damned_institute | Day 36: Arts & Crafts Room

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Day 36: Arts & Crafts Room

The nurse had told Wash he could go anywhere he wanted and the thought Is home included in that? crossed his mind, but that sounded too pathetic to say aloud, even for him. So he silently eenie meenie minie moe'd through his options, ended up choosing the Sun Room, and then promptly decided the Arts and Crafts room would be more interesting. At least there might be stuff he could fiddle with and distract himself.

A part of him couldn't decide if he was relieved or not he didn't get a visitor. He didn't think it would've gone the way a proper visit was supposed to go, but...

He stepped into the room and sat down at an empty table, rifling through the materials absently. This place looked much too cheerful. Although maybe that was better than looking much too scary, but it was so cheerful it was almost scary and now he was starting to confuse even himself.

After a second, he picked up a pair of scissors (these weren't scissors, they were more like plastic chopsticks) and a sheet of construction paper and began cutting.

[hi Badou~]

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Hikaru didn't actually move when the shift change. He just watched as the nurse came and got Danny Boy and carted him off to parts unknown. How come he got called by his real name, but they didn't? It wasn't fair.

Speaking of they...

He grinned when he saw that his brother had ended up in here too. Excellent. "There's a guy here who's been at the Institute for a whole week but still didn't know that they call us fake names here," he told Kaoru as he sat down. "They already call him by his real name. How lame is that?"

Kaoru smiled to his brother and put the pencils down. The smile faded, of course, with this outrageous news.

"That's bullshit!" he huffed. "What is he, a special case or something?"

Kaoru sighed and picked up a coloured pencil, shading in a part of the very short skirted nurse's outfit.

"Thought I'd come up with uniforms for Tamaki," he grinned. Obviously these weren't the ones that'd get made. Just the ones that'd make Tamaki react. If only Haruhi was here. They could joke about dressing her up in one (or seriously try). It just wasn't going to work with Ed. About 39% of their Tamaki teasing was lost now.

For whatever reason, whether if be because of his mild outburst or an ulterior motive of some fashion, Mikami was once again denied the choice in where he was being escorted to. He was in a noticeably sour mood when marched into the Arts and Crafts room by the orderlies and nurse, and quiet due to the unusually hectic pattern of angry and confused thoughts rushing through his head like a tide in fast-forward.

What was this institute trying to prove? Younger than he should be or not, he had met Light, Kira, in person just a few hours previously. What would trying to tell him his god was dead do? If Kira was killed, no, likely martyred, what would it mean if it came true in his own world (and what sort of plan would be behind an event of that kind)? Was Landel's just trying to bother him with the knowledge that they knew his past and of his mother? That the comment that Kira might have failed would bother him?

He wouldn't admit it to himself, but it had worked.

As almost a second thought, the magazine he had held onto from the lobby was extracted from his grip, and he was left standing by one of the exceedingly ugly tables. Of course, they continued to linger nearby, likely keeping an eye out should he or anyone else provide any... excitement.

After a moment, his eyes slid to the teenage boys occupying the table he'd been left near. For a brief moment, he eyed them suspiciously, thinking that he was seeing double, then realized blandly that the two were twins. Had be been any less distracted, he might have taken the time to be irritated at the thought of trying to tell them apart without the power of the Shinigami Eyes.

"I guess." Hikaru shrugged. "I mean, what's so special about him, anyway? He just seemed like a normal kid. Why does he get to keep his name, and we don't?" He ranted in this vein for a while before quieting down and studying his brother's work. It was pretty good. Kaoru had definitely inherited their mother's gift for fashion design. "Milord won't be too happy about that," he said, grinning. "I think his brain might explode if we got Ed into that, but I don't think he'd let us after his little French lesson. Boring."

Hikaru never stopped talking, never gave any indication that he'd noticed the ~~religious fanatic~~ man standing near them, but his hand squeezed Kaoru's arm, just a little bit. His voice dropped to a hiss he knew only his brother could hear, lips not moving. "We're being watched. Wonder what his problem is."

Well, only one way to find out.

"Hey," the Host called to their would-be stalker. "I know we're stunning specimens of humanity and all, but it isn't polite to stare."

Edited 2008-10-22 08:03 (UTC)

"You see, this is what worried me. When we were back home....we could just tell Tamaki about putting a certain somebody into something cute. Will that work with Ed? They guy just... he can't pull it off. It's weird. We might have to start designing men's clothes of something for him. I figured we'd work on that Misa lady for now and get a ride out of both Milord and Light," Kaoru said, thoughtfully. He really had been thinking about this too much.

He looked up at the stalker.

"This place. It's just ripe with pedophiles," he whispered to his brother. Loudly.

Mikami leveled a look to the boy who had addressed him, then frowned even deeper at the other's "whispered" comment. He'd seen their type before... not much granted, but enough to know that they thought themselves clever and funny, and there wasn't much you could do to them short of drastic measures to convince them otherwise.

