move some things, or maybe get him somewhere, if Kyousuke managed to find the answer he was looking for. He kept that part to himself, though. There was no reason to bring that up until it was actually an issue. "... I'll take care of it. I'm close, and I know how to respond if something goes wrong this time."

It was also simple enough that he could handle it on his own, so nobody else had to dragged in if it got messy. But with luck, it wouldn't. In the meantime, he'd just have to think about how to actually help, instead of of just delaying things.

A little late? Sora wanted to protest against that, but he realized that if he'd been in Tsurugi's position he would have felt the exact same way. So maybe it was wrong of him to try and discourage Tsurugi, but he'd only wanted to make it clear that he didn't expect his help.

Still, they had a basic plan worked out now, and while it wasn't necessarily a very good one, it was better than not being prepared at all.

"All right," he agreed after a pause. "I'm going to have to talk to someone else I know. His name is Kratos, and I think he's going to try and help too. But you'll probably get to my room before him, so..." Either way, if Tsurugi was going to be contributing to this whole mess, then he should know all the details.

And who knew if Tsubaki wanted to get involved too? Sora was relieved to have so many people who were willing to help him when he needed it most. While he still missed Riku and Kairi and part of him wished they were still here to help him through this, the friends he'd made here were doing a good job themselves, so it made it a little easier to bear. Although something occurred to Sora when Tsurugi said he knew how to respond. "Oh! I know that I don't like light when I'm like that, but don't just rely on that. I think I can... push past it to attack, if I'm desperate enough." Once again, it wasn't pleasant having to explain the way he acted while like that, but Tsurugi would benefit from knowing.

Kratos... He'd have to make sure to remember that name. Who knew, maybe they'd be able to coordinate something. It would be weird trying to work with someone he'd never even met if they did, but Kyousuke was secretly relieved at the potential of someone else being there after all the things that went wrong last night. It did make another target, but at least this way, if Sora injured someone or ran, there would still be someone to go after him. While part of him would prefer to be alone, Kyousuke knew that might not cut it, and he didn't want to be caught off-guard again.

"... Right. I'll keep that in mind," he nodded.

The part about light put a damper on things, but he wasn't particularly surprised, either. It seemed crazy when he'd first tried it, and it was still a little hard to believe just how well it worked. ... He must have gotten lucky. Luck was a fickle thing, so he couldn't count on it happening again, and recycling moves was never a good idea in any case. Things like that worked best when they weren't expected.

"Probably not," he agreed, "but I'll do what I can. If there's a way through, I'll take it." He would have liked to be more prepared than that, but some situations were just like that. Sometimes, the only thing to rely on was willpower.

It looked like they had things planned as well as they could for the moment, which was at least something of a relief. Sora nodded, grateful to see just how willing Tsurugi was to help him. He couldn't really speak for what he might do when he changed beyond the guesses he'd already made, though. Just thinking what kind of terrible things he might do when he changed again made him feel even more sick. Sora took in a breath and let it out. Dwelling on it wouldn't help anything, after all.

"If I make any other plans, I'll try to let you know over the bulletin," he said after a pause. "You check it, right?" Tsurugi seemed like the sort of methodical person who would, despite his age, so Sora wasn't too worried about that.

Once they got that sorted out, then maybe they could actually talk about something else. Sora would appreciate the distraction at this point. "And... thanks again, for doing all this. It means a lot to me. I'm not sure what I would do, if I didn't have your help." And the help of everyone else who had volunteered since this whole mess had started.

"Yeah," Kyousuke acknowledged plainly. "I'll keep an eye out for you." He did still wish there was a more convenient way of communicating than pinning notes to a board in a central location, but there wasn't much choice. He sincerely doubted the staff would let them carry mobile phones or the like around.

Being thanked yet again caught him off-guard, and for a moment, he had to stare. This guy... was incorrigible. He was almost as bad as Tenma, and that was saying something. "... Forget it," he responded after a moment. There wasn't much point in resisting; he somehow doubted that was going to deter Sora any. It still felt weird, though.... Maybe what they needed was a change of subject.

Unfortunately, he didn't really have one, since he usually let someone more talkative steer the conversation, and since he knew some real characters, there was hardly ever a pause. There were things he could ask about this place, but that was hardly a comforting subject, and honestly, he wanted a break from all that, even just for a moment.

"So..." he began awkwardly, not having any real continuation. .... Maybe he should have just stayed quiet like he normally would have. He sounded like an idiot. He scratched at the back of neck a little, mildly annoyed by the fact.

Then they had the bulletin board to fall back on. Sora had found it more useful than he ever would have imagined when he first arrived here, and putting notes up there was second nature for him by now. Granted, there were still times when he forgot to mask his messages, but...

