damned_institute | Day 29: Sun Room

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Day 29: Sun Room

It was with some relief that Yuuhi awoke the next morning, in his own bed, sore and tired and achy. He would've slept more had they let him, his face down in the pillow, away from all the others and their questions and their concern. He didn't want to see them, but he managed a little smile when the nurse came in and didn't object when she lead him out into the open hallway that had been splattered with blood, plenty of it his, just last night.

The Chapel or the Sun Room? He felt he had good reason not to be terribly religious and had a feeling he wouldn't be very welcome there anyway. The Sun Room would be nice though. It was bright and cheery and he could always doodle or write notes on the community board if he'd nothing better to do. Besides, the nurse was kind enough to let him take a book with him.

He found a seat on one of the couches, far from the entrance and seated himself in the far corner, legs scrunched up against his chest so he only took up one of the cushions. He opened up where he'd left off, fingers carefully turning the worn pages of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz.

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Aya snorted. and then glanced at Omi from the corner of his eye. He had not expected the boy to report with his wound to him, right?

Right. Aya snorted again, this time there might have been some amusement in it, a hint of curve upon his lips as he shook his head.

They were idiots, all of them.

"Tired enough that Yohji had to drag you away last night and leave injured Ken behind to fight off that bird alone?" he asked dryly, and gave Omi another glance, studying him calmly. "I heard you were wounded. How serious is it?"

He dropped his head, wishing he could pull his knees up to his chest without risking tearing his stitches open. That would just be the icing on the cake, wouldn't it? "I don't think they're that bad. I can't exactly see them, you know."

He fidgeted, eyes firmly on his hands in his lap, swallowing down the guilt and worry that threatened to make him curl up in a ball, injuries or no. If he'd just done what Duo wanted last night, would they all be fine now? "How is Ken-kun?"

Watching Omi fidget, Aya cursed himself. That had been unnecessary.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's tougher than he looks like. We managed to get into my room to patch up before the nightshift ended." He spoke silently, every word springing out another one and then another. He wasn't anymore the revenge driven idiot he had been when Omi had known him. Maybe it was time to try acting like an adult.

He sighed softly and reached for Omi to ruffle his hair gently, ignoring the pain that shot through him from his shoulder when he lifted his hand. "I'm glad you got away before getting more hurt." For a moment he thought he was going to add something more, then decided against it the last moment and closed his mouth.

Like it was anything Omi wasn't already beating himself up over.

Despite Aya's words, Omi's worry didn't really start to abate until Aya ruffled his hair. He glanced up, more hopeful than he'd want to admit to being. Where he might choose to spend time with Ken, or talk to Yohji about problems in school, Aya's good opinion had always been the one he'd worked hardest to gain. "I never wanted anyone to get hurt because of me."

Aya let his hand rest on Omi's head for a moment, brushing aside few bangs from the boy's forehead as he contemplated what Omi had said. Aya had expected it, truthfully. Even if he had not thought Omi would come out and say it so clearly. Yet another reminder of how different he was from Mamoru.

"Nobody got hurt because of you," Aya finally said softly. It wasn't Omi's fault the bird attacked. In a battle someone always got hurt, and generally it wasn't anyone's fault. It was true, the other three Weiss would take unnecessary risks to keep him safe, but it didn't mean he was to blame for their injuries. He would never order them to take hit for himself after all.

"Not that..." Aya paused for a moment, thinking his words over and over again, but still coming up with the same answer. "Not that we wouldn't do that for you." He withdrew his hand, locking his nervous fingers in his lap and glanced Omi from the corner of his eye, serious but still speaking softly. "You're the necessary part of the equation after all."

Aside the strategist point of view, Omi was Omi and that was reason enough.

He let his eyes close, enjoying the contact that was more than rare in his time. Of all the things that were so different about the rest of Weiss here, he didn't think he'd mind keeping this one change. Aya was wrong, though. Ken and Duo... if he had just run, if he hadn't...

He ducked his head again when Aya continued, not bothering to stop the tears this time. He wasn't upset. Well, he was, but more than that, he was angry. At himself, mostly, for getting people hurt, but also at Ken and Aya and Yohji for risking themselves, and for what? For him. "No, I'm not, and you shouldn't! You can't. I'm not any more important than anyone else."

Tears? Aya blinked, not knowing how to react for one passing moment. Then Omi's words unraveled memories he would have rather kept hidden. Of another young man who had believed being Weiss meant not having any weaknesses. He kept forgetting how young Omi was, or perhaps just failing in grasping the concept of being young. Either way, Omi didn't need any more stress than he already had.

"You said it yourself," Aya said softly, reaching up again to lay a hand on Omi's head. He would have done more but he still didn't know where the boy was injured. So, he settled to ruffle Omi's hair gently. "You'd do it for us. Wouldn't you?" There was more to it, but he left that out, for now.

"Of course I would!" Maybe it was the fact that he wasn't thinking quite clearly, either because of the pain, the anger, whatever medicine the nurse had given him, or some combination of all of them. Maybe it was just that the automatic response was so obvious, he couldn't stop himself from saying it out loud. Either way, as soon as he'd said it, he realized that those probably weren't the best words to convince Aya not to throw himself into danger on Omi's behalf. "It's not.. It's..."

