Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

[whiteychan.livejournal.com]

Hitsugaya woke with a start.

His entire body ached, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been the night before. His injuries had been tended two with clean gauze and bandages, and he found every movement wasn't agony. He wasn't in the best of shape, but thanks to the miracle of landel's strange time distortion, he had mostly recovered from the vile poison without having to waste anyone else's talents.

And in his hand, still...there was the key.

He dressed quickly, sliding the key onto the key ring from his desk drawer and stuck it into his pocket. Whether the key stood to gain them anything or not, it stood as a vital reminder that they could succeed in this place. There was hope, as insignificant as it often seemed. They could beat this place.

That small shred of hope made getting up worth it.

The nurse who escorted him to breakfast was cheerful, and commented idly about how wonderful it was to see young Tommy Winters up and about again after his unfortunate run-in with a bad case of food poisoning. He smirked slightly, knowing that any lies the institute forced into their heads were only that: lies. He wouldn't buy it for a second. And on top of that, the concept of muffins sounded almost appetizing. While he still preferred his authentic Japanese cuisine, the food here was slowly becoming more and more bearable. He would have preferred a warm bowl of sweet nattou over rice over the mufffins, but they would do. The plain yogurt and fruit, on the other hand, was excellent. He piled his plate high with fruit as usual, and got several small bowls of yogurt as well.

Finding the most convenient table to the end of the food line, he took a seat and scanned for the new arrivals. New arrivals meant people who would be lost and confused. Renji did a good job of making a bulliten post last time...he should recommend abarai-fukutaicho do the same again this time.

[Waiting for Angel]

Comments

[simpleastherain.livejournal.com]

Orihime smiled a little at him. She wouldn't push him for an answer if he didn't want to give her one. He looked so haunted and sad she wanted to reach out and soothe that part of him that was hurting even if he would never tell her what it was. She felt like she understood a little bit.

He was lonely.

"This place isn't so bad," She cut the yogurt-cinnamon bun in half and offered a piece to the blond. "See? There are good things." And strange things, and friends.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

"Mm," he agreed, taking the bun and breaking it into smaller pieces. "Thank you." It tasted a little strange, but it was sweet and not as bad as sushi or some of the other dishes he'd tried. He didn't have a lot of appetite, but he did want to please her. She had a kind spirit, much like the princess, and he didn't want to make her sad.

"I like the music room," he admitted, "and arts and crafts. I tried the one they have at night, but I think I'm not very good at it." He gave a quiet laugh, his smile growing just a little. "What do you like?"

[simpleastherain.livejournal.com]

Orihime bit into her half of the bun, pleased at the odd mix of flavours. The man didn't seem to mind it either. Maybe her taste was getting better or his was just as odd. Rangiku would like him. She had to remember to introduce them.

Then again, she still didn't know what to call him; Fai or Robin didn't seem right. Maybe something would come up in due time.

"At night..?" She repeated, confused for a moment. "Oh! Arts and crafts. I'm no good at the nighttime version either. I always get distracted."

She didn't even have to think about his question. "I like meeting people from so many different places, and eating all sorts of food I've never tried before." She let her curiosity carry them on, not really minding the distraction for now. "Do you play an instrument? Or draw maybe?"

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

He could feel the food hitting his empty stomach. It probably wasn't helping him recover any faster not eating. He'd exhausted himself last night, both emotionally and physically, and the night before had been just as bad, if not worse. He sucked the end of his thumb for a moment, getting the last of the yogurt off of it.

He was a little relieved to hear that he wasn't the only one who'd not gotten along well with the Arts and Crafts division, though he couldn't blame it on a lack of focus. "Well that's alright," he assured her, "As long as you're not running off by yourself, I'm sure you'll do fine." If what he sensed was correct, she had a very helpful sort of magic about her.

"Then I guess you're right. This place isn't so bad if you want to meet lots of people and try different things." He wanted to tell her about Yuuhi and how he'd traveled with the others to many different worlds, if only to see her eyes light up at the story, true or not. But in the end, he decided not to let it slip, he wasn't sure enough of it himself. "Mm, I play piano. It's kind of hard to get to in the Music room though. I think a lot of people here play."

That too, was a mystery. He couldn't just make up the Celes lullaby he'd played the other day for Quatre. Had he heard it somewhere else? Maybe it wasn't a lullaby at all... "I draw too, er... used to." It was necessary to learn that much if he wanted to be an effective spellcaster, but... "That's where I saw Ururu my first day here actually. She was painting polka dots on her gray uniform. She's very creative."

[simpleastherain.livejournal.com]

Wordlessly, Orihme nudged the second bun and the half-empty yogurt container towards him. She could finish her own piece in two bites if she wanted to but she took her time, savouring the taste.

She tried not to look guilty about running off on her own. She always ran into friends or people who needed help, so it seemed to be alright to risk the danger. She didn't want to admit what she was really doing, not even to herself, but she wouldn't pull others into it when they had more important things to do with their nights.

"Do you think you could teach me a little bit sometime? I'd like to hear you play. And I think Ururu-chan would like it a lot if you made some art with her... In a place like this, it's good to be surrounded by friends."

She felt like curling up, wrapping her arms around her knees. Her voice had taken on a wistful, musing quality without her noticing it. "But this place...it's sort of like running away, isn't it? Even though we're trying to get out, until then..." She caught herself, faked a yawn, and glanced up at him. "Anyway, what's your home like?"

