Day 28; Bus 3

[fyeonly.livejournal.com]

There was, Naomi decided, some sort of cosmic irony in all of this. Not that she was trapped in a deranged and possibly other-worldly asylum with a man she'd idolized for years and a boy who was being investigated for - among other things - the murder of her fiance. No, at this point, those were perfectly normal occurrences. Rather it was the soft, pretty, feminine pink sweater dress she'd been stuffed into in the morning. A chance to wear normal clothes, and she looked like a soccer mom. The white blazer and white boots only made her look like a soccer mom who maybe hadn't given up gogo boots.

It was humiliating. Why couldn't she have jeans and a sweater? And sneakers? Something she would conceivably wear? Not this damned pink monstrosity. And her nurse kept saying how pretty she was.

She didn't care if she looked pretty.

Grumbling to herself, and taking it out on her muffin, Naomi was shoved onto an empty bus and told to 'sit tight'. Oh, she'd sit tight alright....

At least she was relatively certain L was alright. She'd spent the whole night with him, and other than falling on his ass, nothing had happened to him. And hopefully nothing would happen to him in town, either....

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Zabuza got on the bus and sat down towards the back, staring at the seat in front of him. He wasn't in a good mood and the over-alls and baggy flannel shirt they had stuck him in didn't help. He felt confined. His mind kept going over all the things he had told Haku the night before. He felt like he had made a horrible mistake. He felt irritated and sick.

He hated feeling anything.

He not looking forward to having to sit next to someone. He gritted his teeth and waited.

He hated the days in this place.

[verbatim-worm.livejournal.com]

Sheska wasn't allowed her journal. She was placed in a denim dress and long coat and pulled out of her room. She'd asked nicely to be left in the library, but the nurses refused. So she timidly hurried onto the bus and sat on the first empty seat, her bum budging into the person next to here.

"Sorry!" she whimpered. "You don't mind do you?"
She felt so vulnerable here, she was too scared to look around for a familiar face. But the one she looked at, the one belonging to the guy she'd disturbed...oh, it didn't look happy.

"I can move..."

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

Zabuza looked at the woman and glared. He didn't say one way or the other if she had to move. That was up to her. He was silent actually and then turned to look out of the window, wondering which bus Haku was on.

[verbatim-worm.livejournal.com]

Sheska quickly looked away and knew instantly that she'd made a HUGE mistake. The problem was....now she was too scared to move. And it might seem rude. He clearly didn't want her there, but moving might seem as though she didn't want to be there. Not that she did, but it would be horrible to have somebody move away from you and not know why or what you'd done wrong.

Her leg began to shake, the heel tapping the floor. Oh, she was so nervous now! No. She had to stay calm and be brave. She had every right to be there. Unless he was saving the seat for someone. Well, he should just say!

"N-nice day for it..." she said, quietly. Of course, it sounded like she was saying it at knife point.

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

Zabuza turned his head looked at her, his eyes narrowing at her tone.

"Don't say something if you don't mean it, girl," he said harshly. She sounded like he was forcing her to have a conversation! Zabuza could care less if she sat by him, but if she was going to talk she might as well sound like she was having an actual conversation. He didn't ask her to be polite and didn't expect it of her, but whatever she said he wanted her to mean it. Otherwise she was just too annoying.

[verbatim-worm.livejournal.com]

Sheska met his gaze and sat there, frozen like a deer in the headlights. He'd spoken to her and his voice was as scary as the rest. What was she supposed to stay?! She broke eye contact, briefly, to look outside the window. "B-but...it's...not raining?" she said weakly.

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

"Stop talking with that weak little tone," Zabuza demanded. He continued to glare at her. "I can't stand the opinions of weak women."

[verbatim-worm.livejournal.com]

Sheska wasn't sure what it was, the place, the guy, a sudden loss of sanity, but she sat up straight and tried to glare right back at him. Even is she did look close to tears.
"I may not be a-a-a fighter...o-or anything like that, but you have no right to...talk.... tomethatway...."
She shrank back into her seat and wondered if the man could be won over by a muffin.

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

Zabuza looked at her a moment and then made a slightly amused sound. "That's more like it girl," he said. "If you are weak then I have no time for you, but if you can stand up for what you think or even say what you think without your voice trembling like a baby, then maybe you are worth listening to. Otherwise you are just wasting air."

[verbatim-worm.livejournal.com]

Sheska stared, jaw dropped a little. Was he being serious? Had she just passed some bizarre confidence building test, because, honestly? She just felt like crying. She also felt oddly flustered and pulled at the neck of her top to cool down a little as she looked away.

"Thankyou," she squeaked. She didn't think she was really worth listening to at all, but she still had her own ways of being useful to people.... Maybe if she told the man EVERYTHING about her, he could analyse her life and say something nice in a mean way that's maybe make her a feel a little more indestructible like she had just then....

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

Zabuza grunted and shrugged. "I don't want to sit here and be annoyed, I could care less about you other than that girl. Don't get the wrong idea."

[verbatim-worm.livejournal.com]

There was that mean streak again. Only this time there was no uplifting after taste.
"You know, I read once that mean people are just frightened and insecure."
She hoped that was an acceptable display of confidence.... She wasn't sure though, so she quickly busied herself with her muffin, not daring to look at the man again. Somebody would surely help if he went for her, right?

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

Zabuza considered the woman for a while and then a slightly sadistic grin crossed his face. "Maybe you aren't completely useless, girl," he said. That was probably as close to a compliment that Zabzua could manage.

[verbatim-worm.livejournal.com]

Sheska had a feeling she was getting the hang of this. Give what you get, and the man would respect you. But she didn't like being so straight forward or mean, so she was going to try and keep it neutral. So long as she didn't get scared or upset, maybe she could get off the buss alive and relatively sane and happy.

Her greatest concern right now was to eat her muffin without getting any on her face while the bus rattled onwards.

"Where are you from?" she asked, quietly enough that he could ignore it if he wanted.

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

"Kirigakure," Zabuza replied. "Do you know what that is?"

[verbatim-worm.livejournal.com]

Sheska thought about it. She could have given up right away and figured he was, like a lot of people, from an entirely different world. However, she didn't want to seem an idiot. Once she'd run through every geography book in her head, she gave in.

"No....?"

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

"It is the Village Hidden in the Bloody Mists," Zabuza said. So it wasn't the literal translation, it was the one he liked best.

[verbatim-worm.livejournal.com]

Sheska thought about that. It sounded like something out of a story, but no story was coming to mind.
"Is that something to do with Ishbal...?"
Well, that'd explain why he was so angry at everything....

[be-my-tool.livejournal.com]

Zabuza shook his head. "No. What is Ishbal?"