damned_institute | Nightshift 27: 2nd Floor, Locker Room.

Jack had the best timing in the world. Ritsuka listened carefully to what the man had to say - nothing of real importance today - and then turned his attention back to the room. The darkness ate the dim beam of the flashlight like a furious creature, creating shadows where things could hide. He didn't want Soubi to know how agitated this place made him, so he tried to keep his heart rate down. He wasn't all that successful, however.

He quickly moved inside and put his back to the wall, trying to look casual as he leaned the bags up against the wall, too. Once he was certain nothing would spill out, he flicked on his flashlight and swept the lockers closest to him. Unconsciously, he lingered on the one that held the unknown creature before. He had to overcome this or he'd live in fear forever.

"Yeah, hopefully there's something useful here." He took a tentative step forward, followed by a more assured one, then another, and before he knew it, he was in front of the metal door. His heart was so loud, he was certain Soubi could hear it, and he reached up for the handle, quickly pulling it open and bathing the darkness in light.

...A jacket, an old sock, deodorant, and a book of matches greeted him. He was such an idiot.

Soubi was watching Ritsuka from the corner of his eye, ~~because that's what he did. He watched Ritsuka~~ making sure Ritsuka was ok. He seemed incredibly on guard, whatever had gone for him had really scared him, hadn't it?

He didn't want to speak or touch Ritsuka, for fear of making him jump. But as he walked by and saw the contents of the locker, he reached in and took the matches. "Take anything that can be exchanged for information. Deodorant could work, judging by the smell of some of these people."

Soubi tried the next, but it was full of wrappers and old clothes. The smell was enough to knock a sensitive person out. The next few turned out an old rucksack (which he took), more deodorant, some foreign coins and a tennis ball. Soon, however, he discovered a small goldmine. In the jacket pocket was a pack of cigarettes. Almost full. Soubi took one out and lit it with a match, his face full of bliss as he inhaled.

He really wouldn't mind it if the floor decided to open up and swallow him whole right about now. Mortified, Ritsuka shut the locker quickly without taking the deodorant. "I doubt they'd use it even if we gave it to him," he coughed out, moving over to another locker.

Slipping this one open a little slower, he swept the inside, but found only a book he'd already read and a candy bar. After a moment of careful consideration, he took the candy and closed the door. The lock clicked and Ritsuka caught the scent of something familiar and pungent. He didn't need to turn around to know that Soubi had found cigarettes. There went his hopes for weaning the guy off his addiction. Sighing slightly, he moved to the next locker. "How many are in the pack?"

Nothing really useful in here either, just a woman's jacket with faded receipts for gas and a lighter. He slipped the lighter out and hid it in his pocket for later. Small things only and no cameras yet. He knew he shouldn't get impatient, though - that's what got him before. Remaining cautious, he opened the next locker and finally looked over his shoulder at the Fighter.

Soubi was still checking lockers... it was just a little half hearted now. The tatty old rucksack handing from his shoulder while he stood there smoking, occasionally dropping chocolate bars and personal affects into the bag. His expression said he was elsewhere and that place was clouded in nicotine.

He paused, sure he'd heard something. He looked over to Ritsuka and smiled, the cigarette pointing up as he did, in a salute to the boy. "How many? Not enough." He had a sneaking suspicious he shouldn't tell Ritsuka about the two in his pocket or the extras in his room. If they went missing he was going to string his roommate up by his balls, even if he was a ninja.

Soubi suddenly gave a short Hah of laughter. He'd forgotten about that.
"My roommate is a Ninja," he announced, out of the blue.

Ritsuka hated drugs that clouded the mind, which was one reason he didn't like nicotine. The other was that the smell of cigarettes was impossible to eliminate. It crept between the threads of his clothing, settled in his hair, infected his skin. It meant that even when Soubi wasn't around, Ritsuka couldn't help but be reminded of him. He kept his focus on the lockers, digging around in an old plastic bag he'd found and pulling out gum and a small almost empty can of hairspray. It would be good for two shots at most and then it'd be just a can.

