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.

Comments

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Allen gave a short sigh, "Yes, though I'd prefer it doesn't come to that either. It's... I mean... we're enemies, but..." He shook his head, "I don't know... I really don't." Rhode was a problem he had no real answer for. If she was his enemy, he knew he was supposed to destroy her. But she was human too. And he knew he could never find the will to kill another human being.

He was glad, however, for the slight change in topic. "Yes, the curse... it's almost always active here. It's like... there are people from other worlds who ought to be Akuma to us... the um... the shinigami for example. They're from a world where they use false bodies for spirits so that they can travel from... the afterlife... and make sure wayward spirits return... something like that, I don't really understand it." Allen's face reflected the confusion he felt just trying to comprehend that. "There are a lot of people here though, aside from just them, that I can see. It's possible that some are Akuma. But it's also possible they're just from another world. It... makes me fairly useless," he gave a short laugh, without much feeling.

[boot-i-licious.livejournal.com]

Rinali shook her head at his assertion that he was useless. He was always too hard on himself. "Allen, you're not useless," she said. "Not one of the rest of us could sense Akuma in the first place, and you could always do a lot more than that." She sighed slightly. "At least you still have your anti-akuma weapon. I...I'm not sure what happened to mine." If anything, she felt particularly useless now. Without her boots, how effective would she be against these monsters?

The idea of 'shinigami' who used false bodies to house their spirits seemed peculiar, but not entirely unbelievable. Stranger things could happen than spirits acting as guides to heaven for lost souls.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

He gave a meager shrug. He knew Rinali was trying to be helpful, but it was really difficult not to be able to rely on his eye. He'd done it before, after Rhode had unceremoniously gouged it out with the sharpened end of a candle, but that had only been for about a few days at most. And even that had almost got him killed more than a few times. "I guess so."

He glanced down at his arm, still in fairly good shape since the last time he'd used it. "But I can only invoke it to level one. And even then, I can't hold it. I tried it-- ah... a couple nights ago and pushed it too hard." The rebound had been painful as well as humiliating. Pushing it too far with just a level one invocation? That was a beginner's mistake, he should have been much stronger!

[boot-i-licious.livejournal.com]

"It's more than I can do now," she admitted, not sure if she was trying to cheer Allen up or feel sad herself. Eventually she decided on the former. "And besides, it doesn't matter what we're capable of. So long as there's you, Ravi, and me, we'll be alright."

As long as her friends were here, it didn't matter that the world thought she was crazy. She knew she wasn't. She still missed her brother, but thanks to her friends she'd be able to hold off the loneliness.

"I checked the board in the large room...I think one of the nurses called it the sun room...just before we went to lunch. Who's Rukia?"

It wasn't a suspicious accusation so much as a question. Rukia had seemed nice--although her drawings were almost as bad as Allen's--and she was glad he had made some friends in the short time he'd been here.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Allen blinked a couple of times as his brain finally made the connection. Rinali didn't even have her boots and here he was complaining! "A-a-a-ah! I'm sure we'll find the Innocence soon! You're still useful in lots of ways Rinali! You're way smarter than me for one," he gave a short laugh, feeling somewhat sheepish.

Rinali's other question caught him off-guard as well. How did Rinali know Rukia already?! Just what had she said? "She's ah... ah, a friend I made here. She's one of those shinigami and um..." Allen remembered all too clearly Renji's 'we need to talk' speeches on the board as well. Had Rinali seen those? She hadn't asked about Renji yet, so it was possible she hadn't... He was really... not looking forward to this evening, having to face the both of them. He was somewhat tempted to just give exploring on their own a try. Sasuke had given him a map of a good portion of the building now.

"She's... nice. She was one of the first people here to be nice to me," he smiled slightly at that. Rukia had seen him in some of his worse moments though, and he could only hope she wouldn't hold it against him.

[boot-i-licious.livejournal.com]

It was funny to watch Allen stammer like that, and she couldn't help but gigglea little. "It's okay, Allen," she said with a smile. "You don't need to make me feel better." He already had, after all, just by being here.

"She seems nice," she responded about Rukia. They hadn't had much of a conversation, but she did seem very friendly. "She wrote to me on the board a couple of time. So she's one of these Akuma-but-not-Akuma? I'd like to meet her." She wasn't as curious as Komui would, but she knew he'd be angry if she didn't try to learn as much about these other planets and their denisens as she possibly could.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

"Er... y-yeah," Allen looked back down at his food, his cheeks slightly colored. Rinali was kind not to make a fuss of things. She was already doing much better than he'd done on his first day.

"Some of her friends too." He neglected to mention that upon his arrival, he'd tried to destroy Renji, who had been standing calmly in the lunch line, only to be picked up like a kitten by the scruff of his neck. "I wouldn't completely let your guard down though," he said cautiously.

"Some of the ones that aren't shinigami and still look like Akuma... seem kind of suspicious." Especially that Edward Brock person. He and another Akuma had been fighting amongst each other last night. There was definitely something there that he ought to investigate.

"Oh-! Before I forget. We should probably figure out um, what exactly we're doing come nightfall. Do you know your way around very well yet?"

