damned_institute | Day 27: Sun Room (4th Shift)

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Day 27: Sun Room (4th Shift)

Momo's mind was turning over all the possibilities surrounding this "field trip" to the surrounding town when she settled down in the corner of the Sun Room away from the Arts & Crafts room. She curled her legs underneath her as she waited for Shouko-san to find her. The shinigami had no idea what she looked like, so she kept an eye on all those entering the room.

It was still very cold, or at least she was cold, and the momentary thought of getting her coat from her own room passed through her mind amidst the field trip thoughts. She pushed it away and decided to deal with it being as cold as it was since she'd already been late to one meeting today and didn't want to start making it a habit.

As she waited, she pondered the next day's possibilities. Maybe, just maybe, once away from the institute the shinigami will have access to their full reiatsu. And if not, maybe they'll have a better idea of how they are being limited so much. Maybe Aizen would be able to find her then. He'd save her... right? Right?

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"How reminiscent. I honestly thought it was only Yuki-chan who could be so persistent. Nearly killed again and again for associating with us, but still she tries. At least she has a reason - an unfounded crush. I don't really get you, however. I kept warning you I was not a safe place to search for friendship, but you didn't believe me. And then I came close to killing you. But here you are again."

What was even the point anymore? His considerable genius had been overridden by a whirlwind of irrational emotion that wasn't even his. The last human he ever wanted to associate was acting like a near explosion of vampire rage was nothing to be concerned over. It was such a harsh thought, to think he was capable of crumbling so easily and yet such a weakness having never being apparent. Or maybe it had. Maybe it was just painfully obvious to everyone but him. Kaname-sama's choice not to rely on him could have everything to do with that.

The young vampire chuckled again, because in a way, it was amusing. It didn't even hurt to be called weak in this very moment, sitting in the sunlight with the vestiges of last night ringing in his ears. Once - if - he adjusted, things might be different, but for now he could accept his adaptability was on its last legs.

"I fear only repercussions, not the act itself. Consider it a life lesson," Aidou said calmly, as though his inner turmoil hadn't just slipped its leash and felt close to choking him with the evidence of his own failures. "But like I said, I'm sure another would have preformed better. I am possibly better suited for tradition."

The child was not a good distraction; he couldn't cling to that, because Ritsuka's injuries were just another bad mistake.

"I've been in worse situations." The words slipped out unconsciously and he mentally groaned. Maybe it was because he was tired, but he'd been saying a lot of things without thinking lately. At least, however, he wasn't lying about that. His mother had done a lot worse than Aidou before, and he still chose to live with her and lie to keep her safe. "You warned me about other people taking our acquaintance the wrong way, not about you."

Turning the page, Ritsuka refused to move from Aidou's side. If the teen wanted him to go away, he'd have to be the one to retreat. His neck hurt, but it was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. Since Aidou had saved him, Ritsuka felt it was something of an obligation to at least kick the teen in the pants and get him moving forward. Even if he failed in that, at least he could say he tried to talk to him. "There aren't any repercussions as far as I know about what happened last night or the night before - whenever that was. I learned my lesson about traveling alone and trusting a familiar face, but what about you? Are you just going to retreat or are you going to roll over and let this place win?"

He smiled at that, an odd sort of expression that made his mouth curve oddly. "I doubt that very much. If you have your life, then you haven't been in worse situations." Aidou cocked his head, eyes bright and sharp. "And no, that is your selective memory at work again. I warned you to stay away from me. I came to you that night, yes, but you come to me now. So I ask you, what's going through your head? I already told you, there is no debt owed."

And pretending to read, for the love of the gods. The vampire resisted the urge to smack it out of the boy's hands, just to bring back memories of such a strike nearly landing on his face. But that was it, right there. As soon as he felt the slightest bit of irritation, he felt like falling into simple, mindless violence. Had he not learned his lesson yet? He seemed to continually undermine is own dignity time and again.

He blinked slowly, and looked away again. Retreat. At least he could still refuse that. Whatever his drawbacks, he would only go down after every other human had fallen, not before. He was better than that. He had to be.

"My resolve is above question, so stop while you're ahead." A pep talk, that's what he was getting - from the weak little infant he had nearly put through a wall with his own hand. "But I'm not in a calm state, as you can see, so why approach me? I don't approve of masochism."

Ritsuka scoffed, looking over the diagram of Dante's Hell. He wondered if the real thing were this organized and he highly doubted it. "You've probably already guessed something about me that not a lot of other people are smart enough to figure out, so you should know how stupid that sounds to me right now. I've had plenty of opportunities to lose my life before, and last night was just another one."