"You shouldn't smoke so much then," he muttered under his breath, moving to the next one and finding, to his dismay, nothing useful. Crouched on the floor, Ritsuka hugged his knees as he glared at the inside of the locker. He'd never really said anything against smoking directly to Soubi's face, but he'd never liked the habit. Looking over his shoulder skeptically after Soubi's offhanded comment, he said, "A ninja, huh? Are you sure he wasn't just pulling your leg?"

Then again, Ritsuka had been running with vampires so he really shouldn't talk.

Soubi heard Ritsuka's comment.
"I'd be very dangerous for you without it," he whispered, teasingly. Something about the tone said that he got dangerous the same way adults liked to (when they'd fallen in love).

Soubi shrugged, as he rooted through the pockets of yet another jacket. "Why not? We have dead people here. Animals too, I hear. A ninja wouldn't be so unbelievable in the grand scheme, would it?"
Soubi wasn't really sure what to believe, but he'd decided he wouldn't NOT believe for now.

More cigarettes! Well, only three. Soubi filled the first pack with these three and threw the box on the floor.

He'd found a necklace and a pair of earrings among the rest of the junk. A few pens too, which he supposed might come in handy. An inhaler. Hairclips. Hair ties (one of which he'd just used to tie his hair back). One or two books. And a second bag. He passed it to Ritsuka.

"You'd be surprised the things people miss when they no longer have them," he thought out loud. Everybody at school would talk about the outside world so much, all the things they desired and missed.

Soubi held the can of cola, which he'd just found, out to Ritsuka.
"Thirsty?"

Unfortunately for Soubi, that comment went right over Ritsuka's head and he chose to ignore it. While he didn't really understand the words, the tone said it all. Sinking further into the ground, he stared at the jacket like he could burn a hole in it with his mind. He wished he could. That would be sort of awesome. "So ninjas. Crazy." Literally. "I wonder who else is in this place. I heard that historical figures are showing up, but I haven't really been paying a lot of attention."

When he was passed the bag, he reached over and took it, emptying his pockets into it. The radio and flashlight stayed in his pockets, though, where they were easily accessible. He moved to the next locker and found small candies and a tube of chapstick. He had no idea when the chapstick would come in handy, but he took it anyway. The things people missed when they were gone, huh? He understood that one all too well.

"So what do you miss?" he asked, a little nervous to hear the answer. Finished with the locker he walked over and took the soda, tapping the top before popping it open and taking a sip. He offered it back to Soubi to share it with him in case he was thirsty, too.

Soubi hadn't been paying much attention either. The information gathered had been obtain in the pursuit of Ritsuka or things he had simply stumbled upon. "Well, he can't be a good Ninja to have been caught."

Soubi looked at Ritsuka.
"I missed you. And I'd miss you again if we were separated. Nothing else really matters, but, beyond that, in the spirit of opening up... I miss my own space, solitude, beer and paint. What do you miss?" he asked, taking the can. He looked at it and smiled. "Are you trying to indirectly kiss me? Because you could just ask, you know?"

"I guess not." Of course, Ritsuka and Soubi had been caught, too, but they weren't ninjas so that made it a little easier to believe. How Landel managed to pull people together from different times and worlds was far beyond Ritsuka's understanding. He looked up at Soubi as he answered honestly for once and smiled faintly. Beer, space, solitude and paint, huh? Maybe they could find at least two of those things here. He flushed slightly when Soubi said he missed him and turned his face away. "You should have gone to Arts and Crafts then. Probably not what you're used to though."

What did he miss from home? He had missed Soubi, but he was too embarrassed to say that now. "My camera, space, books, walking around town... and people." He didn't want to have to explain people. He could give the obvious answers of Yuiko and Yayoi, his mother and Seimei, but the one he really thought of was standing in front of him now. As long as--

Ritsuka nearly choked and bristled, not really angry so much as mortified at what he'd just done. An indirect kiss? Is that what sharing a soda would be? Oh god, oh god, don't think of that! "What?! No! Don't be such a pervert!"

