damned_institute | Nightshift 26: F-Block Hallway

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Nightshift 26: F-Block Hallway

[From here.]

Shining the flashlight around the corner, Rukia didn't see any other patients around, which was fine with her at the moment. She wanted to get to Colonel Mustang quickly, and hopefully Renji wouldn't take too long to meet her...

Jogging along quietly, she continued on.

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[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/183389.html?thread=12970077#t12970077)]

Utena lingered for a moment in the hall; perhaps going out on her own wasn't the best idea. Another person might need to be protected, of course, but... well, two heads were, as the saying went, better than one. For the moment, indecision stopped her cold.

The hinges of her door no longer ran smoothly and well oiled without a sound, but creaked like the decrepit cellar doors of some witch's castle. The hallway was not light- she realized then what the flashlight under her pillow was for, and picked it up, shining it on the walls and ceiling. Filthy, dark, scary. It made sense now. This place, here and now, wasn't the living world; it was another test; another academy for her to past. She wasn't free yet.

Something moved, and she tensed, trying to remind herself that she'd been through worse and lived. Her light cast a broad beam down the corridor, and she whispered herself, almost like a prayer to God,

"Utena, give me strength."

Haruhi was most likely out... Utena hadn't seen her all day, and now was not a good time to start looking. Rena, perhaps? No... she was among the people Hitsugaya had contacted, if she was remembering correctly, which meant she already had goals that night. Actually, that brought another thought to mind: Matsumoto. She wanted to find out about this "arts and crafts" crap the middle-schooler was talking about; it sounded like a poor use of time, but there might be more to it than there appeared...

A beam of light suddenly appeared from further down the hallway, stunning Utena for a moment. She raised her hand to shield her eyes, calling out, "Hoi... Who's there?" She couldn't see past the light... it's intensity had ruined her night-sight completely.

There was a voice from down the hallway that sounded so familiar. There was the distortion of echoes, but the resemblance was undeniable.

Was it a coincidence, or a trap? Or was it- was Utena trapped here as well? Biting her lip to brace for disappointment, she paced herself, cautiously speaking out to the darkness, where the voice had come from.

"...utena?"

That... that voice. She couldn't see the source, since her night-sight was still in shambles, but... well, that was superfluous. She'd know that voice anywhere.

"...Hime...Himemiya...? Is it... really you?"

She cast her light as she drew nearer finally upon the source it came from.

... it was!

"UTENA!" She cried out, dropping her light without care and racing for her, arms extended, ready to sieze the most well-needed hug of the century. For months she had been referring to her errant friend by her name alone, without the brace of the -sama honorific, and now, saying her name- and only her name, directly to Utena... it sounded beautiful.

In an instant, the listlessness and detachment Utena had felt growing over the past few days was gone, flushed out by the powerful emotions that surged through her. As she scooped Anthy up in a powerful hug, she couldn't help but think that it had been worth it, to suffer through this hell the past few days. All of it was a test, she thought, drunk on relief, to earn the right to see the girl she loved once again.

"Himemiya... you're here... you're alright...," she said, somewhat dumbly; no more intelligent, coherent words came to her at that moment.

Anthy's feet swept off the floor in the momentum of their embrace. The sudden relief of finding her best friend eclipsed her fears completely.
"You! You're here! You're-"
Her head rested on Utena's shoulder, in the crook of her neck, and she breathed in the familiar smell. Not overpowered by roses any longer; just that real, whispering undertone that reminded her that Utena was human.

She gripped at Utena, reaffirming the answer to the question she still had to speak as she exhaled looked into her eyes, "Are you real?"

Utena would have laughed at the question, were it not for the fear that her mirth might be mistaken for derision; they were real, the both of them. The only thing Utena was sure of, anymore, was that; after all, they had pierced the veil of illusion, if only for a moment. And, they could do it again.

"I'm real... I swear," was her response; what else could she say?

A hand was raised to Anthy's head, as Utena ran her fingers quietly through Anthy's hair. They must have looked ridiculous, tenderly embracing there, in the hallway of a mental institution; yet, as always, Utena simply did not care.

Anthy leaned into the touch. Safe, in spite of everything; safe with the one friend who treated her like a person- an equal.

"... I knew it," she responded. She had a million questions to ask, a million worries, but she breathed easily, letting her eyes slide shut, remembering that they would be safe against all the world's challenges when they had each other.

Several minutes passed, with Utena unwilling to break the embrace; at that moment, despite the dank air, despite the confinement, despite the thousands of pieces of empirical evidence screaming the truth of her insanity... she felt like she was home. Not like the Academy, of course; a true home, somewhere real and solid, where a person could truly belong.

But... she wasn't home. She was confined, restrained mentally beyond all physical measures, and that had to end. They'd fought too hard to escape the first prison, to be content in this one. "Himemiya," she said at length, drawing her head slowly back, "let's go. Once more, to the outside world."

She felt energized by Utena's support; by her enthustic confidence. But she didn't want to be foolhearty. This place felt difficult; more physically straining, more foreign.

"You know a way?" She asked, knowing better than to expect an easy way out.

"I...," she started, without thinking the question through; when she did, though, the conclusion she came to was not a friendly one. "No," she conceded. But... well, to hell with that! They would find a way, or they would MAKE a way; the perfect prison hadn't held them, so how could this monstrosity? "There has to be a way, though; after all, we somehow arrived here. There has to be a way... there has to be a way out! We just have to find it!" Had anyone else asked her, earlier that day, they would have received an answer far more grim; however, seeing Anthy, knowing that she was alright... that was fuel enough for her enthusiasm.

That dampened her hopes a bit. But it was a matter of course that they wouldn't know how to make it out right away. It could be years of living in limbo before they matured. Hopefully not the same as last time, but still, she hardly knew a thing about this place. She needed to understand more; to stop hiding behing intentional naiivete and denial.

"There's a lot I don't know..." She said, touching a knuckle to her lower lip, "Let's sit down and talk first. My room is right here." She smiled, taking Utena's hand and pulling gently.

Here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/192376.html)

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Nightshift 26: F-Block Hallway

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