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damned_institute2007-12-24 12:06 pm
whiteychan.livejournal.com) wrote in damned_institute2007-12-24 12:06 pm
Entry tags:
- ai,
- aidou,
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- allen,
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- aya,
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- guy,
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- heiderich,
- heiji,
- hikaru,
- hinamori momo,
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- hughes,
- jade,
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- kimbley,
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- leon (so2),
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- valyn,
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- yohji,
- zex,
- zoro
Day 29: Cafeteria, Brunch
Hitsugaya left the chapel no less frustrated than before. The head doctor once again had chosen not to hide his face, yet promised he would be making an appearance at some time in the near future. He didn't like being patient, but there wasn't much choice. Either the head doctor would show his face, or he wouldn't. Renji had already seen him, and knew how to find him. That was enough.
The thought of eating made him slightly nauseous as usual, but he knew he needed to get his strength up. He could either be weak and try to force his way through brunch without eating anything, or he could be smart and actually give himself something to eat. And there was rice. Rice and fruit. He took a heaping pile of rice, and grabbed as much watermelon as he could fit on his plate, then proceeded to an empty table. He scanned the room, watching for Momo. He wasn't exactly looking forward to their conversation, knowing how she'd acted yesterday; however, he knew he had to speak to her, and there was a good chance that she would show more restraint now that the drugs were out of her system.
Thoughtfully he consumed his rice and waited.
[free at the moment, pester if you wish]
The thought of eating made him slightly nauseous as usual, but he knew he needed to get his strength up. He could either be weak and try to force his way through brunch without eating anything, or he could be smart and actually give himself something to eat. And there was rice. Rice and fruit. He took a heaping pile of rice, and grabbed as much watermelon as he could fit on his plate, then proceeded to an empty table. He scanned the room, watching for Momo. He wasn't exactly looking forward to their conversation, knowing how she'd acted yesterday; however, he knew he had to speak to her, and there was a good chance that she would show more restraint now that the drugs were out of her system.
Thoughtfully he consumed his rice and waited.
[free at the moment, pester if you wish]
no subject
Now or never.
"It's going to sound stupid, but I can't figure out if I--" Ritsuka stopped when he saw who was coming in their direction, the color draining from his face. He hoped, dear God he hoped he was wrong, but when Aidou made a beeline for their table, he knew.
It was going to be never.
There was no way in hell he'd talk in front of Aidou. He didn't even want to be near the guy after their last rather immature fight and he quickly clammed up and shoved whatever it was he wanted to talk about as far out of his mind as possible. It seemed, anytime he really needed help, it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe this was the universe's way of telling him to stop relying on other people to do his work for him.
He saw that Aidou was upset and while he didn't like the guy, it didn't mean he'd be so callous as to belittle his problem. "Go on. I'll be fine," he said, turning back to his food with decidedly less enthusiasm.
no subject
but still, nothing yet had changed between them. And here she sat, interrupted. It was enough to make the young woman want to cry in rage.
"Ritsuka-kun..." Miku's lips pursed. "We'll talk posthaste, it's only a little thing," she replied quietly, tilting her head down. Aidou made her so angry with his flipping and flopping emotions. One moment he was nice as you please, the next he was screaming and throwing tantrums.
But, she had promised, and unlike many other people here, she would keep that promise.
"Where do you want to go, Aidou-kun?" her tone was still friendly, but edged slightly with reluctance to leave Ritsuka alone.
no subject
Lifting his head, he gave a bittersweet smile and this time brushed at his hair with a cocky flourish. "Who cares. Things can't possibly get any worse, anyway! Unless, because you seem to have some sort of knowledge of that snake and holly tattoo, you're going to tell me I'm going to be forever violated with feeling emotions and seeing memories that aren't mine for the rest of my life. Because yes, that would be a cherry on the cake. Which is why I'm hoping you know something about it, because really, after more than 48 hours of it, I was compelled to start getting myself sedated on purpose."
With scarcely a breath in between, he turned on Ritsuka and continued: "Believe me, I'd much rather be anywhere but here, interrupting your conversation. Maybe even body hunting at the local morgue, since it seems one of my family members has also gone missing. Isn't that ironic! I guess we have something in common now!"
