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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The doll shifted his stance, tilting his head slightly to regard Naoya with another casual smile. "I'm pretty good, all things considered." Sometimes it didn't take much to throw him off the trail, especially when he didn't have a person's entire story to work off of, but this kid was a damn poor liar.

And the fact that he had stumbled over a colloquialism was curious.

Coming up beside Naoya, he lowered himself down beside the other with a light sigh. Holy crap, worrying about his body was for old guys like Wanyuudou, and even then, not so much (for obvious reasons). But jeez, he could use another nap. "I remember you telling me you hadn't talked with a lot of people before," he went on, as though he were talking about something completely incidental, like the weather. He pretended to focus on wiping blades of grass and dirt off his clothes. "It's just another informal phrase. Like asking how you are."

Then he looked up with another easy grin. "Though you're making me realize how odd some of them are."

Naoya nodded, noting the sigh. "They are strange... I've heard the phrase before, once or twice, but I think it was as a joke." The scientists ~~Naoya had never really learned all there names~~ weren't much for informality when it came to their research. The only one who had even attempted to get familiar with both Naoya and his brother had turned out to be deathly afraid of them. They had stopped trying after that--though there was one who had spoken to his brother plenty of times...

The young man shook his head before tilting it to the side with curiosity. "Are you alright, Ichimoto-san? Did you get hurt last night?"

Considering the circumstances, it wasn't the best time to be prying, but Kirihara Naoya was an interesting sort of guy. "You said you had an older brother. Didn't he teach any of it to you?" Or just taught by example, as with most siblings--turns of speech came from gleaning bits and pieces from other people, he thought.

So whether or not he said 'yes' or 'no', it was still something interesting.

Giving a soft laugh, he lazily waved his hand as though to dismiss the concern. "Don't worry, I'm fine, even if last night was a little unbelievable. What about you? You don't seem to have any serious injuries, by the looks of it."

Teach him? Naoya didn't think his brother could have possibly known anymore than Naoya did, they had both lived together growing up, hadn't they? The young man shook his head. "My brother talks a lot like me, only less polite..." And a bit more grumpy. Naoya couldn't help but smile brightly at the thought.

Shaking his head once more, Naoya's smile faded at the topic. "I'm not injured, Ichimoto-san, just..." he trailed off, absently covering his left side with his right hand. He hadn't been injured, but... every now and then he got confused and everything hurt and--did he really make it out okay? Maybe-- Naoya shook his head, realizing he hadn't finished speaking. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little tired."

The doll watched Kirihara from the corner of his eye, shadowed with the fall of his hair. Then, bracing his forearms on his knees, he glanced out at the courtyard and chuckled a little. "Must be all those visits to Harajuku," said Ren idly, referring to the ways one could pick up teenage customs, including the latest slang. Harajuku was one of the best and brightest places for that.

Looking back at Kirihara, he carried on with: "But your brother must be a good guy, anyway. He looks after you, after all."

It was something to throw out there, having decided broaching the issue of Kirihara's "powers" to be too abrupt for now. He was too observant to overlook the other's absent gestures and expressions.

"Harajuku?" Naoya repeated, confused. "Where's that?" He hadn't been to too many places before so the place Ren mentioned was completely unfamiliar. Maybe it was a certain town or city that Naoya had been unable to see and maybe... maybe, when everything was resolved, Naoya and his brother could go see it?

Naoya allowed a smile to return to his face, consciously pulling his hand away from his side. "He is. He doesn't believe it, but I know he's wrong about that." The young man paused, frowning thoughtfully as he looked around. "Do you have someone who looks after you?"

"Uh... it's between Shinjuku and Shibuya. Kind of a tourist attraction, really popular with teenagers around the Harajuku station. Lots of shops, street performers, the Meiji shrine, um... Yoyogi Park."

Younger clients that lived around that area tended to go there a lot, so it wasn't as though he were lacking for information. But he had a nagging suspicion that if he mentioned Condomania or Sakuratei, Kirihara wouldn't know what in the world he was talking about either.

He gave another smile to encourage the kid's. "I think if you say so, it's probably true. Sounds like a guy I'd like to meet." Seemed like the friendly thing to say. And when it came to himself... The servant gave a little laugh. "Not anything like that, no. I'm an adult, so I take care of myself, I guess." Sort of.

