damned_institute | Day 30: Staff, Morning

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Day 30: Staff, Morning

Burly orderlies and agile Calm Effect nurses flooded the cafeteria from the Courtyard while regular hall nurses filed in from the Sun Room and ushered out those not involved in the rebellion. It indeed seemed as if Landel was sending out all the cavalry, and an effective cavalry they were: The riot didn't continue for much longer after the alarm sounded, though it seemed strange just how quickly all of the mutinous patients fell, even the ones who hadn't been injected with anything.

The hall nurses were quick to escort their well-behaved charges back to their rooms, praising those who hadn't joined in and chiding those who muttered under their breath in response. There were some exceptions, of course: One nice young man had even defended one of the nurses from the violent patients! Now, wasn't that exemplary behavior? Dr. Landel would be so proud to hear about it...

Within half an hour, all of the so-called "loyal" patients had been safely deposited in their rooms, and it was then that the alarm finally stopped and the true difficulty of the situation was tackled. There certainly weren't enough rooms in solitary to accommodate such rampant disobedience, and yet measures would have to be taken to ensure proper consequences for each and every patient involved. After all, something like this couldn't be allowed to happen again!

Different options were considered. Perhaps they should make an example out of the girl who had sparked the riot, but then again, perhaps not. This certainly wasn't the first case of patients attacking nurses or their peers in a crowded area, but what had been different this time was the sheer support that the other patients had shown for her. Should the staff then make examples of all those who had tried to "protect" her from the well-meaning nurses? No, there were too many for that...

In the end, it was decided that the best immediate solution would be to treat the rebellious patients in the Medical Wing while they were unconscious and then move them back to their rooms to await punishment. To ensure the safety of both their roommates and the patients themselves, however, the staff decided to securely fasten their limbs to their beds and keep them heavily drugged. Such a sad sight they were to see, but... it was necessary.

Finally, when each and every patient had been escorted back to their respective rooms, the staff hurried off to an emergency meeting upstairs. Strangely, Head Nurse Lydia was the one taking care of the proceedings in the Head Doctor's stead. She calmly told them that he was preoccupied with more urgent matters, and as she began to speak to the crowd, the staff could only wonder what could possibly be more important than an unprecedented patient riot...

[ Comment to this post with separate threads for each patient room, and please put your character's room number in the subject line. Thank you! ]

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Kurogane had no qualms with being led off this time and was actually somewhat thankful for it. Being unable to enter a fight was irritating, to say the least, even if he'd somewhat made that decision himself. He very well could have joined regardless of any lingering sedation effects and might have gotten in a hit or two, but it would not have ended well for him. Getting "drugged" again was not on his agenda.

Before being put back into the same room, he was able to see the 67 marking the door and filed that information away for when he was more aware. He slumped onto the bed, still sitting, but keeping his atrocious posture as he did. His glossed eyes glanced around the room once, finding it to be no different in the light than at night. That meant the second bed was there as well.

Though he had shared rooms with Fai before, he had the feeling that the Magician wouldn't be joining him. There were many patients here that could end up coming through the door, and besides that Fai could have gotten caught up in the fight. He doubted Fai would have intentionally gotten involved unless someone else had drug him along, but there was still that possibility. Or he'd started it...

...

"He didn't..." Kurogane breathed but honestly couldn't be too certain. Fai had acted a lot stranger than normal last night. He couldn't put any possibilities from mind. He closed his eyes and set a hand at his head, once again trying to sort his thoughts to an acceptable level.

There was nothing wrong with a little violence as far as Seishirou was concerned. It had been somewhat refreshing even, sensing the electricity in the air. Not to mention having Subaru to keep him company, willing Subaru to be exact. Now, it had been the most entertaining breakfast for a long time.

When the nurses came to collect him, he had not resisted. There was little to accomplish with that. He had given Subaru a smile as a parting gift and then went nicely with the nurse, chattering with him until the familiar door sailed across the hallway towards them.

