damned_institute | Day 28: Bus 2

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Day 28: Bus 2

Momo tugged on the collar of the light blue sweater she was wearing as she followed her nurse to wherever these buses were, winding her hair up into its customary bun as she went. It was an odd feeling, knowing she was about to go outside of the institute's borders. Maybe the Head Doctor was about to make an error and the shinigami, as well as everyone else, would no longer be limited and they could finish what they started several nights back.

That was probably too much to hope for. She was feeling better this morning, even with the blood moon, and was mildly looking forward to the bus ride. Captain Jack said he was going to be here this morning and even if it wasn't customary breakfast in the cafeteria, she's be satisfied with him sitting next to her on the bus.

The nurse handed her a muffin, some napkins, and a small box with a straw. She stared at this box for a moment before shaking it. From the sound it contained liquid. How odd... Momo wasn't sure why they would but liquid inside a small paper box - it didn't make any sense to her and she wasn't sure how one was supposed to get it out of the box.

Clambering onto an empty bus, Momo chose to sit in the very back near the emergency exit. Maybe she could force her way out of it as they were moving and escape the limiter enough to come back and level the institute, freeing everyone. Or maybe she just wanted to be able to see everyone that was on the same bus as her. Wishful thinking versus reality.

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Kaoru shifted his feet without looking. He'd convinced himself that everybody hated him because he was weak and Hikaru was the better twin (which he totally agreed with, but still).

He slowly looked up, however, when his brother spoke. He lifted the hat to show he'd already switched. A small smile reached his lips. His jumper and scarf were almost the same as Hikaru's, only the colours were switched round...

He was gonna get teary if he thought about it too much, but he knew he had to apologise to Hikaru. Luckily, he also knew that it could be done without words. He held his big brother's hand and looked outside the window again.

Hikaru grinned. Kaoru was way ahead of him.

He sat down next to his brother, squeezing his hand. They didn't need to say anything about what had happened the night before. They were twins, right? Those bonds went far deeper than words.

Looking in his lunchsack, he sighed. "Honestly...juice boxes? What do they think we are, five?"

Apparently so, given that the nurses had dressed them almost identically. Oh well.

Hikaru was the best brother ever. Kaoru already felt much better, he was even able to turn away from the window and smile some more.

"It's a good sign. They're acknowledging the fact that we belong together, finally."

With an almost successfully hidden wince, he shifted to lean against his brother. "Stupid pills make me tired. If we were back home, I'd have a crew of Ootori specialists around me. But nothing can heal me better than brother love," he grinned, closing his eyes. He maneuvered Hikaru's arm around him and snuggled up some more. This wasn't for show, it was for him. "Ok. Doyle Town Battle Plan?"

"Maybe they'll change our rooms next."

Probably not, but they could hope, right?

Hikaru moved to make Kaoru more comfortable. He could feel where his brother was bandaged underneath clothes, and did his best not to jostle him. The last thing he wanted was to make his twin hurt any more than he already was.

"Yeah. Well, if we were home, you wouldn't have to worry about giant, rabid...things attackingyou in the first place," he said a touch bitterly.

Ah. Right. Battle plan.

"Hmm. Well, the only people who know which colors we're wearing are the nurses, right? Milord and his dates aren't even on this bus."

Hikaru grinned.

"I say we...shake things up a bit for the three lovebirds."

"Maybe," he smiled. He was definitely going to use his wounds against Washu. If she really cared, he ought to be able to guilt her into trying harder for them.

Hikaru was more comfortable than he could ever know. Kaoru still ached, but he knew he couldn't feel any better than this right now. While he didn't want to talk about things too serious... he couldn't help but confess something that had been bugging him since the attack.
"I kinda miss mom and dad...."
Their parents were always someplace else and Kaoru had never needed anybody but Hikaru. However, last night it had struck him that he might never see their faces again. Their smiling mother and timid father. Complete strangers who cared about them unconditionally...

He played with a loose thread on Hikaru's jeans. Time to think about better things.
"A date?" he asked, grinning through the pain it took to smile. "What have you got in mind?"

Hikaru sighed. "I miss them too." Mom and Dad seemed so far away right now. He'd actually been thinking about their parents a lot lately...and not just when they were talking about clothes. He really missed his parents.

Snuggling up against Kaoru, he rested his chin on the top of his brother's head. "Don't worry. We'll get out of here." Even if they were weak and useless, there were other people who working on escaping, people who were much stronger and more capable than they.

Grinning, he playfully swatted his twin's hand away from his jeans. "Hey, they're ratty enough without you picking at them. I know that you love my awe-inspiring physique, but I'd really rather not lose my trousers." Even though he was supposed to be Kaoru right now, Hikaru launched into "Host-mode." "...Unless you really want me to, of course."

As for the date... "Hmm. I haven't really thought about it, beyond the obvious disruption. Have you got any ideas? Oh, and maybe we should hang out with Yagami. Have you noticed that his voice sounds EXACTLY like Milord's? Kinda creepy."

"I know... I just wish we weren't even IN here. It's boring now..."
The twins had made a pact many years ago that they wouldn't bother with ANYTHING that bored them. People, projects, items. They all fell under one of two categories. Boring or interesting. And only interesting things could exist beyond them.

Kaoru chuckled before putting his Uke face on and looking up at his brother. What with the neck injuries, he succeeded only in making himself turn ever paler than before. "Maybe we should play Doctors and Nurses," he muttered. He gave the thread one last pick. "It'd be easier to customize these clothes..."

He thought about Tamaki's situation. "We could flirt with his dates, do a bit of customer stealing," he laughed. "Yagami? Oh... the 'Light' kid, right? We could use his voice to lure the customers away...."

