Day 30: Cafeteria, Dinner

[captain-hunam.livejournal.com]

The cafeteria was all but empty when Zelnick got there. He was a little disappointed; he had gotten the impression that patients usually ate dinner in their rooms, so he hadn't arranged to meet anyone, and there really wasn't anyone to sit by and engage in conversation yet.

Quietly, he collected dinner and a big glass of orange juice, and chose a seat near the food-serving counters. Talking for so long had made him thirsty... and, well, fruit juice was a luxury he had missed.

[Stalk away, my dearest Admiral. <3 ]

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[haiiro-no-chou.livejournal.com]

One of the orderlies eyed the notebook as Allen passed it back to Rukia. "Writing love letters?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

"N-no, of course not!" Rukia giggled. "We're communicating in a special language that can only be written, not spoken. It's very hard to learn." She nodded sagely, hoping the fabrication would throw the orderlies off. I could teach you, if you like..."

"Thanks," the orderly chuckled, "But I don't know if I'm smart enough to learn something like that." He didn't seem to want to continue the conversation after that, so Rukia just smiled and opened the notebook again.

So others had agreed with her theory. That was reassuring, anyway. And it seemed that Allen had less trouble getting his point across in writing. Rukia supposed that made sense, in a way; he could remove himself from the situation, just a little.

No, I guess you can't be 100% sure now, but if it attacked you, then I'm sure it wasn't your friend's brother. He wouldn't have done something like that, would he?

I think you should talk to her when you feel strong enough. If you're friends, it will only hurt her more not to speak to you. At least, that's how I would feel in her situation.

Rukia cursed the orderlies, and the fact that she was confined to a wheelchair; she wanted to sit next to Allen and lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. Instead, though, she simply passed the notebook back.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Allen watched the interaction for a moment, as Rukia spoke with the orderlies, but tried to maintain some distance. She was doing fine with keeping them from reading it and that was all that mattered.

He opened the notebook once again and read through it. Maybe it was true, maybe it had been something else. Sanji, Sasuke, Captain Hitsugaya... they all thought so. And now Rukia too. He wanted to believe that, he really did, but it made him feel like he was taking the easy way out. He couldn't let himself off so simply, not if Rinali didn't belive it. He'd tell her, when he finally did talk to her, though he still wasn't sure when that would be.

He wouldn't, but I heard that sometimes they set patients against one another. I think... it happened to my friend Ravi a few nights ago. I want to believe it wasn't him, but I have too many doubts right now. I'll speak with the other girl, I think she was one of yours. She- She would probably know better than I.

I'll see if I can speak with her tonight. I really don't want to trouble her right now and- I don't know if she'd want to see me.

He just wanted to make sure she stayed safe. This place had hurt her so much already, he didn't think he could bear it if it did anything more. With a sigh, Allen passed the book and the pen back across the table.

[haiiro-no-chou.livejournal.com]

Rukia read over Allen's note, nodding a couple times. Quickly - writing took so much longer than speaking! - she wrote:

Yes, they do make patients attack each other, but that's only every other night. Tonight will be one of those nights. Last night was when they experiment on patients. So it couldn't have been your friend under the control of the Institute.

The other girl? You mean another shinigami?

I think my best piece of advice right now is to make sure your friend knows that you care about her. I'm sure she needs your support right now.

Rukia knew from her own experience how much it hurt when a loved one was gone forever, and you never told them how you felt. When Kaien had died in her arms, she had been unable to say anything but his name. She still regretted not... thanking him, or saying something to let him know how much he had done for her.

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Allen read her note slowly, glancing up hopefully for a moment as if to ask if what she'd written was really true. Was it only on certain nights that they controlled the patients? There was always the chance, he supposed, that they might deviate from that, but it left a little more room for hope in his heart.

He shut the notebook without writing a response. They'd already said most of what he wanted to be kept candid. "Your friend. She was small, with dark hair too. But... she was definitely one of yours." She'd been able to do that strange healing ability that Renji had used on Rukia before, and while he'd been in an addled haze, his eye had still recognized what she was.

While Rukia might have been certain the Rinali wanted to speak with him, it was difficult for him to feel so self-assured. He remembered how upset she'd been as she yelled at them. Shut up! Just shut up! It was one of the last things he'd heard before morning. He'd only heard that kind of animosity in her voice a couple of times and it hurt to think that the words had been directed at him. "Ravi talked to her this morning," Allen told her. He tried to smile, but the gesture felt strange when he didn't mean it. "But I'll see what I can do." He owed her that much.

[haiiro-no-chou.livejournal.com]

Rukia caught the little glimmer of hope in Allen's eyes. She smiled and nodded, glad that she had given that to him.

"That would have been Vice Captain Hinamori, then," she confirmed, thankful that the other shinigami had been there to heal Allen and his friend. Unfortunately, she apparently hadn't been there during the attack, or she probably could have stopped the attack.

Rukia reached across the table to take Allen's hand again. "You can do it," she said, "No girl could ever really be mad at a young man as sweet as you."