As expected, Tsurugi brushed off the words of thanks, and so Sora decided to leave it at that. He'd made it clear exactly how grateful he was for all the help, so what more could he do? He'd make this up to Tsurugi someday, but that would have to wait until he was feeling better, unfortunately.

It seemed that Tsurugi was also looking for a subject change, seeing how he made a bold attempt to do just that, though it didn't quite work out, instead fizzling into something that was more awkward. Sora almost smiled at that, because it reminded him a little bit of Riku.

Luckily, he was good at picking up the slack in situations like this, and right now, anything that would benefit his mood was a plus. "So, even with all the help you've given me, I really don't know that much about you," he pointed out with a tilt of his head. "Why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

About... him? ... Great. Of all the things, Sora chose the one that made it like an awkward first day of class. He did have a point, though. All this happening, and they were still close to strangers. There were much better ways of coming to understand each other if you asked him, but they couldn't do much about that here.

"No, I guess not," he agreed. "That goes for me, too."

Where to even start, though... There had been a time in his life where he'd cut people down even for trying to be friendly. He'd changed quite a bit since then, but this still wasn't his strong suit. He guessed he'd just have to say whatever came to mind.

"I'm from Inazuma Town," he began, frowning in thought. "A first-year at Raimon Jr. High. I'm the soccer club's ace. ... We'd just won nationals before I came here." His expression began to shift as he said that, realizing that, even though it had been so recently, he'd almost forgotten about it in face of everything going on. It was refreshing, remembering that feeling of accomplishment for the first time, but also strange, almost even wrong. Along with that sense of pride at their accomplishments, came the realization that it was supposed to be shared. ... Funny how he didn't even notice that had been missing until now.

Then he realized he'd suddenly gone silent without meaning to, and shrugged it off. "... I can't think of much else. You'll have to ask about anything more. ... And you? Where are you from?"

It'd probably be more interesting than his awkward grasping, anyway.

While it took a little while for Tsurugi to get started, eventually he did give out some facts about himself. So from the sound of it, he was a pretty normal schoolkid. No crazy adventures across worlds to take down dark creatures. No, Sora realized that for most people, that would probably sound crazy. Still, for being so "normal," Tsurugi hadn't hesitated to help him when things had gotten bad last night. And he wasn't complaining about his wounds, either.

Not so normal after all, then.

"Soccer, huh? That's the sport where you kick the ball around, right?" Sora had mainly only been exposed to sword fights back home. Well, that and blitzball, but he didn't think that was much like soccer, so he wasn't going to count it.

It was only fair if they exchanged information, though, and already the conversation was starting to calm him down and take his mind off of things. Sora was relieved that Tsurugi was willing to be his friend, even after what he'd done, and this was their way to a closer friendship. "I'm from a place called Destiny Islands, but I've traveled to plenty of other places too," he explained.

It sounded like it wasn't so popular where Sora came from, or maybe he just had different interests. That was too bad, but he couldn't think too much about it. Japan was a soccer nation, but some places just weren't.

"... More or less," he affirmed. "A lot tears and sweat go into it, but it's worth it."

Destiny Islands... He'd never heard of the place, but there were a lot of obscure islands in the world. What really caught his interest was the mention of traveling around, since that was something not many kids got to do, and going out into the world had always been one of his dreams, along with his brother.

"That's pretty rare," he commented. "What kinds of places? Any reason for it?"

A lot of tears and sweat? Sora thought that over for a moment, but he honestly hadn't realized just how important sports could be. But with the way Tsurugi talked about it, soccer sounded like it was a life or death situation. Or maybe Tsurugi just took it really seriously? Some people were like that.

Before he could ask any further questions on the subject, Sora had to contend with a few of his own. It was rare to travel around the way he did, especially since he had moved between worlds, which wasn't really supposed to be allowed.

"Yeah, there's a reason. It's kind of a long story, but basically, my world was put in danger, along with a lot of other ones. I ended up with this weapon called the Keyblade, and it became my job to use to that take down the monsters that were threatening those worlds." Now that he'd brought up the Heartless, there was no way that he couldn't draw it all back to the previous night.

Sora looked down at the table again. "What I turned into last night, that was a Heartless... One of the things I'm supposed to fight."

Different worlds? ... Now that was surprising. Kyousuke wouldn't have thought to think on that scale, or that it was even possible. It was almost difficult to wrap his mind around what Sora was saying, but he didn't see any reason he'd lie about it, and there were plenty of unfathomable things in the world. He'd seen enough to know that.

"... I see," he responded after a moment, deciding to accept it without pressing into it. That could be why they seemed to get along so far—they both had things they needed to protect.

