Day 27: Lunch

[norainu]

Renji wasn't so certain what this grilled cheese thing was all about, but he liked the sound of some soup. Even if it was strange western soup, well... there wasn't anything bad people could do to soup, in his experience. His good mood was starting to fray at the edges, a little, from the strain of dealing with the Ichimaru issue, and even more from what had been on the bulletin board earlier.

He'd never had difficulty simply writing something before. But...

He shook his head as he entered the line. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to hold on to the tenuous equilibrium he'd managed to find.

Renji got himself a large bowl of soup, water, and even one of those sandwiches, just to try it. Old habit, recently awakened, had him over to one side of the cafeteria, where the fewest people possible would have the chance to pass behind him. He sat there with his back toward the wall and started eating.

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[rappigs.livejournal.com]

"Oh, wow, Rika-chama's new!" Peony took a slow sip of his soup. Why take a kid like this here? Still, he knew he totally shouldn't judge. Peony was almost one hundred percent sure he would have been down with this sort of thing when he was her age. He would have kicked ass, in fact. He was pretty convinced of that. "And yes, you're not alone, Rika-chama. They call me Benjamin here at the hospital, but my name's Peony."

But, since she was new, he guessed he'd have to tell her sooner or later. He'd warned Cyrille of the monsters the day before, but somehow that seemed so different than today.

... Now where to start? He leaned in, eyes growing wide, his face oddly serious, considering he was talking like a kid. "Rika-chama, how much experience do you have with scary monsters?"

[endlessjune.livejournal.com]

So, the odd names were not just her problem. She couldn't believe that she had neglected to ask for the man's name, but now she had it. Peony. She would not forget it. After all, Peony was now a new potential ally.

His next question was very odd. He seemed quite serious when he asked her if she had experience with monsters. The answer to that question... it did depend on what Peony's definition of 'monster' was. She had seen many humans do monstrous things, and some of them were very well monsters.

"Well..." Rika thought. How to explain this?

"Rika doesn't know about the monsters that hide under people's beds, or the monsters that hide in the dark and go 'rawr'!" She started off, comically curling her hands like she was a cat and clawing at the air.

"But... Rika knows that sometimes people can be a little scary too," She added, placing her hands down and folding them in front of her. "Where Rika comes from, there can be scary people who Rika thinks could be monsters."

She looked up at Peony, wondering if this was what Peony was talking about.

[rappigs.livejournal.com]

Peony nodded in understanding as the baby rappig girl spoke. Oddly enough, he hadn't been talking about monstrous people, though he supposed that people could be monstrous enough! Ah, if his Jade were here he'd just nod and agree. Still, Peony knew that it was possible for people to change if they tried hard enough.

"I'm talking about monsters like people and I'm talking monsters that hide in the dark and go 'rawr' too," he said, mirroring her cat-claw movement. "You better be careful, because after dinnertime the doors are going to unlock, and if you go outside your room there are monsters. Like real ones," Peony said.

As far as his experience with monsters had been, though, they'd been pretty far from the rooms. There were bats outside, that .. weird thing in the experiment room they'd been in last night, and the sounds of scuffles in the stairway. "I'm pretty sure that none of them live under beds, but you should probably be careful tonight if you go very far. Got it, cute little Rika?"

[endlessjune.livejournal.com]

"Huh?"

Peony was talking about real monsters? That did come as a shock to Rika, who hadn't been expecting this at all. The whole thing really did seem strange; people who were not from the same timeline, people who were possibly not from the same planet if she was understanding Peony correctly... and then monsters? True monsters, not just a term used for horrendous people?

Maybe Rika would have dismissed it as all a lie if she had come from another world, but Rika knew better than that. She had to trust him for now, since Peony was all that she had to rely on. It was better than nothing. And the look he was giving her... he had to be serious.

"Rika understands!" She chirped, nodding. "Rika will watch out for the monsters... but can Peony tell Rika something? Why would Rika want to go out of her room if there are scary monsters who want to eat her?"

She could only imagine it was to escape... but it didn't sound easy. Was there more that Peony could tell her?