Seishirou had thought he'd be spending this day alone in his room as well. He had not seen his roommate around much when there had been one, and lately, he had begun to like his solitary space. Not that it really mattered in the end. Today, however, there was a man, sitting on the bed, dark, tall and handsome. Much like Seishirou himself. Isn't that just a pleasant coincident?

"Good day," he greeted as he stepped in, a curious smile upon his lips, one amber eye studying the stranger meticulously.

He'd had his eyes closed when the voice had sounded but he hadn't needed to see to recognize it. It was imprinted in his mind along with every other detail of his journeys. Sifting through the haze took a moment, but once he managed it, his attention snapped to as best it could.

"You...!" he hissed, tone hardening instantly as his eyes came up. Focus wasn't needed either; he knew who he was looking at. Tall, dark, ~~handsome~~ with that calm look of a murderer. Seishirou.

The drugs refused to let him process enough. He couldn't think that it might not be the man he had once attempted to kill, couldn't think that he wasn't in any condition to face him were it the same man, and couldn't think to stop himself from moving against the man right after he entered. All that was important was not letting himself be caught off guard in such a state, and that meant making the first move. If noting else, Kurogane was at least acting on a defensive impulse.

"Me?" Seishirou murmured, surprised. However, he wasn't incapable of recognizing a tone of pure anger and disdain. Obviously he had done something to piss off this person.

Ah well, life was complicated like that.

Without wasting time, he brought up his fingers that were still entangled with the fuda he had pulled out at the cafeteria, muttered few words and hold onto the invisible shield that spread around him from the bloodied piece of paper wrapped around his fingers.

"It seems introductions are needless?" he purred, a slight chuckle escaping his lips.

It really didn't help that Seishirou wasn't himself thinking of solving the apparent mix up. His purring only served to convince the drugged Kurogane of his authenticity. And that damn smile was there too, the one he'd kept after "killing" two of Kurogane's party. Even if things had worked out and no one had ended up truly dead due to the illusion, the actions Seishirou had taken had been real. There was no illusion covering that he had attacked and "killed" both Fai and Syaoran. This person, whether right or not, would never be trusted by the Ninja.

His slow movements affected his speed in striking, but did not stop him from throwing a large fist towards Seishirou's head as hard and as fast he could. He couldn't even use his dominating right for how his shoulder had been injured, but that didn't matter so much. He was slow, he was injured, and he couldn't focus for the life of him, but at least he had attacked first.

That was all that mattered right then... or so he had thought before Seishirou had quickly moved to defend. Kurogane didn't stop at Seishirou's actions and let his fist strike whatever magic the man had conjured with the spell. Maybe he still had enough of his strength to do something with the strike. Or maybe he was about to get seriously overpowered. The next few moments were crucial for the outcome.

The stranger's fist met an invisible shield before even nearing Seishirou's face. The assassin frowned a little at the strength of the blow, being forced to take few steps back to gain his balance again, arm hurting. Few hits alike and Seishirou's hand would be numb. He hoped, however, that this would be the last one.

"You obviously seem to think I deserve a beating. Care to enlighten me on the matter of whys and hows?" Seishirou didn't think he had ever seen the new 'roomie', which of course didn't mean the man couldn't hold some grudge against him. Seishirou had killed so many people in his life that it was very doubtful that there wouldn't have been a lot of grieving relatives and loved ones left behind. It was not often that someone recognized him, however. Slightly unnerving.

He kept the shield between them, danced few steps to the side, and then waited. Whatever the man's problem was, Seishirou felt as if there was no point in actually fighting him.

His knuckles felt the pain of smashing into some unseen force, but he paid that no mind. Bruising his hand was nothing major so long as he managed something with the action. Forcing his opponent off balance was good and gave him a bit of an advantage, but Kurogane didn't manage the follow up. He stopped himself, still keeping on guard as he watched Seishirou fall back into his stance.

Something wasn't right. He felt it the moment Seishirou attempted to feign ignorance. Did he honestly think denying his earlier actions would make up for having committed them? No, that wasn't how this person worked. Kurogane had only clashed swords with him once before, and he knew it wasn't in this man's nature to deny anything. He'd admitted plainly to "killing" Kurogane's companions, after all, and without flinching.