He could remember the time that it had been sheer dumb luck that kept his mother from stabbing him directly in the eye with the fork. He'd flinched and thrown his hand up, turning his face that fraction of an inch enough away to protect himself. The wound had taken weeks to heal properly and he had rested from school for a few days to take care of the worst of it. He'd met the creatures in the hallway with Miku and Alfons, and he was certain he'd meet something else tonight. He really should learn to be more cautious, but he hated backing down.

As for what was going on in his head... "I'm reading the Divine Comedy," he said, keeping his gaze squarely on the book. He knew that would annoy Aidou, but he had to say it. Without missing a beat, he continued, "I'm not a masochist and anyone can see you're agitated and upset. I needed to tell you that it wasn't your fault, that you saved me, and when I realized what a foul mood you were in, I thought I'd give you someone else to focus on for awhile to help you quiet whatever it is that's got you flustered. It's not like you to show exactly what you're thinking on your face, so I'm thinking something especially terrible happened. Then, if you wanted to talk about it, at least someone would be here to listen and you wouldn't have to keep thinking you're alone."

He fell silent again and turned another page, waiting to see just how Aidou would react to his honest answer.

There were worse things than physical torture. Aidou had known even before coming here. And now he knew that lesson even more intimately. He didn't bother responding, and really, it was hard to find the concentration to respond to the rest of it, either.

"My own actions are my own fault, child," he fairly forced out. It hurt to talk. The woman's feelings of pain and sadness were wound so tightly inside of him, he felt as though it would unravel at the slightest inclination. "It makes no difference how we talk; neither of us will care should the other die. The fact that there will be a lack of sorrow is a good thing. So unless you know anything about a woman covered in indigo tattoos, leave me be." Trying to find a foothold with which to resonate with him was such a human thing to do

Aidou didn't wear his heart on his sleeve, huh. In fact it was his most well-known trait. It had been something he'd had to work on to get along with humans on any level.

Apparently, answering Aidou honestly did the same as lying to him. It was disappointing in a way, but he expected it. It didn't change the fact that it hurt. Snapping his book shut witha bang, Ritsuka let out an exasperated sigh. He lost this one and he wasn't about to try any harder than he already had. It tired him out, trying to be the sort of person the other Ritsuka used to be - he wasn't friendly, he wasn't sociable, and he wasn't going to do this anymore.

"Fine." His voice was harder and more bitter than it should have been for a child. Standing, Ritsuka tucked his book under his arm and shot Aidou a cold, sharp glare. He would have cared if Aidou died, but that was a moot point now. This was why he never got close to people. It was a pain and wasn't worth it. "We'll do it your way then. You stay the hell away from me and I won't bother you anymore."

He turned away and started walking off to the other side of the Sun Room, wanting to escape the bitter frustration and feelings of failure that filled him when he looked at Aidou. He hated people like that anyway so why had he even bothered in the first place? Stupidity - that's why.

His patience, his precious patience. All burned up.

How dare he receive that look!

"Don't blame me for your own social inabilities!" Aidou yelled, a pink, indignant flush working its way into his cheeks. He lobbed the first thing that came into his hand at the back of Ritsuka's stupid little head: a couch pillow. "What would you know, you damn human brat! Whiner! Hypocrite! Pacifist! Pygmy!"

Head falling back onto the couch, panting from the sudden tantrum, for one moment Aidou's mind was completely wiped clean of negative emotions and rife with more healthy ones: self-righteous ire. When he conceived children, he was not talking to them until they were passed the age of three, at a point where they could reason with logic unlike this - this - ten-year-old runt.

Ritsuka ignored Aidou when he started yelling. At least, he did at first. When the pillow hit him in the back of the head, he was caught by surprise and stumbled. Pain shot through his neck, but that was nothing compared to the anger that flared up in him. Pygmy?! Whirling around, Ritsuka bristled, gripping his book so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" he shouted. The sudden impact had jolted his wound and he could feel it throbbing, knowing it was probably beginning to bleed a bit. He'd had it with this guy! He tried being nice and that failed. He tried talking to him honestly and that fell flat. All Aidou said he wanted was for Ritsuka to go away, and when he finally did, he threw things at him and insulted him! Ritsuka couldn't remember preschool, but he was fairly certain it had to be like this. "I finally give you want you want and you throw things at me? What are you, two years old? Get off your damn high horse, learn some basic courtesy, and maybe you won't have to go pushing your own insecurities off as superiority, you moron."

