Day 73: Breakfast

[lighthearted]

When Sora woke up, he was so worked up that he practically thrashed his way out of bed. He probably would have fallen straight out of it and onto the floor if he hadn't caught his foot against the ground and then forced himself upward into a sitting position.

But it didn't feel like he'd slept at all. His heart was pounding, his face flushed with worry. Tsurugi... It had been Tsurugi, but he'd looked different. And he'd barely even been able to talk, he'd been so out of it. What had this place done to him?

If Sora went out to the cafeteria, would he end up talking to a Tsurugi who had purple hair? And what would that mean? Would Tsurugi even show up for breakfast this morning?

There was just too much he didn't know, but sitting around in his room worrying about it wasn't going to do any good. Sora stood and let out a bracing breath, glancing over to Link's sleeping form in the opposite bed before he approached the door and anticipated his nurse.

She seemed to sense that he was worried, because she didn't chat with him too much on the way over to the cafeteria. Sora didn't even have the presence of mind to stop by the bulletin. He just went straight to the mess hall and got a tray of food while half-distracted, parking himself right near the entrance from the Sun Room. He barely ate his food, instead keeping an eye out for Tsurugi with two shades of hair in mind.

[For Tsurugi.]

Comments

[freewill]

It was as he and Kratos had started the tedious process of checking (and breaking open) all those doors when the intercom had come on and the Head Doctor had taunted them one more time before night's end.

They'd made progress, but only a very small amount of it. Would those enchanted keys save their position? Castiel had no idea, but he could only hope that would be the case. Then again, if Lloyd came along with them next time, he would be a few rooms behind them...

It wasn't something there was much point in pondering over now. He was certain that Lloyd and Kratos would be in contact with him over the course of the day, so they could discuss it then.

If Lloyd hadn't been badly injured in the fight they'd been forced to leave him to handle on his own, that is. With a frown, Castiel sat up from his bed as his nurse stepped inside, not remarking on the fact that Kobayashi was nowhere to be seen.

On the way, Castiel checked the bulletin board briefly, but with nothing of interest to see there yet, he soon enough moved into the cafeteria. Pigs in blankets... Castiel still found that name was somewhat crude, but it didn't stop him from getting a plate of food and then taking a seat to begin eating.

[For Soushi.]

[ever_loyal_dog]

The morning left Soushi feeling battered, bruised, and sore in ways he could barely comprehend. The night had felt more like a dream than reality, but waking to find the multiple injuries were still there was something of a surprise. His head was pounding in time with his heartbeat, pulsing strongly at the bludgeoned wound at his temple. It wasn't bleeding at least, but he could feel the swollen lump near his hairline.

His right shoulder was wrapped and in a sling. The axe wound followed by the smashing blow of that ethereal shield had broken his arm, if he remembered correctly. Then there was the stab wound in his side, which he reached with left fingers, carefully examining the work.

It still didn't explain why he'd been working against the patients last night. Why had he felt the need to protect that room? How was it he'd been able to release his demonic form? Would it happen again? Was it as he'd feared? Was he now one of the monsters that stalked the halls of this wretched building at night? And most importantly, who had been masquerading as his master?

The last filled him with a cold anger as he stiffly sat up and composed himself. A nurse arrived moments later, though she had no explanation for his injured state other than to cluck at him and say he needed to take better care of himself. She even went so far as to collect his food tray for him, filling it with a variety of things she hoped he might actually eat, but he had little interest. With some dismay, she beckoned him toward one of the other patients, claiming that she'd seen them together often enough to consider them friends and wouldn't he like to sit with a friend when he wasn't feeling well?

Soushi offered no argument, only inclined his head slightly in greeting when he approached Castiel. "It's good to see you are well this morning."

[freewill]

It had been a few days since Castiel had checked in with Soushi, which was proof enough that he had deemed him to not be much of a threat.

And when he approached this morning, it looked like he might be the victim more than anything else, judging from the way that his arm was in a sling. Castiel caught sight of other bandages too, particularly a swath wrapped around his head.

It was hardly out of the ordinary for someone to get injured here, but Soushi looked as if he'd been through more than a typical monster fight.

Castiel didn't waste any time with asking about it, either. Setting his food aside for the moment, he simply asked, "What happened?"

[ever_loyal_dog]

Soushi wasn't terribly interested in the food offered him this morning and turned his plastic cup of water idly in his good hand. Castiel was, as usual, quick to ask questions Soushi had no desire to properly answer. If Castiel found out that he'd been injured because he had attacked the other patients and was working for the very institution that kept them hostage here, how would he react?