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Yuuhi wasn't terribly hungry, but then, he'd always had a hard time telling people "no," so he started picking at the other cinnamon bun. Besides, it wouldn't help anything if he couldn't even keep up his strength.

"Mm... sure, I don't see why not," he told her. "It's just hard to get the piano when they let us use the music room. The seat can fit two people, but it seems like there's always a rush for it." He chewed on a piece of sticky bread thoughtfully, "but... mm... I'd like that. Ururu too, if... she wants to."

Her last comment struck a chord with him though. Running away... it was how he'd handled most of his problems. Just how much longer could he keep running? Something had to give. He would have been fine if she hadn't followed it with that question. She hadn't asked just where he was from or what kind of world, likely without even realizing it, she'd asked a question that was terribly difficult for him to come to terms with. "I..." he started, but no lie came, no excuse. What kind of place was Robin from? He didn't even know. "It's... very cold where I'm from," he looked down, concentrating on his sweet roll. "But I traveled a lot." He didn't call it what it was, simply running away. "So I don't know if I can say any one place is home." Rather than dwell on it, he pushed the question back to her, "what about you Miss Inoue? Would you tell me about your home?"

[simpleastherain.livejournal.com]

[Sorry for the spotty posting. Work = WORST HOURS EVER.]

She wondered how long it had been since his last meal but she didn't ask. It didn't matter as long as he got something into him now. For all her apparent naivete, she'd learned there were some things that were better passed in silence.

"We can always ask." Orihime replied brightly, undeterred. He could make of that statement what he wanted. To her, the distinction wasn't important. She licked the last bits of semi-dry sugar from her fingers and wiped her hand off on a napkin.

Maybe she couldn't curl up here, but she folded her arms on the table in front of her, feeling a little stronger for the weight holding her together. She saw the way his face changed. She'd thought skimming away from the topic of running would make both of them a little more comfortable, but she'd only made things worse. He was a lot better at this.

When he turned the question to her, Orihime didn't know what to say right away. A lot of things came to mind; her school, side streets she liked to wonder, her favourite place to buy ice-cream, the Kurosaki Clinic, and her apartment in Karakura Town, where Rangiku and the captain had stayed for a short time.

Thinking about home still made her heart twist painfully. She didn't want to spend her time regretting the things she'd left behind. She remembered it all fondly, and that would have to be enough. Come on, Inoue. It would be enough. She would make it so.

"I'll tell you anything you want to hear about. It's a place in Western Tokyo called Karakura Town." She brought one hand up to her eye and opened it wide with two fingers. "It's the size of a flea's eye ball on a map..." She babbled about everything that came to mind, the streets she liked and the nice things about the changing seasons, the games she played at school with Tatsuki, the taste of butter on sweet potatoes... At some point, she'd unfolded her arms to punctuate her story with bold gestures. "...And you should definitely play foot-tennis sometime. I bet you're really light on your feet and no one will tackle you hard since it'll be your first time." She paused. "...Actually I think it'll be a first time for everyone except Tatsuki. Will you be on my team anyway? We'll totally win."

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

He wasn't sure how he felt about going to speak with Ururu again in the near future, asking something as silly as that. He just hoped she wouldn't cry again. It made him feel so helpless. There wasn't anything he could do for her to make it better. But if Inoue thought it might help to paint with her, then... of course he could do that much. "Mm," he smiled back. "I guess it couldn't hurt."

He was glad to listen to her talk about herself. It gave him a distraction and there was something about the animated way she spoke and how open and honest she was that made it very difficult not to like her. He opened his mouth to reply when he heard the first crashes of fights beginning around the cafeteria. He looked worriedly to where Kurogane had been and hoped the man had enough sense not to try to pick any fights with his shoulder hurt as it was. That was probably too much to ask though. As it was, he just hoped the fights stayed far from their table and that none of the children were hurt.

"This... doesn't look good," he gave a nervous laugh, dropping what was left of his roll on the table.

[simpleastherain.livejournal.com]

Orihime followed his gaze, her eyes widening as she took in the scene. There were smaller fights breaking out, centered around the first. She'd never seen anyone fight with so much precision. Two men joined and when the girl went down another fight broke out between them and the nurses.

The patients were loosing but they were frustrated and tired. She understood why they wanted to fight. Would it be fair to stop them? Someone will get hurt. If it escalated past this, there could be serious repercussions on both sides.

Orihime was already half out of her chair. "I've got to try breaking up some of the fights," She said. "You should come look for your friends. They'll want to know where you are."

She would go with him to search after all. There were so many fights breaking out that she could start anywhere.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

He was relieved to see that Kurogane was not leading any charges across the Cafeteria, not yet at least. But he also really doubted that Kurogane was at all interested in knowing where he was. And while he could appreciate that Inoue was trying to be nice, he wasn't sure how many other people here would count him as a friend. "I don't think they'll fret," he assured her. "I'll stay with you if you'll have me; I couldn't very well leave a princess all alone in the middle of a battle."

Yuuhi intended to be good to his word at that. He'd feel terrible if she were struck down by a flying chair or tray or any number of other dangers. A little voice in the back of his mind told him he shouldn't get involved, but he'd never been very good about listening to it.

[simpleastherain.livejournal.com]

"You don't have to worry about me." Orihime assured him. "I could break concrete with this head."

Even though she wanted to stay with him, she didn't want him to feel obliged to protect her. She'd never been much of a princess. At best, she was just a girl. It was good, too, to know that she didn't have to do it alone. She pushed the chair back into place distractedly.

Orihime hesitated again, briefly, then smiled. "...But if you want to come, I'd like that a lot."