He snatched his bag and quickly tried to flee back to the corner like he always did.

Soubi would eventually go to Arts and Crafts, there was no denying that, but he hadn't yet been in the mood to. First he'd been looking for Ritsuka, and then today he'd found Ritsuka and was none too happy about the lack of ears. He was going to find out what happened and, then it came to this, he was hopeful that there really WERE animals here that had been transformed. Maybe then Ritsuka could get his ears back. At least for a while.

"People? Well, there are lots of new people here," he pointed out, assuming Ritsuka meant his friends. "A lot of them seem to be protective of you..." There was only an ounce of bitterness in those words. He'd managed to hold the rest back.

"As for the rest, we'll find the camera tonight, check out the town tomorrow and... head to the Library?" he suggested, smiling. If they were going to be stuck here, they might as well make the most of it.

Soubi laughed and handed the can back, without taking a sip. He'd already traumatised Ritsuka enough. He'd let the boy drink in peace. "I'm not a pervert. You offered."

Soubi checked his findings and followed Ritsuka. "Shall we check the next room, or would you like me to continue in here?"

Ritsuka huffed slightly and took the can of soda back, nursing it like a beer for a moment. He didn't mind that his friends were protective of him. He liked the people he'd met here so far (mostly) and he trusted many of them. Still, it annoyed him that so many people were getting the wrong impression of Soubi. Sure, he could act like a real pervert sometimes, but he was mostly teasing. Soubi was one of people who helped Ritsuka learn to open up - and who'd protected him when he needed it most. "I'll talk to them, Soubi."

It was the best he could do to reassure the Fighter that he'd try to get people to back off. Hearing Soubi be so confident that they were going to find his camera tonight helped boost Ritsuka's confidence, too. He nodded, thinking about where they should go from here. Even if it was likely a trap, he was looking forward to tomorrow.

"Let's go to the next room. There's not a whole lot but trinkets in here." He turned and started back for the other bags, but suddenly stopped as he looked at the can in his hands. Without looking at him, he extended his hand back, offering the soda to Soubi again. As long as Ritsuka didn't have to say anything, he was fine with whatever Soubi wanted to think.

Well, that had been unexpected. Soubi realised now that his bad attitude clearly showed he didn't like these people. It was jealousy more than hurt feelings. But Ritsuka was still sticking up for him... And that meant a lot.
"It's ok. It's good to have friends like that," he smiled. And he meant it. So long as they weren't going to betray Ritsuka, it was useful to have them around. Soubi just wasn't used to friends, he only had one. Maybe Yuiko was his friend too?

Soubi followed Ritsuka, almost getting punched in the gut by a can. He looked at it and smiled. Taking it from Ritsuka's little hand, he took a sip. Ritsuka wasn't saying anything, so Soubi wouldn't either. He passed it back with a quiet 'thank you' and checked the hall outside (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/229563.html?thread=16292795#t16292795).

[ From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/235795.html) ]

Kain followed his cousin into the room and paused near the doorway, eyes scanning the small area swiftly. Content that there wasn't anything obviously lurking he side stepped away from the door and leaned against the wall, hands once more safely in his pockets so he wouldn't make another impulsive movement.

They had been in these positions before, but Hanabusa -- things weren't the same. He stayed silent, eyes fixed on Aidou. His cousin wasn't the suspect here. He was. So Aidou was the one who would have to make the decision on what to do, because if a suggestion came from Kain it couldn't be trusted.

Not that he was some monster pretending to be Kain Akatsuki -- he was sure he'd know it if he was.

Aidou didn't know why the universe seemed to mock him so when he took a few steps into the room and froze. If it wasn't already so familiar, he might not have been ruffled. Ritsuka's blood.

