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]

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[nobleman]

With that all confirmed, it was pretty certain that Luke had ended up back in his room the same way they had. And it was very possible that he was just sleeping in. He had been coughing up a storm last night, and wanting to get some rest after having his body strained was definitely understandable.

On the other hand, Luke would have wanted to make sure to come see them and show them that he was all right. He could have easily slept through his nurse's attempts to rouse him, though. In any case, there wasn't much of a point in speculating.

"That's probably it," he said with a nod, crossing his arms over his chest. That didn't stop him from watching the door the same as Asch, however, hoping that Luke would walk through it. Or be wheeled through it, even! He would have taken that, too. Anything was better than the possibility he still couldn't get out of his head.

While there was a fight going on at the other side of the cafeteria, Guy was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice.

[full-score.livejournal.com]

Okay, so they were reasonably sure they hadn't been attacked. That was something to check off the list, at least, and it meant that nothing unsavory had grabbed Luke under their watch. Of course, that still didn't change the fact the redhead had been fading away when they found him. But he'd still been with them when night ended, right? Surely he wouldn't have slipped away before breakfast started...

His brain was just running around in circles by this point, Claude thought with a frown. Luke was either okay, or he wasn't, and he'd placed his money in the "Luke is okay" pot. All they could really do was wait for him to show up. Which he would, given enough time. He had to.

The whole ordeal still made him feel pretty damn sick, though.

Meanwhile, everyone's eyes were still focused on the door. Claude had a feeling that most of the people who were going to show up for breakfast had already come, but he figured it was still a good idea to keep an eye out for Luke. Because he would show up.

He glanced at Guy and Asch, realizing that neither of them had really bothered with breakfast. After a moment, he broke his blueberry muffin in half. A few stray crumbs fell onto the table as he placed both pieces on a couple of thin napkins, but the blond paid them little mind. Instead, he slid both pieces to his table companions. "You should probably at least eat a little something," he said. "It's not good to just pass up on the opportunity to eat, especially when--"

He stopped when he caught sight of some kind of ruckus on the other side of the cafeteria. Scuffles didn't seem that uncommon, especially on days when new patients arrived. The staff would probably handle things within a few minutes, anyway.

But then a familiar face caught his eye, and he frowned. "That girl..." Sure enough, it was one of Dias's honorary little sisters, the one whose doppleganger had been slaughtered right in front of him. It gave him enough pause to glance around in order to see where Dias, Ashton and Leon were. Oddly enough, none of them were in sight, which unsettled him quite a bit. Shifting uneasily in his seat, he tried turning towards the door again to watch for Luke, but he kept looking over at the commotion, which seemed to be growing uglier by the moment.

[charredashes.livejournal.com]

Asch glanced briefly to his roommate as Claude offered part of a muffin. There were more important things on his mind than food at the moment, although he couldn't help but wonder why the blond had suddenly cut himself off.

He didn't have to long to wonder though, as it soon became clear that something was happening on the other side of the cafeteria. Asch ignored the apparent fight at first but, as a man began shouting in what sounded like an attempt to rile others up, he couldn't ignore it any longer.

Turning away from the door, the redhead looked to see what was going on. An occasional fight wasn't unheard of, but this seemed different. More people were joining into the fray, and that likely meant more staff members running in to try and calm things down. Watching the door in all that commotion would be pointless, as Asch didn't think it would make sense for them to allow more patients into the room when things were already getting out of hand.

Still, Guy seemed to be on the lookout for the replica still, and Claude's attention seemed to be wavering. Even if it seemed unlikely now given the situation, as long as one of them kept an eye out for Luke, that would be fine.

"One or both of you keep watch on the door," Asch said, his attention now focused on the various fighting. He had no idea what had caused it to start, but damn if he didn't understand the sentiment. This seemed the perfect opportunity to show the staff how much they were appreciated, and there was nothing more he'd rather do at the moment. "If you see the replica, go."

[nobleman]

When Claude extended a piece of his breakfast to him, Guy pulled his eyes away from the door and turned to him. He glanced down at the piece of muffin and managed a small smile. He was about to accept it (even though he wasn't sure he had it in him to eat at the moment), but then Claude broke off with what he was saying suddenly enough that it was cause for concern.

At first Guy thought he might have spotted Luke, but then he noticed what was going on. While it wasn't uncommon for fights to break out between patients during mealtimes, it was another thing for so many people to suddenly be attacking the staff. His first thought was that this had been planned, but as he continued to watch the chaos, it seemed a lot more spontaneous.

He gave a small shake of his head and set down the napkin with the muffin on it before returning his attention to the fights. He didn't intend on getting involved for a multitude of reasons (he only fought women when it was absolutely necessary; he wasn't about to look for trouble; there was no way something like this would work, especially since it wasn't planned), but judging from Asch's behavior, he had other thoughts on the matter.

