The intercom hissed, then crackled. There was a faint, constant click, like the sound of a pocket watch being held close to the microphone.

Finally, it stopped.

"Time's up, ladies and gentlemen--if I can even call you all such a thing." The man coughed, then sighed. "It's been a long, rough, night, and I think it's time we all headed off to bed."

A long yawn, then a smack of the lips.

"Ta-taa~!"

Darkness.

Warm sunlight washed upon the green lawns and lush trees of Landel's Institute, catching the dark dirt and wet foliage that had been battered by the storm of the night before. All traces of the previous night's merciless weather was gone from the sky, replaced by a faithfully blue hemisphere and equally loyal clouds that graced Landel's with their presence on usual days.

Usual, exactly the way the clean click of the intercom sounded.

"Good morning, everyone!" Said a warm, cheery voice, that, despite its telling pitch and timbre, sounded nothing like the mad puppeteer of the night before. "It's time to rise and shine, and it looks like that nasty weather from last night has cleared up while you were asleep and is giving us some much-needed sunshine. Remember, Vitamin D is the way to be!"

When silence followed what he seemed to have thought was a clever play on words, the Head Doctor cleared his throat and continued.

"Er, yes, well! Today, for breakfast, we'll be having waffles, scrambled eggs, and sausage! Mm-mm! Sounds good, doesn't it? Syrup and butter and even some fruit toppings, if you like! You can choose from your regular breakfast drinks, of course--milk, orange juice, or plain spring water. For any vegetarians, we have a fruit salad available, as well as bowls of assorted types of cereal that we've approved for your consumption."

A small, feminine whisper came forth, as if one of the nurses was reminding him of something. The microphone squeaked a bit as the Head Doctor adjusted it.

"Oh, yes, and we'd also like to give a very big welcome to the first of our new patients today! Lee Arlington, Liam Gray, Gregory Meadows, and Skylar Moore will all be joining you at breakfast, so we do so hope you let them feel at home here at Landel's."

A small pause.

"That's all! Have a very good morning."

The intercom clicked off with an equally clean snap of a switch.

As Ginji was ushered through the halls towards the cafeteria he felt a little dizzy. He felt like something was very, very wrong but he wasn't sure what. It wasn't just the fact that he had woken up in the middle of some strange place, or the fact that Ban was no where to be found. Something else was wrong. Something important. Something that he should be noticing but wasn't. He was sure that if Ban was here his partner would have figured it out a long time ago, but Ginji was at a loss. He realized he should be asking questions, demanding to know things, but by the time he opened his mouth to ask anything the smells of foods distracted him.

"Can I really have all the stuff the voice on the speaker was talking about?" he asked the nurse. He found it hard to believe that he could have eggs and waffles and sausage and fruit and cereal. That and he could have milk or juice instead of just water. He tried to remember the last time he had eaten so much. Probably one of those rare occasions that he and Ban didn't lose all their money before they could spend it. His mouth was drooling at the thought. That much food... all at once. It was like a dream. This had to be a dream. That would explain why he felt so out of it, so sluggish.

The nurse nodded and then handed Ginji a plate. He took it and, still not entirely sure that he was really going to be able to eat all of this, began putting food onto it, cherishing every item like it was platinum.

When he made it to the table he sat down and looked at the piles of food he had picked out. He looked at the fork he had also grabbed a little curiously before stabbing at some eggs. Strange. He brought the breakfast to his mouth and cautiously took a small bite.

It was really good!

Suddenly Ginji seemed to be a master at using the fork to shovel massive amounts of food into his mouth as quickly as possible. It was all so good and tasty! He completely forgot that he was in a strange place and that it was probably a bad idea to eat the food they gave him. It felt very good to be able to eat and eat and eat. He didn't even take a moment to realize that Ban wasn't there to steal what he was eating.