damned_institute | Day 31: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

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Day 31: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

Though perhaps not entirely as successful as he wanted it to be, Homura walked away from lunch feeling satisfied with his efforts. Roland and Fai both had shown interest in the goal, and that was enough for the moment. Homura could be patient, had already been for five hundred years, and felt no harm in waiting another five hundred if he had to. He would have his goals realized, no matter what obstacles he faced, be they from the prison or those trapped within.

But now was time for business of a different sort, and the demi-god made his way to the Sun Room, near the common board. He made sure he could be seen from the entrance to the cafeteria, knowing that one stranger and one member of his own group both wanted to meet with him. It worked out well enough, especially given that the stated purpose of the History Club was simple.

Revenge and escape.

For now, Homura had no intention of revealing that it'd grown more complicated than that.

[Waiting for L and Junior]

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She made a face. "I know what you mean! I think I've been here... nine days? But I'm really not sure." She rubbed her forehead, still trying to remember exactly how long it had been. "The days and nights seem to blur together after a while." She wished that she'd had the presence of mind to make note of each passing day from the beginning, but she supposed it didn't really matter that much.

She paused, a thought occurring to her. "I wonder who the first prisoners here were?" That was potentially a very morbid line of thought, though. Hopefully Kadaj wouldn't be too put off by it.

Kadaj shrugged. "I think Alex was one of them, but she's not here anymore. A lot of people aren't." Like she didn't already know that. Nine days wasn't as long as he'd been around, but it was fair to assume that she'd seen enough by now to not be surprised by that.

After a short pause, he added, "I think Roy or Hughes might know. They're part of the Cooking Group-- heard of it? If not, well, there's always asking on the bulletin. I think people would flock if you called out the first of us, though, so it might not be the best idea. You might scare them off."

Rukia nodded, very much aware that a lot of people who showed up there didn't stay around for long. Alex didn't ring a bell, but the other names definitely sounded familiar. "Roy..." she murmured. "Oh, Colonel Mustang, right? Yes, I've met him; he made an excellent weapon for me."

She shrugged. "I guess it doesn't really matter who was here first, or even here the longest, but I can definitely see people going a bit nuts over it. I certainly wouldn't want that kind of popularity." Letting out a small, somewhat embarrassed laugh, she added. "I guess I was just thinking out loud before."

Roy was just so popular, wasn't he? Annoying, really, but mainly because it meant it would take even longer for him to get his own weapon finally made. He might not have found Roy first, but since he'd been around the institute longer than Rukia had, that should mean he should have seniority rights or something, right? Well, whatever. "Yes, him," Kadaj settled for saying. "He's very helpful." Probably an understatement, but that wasn't his problem.

"There's nothing wrong with thinking out loud," he continued, giving her an odd look. "Finding whoever's been here the longest would be helpful, I think, but you'd need to be sneaky about it, wouldn't you? Should be fun, if you do it right." He wouldn't mind seeing that, but then he wasn't so sure Rukia was the person for the job. She didn't seem impressive enough.

"He is," she agreed, "Though I think that comes along with being a military man. At least, a good military man." There were, of course, plenty of sleazy, useless people in military organizations, but those who were there for the right reasons were noble of character. In Rukia's experience, anyway.

She pursed her lips, thinking over Kadaj's words. "Hm, they might have some insights into the way this place works," she said, thinking of her earlier discussion with Ryuga. "Maybe they've noticed patterns or flaws that the rest of us haven't seen yet..." She grinned; it did sound like fun. "Kind of like detective work, huh?"

Kadaj's expression darkened. Military men, pah. Roy and Hughes were all right, and so was Sagara, but in his experience, military men only led to trouble. Those three were just the exceptions, right? "... Right," he muttered, half to himself. He had to be polite, even if she was wrong.

"Detective work? I suppose so. You'd have to ask them to find out, though." He wasn't terribly interested himself, but that was only to be expected. Unless it had to do with tracking down Mother, engaging in "detective work" himself was just so... menial. Better leave it to someone else while he focused on something more important. "If not Roy and Hughes, then... hm." He pointed out the short, spiky-haired kid-- what was his name again? S-something-or-other, right? Whatever. "He's been around awhile too, hasn't he? He was here when I arrived, I think."

Rukia tilted her head, asking mildly, "I take it you don't agree?"

Looking to where Kadaj indicated, she nodded. "Yeah, that's Sora. I didn't realize he's been here that long!" Poor kid. He was certainly very good at staying cheerful though. Well, at the moment he looked a little sad, but Rukia couldn't hear his and Renji's conversation well enough to tell what they were talking about.