Ren was correct to suspect Naoya wouldn't have recognized either of those places, but this ignorance also went on to include the other places the man had mentioned in the first place. The young man frowned in silent confusion for a long moment as he fought off the temptation to ask where those places were as well. He probably wouldn't have recognized any other nearby places either.

"Ah... I'm sorry, Ichimoto-san, but I've never heard of those places either." He smiled sheepishly.

Naoya smiled even further in response to Ren's. "Oh!" the young man jolted at the thought. "I didn't introduce you to him! My brother arrived a few days ago..." Though he wasn't sure if they would get along, his brother was very protective at times... Well, at all times.

Ren shook his head. In truth, Naoya's ignorance didn't bother him in the conventional sense. "You don't have to apologize. From the sounds of it, you've had a hard run of it, so maybe you'll get the chance to spend time in some of those areas soon."

Who could really say. It was hard enough posturing on that sort of stuff when there wasn't a sadistic--and apparently multi-dimensional--prison trying to grind people's nerves down. The experimentation and the like, that was probably the worst part.

But then Kirihara mentioned his brother, and Ren looked honestly surprised.

"Wait, your brother's also here?"

A hard run of it... A difficult time? Naoya supposed that this could have been an accurate description, following the path of deaths could never be considered easy. "I hope so," The young man's eyes brightened at the thought. "It'd be nice to see more than the few places I've been." It'd be even better if he and his brother could find someplace where they could live in peace.

Pulling out of his thoughts, Naoya blinked at the other man's surprise before nodding. "He arrived a few days ago. He said...", Naoya cut himself off and looked away. His brother was dead, even if he was there now, it would always be painful.

“Yeah, it’s a shame we all ended up here instead…”

The doll tipped his head up slightly, shifting back so his spine rubbed against the hard, rough foundation of the wall. So one of Kirihara’s family members was here, and with Ojou and Daemon’s family… even River had mentioned having a blood brother here at one time.

Ren chose to ignore the dropped sentence. “It must be kind of comforting having someone you love nearby in a place this life, but… don’t you think it’s a bit strange?”

Naoya frowned slightly, all traces of optimism gone as he nodded. "I do... Back in my world, my brother and I were being chased, so when I first woke up here I thought--" He shook his head. "I'm not sure what I thought, but... This place is a lot like Ark is, collecting people who are strong in someway only so they can break them in the end." And what better way to torment someone than by involving their family?

He thought about that for a while. Kirihara's background aside, his observation on Landel's Institute was tragically accurate. The doll had long since thought the same, though no company he was familiar with had tried to do the same with people possessing abilities, not yet. Hopefully not ever, considering that once he returned home, the passive role as mediator was waiting.

Whatever answers were waiting, he supposed there was only one thing for it:

"Then we'll just have to keep an eye on each other, ne? Keep your friends close, try not to take too many risks."

Naoya nodded, unable to quell the worry that had start growing during their talk. Keep your friends close, but what do you do if you don't know where your friends, and family, were? You can't keep something close if it's not there. The young man fought back another wave of worry, he was sure his brother was fine. There were many other places in the institute his brother could have gone to...

That, and Naoya could also look for his brother on the bulletin before dinner started.

"That's easier said than done in this place, Ichimoto-san..."

An enigmatic (but mostly cynical) smile threatened to break out, but the doll quelled it. 'Easier said than done' was right, to be sure. However, with what he'd read on the bulletin board about random disappearances, it seemed his particular gift had even far more potential. Ironic, that now it was all too limited.

"Yeah, but," started Ren, turning his head to give Kirihara a reassuring half-smile, "but if I keep an eye out too, that's twice as much as you could do alone. This might just be me preaching, but don't try to do everything on your own, okay? You and your brother can always ask your friends for help--you've made some already."

At this Naoya was brought up short. That was right, he had made plenty of friends here, like Takaya-san, Sumeragi-san, Hidaka-san and the others... If worst came to worst, he could always ask for their help--but only if the situation really was bad. Naoya didn't want any of them to think he only valued them for how useful they were.

Naoya gave Ren a smile before nodding. "I had forgotten about that, thank you, Ichimoto-san."

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Day 29: Courtyard

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