damned_institute | Day 29: Courtyard

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Day 29: Courtyard

Though he hadn't been able to stomach much of the cafeteria food, as the day went on, he did feel marginally better. The fever seemed to have broken and he'd held down what little he'd eaten. It made him a little anxious, to sit around so much, and even if it was difficult, a walk outside sounded like a nice break from the usual. He had no interest in the visitors. Likely as not they were the same as the creature he'd run into a couple nights ago in the form of Aizen Sousuke.

He folded his thin arms across his chest as he started his walk around the courtyard. The air was crisp, getting colder by the day it seemed, but it didn't dissuade him from taking a leisurely walk while he gathered his thoughts.

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"Sounds like he's doin' better n' a lot then. Heard we got a lotta disappearances the last couple days," he said mildly. Surely Sai realized that in itself was a double edged sword. He had to wonder how many really were disappearances and how many had just managed to slip from Landel's radar during their last field trip. The sudden change in numbers couldn't all be coincidence. That or some of the weaker ones had some trouble last night. So the missing ones were either much better off, or they were dead.

Gin raised a curious brow at Sai's apology. "Ara," he feigned surprise. "Tha's right, you were havin' a bit of a tough time with it when y'first got here, mm. Well now tha's jus' fine, we all go through that a lil' when we first get here, ne?"

"It's not easy to believe," the ninja answered, attempting embarrassment. "I still find myself questioning things." The matter of missing people was something he was, unfortunately, starting to become more well acquainted with, and this drew a real frown from him when Gin made it known that it was happening to a larger number of people.

"My two teammates, as well as another member of my village, have gone missing recently. I wasn't aware the actual number was noticeably large." He could only hope that they had somehow escaped, but this seemed doubtful. It was... discouraging.

It wasn't necessarily bad that Sai was questioning things here, he did it himself often enough. People seemed to forget that there was much more to most things than their simple outside appearance. He didn't comment though, it was a lesson the boy would learn on his own if he hadn't already. He seemed cautious enough.

"Dunno any exact numbers," Gin replied, shrugging his shoulders, and shifting his arms with a stretch before folding them behind his back. He knew the ryoka had been missing but had come back for a short time only to disappear again. Whether that was because he was undergoing some kind of experiments that extended into the day or just because they couldn't decide if he was worth the trouble of keeping, Gin couldn't be sure.

"But tha's really too bad, isn' it?" he tried to make his voice sound sympathetic, but he wasn't quite positive that it didn't sound trite or sarcastic. "Guess it's possible they escaped th' other day, ne? Big open place like that."

Sai looked thoughtful, or as thoughtful as he ever looked. "That's an optimistic way of looking at it." If escape was so easy in that town, then why would they have been brought there? And if one were to escape, where exactly would one go? Then there was the matter of him not even remembering how he'd come to arrive there in the first place, despite the fact that others had remembered coming on a bus like the one they'd left in.

Changing the subject rather abruptly, and perhaps deep down because he needed to discuss it, Sai said "My abilities and items were returned to me last night, but some of my senses were lost." He didn't mean senses in the terms of physical feeling, either.

Since Sai seemed eager to change the subject, Gin was more than willing to allow it. It sounded like the boy had been brainwashed, like so many others, and forced to fight against the other patients. It seemed pointless to him that the other shinigami insisted they fight them, subdue them, but not hurt them of course. He'd experienced it himself and while it was annoying, it wasn't as though the affected patients ever left their stations. There were ways around, why not just leave them be? It was a ridiculous endeavor no matter what the tiny captain or his mind-reading cohort might say.

"Ara, that so?" he tried to look suitably intrigued. "Happens every other night, far as I c'n tell. If y'worried, most everyone knows 'bout it, so I don' think they'd hold it against ya." He raised an eyebrow. "Jus' what happened? C'n ya remember much?" Part of it was curiousity about the boy's abilities and part he just wanted to confirm for himself. There were things he remembered and things he didn't. If the boy's account was similar, it would at least confirm that much.

"That's what my friends said - that this sort of thing was common enough. I have spoken with one and he's seemed to have already forgiven me for attacking them. Apparently it happened to one of them as well." Sai frowned again, obviously confused about the matter still. Some people forgave so much more easily than others.

"I remember almost everything, except for how it happened," he went on. There was a gap missing from when he was taken from the bus to when he was in the kitchen with his new 'duties.' "I was in the kitchen, and I wasn't to let anyone through it. So I knocked all those that tried to come through unconscious." He supposed he could have let them leave back the way they'd come, but that could have meant that they'd find another way around to... whatever he was guarding.

Gin nodded approvingly, as though he too could say the same. Ran perhaps, but he hadn't spoken more than a few words to Abarai or Toushirou since. It wasn't something he planned on bringing up anytime in the near future.

He looked thoughtful as he listened, noticing that Sai was careful to leave out details on any sort of powers he might have used, though he had mentioned them at the start. His account was similar to Gin's own, though he wouldn't say so. It did anger him, but as always, Gin's was a cold anger that would bide its time until the opportune moment. "Hnn..." he mused. "Sounds like y'had a rough night. Must be pretty strong with your abilities all back since ya ain't got a scratch on ya. Pity though, sounds like they're careful about how they let ya use it, ne?"

He was glad for that, really. Sai didn't really know what it was like to feel glad, but if anything he read was true, then this was it. He had been given orders not to kill anyone, so he hadn't. If he had, he didn't think that forgiveness would have come nearly as easily.