"I learned why it is unwise to go alone at night," he said after a moment's thought. Not a lie really, but he hadn't gone into great detail. Would it happen again? From the sound of things, Landel needed monsters and demons every night to keep the patients out of his business, but how often did he draw from among the patients themselves? From what he understood, demons were a bit of a minority.

"How did you fare?"

[freewill]

It wasn't a descriptive response by any means, and while Castiel shifted in his seat, that was his only sign of annoyance as he took a bite of his food. He was well aware of the dangers here, but learning specifics about each monster or foe that walked the halls would have been valuable for future nighttime excursions.

He could push the subject, but Castiel decided to leave it alone for now. He could return to it if they ran out of other subjects to talk about, but he'd come to realize that trying to force someone to speak of something they'd rather not discuss was usually a pointless endeavor.

"We made it through a few more rooms on the third floor, but it wasn't as far as we'd been striving for." It wasn't clear that he was disappointed, save for his tone and the slight furrow of his brow.

[ever_loyal_dog]

Soushi was a bit surprised when Castiel didn't push the matter further, but instead offered information about his own evening's adventure. Exploration of the third floor. So there was more to it now, something beyond simple theories and speculation. Soushi nodded slowly, sipping his cup from time to time.

"It's a start," he said, trying to sound optimistic in spite of himself.

"Much further than most have made it I'd imagine," he tried to shrug, but thought better of it when his shoulder gave a painful twinge.

"Are the rooms very different up there?"

[freewill]

That was an optimistic way to look at it, and while Castiel had a difficult time taking on that kind of mindset, it was true that his group had most likely made it the furthest of all the patients. Or so he guessed. He hadn't heard anything different, though chances were that most patients had the presence of mind to keep that kind of discussion off the bulletin board.

That reminded him that someone was going to need to ask around about anyone who'd received notes about the security system, though. If they were going to coordinate with others, they would have to start with the board and then transfer to the radios afterward. Neither option appealed to him much, but Castiel was going to have to push past that.

"Not particularly," he said after a pause. "What makes it different is how you get around. There are these teleportation pads that send you from room to room, so moving through the third floor isn't a linear process. And there is one room that's strange... it has this device that will electrocute you if you walk through while carrying any mind of metal."

Luckily, there was an easy way to get around that.

[knightspirit]

For once, waking up in a bed without any recollection of getting there actually seemed perfectly natural; if anything, it was a surprise that Kyousuke hadn't passed out sooner. At the time, it had been difficult to understand any of the images that had been digging into his senses, but by now, they had set, and looking at this room again was... strange. He'd been here just yesterday, but now armed with dozens of new memories, it felt like months since he'd seen any of this. Even their championship photo resting on his desk didn't seem quite right anymore, only one yet many weeks past.

But this place... probably made the least sense of all. The gap between his old and new memories was perfectly seamless, but amidst all of that, he still remembered being here. The problem was, it was an offshoot, unordered, not having a place to fit in alongside everything else, like he'd somehow started living two separate lives.

... Maybe he was still just delirious. Most of the effects of what he'd been given had subsided, and he no longer felt like his body was destroying itself from the inside out, but he still felt hot, and thinking too much seemed to press down on his skull. ... Not that he could complain much. Compared to what he'd just been through, just having a fever was nothing.

He pulled himself up slowly, a little dizzy, but still stable, when the nurse entered and frowned at him in disapproval. Apparently, she was under the impression he had a cold, and she agreed to let him leave his room only if he promised to take it easy and kept an ice pack and blanket on him at all times. He didn't protest, although it seemed a little excessive considering he wasn't actually sick.

Instead of letting him move through the usual line, the nurse provided him with broth, crackers, and juice, and warned him to avoid sticking around anyone too long—he wouldn't want to get any of his friends sick, now would he? He grumbled a halfhearted response, already searching the room for Sora and Ishida. ... They'd taken the time to come and find him, so he had to let them know he was alright.

Luckily, he found Sora almost right away, and slid into the seat across from him, although somehow, he was having difficulty figuring out what he should say. There was too much of it.

"... Sorry, about last night," he settled on quietly. Because he'd been worried about saving him, Sora had lost the chance to get anything done, and as things were right now, that could end up costing them. Still... He was grateful, that he'd come for him in spite of that.

[lighthearted]

As much of a relief as it was to see Tsurugi standing there, looking a little flushed in the face but otherwise exactly as Sora remembered him, he still had to wonder if it wouldn't have been better if he'd gotten some more rest. He was torn on that issue, because if Tsurugi hadn't shown up this morning, then Sora definitely would have worried, but...