It was boring here. It had been boring since the first day they got here, and it was even more boring a week or so later.

Hikaru pulled a face. "I probably should say something along the lines of 'maybe the town will be interesting!'...but I doubt it will." If it was like the rest of this place, it would be sickeningly cookie-cutter and dull.

The Hosting ended when he saw how pale his brother was looking. He frowned and put a hand to Kaoru's face. "You look like crap," he said, shaking his head. "Here, just lean on me. You should rest before we get there..." Hikaru grinned. "We have a big day, after all."

He laughed, mussing Kaoru's hair. "That's perfect! Use Yagami to confuse the dates. You're a genius, Kaoru."

"They wouldn't want to upset a bunch of crazies by sending them anyplace interesting," Kaoru agreed.

Kaoru pinched his brothers leg. "Gee, thanks. How do you expect me to look?" He snuggled into his brother a little more anyway, it was nice and warm against him. It helped the tablets weigh him down though, but he supposed Hikaru was right. It was better to get it out of the way. "Wanna swap juice?" he asked, out of the blue. They probably got the same, but he wanted Hikaru's. "Or we could share and save one for later." The girls at the club would have loved that. Twins both sucking on the same straw.

"I'm Hikaru," he pointed out with a smile. "We should train Yagami, we need a new toy."

"Too true," Hikaru said, frowning. "Just watch. It's going to be all Middle America, with clapboard houses and white picket fences and golden retrievers and 2.5 kids." He was clearly disgusted at the very thought.

"Touche," he laughed, wrapping his arms tighter around Kaoru. "Just don't rip your stitches and bleed to death, okay? I would be a very boring one-man show." It was this, this cuddling and playful banter, that most people, even at Ouran, didn't see.

"Swap juice?" The request didn't seem at all unusual. After all, they were swapping just about everything today. "Sure but--" He smiled. "Sharing sounds even better."

It was just an indirect kiss, after all.

"Of course, Hikaru," the real one said in a perfect imitation of Kaoru's voice.

He bit his lip, thinking. "If we can train him. I'm not sure he's the trainable type. Speaking of which, have you seen Haruhi?"

"Booooooooooooooooring."

Kaoru adjusted himself and Hikaru until they fit together like two perfect pieces of a puzzle. A puzzle that had only those two pieces. All plans to grow up, mature and help Hikaru become independant were put on hold while they were recovering. Or maybe until they left this place....

He liked this, suddenly. The two seats had become their own personal space somehow, and they were home so long as they had each other. Mom and dad would always come and go after all.

Kaoru pulled out his juice box and held it up to Hikaru. He was too comfortable to waste it in the attempts to pierce the straw into the box alone. Hikaru would help. Even if it was indirectly kissing. As though that, of all things, would put them off sharing a carton.

"You're such a good little brother," he retorted.

"We'll see what can be done with him, I suppose. It's something to do..."
He looked up at the mention of Haruhi. "Nope... You think she's disappeared again? I wonder how come she can't remember ever being here before.... Milord seemed certain she was."

Aaah, this was nice.

Hikaru snuggled up with Kaoru, loving the perfect way they fit. They didn't need anyone else. He had his twin, and that was all that mattered. As long as Kaoru was there, everything would be okay.

He'd just have to make sure it stayed that way. He wouldn't allow Kaoru to be hurt again. Hikaru honestly didn't think he'd be able to handle it if he were.

Taking the juice box, he removed the straw from its plastic wrapper and speared it with the straw in one deft movement. The wrapper fluttered to floor of the bus, quite forgotten. Hikaru took a long drink and handed it to Kaoru like it was a bottle of wine, not apple juice.

"Hikaru..." he said plaintively, sounding exactly like Kaoru's "Host voice." "Take this juice. It is a symbol of my love..."

With a grin, he switched back to his normal voice. "Or something like that. At any rate, Yagami is, at least, an interesting guy. Definitely got more going on below the surface than he lets on. We can always try."

Hikaru sighed. "I hope not. I really, really hope not."

The twins had a lot in common. One thing in particular was the tendency to be an utter hypocrite, each preferring that it was himself who was hurt, not his beloved brother. The other option was unacceptable. Unforgivable.

"My love, I need no symbols, only you," he smiled before wrapping his lips around the straw and sucking. Oh, the girls would have loved that.

"So we're gonna crack him open? Hey, wanna play the townspeople? Lonely brother's routine? The mom's love that one. We'll find Yagami a persona too. He'd make a great angst-ridden hero. Or a bully..."

Kaoru unconsciously held Hikaru tighter. His brother couldn't disappear. They'd arrived together, they'd leave together. That had been their general life plan and it applied to every situation.

Hypocrite indeed. In fact, Hikaru was wishing precisely that at that exact moment. Kaoru had been hurt, not him, and that was unforgivable.

"Oh, Hikaru..." "Kaoru" closed his eyes and pretended to swoon into his brother's chest. It didn't work very well. He ended up elbowing the juice box and spraying himself.

"...Okay, that could've gone a lot better. Hand me a napkin?" He didn't think he'd gotten more than his sleeve wet, thank goodness. It would be very uncomfortable if he was sticky for the rest of the trip.

"Oh, yes! That sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe if we play it up enough, some kind old dear will take us home with her and bake us cookies or something." As for Yagami? No comment. Hikaru didn't really think he'd go for the whole persona thing (and Hikaru had a sneaking suspicion anyway that he was already pretending to be someone he wasn't), but he didn't say anything.

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Day 28: Bus 2

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