damned_institute | Day 27: Breakfast

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Day 27: Breakfast

Day came too soon.

Sora hadn't been able to find Rena, had instead been forced to crumple onto the grass of the recreational field and bleed all over himself, and hadn't even accomplished what he'd been sent out to do. What he'd been entrusted to do. He didn't know how he was going to be able to face Renji and the others, but he also knew he wasn't going to hide from them, either. That would just be low, after all, and he was ready to face up to the consequences.

He didn't try to make excuses for himself. Even though there had been a Special Counseling patient, they had managed to take her down by sheer numbers. The fact that he hadn't seen any sign of Rena was what had him the most worried. He hoped he could find her today.

The boy laid in his bed for a good while that morning before his nurse finally came in to collect him. She clucked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and leg, and asked him if he was okay to walk.

Once Sora assured her he was fine (he didn't really want to use crutches, as that would just attract attention to himself, and he didn't need others worrying over him), they made their way to the cafeteria. Sora yawned and winced against the bright light of morning - it seemed even earlier than usual, and he realized why when they entered the cafeteria and found it empty.

The boy shuffled over to grab a chocolate chip pancake, a bowl of cereal, and a glass of milk (good for the bones, or so his mom had always told him) before settling at a table. He kept an eye on the door, hoping he would see Rena walking in soon.

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"But... how's that possible? How can there just be gaps in people's memories...?" This certainly sounded like the sort of thing Utena had been trying to articulate, but... not quite right. People could lose memories... this was something else. "But... that's not even what I mean, exactly. I... I met up with someone, last night. A friend... a very close friend. We attended an academy together... both of us remember that whole time, and we both remember leaving. The details, though... it's only little things, but they aren't the same! What you're talking about... it's bizarre, but people can lose memories. But, how do you have your memory changed?"

The thing that bothered Utena the most, though, was that she wasn't certain their memories had been changed. She couldn't imagine her memories any other way... and there were no inconsistencies in anything Anthy had said. It was almost like... like they were from different dimensions. Almost identical, but... not quite.

Then again... she could just be jumping at shadows. This revelation of Hisoka's, though, lent a bit of credence to her thoughts.

Even in her deadly state of mind, Momo wasn't immune to the suffering and sadness of those she cared about. And yes, she did care about Hokuto. The girl was part of her team, human and... well, she liked the girl despite her teenager-ness. The shinigami drew in a breath and relaxed her grip on her concealed weapon a little.

"You can't protect me or save me," she said to the girl. "I know you don't believe me, but you can't break something that's already broken; you just get cut on the pieces."

She sighed and coughed harshly. "I'm sure you are aware that there are consequences to every action. This is the consequence for his actions and if I get seen by the nurses, so be it."

She pulled Signum's coat about her more, momentarily exposing that she had something in her right hand. "I am Death, Hokuto. Sometimes, people have to die. You should know this."

"I do, and I did," Hokuto replied, voice still very quiet, but starting to crack. "I died to save my brother, and cursed one of my best friends--and the man Subaru loves--to die if he ever tried to kill Subaru the same way. I probably condemned him to the same death he gave me. And you know what? I miss him." It was hard to stay in control, but she had to tell Momo why she shouldn't do this.

"I don't know your story, and you don't have to tell me. But believe me, I know about easy choices and right choices. I can't force you to stop, but I can ask you--please, don't. I've said goodbye to too many people already... I don't want to lose anyone I don't have to." If Momo was intending to take someone out because they were dangerous, she could understand it a little better, but from the shinigami's murderous expression Hokuto was afraid it was just revenge.

She had tears in her eyes by then, the closest she'd gotten to crying since she got here. No, she couldn't stop Momo, any more than she'd really been able to stop Seishirou. And that was what upset her so much.

Hisoka sent the girl a long look. She wasn't getting what he just said at all. This had nothing to do with memories or the lack thereof.

"I didn't say they were changed." Was she even listening? Remembering events up to a certain point in time did not mean anything was changed. The boy picked at his food for a moment before finally taking a bite and grimacing. The syrup was too sweet, but he supposed it wasn't so bad... Glancing up at the other girl the boy sighed, why was he always the one giving advice?

"Is the last thing she remembers something that already happened a long time ago? Or is it something that has never happened?"