[boot-i-licious.livejournal.com]

Rinali nodded solemnly as Allen warned her about the non-shinigami Akuma. "I'll be careful," she said earnestly. She trusted his intuition. "Anyone in particular I should be wary of?"

She took a bite of her meal, making sure to swallow before answering Allen. "The nurse led me from a room to the arts and crafts room, and from there to the cafeteria. That's it so far. What have you been doing at night?" The idea of wandering the monster-ridden halls didn't sound like fun, but if it helped them get out of here, then it was for the best.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Allen pointed out a few of the people he hadn't investigated yet and finished with Edward Brock and the red-haired man he'd been fighting with the other night. "Those two are particularly dangerous. I saw them fighting amongst themselves last night. I would've stopped them, but..." He didn't finish that thought. Rinali had really helped to brighten his spirits and he'd rather not think about that awful ghost woman and her tattoos.

The other question wasn't a whole lot easier to answer. "Hm... do you know what the room number was when they led you out? I can meet you there so you don't get lost." As for what he'd done... sadly he'd accomplished precious little over the few nights he'd been here. The first night they'd stormed the front door. The second, they'd run into that child with the gas mask as well as Rhode. And last night... "I ah... I'm afraid I haven't done much that is noteworthy," he admitted, without going into detail. "Mostly just exploration. Trying to find where they've put our things."

[boot-i-licious.livejournal.com]

Rinali followed his motions and did his best to remember the people he pointed out. She had a good memory, but there were still too many to easily keep tabs on. The last two, however, were easy to make out. Allen marked them as especially dangerous, so she decided to avoid them.

"I don't know," she answered. "I tried to stay aware of where they took me, but there was a lot to take in. She made it sound like it was just a temporary room as it was. I think I'm being moved elsewhere before tonight."

She shook her head. "Does anyone have a map? I should be able to find you if I had one."

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

"That's alright," he nodded slightly. "I didn't remember mine when I first came either. Just be sure to check it before you leave the room tonight, ok?"

He tried to do a simple outline on the table with his finger. It wasn't terribly complicated and Rinali was pretty good at keeping up. "The girl's rooms are over here. And the boys are here. We can meet in this hallway between them and go from there. I'll try to find Ravi and let him know too. We should probably stick together."

He'd had the map a couple of nights ago, but he'd given it to Rukia and the Arts and Crafts group. Hopefully they'd make good use of it. "Hmm... I think Rukia has a map," he was still somewhat hesitant to speak with them. And his roommate, who'd given him a map in the first place was now... rather inconveniently... blind. "I'll see if I can find something by tonight."

[boot-i-licious.livejournal.com]

Rinali committed the rudimentary map to memory. "Ok," she said with a smile. "I'll meet you there!"

She glanced around again. There was still an awful lot to take in. So many people from so many planets. Some people dead, some people from the future, some from the past. It was a lot to take in. "It's really amazing how many people there are here," she commented.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Allen followed her glance. Ravi had arrived, it looked like. He was hard to miss with that bright mop of hair. But he was talking with someone else, hard to tell who with their head down on the table. He could always bug Ravi later, see if he was doing alright after last night.

"Yes," he agreed. "It's... a lot to take in all at once. I think I'm still reeling from it sometimes." He focused his attention back on his tray. There was still a surprising amount of food he hadn't eaten yet. He'd have to remedy that.

"There's something else too," he added after a moment. "Sometimes they take people from their rooms, just before night." He shook his head slowly, "I-... it happened to my roommate. I don't know what they did to him, but when he came back, he had bandages over his eyes. They'd... done some kind of bizarre torture, blinded him." Allen felt slightly ill at the thought of it happening to any more of his friends. "So... if... and I pray it doesn't, but if anyone comes to your room before night... put up all the fight you can. See if your roommate will leave... a message or something, so we know how to find you. I'd... I'd hate for anything to happen and... it's best to be prepared... right?"

[boot-i-licious.livejournal.com]

Rinali wasn't quite as hungry as Allen, but that was usually the case. Since her innocence wasn't parasitic like his, she didn't need the piles and piles of food that her friend seemed to demand. Still, the food was good when compared to the meals they'd had on the boat, and she happily took a few bites out of her sandwich while listening to Allen.

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied. The thought of getting taken away for some strange and unpleasant experiments didn't sound like fun. "If I get taken, you'll come rescue me."

It wasn't a question. She knew he would, just like she would do the same if he were ever taken.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

"O-of course!" He hated to even think that something bad might like that might happen to Rinali, but if that were the case, he'd do everything in his power to find her before they harmed so much as a hair on her head. "I mean... I'm sure we'll be out long before anything like that, but-... ah-... a-anyway, we should probably concentrate on finding the Innocence and getting to the bottom of this mess so we can help everyone get back home."

[boot-i-licious.livejournal.com]

Rinali nodded. "Yes," she said, thinking about all the people from different planets, filled with new technology and new ideas. Komui would love it here just as much as he hated it, and she couldn't feel a little interested herself. She knew this was a bad place, but there were so many people with so many stories that she could never learn back home that she found it difficult to resist.

Difficult, but not impossible.

"You're right. We should focus on getting out of here."