Day 30: Arts and Crafts Room (Third Shift)

[rectifies.livejournal.com]

[Bother away~]

It was surprising how quickly the staff had lifted the lockdown, particularly for those who had a hand in this morning's "incident". Ken was certain they were going to be stuck in their rooms until nightfall and thus, felt wary of the intercom's announcement. Partly for possible ulterior motives, partly for the fact they were treating them as children.

This whole situation was one glorified time-out, when he thought about it.

Still, there were some benefits to the matter, which the nurse was now spelling out for him. "....choice of the Sun Room, the Music Room, the Game Room, or the Arts and Crafts Room--"

"Wait." Ken stopped short in the middle of the hallway. "Excuse me, but did you say Arts and Crafts Room?"

The nurse nodded and smiled. "Would you like to go there?" she asked. "You deserve it, considering you were so good during today's ordeal."

Perfect. He was hoping for a place to finish the copy of the map he had planned to give Yukari. This "Arts and Crafts" Room should have something more eye-catching than pens. (Blue and black ink were boring selections.) With a nod of approval, Ken allowed himself to be escorted.

In five minutes, the boy managed to assemble several choice markers and four sheets of white paper, which he took to one of the round tables in the room. There, he set to work, using the map within his journal pages as a reference.

Comments

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Liking his current life was the whole reason 'Takaya' exisited. He scowled again down at his hands and snorted. "Whatever."

He turned his glare back to her. "What's your name?"

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

Her smile turned a little more genuine; he wouldn't ask if he disliked her. "Sumeragi Hokuto. And you are?"

He'd been right about everyone being on edge; because of that, she knew better than to take anything personally. He was harsh, but he wasn't a jerk.

And if he reminded her of Subaru, he probably needed a friend.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Didn't sound like another Kanshosha's name...

"Ougi Takaya." He considered her for another moment.

"How many times have you done this?" He didn't personally know how many times Kagetora had died, and he didn't really want to, but this might give him an idea of age.

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

Hokuto just blinked a few times, looking down at the collage she was working on for a moment before she realized what he probably meant. "Died--? I only remember one. My grandmother said once that I'm an older soul than I might seem," she offered. "She's an onmyouji, the 12th head of our family, so she wasn't just guessing."

Well, this was interesting!

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

Onmyo..... Oh. That explained a lot.

"Then you know alot about crap like 'spirits' and stuff, right?" He wondered if she knew anything about Possessers...

He shrugged. "Someome told me that almost everyone goes through lots of live. You only remember one though. I don't know if it's true or not."

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

"I trained to become one myself," Hokuto nodded. "I wasn't powerful enough, but my brother is. And I know everything he does, I just can't do the techniques."

She thought for a second... more about what color the next row should be than the question Takaya had asked. "Only one life at a time, usually," she said. "Between lives you remember it all, but most of us don't consciously remember previous lives while we're living a new one." Unconsciously, at least a little more stayed, but that was another matter.

[forgot-my-life.livejournal.com]

"Only if you're lucky," Takaya mumbled, glaring once more at the colored paper as though it were the source of all evil that had ever befallen him.

Stupid wars, stupid place, stupid glue and stupid, fucking Naoe. His glare sharpened again and he fought the urge to lash out.

[akarusa.livejournal.com]

Eventually, she was sure, a fresh start would be nice. But until then, no matter how much it hurt, she was staying tied to this life as long as Subaru did.

As for Sei-chan... she didn't know. But she'd placed her trust in him before, and she wasn't about to give it up now.

Hokuto glanced up at Takaya, a little suddenly. He was even more tense then he'd been--like a coil ready to spring. Something in his eyes gave her the impression she might want to give him some space...