Nightshift 36: M51-M60 Hallway

[tsunagari.livejournal.com]

It was a calm, collected ninja that stepped out of his room after the doors had opened, clan in the usual odd black attire. Perhaps a bit too calm. He spared his roommate merely a nod of farewell before leaving. He had both trowels on hand, though he doubted he'd have much need of them tonight.

He strode purposefully down the hallway, intent on getting to where he needed to be as quickly as possible, with a short stop at Usopp's along the way. This was easy enough to achieve since he and Mello were in the same block.

[to here]

Comments

[outside of M55]

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

Kenshin still wasn't quite used to all of the beef they served in this place. Either they were very, very rich here, or cattle was easier to come by in America. Both seemed like perfectly legitimate answers. Kenshin just knew that he'd probably eaten almost as much beef in his two weeks at Landel's as he had in the last several months, even with all of the trips they'd made to Akabeko and its Kyoto counterpart. It felt a little odd.

As soon as the doors unlocked, the rurouni carefully hobbled over to his bed and recovered his sword from its usual hiding place. He didn't bother with the stolen hakama tonight. It had been pretty well mutilated during the fight with Okita, and he had nothing with which to repair it. He used the sharp side of the sakabatou to cut a small slit in the waistband of his trousers, creating an impromptu loop for his sword. It was much more difficult than he thought it would be, especially with only one working arm.

That taken care of, he stepped outside of his room and waited, leaning against the door. He couldn't remember whether or not he'd told Matt his exact room number, even if the younger man had been there only a few nights previous. Better safe than sorry.

Re: [outside of M55]

[whohitreset.livejournal.com]

Well that was courteous of him. Matt turned the corner to find Kenshin waiting. He had to chalk it up to the man's over-politeness or else he might have been slightly offended that he thought Matt might not remember the room number.

"Hey," he greeted amiably. "Not planning on heading out somewhere without me, were you?" he asked, even though he was aware this wasn't the case.

Re: [outside of M55]

[tostepforward.livejournal.com]

Where Matt went, so did his shadow also.

Through several hallways and...into another one of the smaller halls? Was this building comprised of just bedrooms? Perhaps it was an inn of some kind, then. Though what sort of inn would abduct its residents and change them into unfamiliar clothing - no.

Ayumu stayed a short distance away from her unknowing guide as he paused to speak with someone else, listening without wanting to give herself away just yet. Perhaps their conversation would give her some idea of what was going on.

Re: [outside of M55]

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

"Oh no," Kenshin demurred, smiling pleasantly. "This one was just waiting for you. Did you make it over all right?" Robin had, of course (he'd made it over to Kenshin's room in almost record time, in fact), but the rurouni was nothing if not disturbingly polite. Still, there was something a little...off about this meeting. A movement in the shadows, the feeling of being watched.

Was it a monster? Quite possibly.

Kenshin's smile never faded, but his free hand inched slowly, almost imperceptibly, to the sword at his belt. It wasn't safe to waste time in the hallways like this. "Well! We should probably begin, then. Have you any experience at all with a sword, Robin-dono?"

Re: [outside of M55]

[whohitreset.livejournal.com]

Matt only had experience with a sword if one counted pressing the A and B buttons in the right order on a gamepad to make the hero swing his gigantic far-too-big-for-him two-hander the right way in order to get a big finisher. Somehow he didn't think that was the answer Kenshin was looking for.

"I'm afraid not," he said, rubbing at the back of his head in a show of honest embarrassment. Where could you even get a sword in a place like this? The man in front of him had one, obviously. Something about other patients being able to make them, wasn't it? He shouldn't let anything surprise him anymore.

Re: [outside of M55]

[tostepforward.livejournal.com]

The one she'd followed was suddenly far less interesting than the swordsman, once the latter opened his mouth to speak. "Robin" appeared to be a foreigner, but his unnamed friend was far more familiar. And the way he seemed to grow almost imperceptibly more wary was also intriguing; if he could tell she was there, she'd have to be especially cautious.