"What?" he questioned, his tone a little sharper than usual. "You aren't seriously going to join in, are you?" Except it did seem very much like Asch to do so, and Guy had to hold back a scoff. He was beyond angry with the staff, too (especially in lieu of recent events), but this wasn't the way to deal with it.

[full-score.livejournal.com]

It looked like the fight was definitely getting worse. In fact, Claude wasn't even sure if he could call it a fight anymore. A riot sounded more like it. And not the nice, organized ones that could be used to find an escape or to get something else done. No, this was the result of a growing, angry mob.

Really, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Tensions were running high, and Claude could understand the sentiment. Everyone here was suffering, and so naturally they needed someone to lash out against. Unfortunately for the nurses and orderlies, they were the perfect choice.

He was still trying to assess the situation and decide on a course of action when Asch started talking like he was going to join the conflict. The blond looked sharply at his roommate, frowning. "You're nuts if you're just going to jump in for the sake of fighting!"

And it was the damn truth! Claude hadn't forgotten the way the nurses and orderlies on the bus had transformed into raging monsters once night came. They could have been genetically altered, or they could have been possessed by demons! It was one thing to fight in self-defense, but Claude was convinced a proper gentleman didn't lash out at someone without a good reason. And, as far as he was concerned, joining a mob for the hell of it wasn't a good one.

Leaning forward now, he gazed intently at the redhead. "Hey, look, I'm angry about what's going on, too, but pitting ourselves against the nurses isn't going to help anyone! For all we know, they could be victims like we are! It's the doctors we should be pummeling, isn't it?!"

Suddenly looking anxious, he turned towards the conflict again, straining to see if he could catch sight of anyone he knew. With all the commotion, he'd lost track of the girl he'd seen earlier, and there were no signs of Dias, Ashton or Leon. "Dammit...!"

[charredashes.livejournal.com]

"I didn't say either of you had to get involved. If you'd rather sit here and do nothing, then keep looking for the replica like I said." He hadn't really expected either blond to support his decision, but dammit, couldn't they just shut up and take an order without argument?

With an aggravated sigh, Asch met his roommates look with a stare of his own. He certainly didn't believe the nurses to be victims in this whole situation-- they seemed perfectly convinced that everyone here did belong in a mental institution. And, if by chance they were being tricked into it or whatnot, then it was their own fault for being so stupid. Plus, there was a chance that those in charge would get involved once they realized what the nurses were facing. As far as the redhead was concerned, hurting a few innocent (or not so innocent) people would be worth it, if it could mean drawing out any of the higher-ups.

"If you don't want to fight, then what would you suggest we do?" he asked, throwing a quick glance to Guy to indicate he was asking both of them. "Wait and hope that the doctors decide to show themselves on their own? Or would you prefer to wait until they grow tired of screwing around and decide to just kill us all?"

The God-General shook his head before looking towards the fighting once more. "If you want to stand by and wait, then go ahead. I'm sick of waiting and going by their rules all the time, dammit!"

[nobleman]

It was good to see that Claude was on his side in this, at least, though Guy realized he shouldn't have expected anything different from Asch the Bloody. Even as the redhead tried to argue back, there was no way Guy was going to be convinced. Though now that all of this was going on, he was actually glad Luke wasn't there. This was the last thing his friend needed to be around for after what he had been through last night.

"All right, fine," Guy snapped, waving him off. "Go ahead if you're that set on it." The other fights were still going on, though it looked like a few of them were already being contained. If Asch really wanted to get involved, then he was going to have to hurry up before further action was taken to stop all of it.

Guy doubted that Luke would be showing up at this point, so he instead continued to watch the chaos, taking note of how the nurses and orderlies handled the patients. Even the most experienced fighters were being systematically taken down - the staff seemed to outnumber them, which was quite a feat.

It seemed like he just couldn't get a break since last night. Maybe it was to make up for the more or less peaceful day he'd had yesterday.

[full-score.livejournal.com]

Asch's stare was unwavering and firm, and Claude couldn't help but give a heavy, irritated sigh. His roommate had a point about needing to take action before they were all destroyed. But there was a time and a place for everything, and he was pretty sure socking a defenseless nurse in the face during breakfast wasn't the best escape plan. If it were that easy, everyone would have broken out ages ago, right? Besides, he doubted things were as black and white as some the captives here believed.

Optimism was great. Recklessness could lead to some unexpectedly nice surprises. But stupidity was never, ever a good thing.

He was a little stunned to hear Guy wave him off, apparently thinking Asch was a lost cause. Claude figured the other blond knew him best. Maybe trying to convince him really was useless.

"It's your choice," he told him after a brief moment, not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice. "But, listen, Asch -- if you're looking to go down in a blaze of glory, this isn't the best place for it." Like Guy, Claude was just as aware of the way the staff were taking down the rioters, and he'd been stunned to see them bring down one of the larger men with relative ease.

He could understand the burning need to do something, though, and it showed in the agitated way he tore his napkin into tiny pieces as he stayed next to Guy. "Dammit. This is really difficult to watch."