damned_institute | Day 35: Bus 1

Sanji woke up groggily to find his nurse already in his room. He gave a sleepy and half-hearted "Buh?" before realizing that nurse meant dayshift, and he'd fallen asleep after dinner.

"Shit!" He sat up abruptly, which gave his nurse a start. "Nami-swan!" How had he allowed himself to sleep through an entire night? What if she'd tried to return to the basement? What if she'd been waiting for him to appear and protect her? He'd let her down!

"There, there. Calm down." His nurse set a familiar flannel shirt down on the bed and Sanji eyed it with confusion. The last time he'd worn that had been... "Sorry I didn't knock or anything, but I was so excited~!" A pair of jeans followed the shirt. "Today is the field trip into town! Aren't you looking forward to it?"

The chef had to admit, the town had been an interesting enough place the last time he'd been. If he could find Nami early on he might even be able to lead her around... So he didn't complain too much as he changed into the other outfit (which he really wished they'd let him keep - anything was better than the regular gray) and was led out to the first of the buses.

He took a seat near the front, hopefully easily visible to any of his crew - especially to a certain member of his crew.

[for Usopp!]

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"It's not all that common of a name where I come from," Ritsuka noted absently as he finished rolling a ball out of his piece of muffin. It was small enough now that he wouldn't really have to chew it much to eat it. He hated chewing food. Such a bother. Popping the muffin bit into his mouth, he started on another piece, avoiding the nuts. "Um...well, all I know is what I read in the comic book, if it's the same thing, you know? Some genius got really bored and found a book and he killed criminals with it and people started calling him 'Kira.' I didn't get very far because comics are kind of a low priority compared to eating lunch so no one complains to the teachers or whatever."

What else did he remember about the comic though? What had it been called? Death...something. Death Book? Death...? Since it was real to whoever this guy was, Ritsuka figured the name of the comic didn't really matter. "I don't really remember any names right now, but I didn't read very far. There was the main guy, and the shinigami, R-something, and..uh...." Ritsuka bowed his head, looking at the muffin sheepishly. "Sorry, I can't really remember much else. It was awhile ago."

The brown bag in Mello's lap crinkled as his grip tightened on its folded edge. He hadn't been hungry to begin with, but now, all trace of appetite had vanished into a tight, queasy feeling that might have turned into panic if his usual defenses hadn't stepped in.

No. Fuck no. There was a rational explanation for this, and someone was fucking with him. Near? Artemis? Perhaps even L, in some sort of test. Maybe Landel himself. It didn't matter. What mattered was that this was a falsehood designed to lure him into self-doubt, and Mello was far, far too smart to fall for that. He was furious that someone would even attempt it

He gritted his teeth. "This was in Japan, right? What year? Do you remember the killer's real name? What he looked like? Any of the other characters?" The friendliness had left his voice, but his tone wasn't threatening. Eavesdroppers familiar with Mello's moods would have noticed a sharp line of fear through his determination, but to everyone else, he sounded intently focused.

The sight of the stranger's hands gripping the paper bag like that sent alarms ringing through Ritsuka's mind. Something that he said had set the stranger off. Maybe Soubi was right and he shouldn't have come to talk to him. It didn't matter now though because Soubi wasn't on this bus to save him if things went wrong.

No, no - there was no reason to think that this guy was going to go nutso on him. Especially not here, in the middle of a crowded bus with nurses everywhere. He was probably just thinking or had an unconscious nervous tic or something.

Raising his eyes, Ritsuka looked at the nameless boy next to him and tried to sound as calm as possible. He was probably failing, but the last time someone had tensed up at something he said, he ended up with a cut over his eye and a fork in his hand. "Yeah, Japan. The manga ran until 2006, I think. I saw a few volumes here and there, but never bought any. Um, can't remember his real name, but it was written in kanji and read in English or something. Kind of nondescript looking, but the manga-ka was really good at drawing expressions." Ritsuka paused and shuffled his bag in his lap nervously. Was he saying the wrong things again? "Um...the other characters didn't really have names. They went by letters all the time. Can't remember what letters though."

Mello swallowed hard and stared at the bag in his hand for a quiet second. His body remained tense and his mind was taut, but he forcibly reminded himself that he would deal with this as he dealt with everything: efficiently. The apparent calm that descended over him it was as eerie as the eye of a hurricane.

"You probably shouldn't tell anyone else about this series," he said, looking up at Ritsuka. Mello crossed one leg over his knee and gave a calculated, thoughful hum. "If it's about serial killers and the people trying to catch them, some people are going to want that information kept secret, you know?" His voice was friendly once again, but when he offered a smile there was something missing from the expression. "But thanks for the information."

Crap. The guy wasn't normal. Ritsuka really had opened a can of worms by posting to that stupid bulletin. Why couldn't he ever learn to keep his mouth shut? Whatever Ritsuka said that resonated with the stranger set the man on edge and Ritsuka felt like running before anything bad could happen.

Then, just as suddenly as the tension had descended, it was gone. Ritsuka didn't like the smile though. It wasn't a real one and even with how friendly the stranger was acting now, it wasn't right. Ritsuka wished Soubi were on his bus now, if only to have a reason to get away. "...right. I won't tell anyone else." The muffin lay in his lap and Ritsuka quickly picked it up and stuffed it back into his paper bag. "It's, uh, no problem about the information, but you never told me your name."

Day 35: Bus 1

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