Shifting slightly, Rukia settled more comfortably against the back of the couch. "So, Kadaj, what have you been doing to keep yourself occupied? If you don't mind me asking..."

"And what, oh, what could have given you that idea? It's none of your business anyway. Long story, too, so unless you're in the mood for it, I don't really think I want to tell you." ... So much for being polite. Kadaj hadn't meant for that to happen, but really, he didn't feel like talking about it right now.

He didn't have much to say on the topic of Sora, so he merely offered a shrug before moving onto the next subject. "This and that. Are you really interested, or are you just asking for the sake of asking?" A relevant question, and one he was perfectly willing to hide behind because, quite frankly, he didn't have much of an answer. A little bit of everything, it seemed like.

"Trying to get out," he added eventually, sounding uncertain. "The same as everyone else, right? Unless you meant what I do during the day, which is much less concrete. Exciting, isn't it?"

Rukia blinked, a bit taken aback by his sudden shift in attitude. Her first instinct was to snap back at him, but she had just finished speaking with Kurogane about Fai, who was very touchy about his past. Maybe this was a similar situation? Maybe something very painful had happened to Kadaj, and he was still bothered by it.

"It's up to you," she said after a moment. "I would like to hear your story, but I don't want to pry, either." Well, she did want to pry, but that might just make Kadaj angry, and then her curiosity would never be satisfied.

She considered his next question for a moment before answering. "No, I'm genuinely interested. After all, you might have found much better ways of passing the time than I've discovered." Which was the truth. Plus, finding out might give Rukia some insight into the young man before her. He couldn't have been more than 16 or 17, she thought, but he acted even younger.

"Oh, I don't know if that's everyone's goal," she commented. "Me, for example, I'm not leaving until I've gotten revenge." Perhaps that would pique his interest.

"... Ask me again later." That seemed like a reasonable enough compromise to him. Wouldn't kill her to be patient, either, so even if he did change his mind at some point in the conversation, he'd at least have fun making her wait.

"I doubt I've found better ways," he muttered, giving her another strange look. "There isn't much to do during the day. Talk to people, post on the bulletin board-- things like that, you know? If Yazoo were still here, I'd be talking to him or we'd be bothering the president, but both of them are gone now. It's a shame, really; that was the highlight of my day.

"And I'm... interested in getting out first. Mother's waiting for me. Once I get her, we're coming back for revenge. Might as well make it a family affair, especially after what they did to her."

Rukia arched an eyebrow. "Okay," she said, chuckling, "I'll do that."

"Who's Yazoo," she asked, assuming he had been one of the many patients to disappear. "And the president? Maybe if he's fun to pester I could help you." It was mostly a joke, but Rukia did delight in irritating certain people.

Frowning, Rukia said, "Oh, was your mother here before, too?"

... Fine, he'd taunt her about it later.

"Yazoo's my brother. Did you know him?" She probably didn't, but Kadaj felt the need to ask anyway. Maybe she'd be able to tell him if she saw him later. There were supposed to be new patients arriving soon, right? Talking much faster now, he went on, saying, "He's taller than me and has longer hair, just so you know. He can be a little cold, but that's just because people are people, you know?

"The president, on the other hand, is... the president. Rufus Shinra of Shin-Ra Electric Power Company. Very pompous, absolutely infuriating, and always knows more than he says. He has blond hair and blue eyes, for the record, but since he isn't here..." He gave her a thoughtful look and smirked faintly, saying "I might take you up on offer that if she shows up again. Should be fun, right?"

He went quiet at the question about Mother, though, almost visibly deflating and withdrawing a little as he considered the question. He wasn't even sure he wanted to answer, but after staring off to the side for a moment, he said quietly, "Yes, she was here. She visited me before, but-- have you been visited by anyone? You know what it's like."

She shook her head. "No, I never met him, but I'm pretty sure I saw someone fitting his description a few times. I'm sorry he's gone. Then again, he's probably better off not being here, but it's... hard to lose someone after they've been here." It had only been two days since her brother had vanished, and slightly longer than that for Ichigo.

She didn't really know how to respond to Kadaj's comment about people being people, so didn't.

There were quite a few people with blonde hair and blue eyes, so she really didn't know who he meant. Regardless, the man was apparently no longer here either. Returning the smirk, Rukia nodded. "All right. It's a deal then." Who knew if this Rufus Shinra would show up again?