Ayumu silently retreated a short distance, then began to approach the pair again. This time, though, she allowed her footsteps to scuff faintly against the floor, mimicking one who was attempting to stay quiet and not entirely succeeding.

Re: [outside of M55]

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

Good, that was settled. Now came the problem of the sword. Kenshin wasn't about to let Robin handle the sakabatou. Maybe the sheath, if he needed to, but not the sword itself. "We'll have to start with the pole in this one's closet, if that's all right." It would take a little creative maneuvering to get it out, with the rurouni's one working arm and Robin's obvious...lack of much physical strength, but they could probably manage it.

"Or we could use the scabbard to this one's--oro?" Those were definite footsteps. Kenshin looked up to see a young woman, probably around Robin's age, walking up. She was wearing the uniform so...another patient? "May we be of help?" he asked kindly.

[Outside M60]

[host-club-honey.livejournal.com]

Honey waved goodbye to Sai and finished up the pie he'd been given for dinner. It was hard to get used to this rationing of sweets, but it definitely wasn't the strangest thing about this place. He still had plenty of questions, but there never seemed to be enough time to answer them all.

Tonight at least, he and Takashi were going to try to get things done. There had to be a phone or a computer or something in this place that they could work from. He'd been looking through the bulletin and managed to find a map and copy it down during arts and crafts shift. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

Bunny in one hand, flashlight in the other, Honey stepped out of his room and kept a lookout for Takashi.

Re: [Outside M60]

[mukuchi.livejournal.com]

[skipped a hallway from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/488114.html?thread=40138418#t40138418)]

The trip over was one he'd made almost every night since Mitsukuni had arrived. He knew it well enough that he didn't have any problems despite the dark and juggling two plates of pie and a closet rod. It was nothing compared to carrying Mitsukuni, cakes, books, and whatever else the Host Club wanted to pile on him. Walking up the corridor, he wondered what he could tell Mitsukuni about his day. He didn't exactly do much and he hadn't learned anything either. Most people hadn't seen a phone or a computer, and Anise had even seen puzzled by the words. Weird place, that's what this all boiled down to.

Approaching as quietly as ever, Mori shifted the closet rod off his shoulder as he approached. He was certain his cousin would notice the two plates of dessert in his other hand, but he still kneeled down a little to hand it to him nonetheless. "Got two for you."

Re: [Outside M60]

[host-club-honey.livejournal.com]

It wasn't long before he spotted his cousin, and Honey made sure to keep the light away from the boy's face and just light his path. It took Honey a moment to juggle the things he was already carrying in order to make way for the all-important sweets.

"Yay! Thanks Takashi!" He carefully scraped the pie from one plate over so that both pieces fit on one plate, if only just. Some of the filling was starting to spill over the edge, but he caught it with his thumb and stuck it in his mouth before it dribbled off the plate.

He carefully stacked the plates then, so they were a bit easier to carry, and sat near his door to finish eating them. They were a little messier than the desserts of the last few nights, and since they didn't have to race over to Tamaki's room, they could at least talk about where to go for the night first.

"One of the girls showed me where we might find phones," Honey supplied, though it was all muffled around the sound of the young blonde eating his pie. There was a room on the second floor, but he also wanted to check and see if they had any kind of front desk. Because didn't they always have phones in a place like that? "And I think there might be another place along the way to that one."

Re: [Outside M60]

[mukuchi.livejournal.com]

Mitsukuni seemed happy and Mori smiled, settling in next to his cousin against the wall. Although he stood while Mitsukuni sat, but that was just because getting all the way to the ground would be a little difficult. Besides, he needed to keep a wary eye open in case anything or anyone came down the hall. Protecting Mitsukuni always came first, no matter what happened. He'd been forced to give his cousin space today because of the nurses, but now that it was night, he wasn't about to leave his side. Even if he wanted to, it'd be too dangerous. In his worry, he was likely to fall down a trap door hole and hit his head. That would really put a damper on the day.

