damned_institute | Day 38: Patients' Library

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Day 38: Patients' Library

The intercom rang out, disrupting what had turned out to be a rather pointless breakfast conversation, at least in Brainiac 5's eyes. He couldn't wait to put more distance between himself and Scar's blather of how logic, of all things, might not work the same way in this dimension. It was almost enough to make him believe that the man may very well have been a lion originally after all, as he'd never heard anything so very... ignorant and uneducated.

He quickly finished up the fruit he'd been nibbling on - he was no longer as hungry as he had been - and looked around automatically to see where Clark was. Unfortunately with the press of people around, some being led off to the library and others to the mentioned 'therapy sessions' - if that was what they really were - he had lost sight of the Kryptonian. Still there wasn't many places he could go, so Brainiac 5 would be able to catch up with him eventually to check on his condition and try and learn more about what had happened last night. That the Chapel had healed him - admittedly by passing his injuries to another - was interesting, but far more important in his eyes was what had happened to Clark and his powers. They hadn't been working correctly and that worried the Coluan boy more than he would normally have admitted. Without Clark's abilities... he wasn't sure what they would have to rely on in order to escape.

Another problem he would have to deal with was Grell... or, if he was to believe the notes on the bulletin board, the person pretending to be Grell. But that was going to require more careful planning before he made a move. Come to think of it, he had agreed to meet another in the library today on that same post that had sparked this whole mess. At least then he would have something of interest to look forward to, as he doubted any of the 21st century books were likely to be worthwhile to someone of his advanced intellect.

Following the nurses led him to what must have been the library; a reasonably large room filled with a range of archaic books on tall shelves, a few tables and chairs interspersed around the room. The Coluan boy couldn't refrain from wrinkling his nose in distaste as he entered the room, not liking the cumbersome books and the dust that he knew would have gathered on them; he much preferred the clean arrangement of his C.O.M.P.U.T.O. systems back in the Legion headquarters. It was much more practical then shelves and shelves of books on fictional worlds and dated information.

Trying to avoid as much of the room as possible, Brainiac 5 settled himself down on a chair to wait, keeping an eye out for a tall, dark-haired man with a red... something on his forehead.

[for Homura]

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Perhaps Kio's eyes had been wondering, but he'd failed to notice the bandages and the creepy eye. He felt slightly put out when the boy handed him the book back, mostly because Kio was not used to having others do things for him. And the boy's apparent honesty just made him more uncomfortable. He felt slightly guilty for being so stand offish to being with. Perhaps he would understand.

"Thank you for retrieving the book, Allen-kun. I did not notice your injuries. Please forgive my rudeness." Jamie, huh? So like he was Akatsuki, this boy was Jamie. He wondered what they called Ritsuka. Or Sou-chan. Or even Red. He would have to ask them. "No, no, Kio will do." His smile seemed slightly embarrassed. Well, if nothing else the boy had manners.

And very helpful. Although right now, Kio couldn't think of anything to ask the boy. So instead, he decided to try and befriend him "I've been here since yesterday night. So... really... Sunday night, I think? I woke up in an empty room and walked around for a bit. How about you? And don't call me sir, you make me feel old." Kio winked at the boy, trying to make him less... controlled.

It felt kind of strange not to call an adult by a slightly more respectful title, but if Kio insisted, there was little he could do. It would be rude not to. Then again, hadn't Rukia and Renji been the same?

"Oh, um, I'm not injured," he replied, wiggling the fingers of his left hand a few times to show that they moved perfectly well in spite of the bandages.

"That's a... a long story," he explained, not going into much detail. "But the nurses insist I wear the bandages, so it's just easier to comply I suppose."

"Sorry," he said a little sheepishly when Kio caught him again using the more formal address. "I, um... about a week and a half now I think? Maybe two weeks? It's hard to keep track after a while."

For all the boy's brave face, he sure seemed to have taken a beating. After the attack from the rats the previous night, Kio couldn't really tell what else was out there. People had written about monsters, but how much could they be trusted?

Nurses. "Like they insist I reply to Akatsuki when I don't. I don't even know anyone by that name." He still argued with them, though for the most part, he supposed he was complacent now. Calm. Quiet.

