Day 38: Lunch

[beloved-less.livejournal.com]

Soubi was beginning to feel the effects of a busy morning on a tired body. To make things worse, they were serving Tacos and Burritos. He could really do some with something a bit softer today. Blander. But it was hardly his biggest concern right now.

Having picked out his lunch, he looked for Ritsuka. He had to apologise, but these things usually ended up in bigger arguments, so, as could be expected, Soubi was a little nervous. Maybe they wouldn't find each other this shift. Maybe he had a little more time?

Soubi sat alone, being sure that his face was set in the expression that sent the girls at College the other way.

[He gots a Sheeny Beeny]

Comments

[arrogantflame.livejournal.com]

"Yuuri's... gone," Wolfram insisted, voice still oddly cold and distant. "He won't come back again. Never."

He raised his voice a little, temporarily distracted from his mission to try and destroy every taco, whatever the hell that was supposed to be, but not forgotten.

"They took him away forever once. And then they brought him back here. And he lied to me! He said that he'll come back home in the future. But there is no future!"

No escape. And Wolfram had seen the notes on the bulletin board about murders and deaths, in his search for some clue for his fiance. At the moment he refused to think about it too deeply.

[hangenki.livejournal.com]

"Wolf... please don't say that," Kaoru said, softly. "My friends have...disappeared too. But they've also come back before. I refuse to believe they're gone forever..."

He knew Wolf was angry, but he had to try and reassure Wolf, and himself, that....maybe it wasn't the end.

[idolism]

He shook off the remnants of his time in the library, dragging his thoughts back to the present.

Wolfram and the bimbo hunter; they‘d agreed to meet on Aidou‘s behalf at this time. Meals within the confines of the cafeteria were not things to look forward to, even in the terms of Landel’s Institute. But many times, there were meetings he had to keep an eye on, whether or not he was a part of them, like today. And this one had far more potential to end badly than most. The consolation to knowing the girl was going to try and hit up last night’s food for information was that, more or less, Aidou was still going to stay two steps ahead of everyone if things went well.

Only it was painfully obvious, even from across the room, that Wolfram was not where he was supposed to be. In fact, his mien alone made it clear that something was not right, because no one about to keep their word and barter for information would be walking around with a look like that in their eyes.

Like a caged animal about to break free.

Aidou’s suspicions were practically confirmed by the time he crossed the distance, overlooking the twin in order to ask pointedly, “What are you doing?” His tone was to the point.

[arrogantflame.livejournal.com]

Wolfram was about to ask Kaoru more about his friends disappearing, but then another familiar face joined them, and any opening up to the twin that he'd been planning was kind of forgotten. Not that he minded Aidou overhearing, and had he been not quite ready to attempt to tear the cafeteria to shreds, he might have continued anyways.

As it was, his eyes darted back and forth between the two boys, trying to figure out if either would try to stop him.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he replied, voice dark with a mix of sarcasm and boldness. "I can't use my magic right now, so I'm going to tear down this damn building the old fashioned way. And then I'm going to demand that this Landel asshole tell me why my fiance is gone."

He took a couple more steps forward. "Do you have a problem with that?"

At this point, he'd completely forgotten the fact that he was supposed to be meeting with someone else.

[hangenki.livejournal.com]

Kaoru looked at the newcomer and his shoulder's sagged a little. Real helpful, stranger. But he straighened up and took a step back the minute Wolf's eyes were on him.

"Wolfy...you look kinda scary," he laughed, nervously. He hated to admit it, but he suddenly looked out for the Host Club in case he needed rescuing.

Oh great. When most old people kicked off, you just called their carer over or told them the war finished years ago. But this old geezer was scary and strong and Kaoru didn't want to take him on unless he absolutley had to. And he wasn't going to call a nurse on his friend just like that.

[idolism]

Hypothetically speaking, three overly attractive young men standing together was cause for females to celebrate, but one was a detached vampire, one a fidgeting human, and the other… Well, the other was simply about to spin out of control. The outburst was enough of an explanation for the pieces to come together, and more than enough for Aidou to wish he hadn’t heard at all. His expression pinched in something like a wince, and his gaze flicked to the side. Not out of fear, however.

Another one gone… Wolfram was definitely not going to be meeting with that hunter, either.

Damn.

The vampire took a step back, too, but it was only to turn on his heel to leave. Remind Wolfram of his agreement? Mention Yuuri? Try to talk Wolfram out of making a scene? They were all just words, and meaningless ones. They wouldn’t change the situation, that whoever Wolfram had cared for was gone, just like the others, like Akatsuki. Aidou wasn’t about to stand in the way of the storm that was sure to come. Or try to prevent it from happening. Foolish, both choices.

[arrogantflame.livejournal.com]

Wait. So Aidou was going to come over and confront him, and now he was just going to... walk away? Wolfram didn't think so.

He spared a moment to glance at Kaoru. "How would you feel if your brother was the one who was gone? Would you just accept it and do nothing?"