It didn't matter. He was here now.

Sora was tempted to rush over and greet him in a more friendly way, but actually touching him wouldn't do them any good, and so instead he just straightened in his seat, shaking his head violently from side to side.

"You don't have to apologize! It's not like you wanted to be dragged up there..." Though Sora realized only after the fact that he should probably keep his voice down.

He glanced around them and then took a careful bite of sausage before leaning in over the table. "Are you... all right, now?"

[knightspirit]

"Even so, there's other things going on," Kyousuke pointed out. Thanks to the influence of the rebels, they were getting closer and closer to Landel, and they had to act quickly before they missed their chance and had to start over. "You may have missed an opportunity coming after me."

Not that he was scolding Sora for it. To tell the truth, he probably would have done the same thing; how could they expect to save everyone if they couldn't even protect the people around them? A victory gained by abandoning someone wasn't a real victory at all. But though he understood, it was still frustrating knowing that he was weighing people down. Normal as it was here, that still wasn't a feeling he could get used to.

But he decided not to push the issue any further, and ended up giving a wry a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. You don't have to worry."

The aftereffects would probably wear off eventually. The truth was, he wasn't sure where to even begin sorting through all these new memories, and part of him was avoiding thinking about them, solely because there were just so many, but that was just something he'd have to deal with. He was fine, and in no actual danger from everything.

[lighthearted]

"Oh, that's fine," Sora said, quickly waving Tsurugi off. "I sent Link to go check out the third floor in my place, so let's just hope he made it further than we did, right?"

That was something Sora would probably only find out when dinner came along, unless Link chose to write him a message over the bulletin board. He would be keeping a closer eye on that now that he knew Tsurugi was more or less okay.

The smile that Tsurugi offered seemed genuine enough, but it wasn't going to be that easy for Sora to set his concerns aside. Not after what he'd seen last night. And honestly, was anyone ever perfectly fine after going through something like that? He doubted it.

"You... you looked different when you came out of that room last night. Did you even realize?" Tsurugi had seemed like he was barely aware of what was going on, so he may have not even noticed that his appearance had changed along with whatever the scientists had done to him.

[knightspirit]

"... I see," Kyousuke responded. He wasn't sure if it was quite as simple as sending someone instead, but if Sora said it was fine, he wasn't going to insist otherwise. What was done was done, so it would be a waste of time thinking too hard on it.

The rest, though... This was the part he'd been wanting to avoid, if possible. The world felt different now, and while he didn't necessarily mind that in itself, he could do without remembering the process that made it come to be. But he guessed he owed at least some kind of explanation to the people who had come after him, instead of repaying them by dismissing their worries completely.

"That was..." he paused, trying to find a way to explain. "It's a certain ability I have; it's nothing they did to me. ... Not directly. But that power is probably what saved me. If I hadn't found it—"

—Then he may have died from all that pain. The boy went stiff, letting a heavy silence speak the words he didn't say for him. He realized that didn't explain much about what happened to him, but that was enough, wasn't it? He found something, it had saved him, and he was still here. Those were the important parts.

At least, they were to him. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to him that might not be enough to assuage Sora's worry after seeing him as such wreck.

[lighthearted]

An ability? Sora had never heard of it before. Maybe Tsurugi hadn't had a reason to mention it, but that still seemed kind of strange. It wasn't like they hadn't spent some pretty harrowing nights together, before all this.

Tsurugi definitely didn't need to finish that sentence, and Sora's gaze dropped to his food as he let out a sigh. The institute didn't usually go so far as to directly kill someone -- Sora had never heard of anyone dying while they were experimented on, anyway. It was usually the monsters that did that -- either that, or people just disappeared.

He was thankful, though, that it wasn't any worse.

"What kind of ability is it?" he asked after a lengthy pause. "You never mentioned it before."

[knightspirit]

"... I didn't know it was there. It was—"

Kyousuke shook his head. He was saying a little more than he wanted to. Not that he had any reason to hide anything, but things were ... complicated, and he didn't have a chance to sort through any of it yet. Part of him was avoiding doing so.

"It's called Mixi-Max. It fuses two people's spiritual auras together, so that a vessel can take in the other person's aura, adding their power to their own. But it can't be just anyone. The vessel has to be strong enough to hold it; you can't take in a aura that's too big for you. More than that, you have to compatible. The effect is stronger if it's used between two people who understand each other. ... The reason I looked different is because I was borrowing Okita-san's power."