He'd been here a while, then. Or would two weeks feel like an eternity to him? Would they feel like a second? "Did they tell you if you've made any progress. They announced these therapy sessions, so..." Kio shrugged, as if to point out that he wasn't entirely convinced. "What about your friends, are they here too?" The worst thing would be for this boy to be lonely. That would crush Kio.

"I suppose I've stopped paying them so much attention," Allen looked thoughtful for a second, wondering just when he'd become so complacent. He was still polite to the nurses, but arguing with them about his name just got old after a while.

"I don't know about any therapy," he said quietly, "but I'd imagine you probably wouldn't want it. Nothing the doctors here do is any good at all." His own roommate was proof enough of that. And there had been plenty more, all taken in the night by this place, forced to go through pain and suffering for no good reason that he could see.

"My friends... they used to be here," Allen said after a long pause. Some had died, some had only disappeared quietly from one shift to the next. All because of this place.

"They're gone now." The only person who still existed from his world would probably want to try to kill him come nightfall. Him or some other innocent human. Who could say for sure?

The more Kio listened to the boy the more it occurred to him that he himself had started ignoring the nurse. He had hardly been here and already he was zoning out? Did they drug the food? No, no, if they did they would make them all accept their lives, as the Institute described them.

"They seem to be eager to push us that way, though." Kio looked closely at the boy. He seemed sad. Lonely. Enough to make the man want to take care of him. When the mention of his friends dying came, Kio looked away for a minute. He couldn't imagine Sou-chan going. Being taken away. Dying. They all meant Kio would be alone.

"Allen-kun, I am sorry. But... if it helps, I can be your friend?" Kio smiled at him, the warm reassuring smile he had for everyone in need. "You can tell me about your home. I can tell you about mine. I'm an artist back home, a student at University. I could draw you a picture of your home, so you won't feel so lonely. Would that be better?"

Allen nodded in agreement. The staff in the daytime seemed to just blend into the background, that is, unless fights broke out or there were other kinds of trouble. They remained pretty unobtrusive. He supposed they were probably used to rejecting the pleas of patients who claimed they were sane and after so many days, a body could only be rejected so many times.

Kio's offer was a kind one, and Allen had to admit he was sort of... surprised to hear it. "Ah... I... I would like that," he said a little quieter than before. "If it's not too much trouble, it would be nice to be friends."

He scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed to be asked so many questions, but Kio did appear much nicer than he'd been before. Allen could at least show him the kindness of a polite conversation.

"You're an artist?" Allen asked, curious now. "I draw too. Sometimes," he admitted, "but they're not very good."

"I... back in my world, I travel a lot. It wasn't until recently that I had a place to call home. I'm an Exorcist," he explained, "I work for the Dark Order, a sort of... private sect controlled by the Vatican."

Kio found himself taking a liking to the boy. He was shy and quiet, but he seemed to have gone through a lot. Losing his friends like that... Kio wondered exactly how these people disappeared. Perhaps asking Sou-chan would be better, if only because Allen-kun had lost friends.

"Too much trouble?" Kio laughed. "Of course not, Allen-kun. I don't have a lot of friends here, so it's nice to be able to talk to people."

It was always the artist part that drew people in. Kio couldn't really understand why, maybe it was because being an artist meant he was blind to the attraction. "You try, though. A lot of people don't." Kio opened his notebook and started sketching a rough picture of Allen. "I could do your portrait, if you wanted me to."

His pen faltered, though, when Allen mentioned more about his home and Kio found himself staring at the boy in something akin to bewilderment. "Exorcist? Like... like a demon hunter?" Vatican? Was that the church? "You work for someone?"

Allen was glad Kio had opened up a little and was willing to be his friend, but it was kind of embarrassing that he wanted to draw his picture like that! Allen's cheeks reddened, "Ah- y-you don't have to, there's... there's probably a lot of better things you could draw."

His job description seemed to have upset Kio though. Or at least taken him by surprise. "Mm... sort of. We destroy Akuma. It's... complicated I guess. Yes, we work for the um... well the Vatican, but I get my orders from the Dark Order in England. They do all the research there and tell us the most likely places to find Akuma and Innocence."