Mitsukuni mentioned phones and despite the food in his mouth, Mori was able to understand him. At least he had better luck that Mori had. The taller boy nodded and went back to watching the hall. If Mitsukuni knew where to go, he'd just follow his cousin's directions tonight. It certainly would make moving around a little easier. Perhaps he'd gotten a map, too? That would explain why he seemed so confident in where to go.

Re: [Outside M60]

[host-club-honey.livejournal.com]

Even if Takashi said nothing, he knew that they both shared a lot of the same concerns, they always had. So he tried to eat the sweets quickly, content to let his cousin stand watch and hopefully they'd have enough time to look for the phones afterward.

He set his plates down and swallowed the sweet remnants of dessert before bouncing back to his feet. "They would probably have phones or computers at their front desk, don't you think? I hope they don't disconnect them at night," he mused aloud, taking his bunny in one hand and his flashlight in the other.

"I haven't been there before, but they said we should look in the patient's possessions room, that's where they keep our stuff," he added. There'd been a map on the message board, but it was the last one, so he'd just studied it and left it up there. It seemed like a straight shot anyway.

Re: [Outside M60]

[mukuchi.livejournal.com]

Front desk. Mori remembered seeing something like that on the walk to and from the Sun Room. He didn't think people would disconnect their electronics at night. Didn't people have answering machines and whatnot to be sure they could take night time calls? He couldn't see an institution keeping up a good front without taking calls. Crazy people didn't just show up during the day, after all.

Moving when Mitsukuni did, Mori waited for his cousin to move next to him before he started walking. The patient's possession room was something he'd heard of, but hadn't gone to see yet. He thought he'd heard it was on the second floor, though. Going to the front desk would be the first stop; and after that, upstairs to see what of their possessions were left over. Nodding in agreement to the plan in his head, he looked down at Mitsukuni and kneeled, waiting for his cousin to get on his shoulders. Mitsukuni was likely thinking the same thing, so it would be a quick trip.

M58

[broken-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Dinner had gone by quickly, but Allen promised to tell Sasuke what he could later an had hurriedly eaten the rest of his meal.

Without taking any provisions along, though that seemed to be the usual, he stepped out into the hallway and started off toward Rinali's room.

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/488962.html?thread=39718914#t39718914)]]

[idolism]

Chess wasn't the same kind of game when the pieces were poor and tawdry. When the players were incompetent, when the pawns fell apart out of weakness, the game became a farce. So it was in Landel's, where no one seemed capable of playing by a noble's standards.

That was their choice, though. It wouldn't be his loss.

But that was for the morning, when Aidou would have a mind to start enforcing the rules. It burned him not to start immediately, but he wouldn't rush, he wouldn't blunder. He'd do everything carefully. The situation with the vulgar, lifeless ex-humans was of importance, yes, but not important enough that Aidou could let it interfere with his own plans. Everything with time, no?

Kaito was of little consequence, since barring any unexpected circumstances, Aidou already had as many people as he needed to return to the basement. For his part, dinner was mostly spent in silence. He had enough to occupy himself in the privacy of his own head (a poor reminder of Bella's weak-willed beau, at that). When it was time for night to begin, the vampire went through his usual routine in preparation: changing again into the pants and turtleneck, he took the radio and the silver shield he'd obtained from the labyrinth.

All that was left was making more of this night than the waste the last one had been.

Taking one look around the hall, Aidou silently made his way out of the cell block and to the meeting point he'd arranged for him and the others.

_{[to here]}

[sasuke-of-sound.livejournal.com]

Sasuke wasn't happy with how short dinner turned out to be -- he'd definitely wanted more time than that to talk to Allen -- but he wasted no time in leaving the room as soon as he'd retrieved his sword and what was left of the miscellaneous projectiles. There were places he needed to go tonight and, with luck, they'd be able to make better progress than they had last night.