It felt incredibly odd to be talking about this. Just yesterday, he hadn't even known that kind of a power existed, yet now, he was able to talk about it with month's worth of experience. ... He wondered if that contradiction was ever going to get any easier. But still, of all the things Sora could have asked about, this was probably what he was most comfortable with. It was a warm ability, created from a certain connection and holding its own special meaning, not just something used for the sake of power. It was a reminder to never waver, and brought about with a promise to protect what was most important. It seemed fitting, then, that it had ended up saving him this time. Almost like it had been trying to remind him that he can't lose here. He knew that was stupid, and probably just the delirium that had been talking, but that's what it felt like.

[fullmetalheart]

When Ed woke up, it didn't take long for what he had done the night before and the wrongness of it to filter into his awareness, causing him to roll onto his side and curl up.

His everything hurt as a result of that weird attack Lloyd used and the further attack by someone he didn't quite see-Was is Scar?--made his head ache. Besides the physical pain, there was also the emotional pain brought on by realizing what he could have done to any of the people he went after if his orders had been different.

When his nurse came into the room, he didn't move aside from to turn his head slightly to keep an eye on her.

"Come on David, it's time to get up and get some breakfast!"

"I don't feel like it," Ed said listlessly, not feeling like bothering to correct her on what his name actually is.

She frowned at him, slightly worried. "What's wrong?"

Ed considered his words carefully. "I... dreamed that I attacked a friend and some other people last night. I don't really feel like eating." Or doing anything but mope and try not to move too much, because ow.

Hearing his problem was just a dream helped the nurse know how to react. "It was just a nightmare, dear," she told him. "I'm sure that if you get some food in you and have had a chance to distract yourself, you'll feel better. Now if you don't hurry, you'll miss breakfast."

Ed debated if he really felt like arguing with her before deciding to give up. She might have an orderly drag him out of bed and he wasn't in the mood for that. "You may be right."

He dragged himself out of bed, moving stiffly due to the bruising and was in the cafeteria before too much longer. He got the least amount of food he could get away with and picked a location by himself to poke at his food, shoulders hunched in, and hoping that no one from last night found him.

[For Lloyd!]

[redcladidealist]

Ed wasn't that lucky. Lloyd had to be roused by his nurse, too, worn out as he was from last night, but once he was up and dressed, he barely had the patience to let his nurse lead him to the cafeteria. As soon as he shook her off, her started scanning the room. Come on, where's Ed...?

He hadn't had a chance to check on Ed himself last night. He had no idea if he'd overdone his attack, if he'd really hurt the guy. Granted, Ed had still been conscious afterward, until Scar had knocked him out, but that didn't necessarily mean that he was all right. Lloyd could have broken his bones or given him a concussion, and never mind the fact that Ed had been brainwashed. As far as Lloyd was concerned, he couldn't find the blond soon enough.

There! He grabbed his plate of food from the counter and headed straight for that familiar head of blond hair. "Ed!" He sat down without an invitation, eyes already raking his friend with a look of worry etched into his face. "Hey, are you all right?"

[fullmetalheart]

Ed groaned and pushed his plate forwards to fold his arms on the table and rest his head against them. "No. Everything hurts. Particularly my head."

He ignored that Lloyd probably also meant his emotional state. He didn't feel like going into that although he was aware that he probably wasn't going to be allowed to skip it.

[redcladidealist]

"But you're you again, right?" Only a hint of hesitancy showed before Lloyd slipped into the seat across from Ed. Unfortunately, no, he couldn't let that part slide. It was too important to know if Ed was back to himself.

[fullmetalheart]

"Yeah, I'm back to normal. And really aware of how damn lucky you were." Ed sat up straight again after another minute.

[redcladidealist]

Considering that Lloyd had come out of that fight relatively unscathed, he couldn't argue that he'd been lucky last night. Still, something about the way that Ed phrased it made Lloyd frown defensively. "Luckier than you," he said. "Are you sure you're alright? I mean, nothing broken? Can you see how many fingers I have up?" He held up the first three on his hand.

[dividedby]

Another night had come and gone. Zero hadn't gotten much done in the grand scheme of things, but at least he'd ensured that Ciel was safe. That was enough for him.

But even so, talk of the third floor was beginning to bother him more and more... He'd been wanting to talk to Ciel about it, but she'd been asleep. But certainly her nurse wouldn't let her sleep through the morning? He could find her at breakfast... (While they ate 'little pigs in blankets'. Huh.)