He blushed. How cute. It made Kio smile more, really warming up to the boy. He realised, perhaps belatedly, that were Allen just a few years older, Kio would have made a decent effort to flirt with him. However, he was probably only a few years older than Ritsuka, which meant that Kio would be a pervert, like Soubi. No one in their right minds wanted to be like Soubi.

"I think you're fairly cute, Allen-kun." He smiled again. "They made us draw bowls of fruit, so having someone like you to sketch quickly is a real pleasure." He hoped he didn't seem like a pervert, the last thing he needed was a nurse being called over and Allen having to explain that Kio touched him in the bad place or something.

Akuma? What in the world was that? A virus or something? "Innocence? Like the kind you lose when you grow up?" He blinked. This was too confusing. "Um... I don't understand. You get orders to find this Akuma and Innocence... what do you do with it?" Kio felt as though an entire world of possibilities existed out there and he was wasting his time being an artist and mothering Sou-chan.

It didn't help his already pink cheeks when Kio said he was cute. Cute? That was impossible! Puppies were cute. Timcanpi was cute. Allen was most definitely not a part of that category. Besides, as that porcelain-faced brat Aidou had been sure to mention, Allen was certainly not what most people would call good looking. Not with that giant scar on one side of his face and a hand that looked as though it had 3rd degree burns.

He didn't want to be rude and completely contradict his new friend though. "That's... very um... nice of you to say, but... don't feel as if you must," Allen said, though he tried to hold still. Did he need to? Kio hadn't said anything about it.

Anyway, it was a lot easier to focus on explaining other things, since he hadn't done the best job with it before. "Innocence is what Exorcists use to fight Akuma," he said, slowly unwrapping the bandage on his left arm. "Usually it takes the form of an object, or a weapon. Like a sword or a hammer or guns, that sort of thing. It can also be a part of the user or accommodator's body."

He hesitated before pulling off the last bit of bandaging from his hand. "You don't have to look if you don't want to but um... I was born with Innocence in my left hand." He tore off the last of it, revealing dark reddish skin and the deep gouge in the back of his hand in the shape of a cross. Inside the strange, gouged out flesh, a small silver cross was embedded.

"We use it to fight," he said again, "Innocence is the only way to cleanse an Akuma rather than destroy it. If they're just destroyed then the human soul trapped inside them is lost."

The more Allen blushed the more adorable be seemed to Kio. Perhaps because he saw beyond the scars to the loneliness the boy seemed to be radiating. It was partly to do with the earlier confession, about losing friends. The thought of waking up the next morning and not finding Soubi make Kio slightly ill. He was independent, he could take care of himself, sure, but he would be alone.

"I do as I feel at the time, Allen-kun. You're very cute to think so, but I'm used to people being... strange, so don't worry." Kio kept on sketching, his hand moving deftly over the page. It wouldn't be a great drawing, because the notebooks were generic and the pens kind of crap, but he would make the best of it. He was content to listen to Allen talking when guns and violence were mentioned.

Kio stopped drawing and watched with a mix of horror, shock and perhaps disgust, as Allen unwrapped the bandages. The skin looked dead almost. Crosses were not something Kio was familiar with, other than art class. He found his breakfast, small and disgusting as it had been, twisting in his stomach a bit. He tore his gaze away from the hand and looked up straight at his young friend with anguish on his face. "Allen-kun..." His voice sounded small and far away.

The man slowly put the pen down, his hand shaking slightly. Allen was little more than a child, how could they! "Why did they not help you? That looks... painful. How could they ask you to fight these Akuma? Are they like youma?" Kio cringed. Youma didn't exist outside of fairytales, but as he had come to expect here, different people had different stories. "Allen-kun, can you not be rid of it? At all?"

He did his best not to let his eyes wander over to the paper, wondering if Kio would be as good a Rukia had been at drawing. He had to wonder, since Kio hadn't mentioned any sort of fighting skills, if the man even had a way to fight or if he would just stay in at night, but he supposed he could save that question for later.

He was quick to wrap his hand back up; partly because of the nurses and partly because he just didn't like putting it on display. Kio's reaction was reason enough to keep it out of sight. Perhaps it had been a bad idea after all.