Moving quickly, he headed for the rendezvous point.

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/491895.html?thread=39817847#t39817847)]]

[numberii.livejournal.com]

Okay. Tonight? Tonight Xigbar was going to get stuff done. He was going to do awesome things, meet awesome people, and all-around be awesome. Last night's fail didn't happen, and no one would remember it after tonight. But first... he needed to see if he couldn't nab some of those Oreos. And maybe some company for the night or something. Heck, it was all out on the same route anyway, why not go for it?

With those thoughts in mind, and with his small arsenal on his person, Xigbar started walking down the hallway, ignoring everyone on his way as he moved on. They weren't hot, what was the point of stopping~?

((To here.)) (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/488962.html)

[outside of M59]

[high-prosecutor.livejournal.com]

"We're headed to room M3," Edgeworth said, stepping out into the hallway and clicking on his flashlight. He wouldn't admit it, but after last night's attack, he was glad Mikami was coming along at least that far. He didn't have von Karma's room number, but suspected that the older prosecutor was in one of these two blocks. He wouldn't risk his reputation as a 'perfect patient' by attacking again with someone he didn't know as a witness.

"Oh, and about what you said a moment ago," he said, lowering his voice, "I have to admit, it didn't seem as if Kira tended to make public appearances, either. I'm curious, though, since they were so well-known, was there a spokesperson that handled his appearances?"

Re: [outside of M59]

[justice-to-a-t.livejournal.com]

Mikami followed closely afterward, carrying what was quickly becoming his usual inventory and closing the door behind them with a sharp snap.

"I assume you're familiar enough with the layout here to know where we're going," he said, voice quiet as he looked about the hallway. He had made a copy of the maps posted on the bulletin board, and though he had naturally looked them over in the process of drawing, they weren't yet committed to memory enough for navigating to someone's room in another "block" with only the number to go by.

At the moment, he was wondering if Edgeworth was actually the one who had posted the information and maps on the bulletin board. The initials fit, and if so, then his statement was even more rhetorical. It was interesting to him that his question regarding the names and rooms of the patient populace had gone unanswered. Perhaps he could bring it up later.

It had occurred to him that mentioning what had happened to Takada might date him, but because he had already given the man a specific day he was from, it was likely too late to be suspicious in that regard. Even so, he didn't think he would be mentioning "his" date any more. Useless as it was, he had decided this and so it would be.

"Yes," he started, just as they reached the corner of their hall.

Re: [outside of M59]

[godhood.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/488114.html?thread=40628658#t40628658). Replying here rather than starting a new thread because I can.]

It seemed like they were all empty. That... didn't inspire much confidence, especially with all of the other temporal anomalies Light had run into so far. Exactly how much time had he spent in his room before leaving? It hadn't seem that long to him, but if everyone else was already well on their way to all corners of the institute like these halls suggested, there was the distinct possibility that it had been even longer. If he hadn't already dismissed the idea as a waste of time, he might have taken a moment to lament the fact that he hadn't paid much attention to that anonymous person on the bulletin who had maid it his or her personal quest to learn more about the phenomena, but since he had, all he felt was irritation. Of all the inconvenient--

But M59 was just ahead of him, and even though he had initially approached Mikami under the guise of a typical, if brilliant, college student, doing so now when the man's expectations of him had grown into something much more could potentially lead to disaster. That could safely wait until the two of them were out of the hall and in Mikami's room, however, so it was with little change in his usual posture and expression that he knocked on the door to M59 and waited for a response.

Re: [outside of M59]

[justice-to-a-t.livejournal.com]

Upon reaching his hallway, the first thing Mikami noticed was that someone was standing directly outside his door. For several seconds, he was deeply suspicious, nearly backing off and leaving before whoever it was could notice who he was. But then, his perceptions finally seemed to shake off his paranoia, and he realized with a start that the person was Yagami Light - Kira. There was a brief moment of panic- a bit of fear and embarrassment entwining into something altogether unpleasant in contrast to his gladness at seeing the younger man again.