[rappigs.livejournal.com]

For Peony, the question had been more like Why not go out of your room if there are scary monsters who want to eat you? It had sounded like such an adventure! And to see Gailardia almost as soon as he'd left his room.. oh yes. It was great.

His serious expression couldn't stay that way for long - it fell into an easy grin. "Well, some people try to find a way to escape. For other people, people like me? We know that nothing we do will get us outta here, so we want to have cool adventures until our genius friends figure out how. Ho ho ho!" He chortled.

"My advice, little darling? I'd find someone to keep you company, preferably someone big and strong or at least fast and smart. Make friends with your roommate or whoever you need to. And maybe someday I'll take you out, how about that?"

[endlessjune.livejournal.com]

"..."

Ah, that's what it was. For some reason, she could see braving the halls being the next club activity, except there was no club and this was no joke. Though Peony didn't seem all that concerned; on the contrary, he seemed rather content to be in this place until someone else found a way out.

What kind of place did Peony come from where getting into potential fights with monsters seemed like fun?!

"Rika will remember that too," she promised, flashing another cute smile. "She will find someone like Peony who is big and strong and doesn't want cute things to be eaten by monsters! And Rika wouldn't mind it at all if Peony took her out somewhere."

Rika looked content, but all she was thinking is that she had to find Hanyuu, and fast.

[rappigs.livejournal.com]

And she'd called him big and strong! Oh, this little one would grow up so well. Four or five years or so and he'd date her anytime she wanted! What fabulous upbringing! Yeah~ It was obvious he took the compliment well, from the way his expression was glowing like the sun.

"That's fantastic, that's fantastic! Then I promise to, and you can hold me to that, okay? You better come find me or leave a message on the bulletin board or something tomorrow so I know you're doing okay." It would be all right if she didn't, and Peony wasn't really one to worry, but he'd already made himself into somewhat of a father figure in his mind.

"You're pretty brave, you know, Rika. What do you do where you come from?"

[endlessjune.livejournal.com]

Her compliments were making this man glow. She was used to such things, and it was actually making Rika feel much better; it was almost like she was back in Hinamizawa, where she belonged. But she was far from Hinamizawa, it seemed, and judging by the appearance of the nurses here, she wasn't even in Japan.

"Rika will do so!" A bulletin board? She would have to find out where that was. "Rika doesn't know where the bulletin board is, though. She wants to leave notes for her other friends too, miii~!"

Brave... perhaps apathetic would have been a better word for that. It wasn't that Rika wasn't afraid of the monsters, but she had personally seen things that might have been worse. Perhaps she was just too used to threats on her life, and those threats actually coming true.

"Rika is the head of the Furude House, one of the Four Great Houses of Hinamizawa. That's where Rika is from. But Rika doesn't have to go to the town meetings, because she's still too young to understand what the other Heads are talking about," Rika explained, hoping that Peony would know what 'Hinamizawa' was (though that seemed to be a long shot). "Rika is the head because she is the only surviving member..."

[rappigs.livejournal.com]

"It's in the sun room, the room that you passed to get to here," Peony explained happily, pointing to the door. "I suggest drawing lots of cute rappigs on it so everyone knows how great they are!" That was one of his dreams: to spread the love of rappigs to all that dwelt in these whitewashed halls. And if he had to do it by telling everyone how great they were, then he would. It'd be a lot easier if there was just one here! Then everyone could see firsthand!

Until then, a bunch of drawings would have to do.

He didn't seem too affected by Rika's mention of being a head of a House. It just meant she was a noble, and Peony was friends with a few heads of houses, not least of which was Gailardia Galan. How was he doing right now, anyway..? "Hahaha, I know someone just like that who had the same experience. He's okay too, so I'm sure you'll turn out fine. Unless the other guys are plotting against you or something. Then you better watch out." He shrugged.

Curiously, and because he'd never really had the opportunity to in the past, he poked his sandwich, the butter-fried exterior indenting a little bit where he'd pressed. Then he did it again, making two little eyes in his sandwich, and he smiled down at it before taking a nice big bite.