Aidou sucked in a breath, held it, then let it out softly. "I don't feel any better, but at least now you know what I've been up to. How have you been? Let's be sure to catch up when we're not all having personal crises and being attacked by birds that apparently eat only virgins. I see you both survived, by the way. Good for you."
no subject
The photographer stood and began to stalk away, headed for a less clustered area of tables and chairs in the cafeteria. "I'll return directly, Ritsuka-kun," she called softly over her shoulder. It would be best, no, easiest, to separate them before screaming and shouting began and someone ran in with one of those stupefying needles. Once she'd secured herself a seat, the little photographer sat down and kept her hands at her sides. Miku's nails bit painfully into her palms, but at least it kept her from reaching across to strangle Aidou and his dramatics.
"That was uncalled for, Aidou. I understand that you're feeling panicked -- if my family member had vanished while here, I would too -- but please don't take it out on everyone. We want to help you, and you're making it harder than it should be by acting this way," her voice was soft and calm now, hardly a trace of irritation or anger in it. "Now, we'll get down to business." Miku closed her eyes a moment to concentrate on the large Rolodex in her mind that Mafuyu and Yuu had inadvertently stored all their information in through the years. Snake and holly, snake and holly, oh yes. Now she remembered.
"Before I came here, my roommate, Kurosawa Rei, asked me to look up the meaning of the snake and holly. It's... It's hard to remember, this place makes me forget so many things. But, the meaning is for pain and remembrance. For taking away suffering from one victim and placing it on a... a sacrifice as part of a... a ritual. There's several legends surrounding it, especially in hospitals to the victims of cataclysmic events. They began talking of tattoos that covered their bodies, even though the doctors found nothing, spent much of their time sleeping until the nurses found only ash in their beds. If yours is gone," Miku shook her head slightly, to gather herself again. Just talking about it made her want to dream of that large, snow-covered house, where Rei and Yuu and Mafuyu awaited her. "Then you should count yourself lucky." Miku's head dipped slightly, as she suppressed a yawn.
That had quite possibly been the most she'd ever spoken in one sitting.
no subject
Akatsuki would have been shaking his head, no doubt having expected such a thing all along, and it was with that thought in mind that Aidou followed Miku without a backwards glance. The tasks at hand were rolling past his mind's eye one-by-one, organizing themselves as such, with no small amount of what the vampire hunters called an unnatural objectivity. He took a seat across from her, all smooth gate and calm movements in contrast to her barely contained irritation.
"You have no idea how I feel," came the simple response, effectively closing the book on that topic of conversation. That particular outburst didn't shame him; rather, it had calmed him somewhat, like a volcano that had finally cooled. The noble crossed his legs. Miku's knowledge was what was important--everything else was not. "So in short, what you're saying is that the tattoo was an instrument used to trap disagreeable emotions and focus it on whomever was wearing the snake and holly design. The carrier probably went insane and died from the burden, correct?"
At length, he lowered his lashes to partially obscure cold eyes. He was watching her intently.
"I don't believe in luck. The one I had is gone, but what matters is if it has any lasting effects."
no subject
"Have you ever lost someone, I mean really, truly lost someone? Watched them die of fire or plague or suicide right before you? Chosen to nobly sacrifice themselves for the good of you? The emotion of wanting to do anything for those people, anything at all," Miku held her breath and thought of her mother for a moment, of her brother's softly-spoken words, of her father so alien to her and likely just as dead. "That's more than disagreeable isn't it? I suppose unless I saw this tattooed woman and was touched by her, I'd have no way of knowing if I'm truly correct, but... I think I am. It has to be something of no small value to you. Not some 'disagreeable emotion'." Miku stood up, and pushed her chair back in.
"And I told you, they didn't go insane and die. They turned into ash. God knows where the victims go, except that manor, and good luck extracting them from there. I'm going back to Ritsuka-kun now." The little photographer turned and started walking away. "So, please be careful, or so kindly throw me before that woman. I'm sure she has a story herself."
no subject
Value, she said? In comparison to vampire life, the value of a human's was inconsequential. No matter how terrifying or vile the death, no matter the person, it was just... less. Less than his worry over Akatsuki. Certainly less than watching Hio Shizuka's still beating heart being torn out of her chest.
"Better be careful yourself, Miku-chan." The tip of his index finger tapped the tabletop once, twice, silently. If she wanted to run back to Aoyagi and his petty relationship problems, let her. "You might just suffer the same."
Whatever he thought of Miku's reaction throughout the conversation was severely outweighed by his own circling thoughts. She knew of lore he didn't, but as with most things in Landel's Institute, her ideas of what should or would happen weren't corporeal inside these walls. Turning to ash, a manor... none of it was taking effect here, and as such, it didn't help. With an ex-human to deal with, there were still no pieces of information fitting entirely into place...
And to think they saw his desperation as unwarranted!