But despite the knot of tension practically personifying him at the moment, their conversation concerning the discrepancy in names did interest him. "I wasn't staring with the intention of making you uncomfortable," he said, stepping closer. "I heard you talking about false names here and was curious." Naturally, the mention of Light and "milord" caught his attention as well, although so far he wasn't aware of anyone the name "Misa" or "Ed" could be applied to... nor why harassing either would distress the men he figured they were referring to.

He was still agitated, but by now his stoic nature was working to hide it. He crossed his arms and continued to regard them.

"Were you talking about Tamaki, perhaps?"

Oh, well then. The pervert was a bit offended, was he? And...wow. Hikaru blinked, shooting Kaoru a confused look. "Is it just me, or does he sound a lot like Kyouya?" It was almost uncanny, really. Kind of like how Tamaki and Light sounded so similar...

And why was he so curious about the names? "You were dropping some serious eaves there," Hikaru told the skeezy guy blandly, eyebrow raised. "What's it to you if we were? We've never seen you before, and we know Tamaki's friends here. You're not helping yourself in the 'No, actually, I'm not a pervert with a jailbait twin fetish' department." He grinned. "Unless that's what you're going for."

Kaoru elbowed his brother. The moment the man had spoken, Kaoru began staring at him, jaw dropped. He'd picked it up slowly and turned the look to one of suspicion. Leaning in towards his brother, he began to talk quietly.

"He doesn't just SOUND like him. Look. Tall. Lean. Glasses. Air of superiority. NO sense of humour. Immediate understanding of who 'Milord' is. Hikaru.... What if this is future!Kyouya?"

Either way, this could be fun. Light and Tamaki. Kyouya and.... this guy. Who was apparently curious about false names? Because he had one. Because he was really...

"Kyouya!" Kaoru shouted, standing up and pointing. He knocked something along the way and a small tub of glitter went flying at the man.

Fuck. He'd just glittered an Ootori!

".....oops?"

Edited 2008-10-23 14:48 (UTC)

Of course, Mikami was unaware of any similarities between himself and Ootori Kyouya. To him, the situation had made it quite obvious that the twin boys would be of no help, because even should they find themselves somehow capable of setting aside their strange behavior, it was still highly unlikely it would be worth the trouble given their rudeness. He was just about to bluntly excuse himself and walk away amidst their continued whisperings when-

Kyouya? What--

The prosecutor realized an instant too late what was happening, and despite quickly trying to back away, was unable to avoid the main "spray" of glitter sent flying in his direction. To add insult to injury, the rest of it seemed to land directly at his feet. He left slipper-shaped holes when he stepped out of the mess in shock.

If there existed any gods of fortune, they were clearly laughing at Mikami as he stood struggling with a situation severely out of his element, struck utterly speechless by the level of purple and silver sparkle covering him from roughly the waist down. Vaguely, he attempted to swipe some of it off his pants, before noticing it had somehow gotten on his journal as well and he turned his attentions to it instead. He was going to be getting very angry any second now.

"Maybe, but I'm not convinced. He just needs to call up his private army and then--"

And then get covered in purple glitter.

Hikaru stared at the (admittedly) sad display in front of him for quite a while, mouth slightly agape. He didn't even know how to process what had just happened, but he was pretty sure that it was time to start thanking various deities for the bounty he and Kaoru had just received. As soon as that thought finally made it all the way through his head, he started to laugh. Loudly. He couldn't even breathe, he was laughing so hard. Tears of mirth streamed down his cheeks.

"S-sorry, Kaoru," he gasped, clutching his aching sides, "I can't top that. You win. I'm done."

This was just too beautiful.

Edited 2008-10-24 01:09 (UTC)

Kaoru stared bewilderedly at his brother. So much for being the older one. What happened to bailing his little brother out?!

He stared back at the guy. Well. What's done is done.

" (http://www.freewebjunk.com/glitter_text/)" he sang out loudly, grinning.

Edited 2008-10-24 01:26 (UTC)

It wasn't as if Mikami had never been laughed at... far from it, although the glitter was certainly a new touch. All throughout his early years of schooling, he had been beaten and humiliated a countless number of times, mercilessly teased about his hair and glasses and of course, his twisted morals and inability to mind his own business. He was assaulted with and without reason, tied up and left that way for hours at a time (sometimes with people still in the room, who would end up either simply ignoring him or continuing the abuse)... several times, a few of the more spiteful students had stripped him or strung him up in a tree for all to see after classes had ended. It wasn't until after high school that the physical abuse came to any sort of stop.

And had any sort of expert had the chance to look at young Teru, they would have noted that it isn't normal for a student to have the heart to continue gathering up his belongings each morning and go to face the day, despite the persecution of his and uselessness of his actions. Not once had his grades ever slipped from the high standards he held himself to, nor had he ever wavered in his convictions.

