damned_institute | Nightshift 36: M51-M60 Hallway

Matt blinked, looking between Kenshin and the sheath now laying on the floor. "Well..." he began, tone very sarcastic, "I would be willing to wager a guess that it has something to do with the fact that you're an expert and I have very little idea what I'm doing. But I could be wrong."

He bent down to retrieve his 'weapon,' holding it loosely. "Could also be that my grip was off," he added a bit more seriously. "So what should I go about fixing?"

Ayumu jumped a little at Kenshin's movement, as though she hadn't expected him to be so quick, stifling a faint gasp behind her hand before it became apparent that there were no injuries involved this time.

Though she was amused despite herself at Robin's response, she merely glanced between the two with eyes wide, waiting to see what would happen next.

"Maybe something like that," Kenshin said, grinning. He liked Robin, liked his attitude, but it was a very good thing that he wasn't going to actually become a swordsman. Any other master would have probably punted him across the room for a remark like that. Or something even less sarcastic, even.

The rurouni nodded. "Somewhat. You're locking your wrists again; makes it easier to break the hold. You're also expecting too much. If you expect the attack, try to predict what will happen, you react just a second too late. You've got to react as it happens, especially here. The creatures here don't rely on any sort of higher thought...they act on pure instinct. So should you."

"...Right." Matt attempted to do as Kenshin asked, but frankly found the instructions a bit difficult to swallow. Act on instinct? That was easy enough to say... and somewhat easy enough to do after lots of practice and familiarity with a weapon... but now?

He would try, however. That was all he could do. It was very difficult not to continuously glance over at Sen to see what she thought of this. She'd probably seen a good many swordsmen in her day. Slept with plenty of them too...

Mental subject change. Matt struck out at Kenshin again.

As she watched, Ayumu absently twisted her hair into a knot at the nape of her neck, securing it in place with a pen she'd pulled from her coat pocket. There was still nothing to give her much of an idea as to who or what Kenshin was, apart from the generalities - and most of those she'd picked up just from his mannerisms.

At this point, she likely wouldn't be able to get any more information from the men unless she got one of them alone. Robin would probably be best; it seemed he'd be easier to work with, and could at least verify some of the fact about the situation. Once the boys were done playing, then.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kenshin saw Sen moving. He tensed a little, but then realized that she wasn't doing anything but fixing her hair. Having lived in close proximity to Kaoru (and then Misao at the Aoi-ya) for the last several months, he was familiar with women fixing their hair. They tended to like being alone when they did that (and get rather violent when disturbed), so he didn't pay the action any mind. He'd been abused enough for one lifetime.

The rurouni blocked Robin again, but the kid was faster this time. Good. He was learning. Kenshin twisted the sheath out of Robin's hands again. "Better, but you let yourself get distracted at the very end." He gave the kid a Look and dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Maybe if you tried to keep your eyes off of Sen-dono it would go a little easier."

Matt's mouth was pressed into a hard line as he was unable to keep his face from reddening once again. Now that had been a straight-out attempt to embarrass him. It was obvious. He was not appreciating this!

Frowning, he stepped back again, once more focusing on adopting the same ready stance as before. No distractions, huh? Right. No distractions. He'd simply have to not allow time for it. Thus thinking, he almost immediately swung towards Kenshin a third time.

Ayumu hardly needed to hear Kenshin's whisper to know what he was saying to Robin; the talk of being distracted, followed by the other's reaction, made it abundantly clear. Perhaps she could work with this, get the two of them separated so she could speak to Robin alone.

She shifted a little on her perch on the bed, moving slightly forward as though fascinated by the lesson. If Robin perhaps got himself injured again, they might call a halt for the evening...

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]

Edited 2008-11-10 14:57 (UTC)

[sorry! I completely forgot it was my turn D:]

"Better!" Kenshin turned on the ball of his foot, neatly dodging Robin's attack. His form wasn't what the rurouni would call excellent, but he had greatly improved from how he had been just a few minutes ago. Now, Robin just needed to remember what he'd learned for later. Practice was going to make perfect, and with all the monsters roaming around...Robin would get a lot of practice.

"Again." The rurouni lunged, lightly grazing the (taller) young man's shoulder with the sakabatou. "You've gotten faster, but you need to be even faster still."

Edited 2008-11-11 23:31 (UTC)

Still frowning, Matt shrugged the shoulder where Kenshin's sword had connected. It hadn't been at all painful, but it was a reminder of their difference in skill level. If the little red-head was trying to tick him off enough to try and pay better attention... it might be working. At least he hadn't been disarmed this time.

Once more he lunged towards the rurouni, aiming to connect somewhere at the man's shoulder blades.

[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.

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.

[Timeskipping and Ayuskipping with permission]

They kept going like this for the next several minutes, but soon Kenshin was breathing a little too heavily. He wouldn't have even broken a sweat, normally, but the injuries weren't helping his stamina. When he felt blood starting to seep through his shirt again, he knew it was time to conclude the practice for the night.

"Let's finish this up," he said a little apologetically, giving Robin a small smile. "This one must be showing his age. You've improved immensely. Good job."

Matt too was panting a bit more than he probably should have been. Unfortunately, he couldn't claim injury as the cause - more a case of not performing enough physical activity on a regular basis. It was also times like these the nicotine withdrawal hit him worst of all, a tugging in his gut that wouldn't go away.