It was easier to speak if he kept his back to Akatsuki. "First things first," he said, after a moment. "I - " One thing that was clear was that Aidou was really in no position to be making decisions, he didn't want to be. He'd had a headache before - dulled during his feeding - but now it was back, and it was the cold, nauseating kind of headache. The kind that made him want to curl up in his four-poster, doze during the daylight, and routinely complain at his roommate when he would pluck at the curtains. Akatsuki.

And there was a large difference between vampires and... monsters.

He didn't say anything more before he turned his palm over, and drew his thumb down it, splitting the skin. Turning, he held his hand out, letting the blood well. "I'm me."

"No! That thing is not me at all." Aidou's voice called out in urgency, and from a dark corner Aidou's body emerged, eyes narrowed in anger. He stepped closer to the pair, glaring at the other one, the real one, but they didn't have to know that yet. "It's a trick Akatsuki. That thing lured you in here so it could devour you. Don't trust it you idiot!"

Or it would have, if the real one hadn't found the fleshy thing first. But they were in here, and the mimic would be as happy with both as he would have with one. A perfect copy of Aidou, down to the inflections in voice and the movement of his hair. 'Aidou' kept careful watch of the real one, eyes almost daring him to come forward.

[Tad]

Kain had been about to say, "That wasn't necessary, I know it's you," when a very familiar voice sounded from the corner, and --

And suddenly Hanabusa was the one under suspicion? He had been sure, positive that the Hanabusa he had walked in with was his cousin, but here was another, one who sounded just like him, one that was almost more like his cousin than -- his own cousin?

Kain straightened from the wall quickly, looking between the two, eyes wide with startled doubt. This was all wrong. There couldn't be two of them. But the first Hanabusa hadn't attacked him -- no, that wasn't right, he had attacked him.

"Just hold on," he spoke suddenly, loudly to interrupt the flow of words from the second Hanabusa, striding forward to separate the two, because one of them had to be the fake and it wouldn't be safe for the real Hanabusa to get close to the other.

No, no, no, no, because it wouldn't dare insult him so brazenly, at such a perfect time and place. Such a direct, scornful insult. Taking on his face and -

There were no words for the sick, mounting fury that erupted. It felt like tears pricking his eyes, but no, it was hot and dry and unbridled ferocity that claimed his vision, until the promise of its blood staining the floor matched the color of his irises. The sound that burst from his throat loud, wild, an inhuman noise that resembled an animal more than anything else. Something close to a berserk ex-human, maybe, but it was half-mad and pained and focussed on one sole target.

"Don't mock me!"

'Aidou' watched as the real thing all but writhed in his own skin, fury erupting from the very core of his being. Not so far from a monster, it might have thought, if it could think that much.

But the memories were enough, and they knew each other so so well. It almost made it too easy for the creature, but it wasn't the type to pass up a free meal. "Mock you? Please. You're enough of an insult all by yourself. How dare you expect anyone to fall for this!"

"Atasuki, I hope you can see this thing for what it is." 'Aidou' shook his head in disgust at the real one. "Let's kill it quickly before it tries this weak ploy with anyone else. I don't need people mistaking me for that ugly thing."

Damn it, there was no easy way to tell, no instinctual call to either figure. He couldn't point at one and say "you're Hanabusa", because there was the fear that he'd get it wrong, and then whatever followed would be his fault completely.

Kain stepped between them, both arms raised to block either of them from attacking. They were both eager for blood, both eager to get rid of the possible fake. The Hanabusa that had been in the room was pitch perfect, and the first ... the first was losing it. The sound was enough to make him wince slightly, and he growled with frustration.

How far did the mimicry go? If he made the second one bleed, would it smell the same? Something to do with blood snagged at his thoughts -- there wasn't time to think about it. He had only seconds before the situation spiraled completely out of control.

Seconds with his cousin's life on the line.

"Ice. Just a little. Just enough to prove which one's the real one," he said quickly, muscles taut with strain, ready to intercede if either one launched forward.