It was a testament to the last four years of his life that he felt more comfortable screaming and hissing at his classmates when they made him mad (like Ruka, the number one culprit). In the last four days , the yelling came as something of a relief, like water does to a parched throat. "Same could asked of you, you midget! And stop bleeding everywhere, it's annoying me!"

But no matter the familiarity, he had brought something into the conversation that wasn't an issue in vampire relations.

Crossing the distance between them in one inhumanly quick stride, he bore down on Ritsuka, bending so that they were face-to-face. "The only thing that's wrong with me," said Aidou, at a normal volume, "is that I have to be awake at all hours of the day, looking at you humans. I'm nocturnal. I eat you! So there's the 'only real difference between us': I'm not human. So now that I've brought your attention to that little fact, let's skip the part where you get all scared and weepy and start screaming your head off about my deceiving you, because I did discourage you from pursuing my attention, if you'll remember. I'm going to let you go. Just keep quiet about me, and we won't have a problem. And no, I'm not going to eat Hinasaki either. You and your friends are safe."

He gave an almost content sigh, and straightened. "There now, don't you feel better? You won't have to wonder why I rejected your friendship and nurse your ego; it wasn't really about you, you see. Everybody wins. So you can just give me your final inquiry so I can seal the deal, and we can go our separate ways. Again."

Stop bleeding everywhere? Like Ritsuka had a choice about that! God, this guy was such an idiot. His hands were clenched so hard around his book, Ritsuka thought the cover might crack. Still, he held his tongue because the only retort he imagine was to say he'd stop bleeding once Aidou stopped hitting him. He highly doubted that would go over well.

His anger dropped instantly, however, once Aidou revealed his true nature. He ate humans? That was disgustin-- Suddenly, Ritsuka remembered all those conversations on the bulletin and his eyes went wide with surprise. Was Aidou a vampire? A real, honest to God vampire? ...that was actually kind of cool.

"Why the hell would I get weepy? That's stupid," he shot back. Really, if Aidou was a vampire (which he wasn't sure about as it could have been a lie), it was actually a bit reassuring. It explained a lot about the guy's behavior and meant that he actually had a reason rather than just being a condescending jerk. "I'll keep quiet about you. I don't have any reason not to, but if you'd just told me in the beginning we could have saved each other a lot of grief. It doesn't really matter to me what you are and what you're not. Even if humans are your food, it's not something I can hate you for - it's part of your nature. You can't be held responsible for that."

He relaxed slightly and half-turned away again, ready to leave as Aidou asked. "I told you already, I don't have a final question yet. Don't worry though. I'll leave you be until then if that's what you want."

"You're stupid," he returned, albeit muttered. And this was stupid! It was with no small feeling of incredulity that he listened to the kid's response and filtered it through his logic processes.

Grief. Grief. He had not just heard that.

Spreading his hands, Aidou gave a melodramatic sigh, "Oh, jeez, how could I have not considered revealing my existence to you, why it must have just slipped my mind. Maybe if everyone thought like you did, everybody would get along in harmony and have garden parties together and humans would be happy to let us walk on the same street as their children, and suck the blood of whomever we wanted. Yes, after thousands of years of war and disdain, I can see why I should have thought to just give that away." He dropped the act, only to scowl down wearily at the boy. "There's something seriously wrong with you. I think all the blunt force trauma has knocked something loose in your skull - I am certainly not going to waste my time getting chased around by hunters because I was foolish enough to announce myself. We're natural enemies, like the hawk to the mouse."

Cross Yuki reincarnated as a male. Still runty, still mouthy...

Ritsuka just shrugged when Aidou returned his insult, flexing his fingers to remove the stiffness from them. Rather than listen to the vampire mutter, he idly wondered if he could keep the book until the next day.

"You forget something, Aidou - we're not from the same world. You may just say it's because of the secrecy or whatever, but I can tell you - I highly doubt vampires even exist in my world. I should also have realized that you wouldn't have told me right off the bat, but don't you feel a little bit better since you don't have that hanging over your head?" With his hand feeling better, he gingerly touched his bandage, checking to make sure the bleeding had stopped. Changing the bandage tonight was going to be a pain in the ass, but he would have to do it so as to not attract more attention. Nonchalantly, he put his hand down and looked up at Aidou candidly. "You revealed something to me, so I'll do the same for you. I know there's something wrong with me - there has been for a few years now, but I'm getting over it. You may be enemies with these hunters, but I'm not one of them and I'll keep your secret so you don't have to worry."