"Help me?" That part was confusing. It wasn't as though he was hurt. Maybe it had been somewhat stiff when he was younger, but working in the circus and later when he'd trained with Cross, he'd learned to use it properly.

"It's not-... It's not painful," he assured the man, moving the fingers of the newly bandaged hand with a certain amount of dexterity.

Just who would ask him to fight Akuma? Most people didn't even know they were real and not just stories. "I'm not sure I understand. No one asked me to fight, I just... I was born this way, chosen by the Innocence, so that's the path I have to take. Exorcists are weapons to fight Akuma." That's just... how it was.

"Akuma are..." how could he describe them? He did know little bits from other languages just from his travels, but he wasn't sure if Youma was the right word. "I'm not sure what youma are, but... when a tragedy occurs and someone dies, sometimes the sorrow of those left behind is enough to draw out a monster. He preys upon the weakness of humans and offers to bring their loved ones back to life. If he finds someone willing, he will bring them a new body, one to house the soul of the one they've lost." Allen shook his head, "but there's more to it. When the soul is called back, they are under that monster's control. They become one of his Akuma. The first thing he has them do is kill the person who wished them back and wear their skin on that metal body. They disguise themselves as humans, only to kill others and create more tragedies."

It must sound pretty unbelievable. Allen might have doubted it himself if he wasn't living proof of it. "So we fight the Akuma to free the souls that are still trapped inside those metal bodies."

When Kio asked if he could ever be rid of it, Allen looked even more confused. He'd fought so hard just to get the Innocence back when he lost it before, why would he want to get rid of it? "I think... I would be quite useless without it Kio. I can't really... understand wanting to be rid of it."

Kio didn't show it this time, but the way Allen quickly wrapped his hand back up made him feel like he had done more than be blunt. He'd hurt the boy's feelings. And this wasn't like hurting Sou-chan, who although seemed like he had two tons of thick skin on still hurt now and again, because his friend was used to Kio and his bluntness. But Allen he had just met and right now... right now he would do nothing but push the boy away with his stupid forward way. In a sense, though, he was glad when Allen asked him a question, because it meant he could just... brush over the incident.

"It looks painful to me, so I thought some doctors in your world would help you." Kio chuckled. "Judging by this place all they want to do is help us, but I don't think they mean it the way I think they should. Still, if you say it isn't..."

Paths? No choice? The more Allen explained the more Kio felt sorry. This boy, born with Innocence, was made to fight by some higher power. He could die. He could be wounded. He had no word in what was told him. The explanation on Akuma was both baffling and somehow real. They didn't sound like the youmas in Kio's stories, but they did come close. The way this boy's life seemed to be tied to fighting made the blond's heart ache.

"Allen-kun... you are much more than your Innocence. You have likes and dislikes, you mentioned friends. If that Innocence were taken away from you, you'd still be Allen, right?" Kio looked straight at the boy. "What's your favourite thing to do? Best in the world, in fact."

Allen had a difficult time understand the way Kio thought. If the arm wasn't painful, why would he seek out doctors? He had no money, not with all the debt his master had incurred, and it wasn't as if it was a serious problem that was in need of fixing.

"I promise, it really doesn't hurt," he repeated, hoping he hadn't caused the man any undue worry. The other things, Akuma and Innocence and the rest hadn't bothered anyone else. All the exorcists had to deal with the same problems. And the people here, everyone had to fight for their own reasons as well.

But to say he was more than his Innocence? Allen had struggled for a long time after Tyki tore off that same arm. He'd felt useless, without purpose. Even though they'd offered him a job in another department of the Order, he couldn't bring himself to take it. It was a part of him as much as it was part of who he was. Being an exorcist was truly the only path he could take. It was the only way he could live.

Still, he didn't wish to cause controversy or upset Kio any more, so he tried to answer the questions as best he could though carefully avoiding a response to the ones that might cause conflict. "Mm... I like food a lot. Anything but chocolate. I could eat for hours and hours," he said first, smiling slightly at the thought. He was thin and wiry despite his best efforts to bulk up. Those that had Innocence as a part of their body tended to use up more energy than in others.

When asked what he liked to do, that was a little more difficult. Aside from eating, sleeping, and going out on missions, there was really little else. "I'm good at cards," he offered, "though I wouldn't say it's my favorite thing to do... I don't really know. If I had the choice, I think I'd like to try a lot of different foods. That would be fun."