Then things got tense again; it looked like he'd led the conversation back around without intending to. Heartless... That black, shadowy creature. He was curious about it, but it wasn't prudent to ask right now, so he let things fall to silence again. ... If he could say everything would be fine, he would have.

"But it can't be all bad, traveling like that," he said, pressing on. It was side-stepping a lot of issues, but moping around wouldn't change the situation for either of them. That was just reality.

Even though Sora got the feeling that Tsurugi had never seen a world beyond his own until now, content to work hard on playing soccer in most of his free time, he didn't react in any noticeable way to the mention of multiple worlds. Sora had long ago given up on "world order" since arriving at Landel's. He didn't think even Donald could blame him for that.

Tsurugi didn't comment on anything to do with the Heartless, which Sora was thankful for, even if he recognized that it was probably for his sake. But they'd made a silent decision to not talk about that incident any more than they had to, so Sora tried to push on.

"It's not bad at all," he said with a shake of his head. "I love getting to see new things and meet new people and help out." While there had been some heartbreak along the way, in the end it had all been put right, hadn't it? But then Landel's had come along and disturbed all of that.

Well, if Sora tried to see this as just another adventure, if a much longer one, then it became a little easier to swallow. He had made new friends here; he couldn't deny that.

[wow I'm sorry for this tiny thing]

That much sounded familiar, at least, both in sentiment, and the almost ridiculous genuineness behind it. Kyousuke had to smile at it, somewhat amused by by the simplicity of Sora's thinking, but not really in a bad way. It was refreshing, in a sense. ... Not that he was ever about to say that.

"It was like that for my friends and I, too," he commented. "We met a lot of people, and picked up allies along the way." They hadn't been across worlds like Sora had, but at the heart of things, their fights sounded similar enough.

Was that a smile? Sora hadn't seen Tsurugi offer one of those until now, and he wasn't entirely sure what he'd said that had caused it. It made him feel better to realize that even when he was feeling as low as he did right now, he could still inspire smiles in others. And without even trying!

"Really?" Sora asked in response to Tsurugi's statement. He wouldn't have thought that soccer would lead to meeting lots of people, but in a way it made sense. "Well, it's played as a team, right? So of course you made friends." Though from what he could tell, none of Tsurugi's friends were here. That was pretty common, unfortunately. Sora wondered if it was better to never have a familiar face show up here, if it meant not having to watch them leave either.

Riku and Kairi weren't here any longer, but he was pretty sure that having them around had still given him a boost of strength. While he wished they were here to help him through this, their hearts were still present. He knew it. And so he'd do his best to stay strong for them.

Kyousuke couldn't really blame Sora for his assumption, about things, really. Anyone outside the influence of Fifth Sector wouldn't have much reason to believe things weren't normal. But for them, they hadn't been.

"It was more complicated than that," he explained. "Where we come from, soccer was being controlled in every aspect, from the growth of the players, to determining scores beforehand. I won't go into all the details, but they were fearsome guys most people wouldn't dare to go up against. ... I used to be part of that. But there was one unbelievable guy who couldn't accept that was the way things were supposed to be, and kept doing whatever he pleased. It was small, but his wind kept growing, and we all ended up caught up in it. We ended up in a revolution to get rid of managed soccer for good, and after a while, others started following our example."

... And eventually, the revolution succeeded, even if he wasn't there to enjoy that right now. He doubted it sounded too impressive to someone who saved worlds or wasn't familiar with the full extent of Fifth Sector's horrors, but it was a precious victory for them, and that was what counted.

But he couldn't say much, apart from that, since nurses were starting to round people up around them. It looked like there wasn't much time left. It was too bad; he actually wouldn't have minded talking more.

Sora hadn't expected his comment to result in a long explanation from Tsurugi, but this was the sort of thing he'd been hoping to draw out of the other boy, and so he listened carefully.

It did sound a little out of this world, because he'd never thought of a simple game as being something so serious. But it clearly meant a lot to Tsurugi, judging from the passion that appeared in his eyes when he talked about it. That was the sort of thing Sora always noticed, and he had to smile in spite of himself.

"It's good, to fight for what you believe in and what you care about. With friends at your side and the right attitude, anything's possible." And Sora believed those words, to the point that he had to apply them to his current situation. Somehow, someway, he would beat this illness. With all the people willing to help him, how couldn't he?

Sora couldn't say anything more, though, seeing how a pair of nurses dropped by to collect them. So he'd somehow survived the first shift of the day. Hopefully they would get easier as he went along. He stood from his seat and ignored the stabbing pain that went through his stomach as a result. "Thanks again, Tsurugi," he said to the other patient. "For everything."

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Day 66: Breakfast

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