"I'm a ninja," Sai answered simply. He had mentioned this and his use of ink-based ninjutsu the first time they had spoken, and he expected the other should remember it. "And they were all unarmed and ill-prepared. Circumstances were hardly in their favor." Not to mention how the institute seemed to generally weaken its patients. If any of them were able to control chakra they couldn't have used it then either.

"Tha's usually 'bout how it goes," Gin nodded at Sai's simplified assessment. "Ain' many people here who're ordinary. N' even in a group, gettin' caught against 'em when they ain't got anything to hold 'em back... it ain't gonna end well for 'em." He shrugged easily, his tone light.

"'sides that," he reasoned, "they gotta learn sooner or later it's a bad idea t'mess with the ones that get turned. Much easier t'find another route."

"I didn't give them the chance to find another route." Sai shrugged. Thinking back on things, the group had set themselves up for failure the moment they'd all entered the kitchen. He'd even gone out of his way to turn them around so that finding a way back out would be difficult. "I'm sure if they'd known I was in there they wouldn't have come through.

Well, if it had just been Usopp, perhaps. He couldn't exactly speak for the others, so he didn't know how reasonable they all were. Luffy might have avoided him, if only because he'd once been in the same situation.

"Hnn~," Gin mused. It was possible that was just part of Sai's temperament as much as anything, but then, his own orders hadn't given much chance to the ones who tried to pass through either. He'd thought it obvious enough that they oughtn't come inside, what with his reiatsu flaring up and crushing any who came near enough. At least when it had been his turn, there was no excuse for not feeling forewarned. Anyone who entered was knowingly taking their own life in their hands, he reasoned.

"Jus' a bit a bad luck then. Guess it can't be helped."

"Mn." A little sound of agreement was all Sai had to respond to that. He was silent for a few moments after, just keeping the pace alongside Gin with an expression of subtle bafflement (which for him was really just a crease in the eyebrows).

"Has it... ever happened to you?" he asked suddenly, turning his gaze back to the other man. He knew Gin had been in the institute a little longer than he had, but he didn't know what the chances would be of them sharing such an experience.

Gin looked thoughtful for a moment before responding. As always, it was difficult to get a straight-forward answer from him. It frustrated the other shinigami to no end, much to his own amusement. "Three nights ago, th' air in this place felt strange, didn' it? Heavy almost. Dangerous t'be sure. Only think I c'n remember like it was back home." Perhaps it was only the shinigami that gave off such a warning with their oppressive reiatsu; he hadn't sensed anything last night like it, so even if Sai's attacks and abilities were strong, they hadn't registered with him. It was possible that they just weren't near a shinigami's level, though with all the different abilities here, it was also possible that it just wasn't as easy to detect, like the man they'd run into in the Sun Room last night.

He sighed, almost seemed regretful. "Friend 'a mine says it's really hard t'step on 'n ant without crushin' it." He glanced sidelong at Sai, "'think it holds pretty true, even here. Be a pity if someone got hurt." It wasn't a threat, certainly. He was much less candid about those. This was simply a considerate warning to stay away should he feel that same presence ever again. He trusted the boy was adept enough to see it for what it was.

It seemed as though Gin was avoiding Sai's question, and the ninja was a bit slow to pick up that when the man made reference to the events of three nights ago he was inferring that he had been responsible for the heavy feeling in the air - what Sai had said felt like a large amount of chakra. It had been similar to Naruto's, in a way, but more controlled.

At least he thought this was what Gin meant. Sai was terrible at any sort of riddles.

"I see," he said, glance neutral. He supposed he owed it to Gin to believe him now. He hadn't been lying before.

It was possible he'd given the boy too much credit. However, it was also possible he just didn't feel the need to comment further on the topic. Regardless, blunt and straightforward was not something Gin was known for and that really wasn't going to change anytime soon.

Putting that aside, he supposed it was his turn to ask a few questions. "Maa," he began, "don't suppose y'all managed t'find anythin' interestin' since I saw ya last? I ain't been able t'make much progress unfortunately. Keep gettin' held up by one thin' or 'nother." It might not be a complete truth, but if it got him even a small piece of information, it was worth it.

Sai shook his head. "I'm afraid I haven't done too much exploring. Last night I was under the control of the institute and the night before I spent with a friend making weaponry."

Mentioning that brought something else to mind and he turned back to Gin with another smile. "By the way, how interested would you be in helping to create tools and weapons through other means besides Alchemy?" Usopp might be pleased if he managed to recruit a few people on his own.

"I ain't much good with that sorta thing," he admitted easily with a slight shrug of his shoulders. It didn't particularly interest him either. Much as he complained, he'd rather be out stirring up trouble than just watching and helping others from the sidelines. "'Sides that, I'm helpin' out with arts and crafts t'night." He smiled, though he wasn't terribly pleased about it. He still had to manage to find Toushirou alone sometime today to discuss just that.

"I'll letcha know though, if we find anythin' interestin', ne?" he offered. He didn't want the boy to think he was completely disregarding him.

Sai did know enough about the going ons of the institute to know that when Gin mentioned "arts and crafts" he wasn't actually talking about activities involving construction paper and glitter. He'd been too involved with the couple friends he'd made so far that he hadn't mad much of a chance to check out the other groups. Perhaps he should get some more info on them, if only to share it with Usopp and Sasuke.

"Thank you," he smiled again. "That would be very kind of you." The offer of information was better than being turned away completely.

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Day 29: Courtyard

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