He attempted to sort out just why something felt off about the other, but wasn't able to. There was still just enough haze keeping the answer from forming, but it was there at the tip of his thoughts. He couldn't wait for his mind to land on it though, not with this enemy before him. Whether things felt right or not, Seishirou did "deserve a beating", (as he had put it) and Kurogane would personally provide one if he could manage. After he got some answers.

"Why are you here?" he barked, ignoring Seishirou's question. The "hows" and "whys" were obvious and didn't need explaining. "Is this place your doing?" he followed with, giving the room a quick side-glance. Denial may not have been his style, but worlds that made no sense fell right into Seishirou's style.

So, either Roomie knew something about Seishirou, or he didn't like the fact that he wasn't the only 'tall, dark and handsome' around. The question was whether Seishirou wanted to know his reasons or not - did it really matter?

The fact that someone out there hated his guts was a bit troublesome, he'd have to be on his toes. But he wouldn't lose his appetite over being hated. However, he'd have to share a room with this man, and if nothing else, Seishirou hated the idea of having his dinner ruined every day by fighting over something he didn't know anything about.

Well, then, he was left with the choice of placating the situation somehow.

"I'm afraid I'm more clueless than you might have hoped for," he started, offering Roomie a warm smile for his efforts. "I'm hopelessly uneducated on both topics. Why are you here, Roomie?" He sounded friendly, if a little amused.

"I think we started off the wrong foot, don't you think? Maybe we can start over again. I'm Sakurazuka Seishirou, nice to meet you."

There was that denial again. Since Seishirou wasn't making any moves to attack, Kurogane only kept his guard and waited, thoughts still processing. This man had nothing to gain by denying the situation. It should have been pretty damn obvious that he wasn't ever going to earn any trust from the Shinobi, so why was he continuing like this? He didn't even sound as though he recognized Kurogane.

... and then it hit.

Dammit!

Putting a hand to his head, Kurogane closed his eyes and gritted his teeth in a low growl. Right, different worlds. How had he not managed to remember that?! This person had no reason to deny anything only because he wasn't denying anything. Remembering things one hadn't done was impossible, after all.

Kurogane opened one eye and set it on the other. He could only manage to grunt at the smile offered him in "introductions". No matter how he looked at it, he hated that look. The smile was as fake as Fai's and far more dangerous; it betrayed Seishirou's nature easily. How many this man had actually killed wasn't so important as him actually being a killer. He may not have been the one Kurogane had fought against, but it seemed that different worlds did not necessarily mean different natures. This Seishirou was just as dangerous as the one he'd met.

That alone kept Kurogane from lowering his guard, even if he had technically been the one in the wrong. "Kurogane..." he muttered out through still gritted teeth.

The name said nothing to Seishirou, not that he had expected that, either. Brows arching curiously, he considered offering his hand for a brief second and then decided against it. Why strain the momentary peace he had seemed to be able to reach here?

"Nice to meet you, Kurogane-san," he said smilingly instead, dropping the shield now that he observed it would get both draining and probably useless as well.

"Now, how about getting to know each other a bit?" He chuckled and sidestepped towards his bed, one amber eye intent on Kurogane. "It seems you already know me. But unfortunately I don't share the same privilege. We're probably going to share this room for quite a while. Why not get comfortable?"

It wasn't as "nice to meet you" for Kurogane. He didn't do introductions well, especially not when it came to people he already mistrusted before even meeting them.

For now, he only watched in silence, cautious of any actions Seishriou might take. Even with the realization of this being a different Seishirou (and an apparently older one as well, as he could now tell), he wasn't about to drop his guard. Doing so would have been stupid. He was sharing a room with a damn killer!

Would he ever be able to get any rest?

Slowly he retook his original seat on his bed, eyes never once leaving his "roommate" as he did. The anger had gotten him dizzy again, so he couldn't see more than the blurred outline of the other, but he had to at least feign awareness in this situation. He couldn't afford not to.

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Day 30: Staff, Morning

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