He'd given his room number away, and of course, of course Light would want to talk to him privately. He could only hope that Light wouldn't be angry with him, although... there wasn't really any reason for him to be afraid of having a conversation with him aside from any time he'd made him wait. If nothing else, he'd learned of Mello's presence, and... surely that had to account for something.

"Yagami-sama," he said, consciously avoiding shining his flashlight in his eyes, and then paused yet again. What exactly do you say after that? It was odd enough that he had an actual name to assign to Kira in the first place. However, there wasn't really any reason to remain in the hall, and so he reached for the doorknob, a mild question written on his face.

Re: [outside of M59]

[godhood.livejournal.com]

Empty as the hall was, it was easy to tell when someone new was approaching. Light stiffened imperceptibly at the growing illumination, thinking for one brief panicked second that if someone saw him here--

But it was only Mikami. Good. He'd been wondering why his knock had gone unanswered, but now that the man was here, they could begin. At the same time, however, he had to wonder why Mikami had left his room in the first place. He would have expected that after their conversation earlier that day, venturing out into the institute would have been the last thing such a devoted follower would want to do, but apparently he'd been wrong. Unless... had something happened since then? It would have to be very important for Mikami to willingly risk keeping his god waiting like that-- unless it hadn't been deliberate?

He pushed those questions aside when Mikami spoke, summoning up a small smile for the man despite his initial reaction to being referred to as Yagami-sama. As pleasing as it was to have that particular honorific attached to his name, he couldn't help but feel a little unsettled by its casual usage. They may have been the only ones in the hall, but that didn't necessarily mean people couldn't hear them. It might not be L or one of his lackeys, but trying to find a feasible and suitably unsuspicious reason as to why an older man he barely knew was calling him "Yagami-sama" under any circumstances would hardly be enjoyable.

Glancing briefly around the hall, Light said, "Shall we head inside? There haven't been any monsters here yet that I've seen, but it's probably only a matter of time." He placed the tiniest amount of emphasis on the word "monsters," hopefully making the double meaning clear. If anyone overheard...

[M59]

[justice-to-a-t.livejournal.com]

"Of course," Mikami said immediately, "I'm sorry if you had to wait." His mind was still preoccupied, caught between watching Light and looking away as they entered. It was becoming a mild concern to him that Light was younger... from a time when Mikami hadn't been contacted at all beyond those deaths of the people he mentally judged. If Kira hadn't contacted him for the five years between the time he had and when he began to publicly work, what would he think about practically being forced to converse with him?

He also hadn't forgotten the possibility of being overheard. Undoubtedly the doors were strong enough to contain patients who wanted out, but their ability to contain voices was unknown. However... if he remained quiet, and let Light take the lead, certainly they would be okay.

For now, an explanation. "I met with Mello by accident," he admitted, seating himself on a bed. "Considering his death the day before I arrived here, I was not expecting that." A pause as he looked up toward the dark ceiling. "I wasn't sure if you knew of his presence or not. As well as any other specifics...?"

[silent-shades.livejournal.com]

Rude grabbed his knife and his glasses, placing them both carefully in his waist band. SHades in place and torch in hand, he left his room. His radio was still in pieces, tucked away with his pants.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/488962.html?thread=40047618#t40047618).]

[flashyaudacity]

Kaito had been restless at dinner, but the restlessness had made him quiet as he ran over possibility after possibility in his head. He felt a little guilty about canceling on his Club assignment, but he knew he wouldn't have been focused on their task if he'd gone. Being on his own last night hadn't gone too well, but he was confident that tonight would be much better.

He put his wrapped pair of syringes in his coat pocket as he readied to leave. He still needed to get his pipe back, but that could wait for another time. Carrying only his flashlight, he headed out.

[To here]