Unfortunately, Zero couldn't seem to find Ciel or even X when his nurse led him to the cafeteria. But he wasn't going to let himself feel too alarmed by it; he was a little early, after all. So he got his food and found himself a seat somewhere close to the door, so that he could wait for a familiar face to pass by.

(...In the meantime, he would eat and wonder why the food on his plate was named what it was when it looked nothing like pigs or blankets.)

[Free!]

[idolism]

The only proof Aidou had that last night hadn't been some aggravating dream was the note, still mixed in amongst his belongings. Not a dream, then. Of course not; he wouldn't be so lucky.

That just left what he would do about the note's contents, which given his track record of late, might not amount to very much even on a good day. Aidou was too weary of the hospital's quirks to feel much chagrin toward his supposed "mission." Surely if a group outside of the walls were planning to strike at Landel, they would know better than to instigate a plan so full of holes? And to place urgency on tasks that were nigh impossible to complete under time restrictions?

Well, he would just have to keep his ears open and see if anything important had cropped while he'd been... indisposed. To that end, Aidou kept a watchful eye on the cafeteria doors and those around him, musing to himself.

[forsworn]

They had been in the process of breaking into what seemed like every single room in the hall when the night came to an end. It wasn't as far as Kratos would have liked to get, but they had at least made it past the metal arch unscathed, thanks to Lloyd...

Thinking his son's name caused everything else that had happened last night to suddenly flood his mind, from what had happened in the Sun Room to his near-meltdown that had followed, and abruptly, Kratos sat up. It now seemed imperative that he find Lloyd as soon as possible, and his nurse had to almost jog to keep up with him as he made his way to the cafeteria.

"Mr. Clarke! Food first," she admonished, dragging him off to the side by his elbow into the line, which, thankfully, was short. Not so thankfully, by the time he had gotten his food, Lloyd was already occupied, talking to the short blond man they'd run afoul of in the Sun Room. Kratos sighed inwardly and went to go find a seat, taking care to pass close enough to Lloyd's table where he could get a quick look at him, but not close enough to look too obvious about it. He looked alright...

...but appearances were deceiving; he knew plenty about that.

He settled for a table nearby. Putting his tray down, Kratos took a seat without really looking at who else was there.

[ISHIDAAAAAAA]

[repelling]

Standing on the other side of the door, witnessing the immediate aftermath of the Institute's experiments, had been sobering, if not shocking. To think that he still could be, after what he'd witnessed in his own world -- detonating Shinigami come to mind, skin bulging, bubbling, expanding -- or that Sora-kun could be, after his months here. Concern and confused horror became muddled, and he was waking, the backs of his eyelids imprinted with skin that burst under purple hair.

He shook his head, looking over to the other bed, noting Tsurugi-kun still asleep. Little wonder. Uryuu dressed, waited at the door, and as was his norm, insisted on washing up at the bathroom before proceeding to the cafeteria. He was a little early, but he knew not tremendously, and so the trend seemed to continue: less and less patients by the day. A slow, steady trickle. Knowing better could not prevent him from searching each face, though he refused disappointment when the expected proved factual: she was still gone, and no other new, yet familiar faces.

Giving the "pigs in blankets" a bland look, he passed over them for the standard fruit cup and juice, noting Sora-kun's position near the doors but taking an empty table to himself, if facing the doors. Spearing melon and chewing mechanically, he noted Kratos-san's entrance, and with little else to look at, kept his attention idly on the man as he moved through the line. There was Irving-san, close by, but Kratos-san--

Uryuu felt a distinct, and niggling sense of deja vu. Kratos-san dropped his tray one seat down from him, and Uryuu blinked, biting down on a strawberry.

He waited.

A minute passed.

Oh, come on.

No, he refused. Uryuu would not clear his throat. Not this time. He would not seek the attention. No. Might as well time just how long it took Kratos-san to notice.

[forsworn]

Lloyd seemed to be totally engrossed in his current conversation, and with that observation, the brief hope that perhaps they would only talk for a short white died, and Kratos resolved himself to a breakfast of solitude and whatever the lady in charge of food had unceremoniously dumped on his plate.

He cut the first so-called "pig in a blanket" in half, speared it with his fork, and was about to take a bite when he happened to glance the other way and catch sight of Ishida staring at him. It then began to dawn on him that perhaps the boy had been there the entire time and he, being so utterly preoccupied with Lloyd, had failed to notice.

Hm.

This certainly sounded familiar.

Very slowly, Kratos set his sausage half back on his plate and straightened up. "Ishida," he said, his face betraying no sign of embarrassment. "Good morning."