He sat down against the wall, sheath still clutched in one hand. He'd have to hand that back at some point. At the moment all he wanted was a nap and a smoke. No preferable order. "You're just saying that in front of the lady." Matt managed to quirk a smile for a moment despite this. "We both know I was terrible."

Both of them did eventually get tired - one was injured, the other clearly out of practice - and Ayumu was rather glad when Kenshin finally called a halt. She'd learned about all that she was likely to from watching them at that endeavor, and it was rather difficult to have a useful conversation while they were busy.

She slid a little closer as Robin sat against the wall nearby, reaching out to rest a light hand on his shoulder. "I don't think you were terrible," she offered, quirking a smile for him. He'd looked like a raw beginner, but she honestly had seen worse beginners in the past. Of course, they were generally about half his age, but that part didn't need to be mentioned.

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...

"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...?"

Kenshin sat down on the other bed, smiling at the two. His shoulder hurt, and he was far more exhausted than he should have been. He wanted to take a nap, but he didn't want to turn Robin and Sen out to do so.

So he didn't. He settled down on his roommate's bed, knowing he'd just get moved once nightshift ended anyway. Robin didn't want to talk to Kenshin; he wanted to flirt with Sen. It would make it harder to do so if the rurouni was there.

"This one is going to rest a bit. Please, feel free to stay here."

Within minutes, he had dozed off, leaning against the wall with his sword propped up between his knees, just like at the Kamiya dojo.

[Kenshin is now out for the count. Feel free to skip him!]

The contact caused Matt to freeze up automatically. Kenshin was the more wounded one, and yet Sen was still directing her attention to him. This probably had something to do with the fact that he'd been more responsive to her advances than their samurai friend, and warning bells were still ringing in the back of his mind, but he couldn't help the blush that rose to his cheeks again.

He cleared his throat, keeping his eyes on Kenshin until he nodded off. The state in which he did caused him to blink some. "He's just going to sleep like that?" Matt knew in his shoes he would have taken full advantage of the bed.

The blush was encouraging, but Ayumu outwardly reacted instead to the way he stiffened a little at the touch. She drew her hand back again, lowering her gaze to her lap and allowing her shoulders to slump just a little bit as though in disappointment. She was still sitting quite close, though, and didn't move any farther away.

At Robin's comment she made a show of lifting her head again, looking over toward the dozing Kenshin. He was clearly a wary one, and yet... "I'm surprised that he'd sleep at all with us in the room," she replied, with a slight shake of her head. "Perhaps fourteen years in the future it's more peaceful than what I know. If...if he spoke the truth about that..."

Now she'd see if Robin would still claim that his story was true. It was quite far-fetched, after all.

"Well, I can't speak for when he comes from, but I can speak for when I come from." Matt smiled a bit to try and put her more at ease. He made himself more comfortable against the wall, slumping into more of a sprawl if anything. "And I know for a fact that Japan's more peaceful than when you left it."

Barring the whole Kira thing and the way he himself had died, of course. Though in a disturbing way, Kira had made the world even more peaceful... Just as long as you didn't do terrible things like jaywalk or slack off at work.

"Sorry. I know the infodump's pretty harsh. I had it all thrown on me when I arrived too."

Although the way he said it was strange, Ayumu could guess at the meaning nonetheless. So he was going to keep the same story, even when his friend was presumably not listening. (Kenshin did appear to be asleep, but she was still going to assume that he wasn't - or was at least as good as awake - unless proven otherwise.)

"It's just..." She drew in a breath that caught just a little bit midway, and pulled her coat closer about herself as though it could provide some protection. "It's a little...frightening. I was just at home, and suddenly I was here." And being told that "here" was about as far from home as it could possibly be, and she was unarmed and without allies, as far as she knew.

After a moment's pause she continued, "I'm grateful that you and your friend were willing to help me, though." There was perhaps a slight breath after "you", just a hint of hesitation before she mentioned Kenshin as well.

Matt nodded. He kept thinking he should be doing something to help her and make her feel more comfortable, but comforting women wasn't exactly his field of expertise. "That's kinda the way it goes. One minute you're" getting pumped full of lead by Kira worshippers "somewhere else, the next you're here. Sorry it had to happen to you."

And she was totally flirting with him. Prostitutes normally flirted with everyone, though, didn't they? It was probably in their job description. Brought in business. She might even be doing it out of habit.

He coughed suddenly, just a couple short times before he cleared his throat again. Dammit, but he needed to get in shape.

"There's no need to apologize," Light replied as they stepped inside. Actually, there was, but he didn't think saying that when their conversation still might be audible would be a terribly good idea. True, he hadn't been waiting very long at all, but with no real explanation for Mikami's actions so far, he felt somewhat entitled.

An explanation seemed to be forthcoming, though, so Light took a seat on the bed directly across from Mikami and listened intently. Mello... the name didn't ring any bells, but given the context, it had to be one that he was supposed to recognize. Someone from his future, then? Light had only one person in mind who fit that description, but although that did narrow down the possibilities considerably, there were both the new patients the Head Doctor had mentioned and the chance that this Mello had somehow escaped his noticed entirely before now to consider.

That left him no choice. Closing his eyes briefly, Light said, "Mello? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the name. I may have seen him around the institute before, but if I have, I was unable to identify him." These time irregularities were really becoming troublesome, weren't they? "Tell me, Mikami, what do you know about this Mello?"

Nightshift 36: M51-M60 Hallway

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