"Of course you wouldn't know, no human knows unless they're born into the proper family. Every beautiful person you meet is a potential vampire, but you lack the sense to differentiate... And even if you did," here, Aidou pointed at his temple, one eyebrow raised, "you'll never remember meeting him or her." Waving his hand at that, he continued on by saying, "But don't worry, you're a little young. Adolescents cause too much of a stir when they go missing, so only the ones who have a taste for children bother anymore."

Well, there were exceptions. Like the vampires who couldn't contrast taste between juice and blood, let alone blood types.

He crossed his arms, looking put out. Such a calm reaction. "No, I don't feel better. In fact, my head is fit to split, but at least now you'll understand why no one should go near that Alucard. Unless you want to be molested and die young." Again, the knowledge that Ritsuka had an ailment received a bare flicker of a glance. He had his own injuries, thank you very much. "Human illness is so uninteresting nowadays - whatever's wrong with you, I guarantee a proper member of the night society could fix it." It never hurt to brag.

Hmph, what a character. Aidou didn't exactly regret what he had started - he was long past caring, really - but he also couldn't swallow the words 'you don't have to worry'. He'd be just like that Vice President if he did that.

Again with the denial. Ritsuka rolled his eyes and looked off around the room to the other occupants. Maybe he wouldn't remember, but it wasn't like it was the first time he'd have forgotten something. ...unless. No, that was impossible. Vampires just didn't exist in his world, but they did in Aidou's - simple as that. "Gee, I feel so much better with that little announcement."

Alucard was that impossibly tall guy, wasn't he? He'd also been posting about being a vampire on the bulletin boards, as Ritsuka remembered. He was going to comment when Aidou snubbed at his problem, saying that someone could "fix" him. In a flash his anger was back and he turned on Aidou, his eyes burning. He may have just said something was wrong, but that didn't mean he was sick or that he was in any way deficient to the original Ritsuka. He was still grappling with this problem and having someone else dismiss him that quickly hurt more than anything. If he was "fixed," he'd disappear. Forever.

"I don't need anyone to fix me!" he snapped, gripping the book again. "Don't you ever say that to me again. Ever!"

Having the nerve to explode on him, yet. Fear was one thing, but wild anger was quite another. The average vampire typically didn't take well to aggression no matter who it was from, nobles being more refined... when they weren't grappling on Aidou's slippery slope.

He blinked, wholly unshaken by the sudden episode. "I won't apologize for receiving a mixed message, but all right, I retract the comment." It wasn't like anyone would waste the energy correcting a mistake (or non-mistake, whatever) anyway. Still, internal angst bleeding off of someone else was like fuel to the cold blue fire of Reika's power, and he shook his head. It was like a depressingly familiar fog creeping up on his nice, clear day.

"If you're not uncomfortable around your biological predator, then I'm sure you'll be fine." That was like a sister to the proper sentiment, wasn't it? Good enough.

Why was he still here again?

Ritsuka glared at him and then turned away, regretting having said anything at all about his condition. It was stupid and admitting to it was like opening yourself up for disaster. At least Aidou retracted his statement, though, and he calmed down a bit. He had to learn to better control his temper or he'd really get in trouble one day.

"Yeah, whatever." He wasn't really listening to Aidou anymore, not wanting to register what came out of his mouth. Biological predators, vampires, all this stuff that made no sense. Whatever had just happened, Ritsuka and Aidou had talked - that was good enough for him. "...anyway. I'm going to do as you asked and leave you alone now. You look like you need the rest and so do I."

Waving one hand in a half-hearted goodbye, Ritsuka started off again. He had no idea whether they were back on steady ground or worse off than before, but his head hurt and he didn't want to have to think anymore.

What a pain... This was horrible, excruciating treatment for a noble - this entire place, the people, high-strung tempers. And one more person to add to his list of potential trouble, not that Aoyagi Ritsuka hadn't been before. But by blurting out his biological orientation and then further explaining it, well, it was an action frowned upon by most - all - vampires.

"Remember what I said," he added, turning back to his original perch. He ignored the pillow on the floor. Making a mess brought him a sense of satisfaction. "The woman covered with indigo tattoos. If you should meet her, follow suit and leave her alone."

He didn't add that if the same effects were passed on to each individual, then that kid would snap like a dry twig.

"And... you handled that revelation rather well. Good job with not freaking out."

With a face-first slump into the couch, he sighed. With a stomach crying for attention on top of everything else, he didn't know what he was talking about anymore. Ritsuka shouldn't have started bleeding; that had been his doing, though.

_{[an end (FOR NOW) to the clash of titans? XD~!]}

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Day 27: Sun Room (4th Shift)

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