"The minority would find themselves in the same position as high profile criminals... or the FBI agents that were in Japan." His tone turned solemn, but with this he was sure his meaning would be clear. A normal person would have dismissed it as nothing more than a reference to the "recent" tragedy, but with how intelligent Misora was and how she had probing him over the course of their conversation, she had to catch it.

It was a shame he couldn't be more direct, but without them meeting in the reception area of the NPA this time around, he couldn't let on that he was involved in the Kira case or that he knew she had information on it. Dropping hints about it like he was already seemed like pushing it, but he could always use the same line about trusting her just by looking at her.

The main issue was whether or not his lack of discretion would reach L and lead to uncomfortable questions about why he was discussing these matters with someone he barely knew in the first place. The way things were progressing now, the chances of that were unlikely at best, and at worst, it would be easy to defuse the situation anyway. Misora-- or rather Maki-san-- had merely piqued his interest by bringing up the possibility that the fake names were a defensive measure, and since she had seemed like such an intelligent and, yes, trustworthy individual, he'd thought he'd try testing her.

This was assuming, of course, that he couldn't find a way to silence her before the meal was through. It seemed more and more likely that he wouldn't be able to as time went by (that receptionist had done him a greater favor than he realized), but if he could at least find a way to keep L and Misora from meeting up before he could finish, he should be fine. He just needed to think of one.

She could see he’d been here for some time before her, but Integra didn’t feel any sense of having been rude by arriving so late. Staying in a locked cell, the knight knew her punctuality was far beyond her own control. So she only sat with no apologies, nodding to the man in just a customary acknowledgment. He should know her name already from the bulletin board, but she reintroduced herself none the less. This was the first time they had been face to face after all.

“Sir Integral Hellsing.” Throwing around her title wasn’t really needed of course, but habit was habit. Just as she’d likely be calling him simply Colonel for the duration of their meeting. Whatever branch of the military (and whose military for that matter) was just going to be left up in the air, unless they decided to get on that subject.

“I’m sure you have no interest in wasting further time.” The blonde reached into her pocket to remove a prepared sketch of what she’d be asking from him. Mindful of wandering eyes about them at all times, she only offered the piece of paper as if it weren’t meant to be a secret at all.

“It’s not actually a copy of what I normally use, but I assumed simplicity would be for the better.” The drawing, with measurements written out to the side didn’t have the intricate rapier style hilt of hers, though she had added a simple metal half-loop over the grip to act as a hand guard none the less, hoping that would be possible for him. The blade itself had no modifications however, only the straight form of the common longsword, of the length and thickness that she was accustomed to.

The more Momo listened to Hokuto's words, the more her face softened save her eyes. There was something in the girl's story that hit a little too close to home. Maybe it was the part about being killed by someone so close to her or perhaps it was simply that she missed this friend.

I miss Aizen-sama, she thought.

As Hokuto teared up, Momo took a step toward her with the intent on hugging her and giving her the comfort she obviously needed. Just as she reached out, though, her eyes widened and that sliver of fear slipped into them and she stopped herself cold, left hand on the girl's shoulder. She suddenly backed up, instinct making her afraid to hug Hokuto, and her eyes darkened back to death and burned away the fear as she threw a look of pure hatred at Gin's back.

"Do you understand, Hokuto," she asked in that same quiet deadly voice, though a small bit of loneliness slipped into it at the end, "that if during the night one of the three of us has to die for whatever reason during the night, it will be me?"

"Yep, red hair just like that! His name's Axel, and he's.." Ashton looked around the lunchroom, finding it a little difficult to crane his head around in the wheelchair, and especially with his abdomen as injured as it was. Ah, there his roommate was, sitting there and talking with a teenage boy! So Ashton pointed him out to Claude. Funny, the Flurry of Dancing Flames didn't seem the type to chill with kids, nice though he was. Even so, it really said something about his character! What a guy!

He smiled back at his best friend. "He can use fire in a way kinda like Heraldry, so tonight we plan to see if it can get hot enough to do some blacksmith work." Wouldn't that just be the picture? Ashton and Axel, Blacksmith Team Extraordinaire.

"And nope, never met an Auldrant..ian. Auldrantling? Uh. But I've met a lot of people here. I don't always ask people where they're from, though, so maybe I have without knowing it!" That could be the case, after all, though he was reasonably sure he hadn't.

"And don't say it's impossible!" Ashton raised his eyebrows. Just about everything was possible, everything on both the good and bad sides of the spectrum of.. things that could happen, and Ashton had made it his duty not to question any of it too hard. Other people could do the figuring out.