Now, Mikami was twenty-seven years old and shouldn't have had to deal with fending off the laughter of two boys who couldn't have been much older than sixteen. He was a prosecutor, and held a powerful position in his world - even outside his more recent acts as Kira's hand of justice, he had a reputation. He was known for pursuing harsh punishments for those set on the opposite side of the courtroom.

Hikaru and Kaoru didn't know him, but it hardly made a difference. It followed that anywhere one went, there was going to be people who delighted in the pain of others. They were the kind of people who had to be taught the ways of righteousness, and barring that, most likely needed to be eliminated completely.

But what could he do, in a place like this? The staff was watching his every move, and he had no Death Note (or even their names), and no real connections that would be beneficial in dealing with such a problem. He could always walk away, but he knew it would only encourage their "amusement" concerning him. For now, he had to put aside the dregs left from the day's stirring of his emotions and address this best he could.

"If you'd any shame or self-preservation at all, you would think to apologize for something like this," he said cooly as he readjusted his glasses. "And I'm afraid you'll have to put aside any intentions you had for 'partying' on my behalf... today is not my birthday."

Kaoru's reaction to the glitter sent Hikaru into another spasm of laughter. He was laughing so hard that his chest hurt, but he couldn't stop. Just seeing not!Kyouya's expression was enough to get him going again. He wouldn't be coherent enough to back Kaoru up any time soon, that was for certain.

"Holy...Fishlord." He was practically choking by now. "This is...too...perfect." Where the hell was a camera when you needed it most? Or a cell phone? Or a webcam? Something with megapixels! "A v-very Merry Un...unbirthday to you, sir!"

"To him or me or you?" Kaoru sang, no idea what the actual words were. Oh well, Kyouya had probably never seen the film anyway.

Unsure what to do, and deciding that instinct had cheered his brother up this far, Kaoru jumped up and rushed to the man's side.

"Oh I AM sorry. Very sorry. Our mother's a fashion designer, as you know," he began to babble as he brushed glitter off of the man, "we'll have some of her new designs sent straight your way. As for these! I can't apologise enough. By all means I'll pay for the dry cleaning!"

The man was tall and so Kaoru had to stand rather close and on his top toes to brush more of it out of the man's hair.

Edited 2008-10-24 23:04 (UTC)

"Stop," Mikami said shortly, flinching and trying to back away at the unwanted contact. Failing that, he attempted catching Kaoru's wrists and pushing the boy away amidst the brother's wheezing laughter. Although not outright malicious, their teasing was still entirely baseless, and Mikami was bothered to his core that the staff only stood by instead of interfering. He'd seen by now more than once what happened to patients who put themselves in violent situations, but clearly the nurses thought it more... charming to leave alone anything short of events that drew blood or bruises. Still, he was unwilling to risk it, and tried to keep his self-defensive measures non-threatening.

Mikami found himself suddenly contemplating any benefits to be taken from trying to erase twins with a Death Note. If there were any of the usual distinguishing marks between even the most identical twins on these two, Mikami wasn't able to see them. Although he assumed you did have to actually see the face of the person's whose name you wrote in the Note, it was still interesting to consider any mistakes to be made should you somehow consider the wrong one.

Then with a jolt, he suddenly realized what the one left clutching his sides had said moments before, and he was a little too late in hiding his wide-eyed reaction and he looked sharply over at the boy. Had they actually figured him out somehow? He didn't think it feasible they had attached him to the Kira-worshiper on the board, but in a place like this, it was probably not completely impossible. Knowing what he knew about these two, it wouldn't be surprising to find out one or both of them had been one of his harassers two days earlier, but if he were lucky, the "fishlord" thing was only an inside joke of some sort between them.

Edited 2008-10-25 02:20 (UTC)

"Kaoru, y-you'd...better let the poor guy be," Hikaru gasped, still very much out of breath. "He...isn't Kyouya, and I...think he's got major personal...space issues." If this guy was the Ootori of the Future, he would've recognized them. Even people who wanted nothing to do with the absolutely insane kids they'd spent high school with didn't usually forget a pair of identical twins in a hurry. Kyouya was Mr. I-Keep-Track-Of-Everything-That-Happens-On-This-Campus-In-Freaky-Detail himself. No way someone(s) he'd spent every single day with for his entire time in Ouran's high school section (unless Tamaki tried to disband the Host Club or do something equally idiotic again in the near future) would just go unnoticed like that. The weird, glittery person in front of them was just an unfortunate look- and sound-alike. He was no Ootori Kyouya.