He gave up trying to find a counter-argument to his own admission, shoulders drooping, and gave Aya a pleading look. "It's not the same, Aya-kun."

Aya's list of weaknesses wasn't long. This, however, was in the sharpest top of it. He frowned, trying to counter Omi's pleading look with something. It was not one of those dark glares he was so often identified with, but rather saddened by his own frailty in this case.

"Omi..." Aya begun silently, failing just like Omi to come up with a better argument even if there would have been plenty to draw upon. "Why not?"

"Because." He exhaled sharply, glancing away for a long moment before returning his focus to Aya. If it didn't even really make sense to him, how was he supposed to tell someone else?

Because Weiss was important to him? Wasn't it to all of them, though? At least, it had been in his time. Because Weiss was all he had? That was certainly true for all of them. Weiss was a lethal unit. There wasn't room for outside attachments. Because it was his place to take those risks, since he was the one Kritiker had put in charge?

...Yeah, even he could see how well that particular argument would turn out.

Which meant he really didn't have a good reason. Not one that would convince Aya, at any rate. Except... "I don't want to lose anyone because of something I did."

There was supposed to be harsh facts Aya could have thrown in. Unfortunately he couldn't think of any right at the moment. Would he have been willing to say them aloud in front of Omi's teary eyes, it would remain a mystery. His answer was quite clear to him, however.

Aya sighed a bit, and nudged a lock of Omi's hair softly. "And none of us want to lose you because of something we did not do." In this case he dared to speak for Yohji and Ken as well. If they'd disagree, Aya wouldn't want to hear about it.

And how was he supposed to answer that?

He scrubbed at his eyes, wiping the tears away with one hand. The wobbly smile he offered Aya grew stronger after a minute, even as his voice was still quiet. "Thanks, Aya-kun."

The smile was surprisingly answered. It was an understatement to say that Aya had worried last night. Now the relief of seeing Omi relatively okay, and finally smiling again, felt like he had been pardoned of one of his many sins.

"Hn." He nodded, ruffling Omi's hair once more before pulling his hand back, the smile unfortunately a fleeting thing on his lips. "So, how have you been holding up otherwise?"

He started to shrug before his back reminded him painfully that that wouldn't be such a good idea. He bit his lip until the dull throbbing died back down, then took a careful breath. Okay, trying that again without the shrugging.

"Okay, I guess." In a manner of speaking. Like Omi wanted Aya to worry about him anymore than he already was, though. "Nothing someone like us couldn't handle, right?"

Nothing someone like us couldn't handle?

Aya sighed, looking away with a worried frown. Was it that simple? Yohji didn't seem to deal well at all. What Ken had said the other night worried Aya too.

But neither was Aya having fun times stuck in this mad house. And yet, he'd deal with it. Perhaps Omi was right, nothing someone like them couldn't handle.

"I suppose we could debate on that one," Aya said dryly, glancing back at Omi briefly. "So, how bad is your injury?"

Could, sure, but as long as they didn't, Omi would be happy.

He looked away, eyes wandering around the room, not really looking at anything. He wasn't exactly stalling, more considering how to phrase things so Aya wouldn't get upset. "Like I said, I don't think they're too bad. They hurt, but I've had worse." Probably. "Besides, they patch people up so well every morning, I'm sure it's fine."

Omi was a trained assassin unlike the rest of them. Aya knew he would mark an injury as severe if there was need for it. From the sound of it, it was safe to assume Omi didn't want him to fuss over the wound too much. Acceptable, hardly comforting, but Aya could live with that.

He nodded shortly, not because of any desire to act curtly, but because his freshly acquired shoulder wound forbid any elaborate neck movements. "Be careful anyhow." A far cry from what he wanted to say but it'd have to do for now. A clear cue for change of topic.

"Are you still working with that military organization? Arts and crafts, was it?" Either way, it wouldn't change Aya's opinions about the white haired kid, but he was curious to hear what Omi thought about it.

"Arts and Crafts, yeah." He nodded thoughtfully. "I was supposed to meet up with Hitsugaya last night, but.." He shrugged. That hadn't worked out for obvious reasons.

But there was the problem of whether or not he would take Hitsugaya up on his offer tonight. Who better to talk it over with than Aya, though, right? "He offered to heal my back if I wanted to go with them tonight, but people get hurt if they use their powers here." Well, and he'd feel awfully guilty for being back to normal when Ken and Duo were still hurt because of him.

So, it hadn't ended up in disaster like Aya had half expected. However, he couldn't feel completely relieved, his reluctance for Omi working with the organization was still strong. The boy didn't need to know that, though.

He wasn't sure what to say to the suggestion of this Hitsugaya person healing Omi. If it had been himself, he probably would have refused the offer. Not only because of his healthy paranoia, but also because he wouldn't want to end up feeling in debt to someone he barely knew. But this place created odd alliances, which weren't wise to disregard so easily. He had never thought he could work side by side with Kikyo again, but he had asked help last night and probably ended up having few injuries less thanks to the man. And last but not least, he hated the idea of Omi in pain.

However, what he thought about it wasn't that important. It wasn't his decision to make.

"Are you going to take his offer then?" he asked softly while studying Omi curiously. At least now there was certainty where the injury was.

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Day 29: Sun Room

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