[Sure, I don't mind! I'm having fun. ^^]

Maybe it was because yoma were the stuff of dreams and stories where Kio came from. Maybe it was because Kio could not understand violence and fighting. Maybe for a whole slew of different reasons, not matter how much Allen tried to explain, Kio would not understand why a child was made to fight.

"It's okay then, Allen-kun." Kio smiled at him and listened, only to find out food was a favourite thing. He grinned a goofy grin, almost bouncing in his seat with excitement. "I'm a good cook back home. I cook for Sou-chan sometimes and he likes it. We even have a beer now and again." Kio thought about it for a minute, then added, "We could go raid the kitchens one night and I'd cook for you. We can have a lot of fun."

It was Kio's attempt at cheering people up. He got them to talk and most ended up bonding immediately. Sou-chan had been different, sure, but Kio had been warned about that from the very beginning. He'd still stubbornly plowed on, because it made him feel good. Because he hated seeing Soubi close up like that and hide it all inside.

"I cook mostly Japanese food, so if you're never tried it, now's a good a time as any!" It was, in a way. Stuck in this prison, where he could scream until he had no lungs left about how he wasn't Akatsuki Shinro, Kio had to make the best of it. He'd find a way out, somehow. "Do you drink alcohol?" That would also make for great times, especially if he could rope others into it.

When the topic changed on to lighter things, Allen felt a bit relieved. Things were dark enough at night without bringing it into the day as well. It was good to see Kio so excited about cooking though, and it actually reminded him a lot of Sanji.

"I would love to try your cooking Kio," Allen seemed a little happier and more enthusiastic as well. "I like Japanese food a lot too. I've been to Edo before, but... it's been a while. I was actually... on my way there when I wound up here instead. But um... Hmm... I like curry and tofu yakitori and oh- mitarashi dango is one of my favorite desserts. But... are you sure it wouldn't be too... too frivolous?" He wondered if Kio was as good a cook as Jerry had been.

As far as alcohol went though, that was another matter. The last time he'd tried even a small bit, unknowingly, in some of his master's chocolates. That little incident had gotten him beaten within an inch of his life and was the sole reason he no longer liked chocolate. He didn't miss the hypocrisy of his master's habits and his need for strict discipline when it came to Allen's. "Master Cross said I really shouldn't..." he replied sheepishly.

If there ever had been a time when the cynically smiling face on the uniforms fit the personality of the patient, Kaido Kio was Mr Landel's Institute 2009. Sadly, the calendar did not include a bathing suit section, or even evening gowns, so really, all everyone got were poses of the blond man in various stages of seduction.

However, food was far more important and it provided a cute distraction. Except... Edo? "Oh, you mean Tokyo? I don't know, I think my homemade stuff would be better than anything you tried. And why would it be frivolous? I don't fight, so starting a food club would be the best thing that ever happened to this place. Have you seen the food they feed us? No, I'm going to turn those kitchen around."

Kio was beaming with pride when the word Master crept into the conversation. Was this boy like Sou-chan? Kio didn't understand the whole 'My master commands me'. What, he couldn't breathe without being told to?

"Master who? Don't tell me you're owned or anything!" There was a slight tinge of outrage in Kio's voice. Really, did people like being walked on like this?

Had he said it wrong? No, he was pretty sure the capital city was Edo. "Er... unless the name's changed, I'm pretty sure it was Edo. That's the main city, isn't it?" Allen asked, somewhat confused. Probably just a tiny detail that didn't matter.

"I thought the food here was pretty good," he admitted, especially when it was the Sunday brunch with the open buffet. Just the tiny meals he was given were rarely enough to fill him. "But I'm sure your cooking is amazing Kio. If you need someone to help you get there, I'll be happy to assist you."

It was nice to see that Kio was in such good spirits, especially with how upset he'd seemed earlier. But he must've said something wrong because the smile melted away and he suddenly sounded upset.

"Ah- N-no, it's not like- I mean- Ah-" Allen stuttered for a second or two, thrown off by the sudden change and abrupt question. "Master Cross is one of the four generals. He... he also raised me and tutored me from the time I was about twelve. I was ah... told it was the correct way to... to address someone of his status. Is it... n-not proper to address him as Master? I... I suppose I could call him General Cross if the title offends you..."