After a several deep breaths and a lot of willpower, Hikaru finally managed to calm himself down to the point where he was actually semi-coherent, though a few snickers escaped here and there. But...really. Glitter. Purple glitter. If this wasn't one of Kaoru's best moments (to which he was a willing accomplice!), he didn't know what was. "We really are sorry about that. Kaoru didn't mean it, I swear. I'm Hikaru. Pleased to...uh...meet you?"

Edited 2008-10-25 08:32 (UTC)

Kaoru backed off, hardly bothered about being grabbed.

"He is too Kyouya. Just from another dimension and adopted by another family," he grinned to his brother over his shoulder.

He turned back to Kyouya-tron, still smiling and waved. "What's your name? And... I'm sorry. Let's just hope I don't get any Divine Judgment heading my way. Maybe I should up my good karma..." he said, thoughtfully. He had an idea that offering serviced to this guy wouldn't be appreciated. Some people we just no fun.

"How do you know Tamaki, anyway?" Kaoru asked. There was something else in his smile now. A mild warning. What would this guy want with their friend, huh?

Whoever this Kyouya was, it was apparent that not only was there a resemblance in their physical appearances, but their voices as well. Had it stopped there, perhaps it might not have seemed so strange. However, Light and Tamaki also held certain similarities, and therefore the matter seemed to call for further investigation.

"That would be a good start," he muttered blandly, then straightened with whatever dignity he could summon. "Mikami Teru," came the terse introduction, his eyes continuing to eye the standing twin with mild suspicion. He easily recognized the inflection in Kaoru's question... it was a common tactic.

"I met Tamaki over lunch two days ago. I-- assume you've noticed he and Yagami Light sound alike." He mentally chastised himself for nearly mentioning he'd mistaken the two, and subsequently revealing he'd only ever heard Kira's voice. "Yagami-san and I are... from the same world."

He paused. Given thought, he recognized that there were numerous risks in asking further about Tamaki, given the possible connections that might be assigned between the strangely blond teen and Light. Tamaki was certainly more... flamboyant, but even if he wasn't a god, clearly he still held power. As for these two, even if toned down, he hated to think there might be counterparts for them in his own Japan. Or rather, he hated to think what their "Kyouya" might be like.

Still. "Hikaru and...?" he prompted, staring once more at the twin who had not yet provided a name. He wouldn't be able to tell them apart later, but it was still beneficial to have both of their names, and if they'd provide it, their family name as well. He thought he could tell the "shift" was nearing its end, and wondered if it was possible to question them further about their world later, once he'd had time to consider approaching the answers he wanted in a less-suspicious manner.

Hikaru snorted. "Which would make him not Kyouya, don't you think?" Of course, then you got into problems of nature versus nurture and identity versus predestination that would make even Descartes' head spin (much less a fifteen year old boy's), so Hikaru decided he wasn't going to try to figure out any possible implications of that. Plus, he didn't have the time to spend thinking about it. He wasn't going to spend what little time there was left in the shift obsessing over random things ~~unlike some people~~.

So their new beglittered friend was named Mikami, huh? It was really weird, hearing a different name spoken with that voice, but Hikaru was starting to get used to it. 'Starting to' being the operative part of that phrase.

"Oh, Yagami-san! He's a friend. Saved my ass from some cats a while ago. Yeah, he and Tamaki do kind of sound alike, don't they? It was really weird at first." What did it mean, that both people who sounded so much like their friends from Ouran were from the same place? It was a weird coincidence, definitely. But, again, Hikaru wasn't touching that thought with a ten foot pole. There was a total stiff in front of them who was covered in bright purple glitter. Things didn't get any simpler than that.

Mikami was obviously fishing for names at this point, but since he and Kaoru had managed to completely ruin his day while they were making theirs, Hikaru figured that they at least owed him that much. "Kaoru. Hitachiin Hikaru and Kaoru." Hell, maybe their family name would be famous in whatever psycho world that Light and Mikami had come from too.

Edited 2008-10-26 22:12 (UTC)

"It makes him Other Kyouya," Kaoru argued, chuckling.

He listened to the man's reasoning. Something still didn't sit well with him and he tilted his head to the side. "Yagami....san?" The guy was only eighteen. And, yeah, there was something majorly off with him, but he tried his best to pretend he was just a nice guy and it generally worked well. So why would Mr Stiff Kyoukami use 'san'. What happened to 'kun', at least? He wasn't superior to this guy, surely? Hell, Tamaki was more deluded about his position in the world than Light and they never gave him that sort of respect. Just various other respects with their usual bored tone.

"How do you know each other?" he smiled. "Is there anyone there who sounds like us? Maybe we have voice twins. Hikaru! We might be quadruplets...imagine selling that...." It was confusing just to think about. It'd lose it's sweet edge and just become an orgy of annoyance.

He sat on the table and gave a little finger wave as he was introduced, waiting for recognition to sink in for the man.

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Day 36: Arts & Crafts Room

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