Night 67: Main Hallway, 1-West

[ofthemotions]

[from here --and waiting for Ryusei!]

There still wasn't a lot of people in the halls, and it was starting to make him nervous. Maybe he should try to find someone to hang out with tonight. Snow and Celty had insisted on how Mikado shouldn't be alone at night--it wouldn't hurt to take their advice. But it would be strange to just go up to someone and ask to walk around with them.

...Wouldn't it?

He made a face, and paused in the hall, looking around. He was more aware of the bandages covering his eye in the dim, and even wearing his own clothes didn't negate that uncomfortability. He was suddenly starting to think he should have just stayed inside.

Comments

[knightspirit]

[from here]

The stairs were at end the end of the hall... Kyousuke wasn't particularly looking forward to climbing them like this, but it couldn't helped. At least the painkillers were doing their job, for now, although he was sure he'd be feeling the effects of so little rest tomorrow.

He scanned the hall just as he had the last, and after a moment of hesitation, he ended up leaning against the wall. He still didn't know where Kratos was, and though this wasn't where they were supposed to be meeting, he felt like he should at least give a small grace period, just in case. Normally, he wouldn't have, but he owed the man, and even though he was already convinced of what the result of this little expedition would be, he was beginning to grow agitated, uncertain if he really wanted to face that. For that matter, why was he the one doing this...? It wasn't that he minded, but there had to be better choices than a near stranger. Someone who had been closer, maybe.

... Well, whatever. It was too late to be thinking that now.

[for Link eventually]

[his_legacy]

[From here]

The main hallway. Link took a glance around. There still weren't too many folks in even the main hall. Were people simply late getting out, tonight? Or maybe they knew that it was dangerous...

One way or another, Link was still faced with what he would do if he did run into the beast that killed that man. Would he be able to tell if it was a patient at all?

He spotted Tsurugi and swallowed uncertainly. He was injured... What was he doing coming out?

"Tsurugi?" Link approached him in his clothes from home, the katana held in his left hand.

[knightspirit]

As it turned out, someone else approached Kyousuke instead. Sora's old roommate, who'd picked a bad time to try and talk earlier in the day. He'd have to do something to make up for being caught in such a visibly volatile state... But it wasn't the time or place for that.

"Yeah," he acknowledged with a nod. "I don't think I caught your name."

Briefly, he glanced at the other boy's strange outfit and the sword in his hand, wondering where people were coming across things like that, but he didn't offer any comment on it. Clothes wouldn't help him any, and neither would a weapon, for that matter; he'd never been trained to use one properly. ... Straight to business, then.

"You haven't seen Kratos around, have you?" Kyousuke asked. "We were supposed to meet, but I haven't seen any sign of him."

[his_legacy]

"Oh, sorry... My name is Link." He forced a smile, nodding. "I haven't seen Kratos tonight, but..."

Link glanced over his shoulder. He was on edge, slightly paranoid. He was never one to lose his cool, but that didn't mean he couldn't be nervous. There was something vicious on the loose. Lives were at stake.

"But there's something awful out and about. It got into the M-A hallway. Someone's already been killed." Link's tone was reverent and calm in the heaviness of the situation. He hadn't heard of monsters making their way into the residential areas before...

[knightspirit]

Kyousuke was about to reply, but the rest of what Link was saying robbed him of any words. He exhaled sharply, turning his head and growing tense as thought he'd just been punched in the gut. Why did this keep happening...? How many people had to die? It was hard to think what to do, when he'd never had to contend with anything like this before. Not even Fifth Sector, with methods that might be considered torture, had ever been this cruel. ... This had to stop.

"... I was planning on going to the morgue," he began, as if he hadn't heard that part, but there was a cold edge to his voice that made his anger more than clear. "Supposedly, people sometimes wake up there after they've passed. I don't know if it's true, or what the chances are, but it might put people at ease to know someone's checked. ... He said to leave without him if he was late, so you can come along, if you want."

Right now, it was the best Kyousuke could offer anyone, so he wanted to focus on that instead of tragedies he had no control over. Horrible as it was... he couldn't bring them back. He just had to keep doing what he could, and hope that effort began to pay off eventually.

[his_legacy]

Link's jaw dropped when Tsurugi mentioned the possibility of the morgue.

"Of course it's worth the shot." His hand tightened around the hilt of the sword and he nodded. If there was any sort of chance that Sora could come back to them, they had no choice but to take it.

"Do you know where it is?" Because Link certainly didn't...

[knightspirit]

"The second floor," Kyousuke responded. "I've never been there either, but I have directions, so it should be fine."

But that was enough of that. If Link was coming, they could discuss anything else along the way. Kyousuke pushed his sore body back off the wall, and began to lead the way to the stairwell with slow steps, trying to conserve his energy as best he could. It wasn't too far, after all, and no good would come from rushing while he was like this. ... He just hoped his pace didn't turn them into targets.

[ to here ]