Regardless of that, Ashton proved that he was a thinker at times: "But you'd have to make a pretty crazy ship, one that can cross time and dimensions. It could be that that Auldrant place is located in a dimension that neither you nor I exist in, if there are different dimensions that you and Dias and I come from."

Okay, now Brock was confused. He was managing to pick up that River was apparently born with these abilities (sort've), so she probably really was a mutant. And he got that she'd been experimented on, although he wasn't clear if this was from Landels or something before then. However, when she suddenly talking about models and functions, then he had to say he was officially lost. Was that a general "you" or was she actually addressing him? And what was that last part supposed to mean?

You couldn't expect to get answers without admitting that you weren't picking up on everything.

"What do you mean, model and function?" Brock asked. "I don't understand."

That was a bit of an understatement, but the point still stood.

"No, that's what I'm saying... nothing else makes sense! It's like we're on the same page... but it's a different copy of the book. Typos and misprints in one that aren't in the other... pieces of the earlier story just plain taken out of one of the copies. Get what I mean? I just... I don't know how someone could do that! Not even the moral part... how does that work mechanically?" Utena's face was thoroughly screwed up by this point, from confusion, exasperation, and the strain of forcing herself to think several times faster than normal.

"It's... it's something that just happened. She said she last remembered leaving Ohtori Academy... which is what I remember, too." Like she'd said... same page, different books. The possibility that she was irrationally jumping to conclusions was gone out the window... at least, in her mind. She was far to involved in this theorizing to consider that, anymore.

"You don't know that," Hokuto whispered. "Life's not that predictable--it could be any of us, if things don't go well. Nobody knows how long they have, ever. Even the gods probably can't be sure." Are you still alive, Yuya-kun? Do you wonder why we don't visit anymore? The tears were still threatening to spill over, but--let them. She didn't care about crying in public anymore. Did Subaru ever cry anymore? Or was his grief too deep for it, too?

She understood now, better than ever, about seizing the day. But that didn't mean ending someone else's life while you had the chance, no matter how much you hated them. When set on revenge, the first thing you should do is dig two graves: one for him, and one for you. Whoever Momo was so focused on--he just didn't seem worth it. Funny, how she hadn't had much change in perspective... just had a newfound clarity in things.

"It is my duty as a commander to see my people safe," Momo said, her eyes returning to Hokuto. "And as a friend, I will not let you or Signum die." She was more than willing to flash step between the knight and a fatal blow even if it would piss Signum off to no end. There was even less of a question when it came to Hokuto.

"That man is the one we felt last night," she whispered, not trusting ehr voice to not rise in rage as she spoke of him. "He murdered the entire ruling body of Soul Society. He is a traitor and every moment he lives gives him another chance to hurt someone innocent."

"It is my duty as the Vice Captain of the 5th Division to avenge my captain and deliver unto him the death he has been sentenced to." She had a small coughing fit and then looked Hokuto in the eye.

"Do you still wish to continue this?"

Haruhi finished her breakfast in much higher spirits, and was about to leave the cafeteria when she spotted a certain sullen someone sitting at a table some distance away. This someone was not her arch nemesis, and as Haruhi had won that battle already, she felt that she could put up with Kyon's pessimisms today.

So she slid into a seat across from him, dropping down her tray and beginning to chatter idly, without so much as a greeting. "Ugh, this morning sucked. This really annoying girl ditched me last night and so I ended up finding a monster without her, but guess what? She found the same monster too! It's so annoying!" A scowl moved across her face as she remembered.

As she spoke, it was more like she was talking just for the sake of talking. The conversation was one way, and she wasn't really doing it for Kyon’s benefit. Such was Haruhi's way. "Then this morning, she called me a liar and completely insulted me. But she left, so she must have seen that she couldn’t win an argument against me." She finished this statement with that smug grin. It was still a victory.

Hokuto couldn't much argue with a thing Momo had said--and was wondering what she or Hitsugaya was going to do to her for what probably amounted to insubordination--but she still wanted Momo to consider her own physical condition. The man referred to had to be powerful, and she was definitely still weakened.

Hokuto wondered, too, about the captain referred to--probably not Hitsugaya. Maybe she'd find out later.

There was still one objection she could raise, though. "You're still hurt," Hokuto pointed out, not trying to hide her worry. "That's a big part of what I meant about timing--you haven't had time to heal." If Momo brushed it off, Hokuto couldn't do much, but she'd try to make one last point. Please, fukutaichou...