His own voice saying such things, and a perfect body, and a perfect performance... It enraged the real thing more than it should have, because even if he'd rather not acknowledge it for the world, he knew that it was acting more like himself than he was.

And that just drove him across the line.

Akatsuki's attempt to maintain a sense of rationality just wasn't enough - Aidou couldn't blame his cousin, though he wanted to, though he wanted to scream Why are you hesitating! Why don't you know it's me!, because he was the one slipping, he was the one making this attempt on Akatsuki's life so easy. At least he knew his cousin was his cousin; being prey meant being trapped too.

But even if he was flailing and weak, Aidou was still Aidou. And the only life the true Aidou cared about was ending that one's.

He lunged at it, ready to tear into his own pretty face.

He had seen the lunge coming, could see the rage building until it finally broke free, and Kain turned towards the first Hanabusa, both hands out-stretched to grab a hold of anything, anything to keep him from moving forward. In the back of his mind, some quiet portion of himself that was free to keep thinking, Kain wished he could ask for a time out, two minutes to figure this out, but it wasn't possible.

Instead of making sure the first Hanabusa wasn't going to continue the lunge Kain pivoted on his heel to try to keep the other in sight. If either of them attacked him now that would make the other the real Hanabusa, because the real one wouldn't attack him after all this.

Smart, so smart. But the mind worked faster than the body, and 'Aidou' was ready, stepping forward even as the real one rushed at him. It was only a moment, but that distraction was enough, just long enough to close the distance.

Kain only had a second when he turned, a brief glance before the fake opened it's jaws with an unholy scream.

It still wore the face of Aidou, but those teeth were worse than any vampire's could have been. It sunk long rows of fangs into Kain's shoulder, missing the boy's neck by barely an inch. But the damage was enough, the sickening sounds of bones cracking, of muscle being ripped away in a greedy hunk filling the room. It shook it's head wanting more, more flesh, more blood, more food to feast on! It would devour them both, tear them apart bit by bit, and eat away until there was nothing left.

(And out of order again~ with permission.)

In hindsight turning at all had been a bad idea. Putting one's back to a potential enemy was one of the worse things to do in a fight, but he had reacted without thinking about it.

And he paid for it.

Kain didn't feel it, not at first. The shock overwhelmed all else except the feel of blood -- his blood -- soaking through the shirt, staining it dark red. And then the pain eclipsed the near disbelief that he had been bitten so badly.

To his credit he didn't scream, though it was a close thing as his teeth grit. He managed to stay on his feet, face twisting up with agony, and rotated his upper body just enough to bring the mimic a bit closer to Aidou. He couldn't do much else except struggle not to make a sound.

Whatever Aidou would have said or done in regards to his cousin blocking him entirely, it never came to pass. All he could focus on was that thing's face as it transformed fully, revealing rows of elongated teeth. He had never seen the initial attack by what had to have been the same kind of creature, taking on Aoyagi Seimei's appearance, but it had ended up much like this.

Only this time, the night was still at it's peak, and he had no intention of letting it escape alive.

As soon as Akatsuki moved, Aidou grabbed the mimic's jaw with one hand, and Akatsuki with the other - a weak brace for when he ripped the thing's teeth from Kain's flesh in one short movement. It would be painful and cause more damage, but it had to be done.

The mimic wouldn't be devouring either one of them. In fact, it wouldn't have the chance to feed on anything else so long as Aidou was still alive.

Until it was dead, Aidou only had eyes for it. He bared his fangs in return.

Torn away far too soon, but not without rewards; a chunk of Kain's body went with the creature, and quickly vanished down it's throat, leaving only the red stain on it's face as proof of the meal. But that wasn't enough to satisfy, not even close, and the thing writhed in Aidou's grip, hands coming up to pry at the fingers that held it captive.

"Let me go, let me go!" It hissed in Aidou's voice, still wearing Aidou's face. The fake's head snapped back and forth, the creature struggling with all its power to free itself.

There was so much left to eat, and the smell of blood only made it hungrier.

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