The name changed? Of course it had! Two hundred years or so ago, if Kio could remember his history right. He blinked in surprise at Allen. Was this one of those times where they came from not only different worlds but different times? "Well... Tokyo used to be Edo. About two hundred years ago. It's still the main city, though." Kio laughed nervously.

"It's not as good as what I can cook, but for hospital food I suppose it's good enough?" If they could just seamlessly veer the conversation away from the huge time-space hole, that would put Kio more at ease. Food seemed the harmless topic du jour so why not? "That would be lovely if you could, Allen-kun! There's also a Mr Wonka here who likes to cook and someone interested in cakes!" Kio didn't care much for desert, he was a main course man.

"I didn't mean to sound so mean, Allen-kun. I'm sorry. It's just..." Kio bit his lip. "My friend says some things like that. His last master used to hurt him a lot. Sometimes he would be so hurt he wouldn't know night from day. I took care of him most of that time." He hated Seimei. Hated him with a burning passion, for every scrape and cut he had ever given Sou-chan. "I suppose I would call him Cross-senpai or Cross-sama. Though you seemed to have been raised differently. It's just... my friend hurt so bad at the hands of that master." Kio's fists clenched under the table. "I never want to see anyone hurt that way again."

[haha, it's ok. We could wrap this and have them meet up next ds sometime if you want?]

It seemed he couldn't get much of anything right. Allen wondered if perhaps this was one of those times where it was best to simply agree with the other party and let it go. He didn't want to upset Kio any further. "Is that right? I guess our intel must be old or something."

Food, on the other hand, was a topic he could speak on quite happily. "Mm, well I promised a friend I would help him tonight, but just let me know when you'd like to try it. I'll try anything you'd like to cook!"

The bit about Kio's friend having a master looking after him as well was kind of... confusing. It wasn't terribly uncommon for masters to take in students, but perhaps now was one of those times when saying less might be better. He could relate many horrifying experiences he'd been forced through because of Cross. Not to mention the huge debts he was expected to pay off or the cracked skull he'd gotten the last time he'd seen the man. Cross was not a person he had any desire to see again anytime soon. "Ah- no, that's alright Kio. I'm sorry your friend had to go through that. It isn't- I mean... it sounds like it wasn't easy for either of you. I... perhaps that was... just the master's way of teaching? Some are... rough with their students and... I... well, I'm sure he was very glad to have um- a friend like you to look after him."

Kio felt somewhat put out. He'd been told a few times now that time and space operated differently at the Landel's Fun House for the Utterly Insane, so perhaps Allen came from a different time. Kio smiled. "Allen-kun. What's the last year you remember being in before you came here?"

Tonight Kio had plans of his own, so perhaps the timing was just right. "Don't worry, I need to go do something myself, so we can talk again another time and start something!"

Teaching? He doubted Seimei did much teaching, unless it was in corporal punishment. Kio doubted that Seimei and this Cross person were the same, but their treatment certainly seemed similar. "Seimei did no teaching, I assure you." His tone had become cold now, but Kio tried hard not to let Allen think it was about him. "He hurt my friend for no reason. None that I could see, anyway. As for looking after..." His shoulders slumped. "I used to be his only friend back home." Now, though, he wasn't.

The intercom came on with alarming clarity and the nurse came over cheerily. Kio sighed and picked up his book. "I'll see you soon, Allen-kun. You take care, okay?" With a wave and a smile, the blond left the Library, to all intents and purposes a happy man.

[Awesome. Okay!]

Or maybe he was completely wrong. Kio asked him specifically for the year, so perhaps he didn't have as much a problem with things as Allen had thought. "Ah... It was the turn of the century. 1899. I think... compared to everyone here I'm a little old-fashioned."

Before he could say much more though, the nurses decided it was time to move them along. Kio seemed like a nice person, he just hoped he wouldn't be a friend that Allen would let in, only to continue on here while they disappeared. "I hope we can talk again sometime soon. It was nice to meet you Kio."

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Day 38: Patients' Library

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fail is fail is fail

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