"Bakumatsu..." She frowned. A period that had ended eleven years before he said he'd been taken from. But he didn't look any older than Signum... how could that be?

How could it be, indeed. Magic could make a warrior of an adolescent child were their gifts great enough, or produce ageless beings like herself and her Knights, whose appearance told nothing of their age. She sensed no such power from him... but she had already met people here with powers beyond her understanding or ability to detect.

"Are you a magic-user? Or perhaps not human?" The smile returned when she asked these, because they were the questions closest to her heart, archive of spells in particular that she was, and because if he wasn't and hadn't grasped just how... diverse the prisoner population was yet the blow would probably need softening. For all she knew he just came from an alternate Earth where people aged well, or 'bakumatsu' was used to refer to a few extra years.

"My injuries are inconsequential in this matter," Momo replied. "In fact, they are an advantage as I appear quite injured and as such will cause Ichimaru to underestimate me."

She looked Hokuto deep in the eyes. "I am always underestimated."

The shinigami adjusted her grip on the makeshift shank she had concealed once again by the coat sleeve. She took a couple steps past Hokuto before pausing to look back at the girl.

"I do not fault you for trying, nor will anyone else hear about this," she said. "It's between you and me. Now, do not interfere." And with that, she turned to continue on her way, death once more burning in her eyes.

As soon as I kill him, Aizen-sama will be free. He'll come save me, save everyone... right?

"Oro?" Kenshin blinked. "No, this one is definitely human. Why do you ask?"

Larxene didn’t believe it at first. How could she? After all, she had never heard of a Nobody being allergic to… well, anything, much less chocolate and peanut butter. But as crazy as it sounded, it seemed to be true. Go figure.

Strange? Yes. Terribly amusing? Oh hell yes.

The Nobody watched with a grin on her face as Luxord was injected with what she figured was potent sedatives. “Oh my, I had no idea that Mr. Rould carried such an allergy! I hope he’ll be alright.”

It was all her fault, and she was loving every minute of it.

Leon blushed scarlet, after a moment, realising what a scene he'd just made. He was entirely immune to Soubi's glare, though, and returned it with one of his own, despite his embarrassment.

Turning back to Ritsuka, Leon mumbled, "I... apologise. I was startled. He grabbed me yesterday, when I came out of the showers. I am... not accustomed to being manhandled by strangers. But he did let me go once he realised I was not who he was looking for. You, apparently." Apologies did not come naturally to Leon, obviously, but he did realise he was overreacting, in this case.

Naomi was silent again, for a good long time. She simply looked at Yagami, her mind working quickly. He knew what she was talking about. Which meant he was intelligent. He'd picked up on her subtle hints and knew exactly what she meant. The idea that he was truly mentally ill was becoming more and more ridiculous. At best, he was depressed or suffering from some designer disorder. At worst, this truly was some conspiracy.

Either way, Naomi had before her a potential partner in her attempts to get released in this place. Much as she preferred to do things on her own - the more people involved, the more cause for dissension and disagreement and general stupidity - she was out of her element and lacking in resources right now.

Yagami was the only resource she had.

"You should be careful who you mention things like that to, Yagami-san." Naomi's voice was still even, but she was dropping hints of her own. That mentioning it to her wasn't dangerous. She doubted that the young man new much at all about the Kira situation, but he knew something. She could guess at least more than the average dimwit on the street. She wasn't quite certain if it was safe to mention what she was at the moment, but perhaps she drop another small hint. It was possible it would gain her his trust. If he had been holding anything back about their situation, perhaps he'd divulge it.

But she wasn't sure how to subtly hint at that.

"If you say the wrong thing to the wrong person, you could find yourself in a great deal of trouble. You're lucky I'm not the wrong person. But it tells me something, that you knew what I was talking about. You're very intelligent. Very few people would even think to bring that up."

Perhaps he'd catch on from that. If very few people would have reason to bring it up, she was implying that she did have a reason.

For Signum the morning had so far been a frantic one; the large amount of material she'd 'acquired' last night, along with her new blade, had taken a lot of effort to hide before the nurse arrived. The wheelbarrow, as useful as it was, was probably going to end up being ditched or donated to one of these alchemists eventually. The thing was hard to wedge in the closet.