"Oh, a visitor," Rukia murmured, looking down. "Yeah, my Vi- a friend of mine who died, he came to see me..."

... Sounded like she spoke from personal experience. How lovely. And how many people did that make now that the Head Doctor had taken away from them? Kadaj wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that some person he'd never known that was close to Rukia was gone now, but still, it was irritating to know that the bastard hadn't been killed for this yet. He'd need to fix that.

"They'll be back," he muttered. "If not, we'll see them again when we get out."

He tilted his head at her after that, curiosity distracting him just enough from the subject of Mother that he no longer felt the need to avoid looking at her. It hadn't been doing much for him in the first place, but... well, whatever. "Bittersweet, isn't it?" he asked, giving her a smile that was only millimeters away from becoming a grimace. "They shouldn't have gone through what they did. It isn't fair at all. I wonder if there was anything we could have done for them?"

Rukia nodded and smiled, trying to be positive. "You're right. It's still hard, though, you know?" She was sure he did.

She bit her lip, thinking. "I dunno," she muttered. "My friend, Kaien... I don't even think he was a prisoner here before. Well, maybe he was, but he didn't mention it. It's..." She looked up at Kadaj again, eyes full of confusion. "How do they make them believe all those things? Kaien was too strong for that I- I have to believe it wasn't really him."

"Yeah, it is." Of course he knew. Kadaj wished he didn't, but there it was. Wasn't Landel's such a wonderful place?

He went quiet again at what she said about Kaien, bowing his head for a moment and suddenly seeming very intent on the blue rug in the center of the room. "... I don't know how they make them believe," he said, brow furrowing. "I think it is them, but--" He broke off, eyes shifting to the other side. "If it wasn't Mother, I don't know where I'll go when this is over." And if it wasn't Mother, did that mean she was out of his reach forever? No, it had to be her. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

He looked so sad; Rukia was sorry for having let the conversation move in the direction it had. "Sorry," she said quietly, then with more energy, "You're right, though. No sense in us talking about this!" It was unproductive at best, and even though she looked young, it was Rukia's part as one of the adults to keep the kids' spirits up. She didn't like kids as much as Renji did, but she still remembered what it was like to be one, and how sometimes all she had wanted was someone to tell her it would be all right.

"Besides, we'll all get out of here. With so many people working together, it's just a matter of time before we find the cracks in the walls, so to speak. We'll destroy this place, and then you'll see your mother and friends again."

Leaning forward, she lowered her voice conspiratorially, "I know some people have been to the basement. Have you?"

Kadaj gave her a grateful smile. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all? He'd been beginning to have his doubts, but she seemed all right now. That was a relief. "You're right; it's only a matter of time now. They'll pay for everything they've done."

Time to talk about something different, though. The basement wasn't quite what he'd been thinking of, but now that she mentioned it... "No, actually," he whispered back, unconsciously imitating her. "I've been busy. Why? Have you? What's it like down there?" He'd need to bother Roy about it later if he was really missing out. After how dull last night had been, a little excitement would go a long way, and a lot of excitement would be positively miraculous. Wasn't that how it worked?

"No," she pouted, "I haven't. I heard there are stairs leading down to it, and, well..." She made a face, gesturing to the wheelchair next to where she was sitting on the couch, as well as the mass of bandages on her foot and knee.

"But I should be able to get around all right tomorrow night, so maybe my Captain will assign me to one of the teams going down there." She hadn't had much luck on the second floor, so maybe the basement would prove more promising.

That was a shame; he'd been hoping to find someone who had managed to go down to the basement, but... oh well. Maybe later. "Let me know if you do?" he said, smile widening slightly. "I'm not sure I'll be lucky enough to assigned to check the basement myself, but since I don't think I will, hearing about it from someone is almost as good, right?"

There was, however, one very wrong thing in her statement that was beginning to bother Kadaj. He'd seen several people call themselves and others "captain" on the bulletin board, and while Rukia could just be referring to that, he wasn't entirely sure that was the case. Had he run into another military type without realizing it? Just how many were there in the institute anyway?

Rukia grinned. "I will! I can even draw you some illustrations of what it looks like, if I get the chance to go down there."

When the intercom came on, Rukia's smile faded, but returned quickly when she heard the menu. "Dinner actually sounds good!" she commented as a nurse approached. "Well, it was really nice to meet you, Kadaj. Maybe we can talk again, and definitely let me know if that Rufus guy shows up again, okay?

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Day 31: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

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