damned_institute | Hallway Outside Sun Room

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Hallway Outside Sun Room

[[from here]]

The feeling was strong. There was something out there. And as he neared the Sun Room, it was even stronger. It felt like an Akuma, but he couldn't be sure, not in this place. As much as he didn't want to wait around here, he had to meet Emily. He couldn't help thinking that they should have picked a safer place. He'd never been very good at planning things though. He just had to take things as they came, one at a time.

He leaned against the wall with a sigh and settled in to wait, moving his flashlight up and down the hall just to be sure nothing was coming after him.

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Jack smiled widely. "Ah, but you don't mean that, babe. You and everyone else would be BEGGING to have me back if I were ever to leave ya."

Kikyo snorted. That was quite unlikely.

"Well then...perhaps you should make haste, and give us a dramatic exit, if you wish to prove yourself right," he replied. And he added with no small degree of condescension, "...Jack."

Jack, in response, pulled himself up to his feet and attempted to meander off again. To his credit, he made it a good few steps before being overwhelmed with a great heaviness. Sinking to the ground again, he cursed his injuries and glared at Kikyo.

"If any of my shit is missing when I wake up," he threatened, "I'm coming after you."

He shut his eyes and waited for the inevitable unconsciousness.

"Fear not, I've no interest in your belongings, clever weapons and all," Kikyo said with a snort. As though he would be tempted to root through his person! Of course, Kikyo made no promises that he would intervene on Jack's behalf should any passerby come through while he lay prone on the ground.

He'd bandaged the man with reluctance, and sat through his deluded diatribe even more grudgingly. Kikyo's generosity was already depleted for the long haul.

"Well, GOOD," mumbled the Fable and he let himself slip away and into a state of sleep.

The sweet nothing of deep sleep slipped away as Kougaiji felt himself stirring, like surfacing under cool water towards consciousness. In most of cases, he would have jerked up the moment he had some of his wits about him, but this time there was pain, and when he tried to pull up violently, he felt his body resisting so persistently he couldn't do much more than whimper silently and lay still until the sharpest pain subsided.

During those brief moments, he made observations the best he could. There was something warm under his head and on his head, a hand, gentle.

"Yaoine?" he whispered, throat dry and voice raspy.

How long had it been since John finally zonked out, leaving Kikyo in his much welcomed peace? He'd given a slight sigh of relief when the silence finally came. If Kikyo didn't have Kougaiji resting in his lap, he might have knocked the urban ninja over his head just to speed his way into sleepy land.

He felt Kougaiji shift in his lap, slowly waking.

The hand upon Kougaiji's head was gentle, but firm at the same time, keeping him there so he didn't stir too suddenly again.

Obviously, the boy was still half asleep, mistaking Kikyo for someone else. This seemed to happen often this night.

"No...it is Kikyo," he murmured, fingering redish locks with his slender fingers.

"...mm, Kikyo." Kougaiji frowned, memories flickering against his consciousness. White rooms, smiling nurse, dirty laughter from an intercom, blood - Landel's. He blinked open his eyes slowly, gazing up at his roommate, Kikyo's face just a spot of pale within the darkness.

"Is it night still?" he asked silently, opting to let the world stop its spinning before he'd even try getting up.

"Yes...it is night still," Kikyo answered. Somewhere in his heart, he remembered a voice like this..

It's not morning yet - why are you still up?

Whispers of a past that would not return.

Stay...it's cold here.

His fingertips paused on Kougaiji's forehead.

"How are you feeling?" he asked gently.

Swallowing, Kougaiji tried to blink off some of the mistiness of his eyes with lousy results, growling silently for the failed attempt. He paused to think Kikyo's question, not knowing how to answer. How was he feeling?

"I dunno, hurts," he muttered softly. He wasn't used to waking up to this much pain. This human body was so slow in regenerating. He was also thirsty, but knew by experience that Kikyo wouldn't give him anything to drink even if the man would have something. Something about shock and whatever, he couldn't remember Yaoine's lectures in this condition.

Kikyo nodded in response, for what else was there to say? Of course he would be in pain. He couldn't do anything about it. Did he even want to?

But for some reason, he wished to distract him maybe a little from his pain. And so he spoke again after a moment's silence, in his warm and maybe slightly teasing voice,

"...how were the cherries?"

Kougaiji stared up at the man, arching a pair of elegant brows in question.

"Cherries?" What the hell was that about? It sounded vaguely familiar, like a fainting memory, or a lingering dream... Dream, yes, he had been dreaming.

"Uh.. damn. I didn't...?" He would have blushed if there had been enough blood in his body to rush into his cheeks, but as it was, he just felt compelled to turn his head away, thankfully hiding behind his crimson bangs that fanned across his face. The sudden movement brought in a flare of pain and he hissed between his teeth few very carefully chosen curses.

There was a hint of an amused smile on Kikyo's lips as he replied, clucking softly in reproach, "Don't move too much, Kougaiji-kun...your wounds may reopen."

He threaded his long fingers through the young man's hair, a chilled but gentle touch that seemed to linger there almost longingly.

Kikyo may not have had wholesome thoughts in his mind always, but sometimes, he could touch people like this.

Kougaiji relaxed under Kikyo's touch against his own will, knowing he shouldn't let his guard down but not being able to stay focused in the dark and silent hallway. The man's fingers in his hair were gentle, familiar, odd even, and somehow comforting.

"How's John?" he asked silently after a moment, realizing he didn't hear the other man anywhere, or see him in the darkness.

"Hn..." Well, at least the urban ninja had one thing to his credit - he was fortunate enough to secure the trust and care of a young man like Kougaiji. Who, Kikyo had no doubt, deserved the loyalty that he seemed to command from his friends back home.

"He is quite well, fear not."

"...that's good." What else was there to say? Kougaiji couldn't think of more than one thing, which would prove to be more difficult than the first one. But he'd say it, because he thought he owed at least that much to Kikyo.

"Thank you." The words were silent on his errant breath, transparent but real.

Kikyo smiled softly, though it was too dark for anyone to see. It was true he would not have stirred a finger for John (or Jack, or whatever the man's name was) if it hadn't been for Kougaiji. Still, the boy owed him nothing. To Kikyo, it might have been an unspoken debt owed to someone else. A person he owed more than just a small debt.

"Rest, Kougaiji-kun. It shall soon be morning." He spoke like he actually believed the dawn would come. An odd state of mind, for the dead.

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Hallway Outside Sun Room

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