And on top of the business of keeping their stolen goods theirs, there was her worry for Momo, who had been delirious by the time the night had ended. She knew the institute gave good care, but extensive internal injuries weren't simply dealt with. For her own peace of mind, she needed to see the girl. It would be her top priority at breakfast.

...or so she had thought. She'd arrived just in time (which, as usual, meant 'late') to find the girl shrugging off Hokuto with murder written all over her face, and priority: find out how Momo had done became priority: stop Momo from killing someone.

Who 'someone' was wasn't hard to guess. She'd seen the same look when she'd spoken of the source of the power they'd felt the previous night... the one who'd betrayed her organization.

Long strides carried her between Momo and the silver-haired man, and she faced her new captain with open defiance. "Hinamori. Stop."

The words may as well have been commands. Signum knew how to act the deferent servant, but she was just as well suited to leadership.

The 'sir' was a bit confusing, especially since her voice clearly indicated that she was female, but he figured it was some sort of title they simply didn't employ in Amestris. Roy almost fell into habit and introduced himself in return, but she had just said his name, and therefore obviously knew it.

He wasn't sure why he had been expecting more, and found himself falling into a calm sort of resignation when the paper was handed over. He glanced it over as she spoke, taking in the image quickly before placing it in his pocket along with the paper Adelheid had given him.

"You do understand that there is a bit of a waiting list for weapons, correct?" Hopefully she didn't think that she would get special treatment simply because she had come to see him personally. He wasn't certain why she had wanted to keep this such a secret in the first place, unless she was trying to avoid another patient...

"I will write a message for you over the bulletin board when your turn has come up," he explained. If he had any luck, she wouldn't argue him on the matter. Everyone else had complied, after all - though it wasn't like they'd had much of a choice.

Once Ashton pointed Axel out, it wasn't difficult for Claude to lock his gaze onto him. Sure enough, he had distinctly red hair, and Claude knew he wouldn't be forgetting what he looked like anytime soon.

"He can use fire like Heraldry? That sounds really handy! Let me know how all that goes, okay?" He wondered what other kinds of abilities people around here had. Heraldry, alchemy...there had to be others, he was sure of it. Yet another thing to look into. Despite how terrible it was here, Landel's Institute certainly had some fascinating qualities to it.

"I guess Auldrantian sounds fine enough," Claude remarked, lightly scratching his cheek in thought. "I mean, we say Expellian, so..." Who sat around and thought of all that stuff, anyway?

Claude certainly knew better than to say something was utterly and completely impossible. He'd seen some really crazy things just within the past couple of months, after all. "You're right," he admitted, looking almost sheepish. "You can do anything if you put your mind to it, you know? I'll bet I could go anywhere I wanted if I just planned it out well enough."

There was the issue of time and dimensions, but Claude waved it off. "There's a way we all got lumped together, right? So there's got to be a way to go out into all those places." Wow, he could see it now. Claude C. Kenni: Time-traveler and cross-dimensional expert. Like something from a crazy sci-fi novel. Wouldn't that be a story to tell!

It was at that moment the intercom went off, and the nurses began to escort their patients off to the next set of activities. Claude couldn't help but sigh. More fixed schedules and people to enforce them. Why couldn't they just take things at their own pace? This was like being in the Federation all over again. Except without the crazy mastermind and the weird monsters trying to gouge his intestines out at night.

He smiled at his friend. "Well, it was nice talking to you. Please take it easy and get some rest, okay? I really need you in one piece." He stood up from his chair, momentarily clasped a hand on Ashton's shoulder, and then he was gone.

"Yeah, and that's kind of the problem, isn't it?" Greed's grin widened as he rested one of his elbows on the table and rapped now-clawed fingers upon its surface. "I don't take orders from anyone but myself."

Seriously, who was this punk fooling? He looked too puny to have an attitude that bad; at least Greed had muscle to back up his claims.

Raven had kept to herself for most of breakfast as usual, thinking about last night, and the announcement of even more arrivals. Every time she saw new faces, she couldn't help but wonder if any of the other Titans had been brought in as well.

How much time had passed? Did they even know that Raven was missing, or were they still unaware? She couldn’t discount the possibility of time moving differently here than it did on Earth.

Well, only time would tell if Robin or the other Titans would turn up in Landels. Though she wouldn't wish it on any of them, it would be nice if she could see her friends again. Or at least know what they were up to…

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Page 56 of 60

Day 27: Breakfast

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