As for Aidou...

"I asked you a question," he insisted, and reached over to grab Aidou's shirt sleeve to pull him back. "And I'm sick of being ignored by everyone in this stupid place!"

Really, he was just frustrated. And the other blond seemed to be the perfect target for his anger, because Wolfram had no desire to hurt the twin.

[hangenki.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Kaoru's mind had thought of that for the slightest fraction of a second, but it had almost stopped his heart, so he just thought about how Honey had come back and tried to, you know, give Wolfy some hope. Besides. It wasn't like he hadn't lost someone else he loved here.

See, this is why other people were such a pain in the ass. They weren't Hikaru.

Rather than crumple into a ball of woe over the thought of losing Hikaru, Kaoru pushed up his defenses and a little and blocked bad thoughts out. Wolfy was upset, understandably. And he was right. He needed to blow up about this because...even if it was futile, he had to fight because he cared and giving up wasn't an option. He just needed to not blow up here and make things worse.

What if their behaviour was a deciding factor in who got taken for the night stuff. The Trials and all that?

"Wolf. Let him go, he's not worth it, right?" Kaoru said in a tone that didn't sound all that sincere. The guy was weird and...not helping. And Kaoru was only a little teeny bit nicer than Hikaru after all!

Oh right. Kaoru was supposed to be stopping any fights or other violent acts. "Come on. A sedated Wolf is no good."

[idolism]

The tug was rude, and forced the noble to pause.

Sympathy for anyone but himself made it hard for him to keep a clear head, and if he didn’t stay focussed, it meant Aidou lost. He didn’t care if he was considered cold. He didn’t care if he was feeding into the idea that vampires were cruel. He didn’t care what people thought of him, so long as he alone could see the truth. What Aidou had done was warn Wolfram that they wouldn’t be 'friends' in the way he expected, that Aidou wouldn’t be the one to offer useless condolences. The one willing to offer those vain things was standing right there beside them.

So he glanced back and said flatly, “He’s right,” and jerked his arm to break Wolfram’s grasp. The staff were undoubtedly watching, beyond just the nurse who’d come to clean the spilled food from the floor. Ready to swoop down the moment Wolfram began something physical.

And the vampire didn’t resent Wolfram enough to humour him.

[arrogantflame.livejournal.com]

Wolfram wanted to be able to listen to Kaoru... Well, at least part of him did. But at the moment he just couldn't think, couldn't stop himself from reacting. He grasped tighter to the other blond's arm for a moment... and then he pushed away, hard.

"You don't care about anyone but yourself, don't you?!" His words were louder than normal, even in the crowded dining hall. "As a noble I thought maybe you were better than that! If he was still here, he would have taught you that.. that you shouldn't..."

No. He would not break down here with so many people. But everything was building and the pressure was so intense, and he needed a release of some sort before it consumed him.

He had no weapon, and at the moment he had no fire. So all he had to rely on was his strength. And he intended to use all of it as he rushed forward in his attempt to tackle Aidou to the ground.

[damned-nurses.livejournal.com]

The staff were indeed watching, and after seeing Wolfram grab Aidou's shirt had recognized signs of trouble. By the time he raised his voice a nurse was already en route with two burly escorts, the two of whom hurried their steps as soon as he began to resort to physical force, trying to intervene before he could reach the other.

"Alex!" The nurse snapped his name as she moved in, attempting to distract him; even as she did her hand dipped into her pocket for the syringe and vial in case the orderlies weren't sufficient to deal with the situation on their own. "Stop this at once!"

The other young men didn't seem to be provoking the fight at all, so she only cast them a brief glance to make sure they wouldn't interfere before turning her attention back to the troublemaker.

[tiassa]

[hangenki.livejournal.com]

Kaoru's protective instincts kicked in when some big old bullies came and grabbed a hold of his friend. Not thinking, he grabbed the sleeve of one of them, shouting 'Hey~!'. He'd have continued but the nurse's glance forced a little sense into him and he smoothed the sleeve down, backing off a little.

"I mean, uh... it's ok. He's alright, honest." Kaoru didn't sound convinced. Maybe sedation WAS a good idea right now?

[idolism]

Because he understood what Wolfram was going through, that he had reached a breaking point, Aidou could forgive the insults within the tirade. Even when his nobility was being brought into question.

Less easy to ignore was the threat Wolfram was making himself. The vampire could easily subdue the boy, when his emotions were making him reckless and sloppy, but Aidou was still injured. Just because he could breathe with a minimal throb of pain now only meant he was healing, not that he was invulnerable to pulling the wound open. And so his first instinct when being attacked was to attack back, and hard.

But he didn’t. He stood poised until the staff’s interference and Wolfram’s momentum were working against the Mazoku, then cleanly skipped to the side and out of the way, allowing the orderlies to take over and deal with Wolfram themselves. Bear me to the ground once, maybe. Not twice.

Aidou’s gaze flickered over the scene once more time before he moved away without bothering for any confirmation.

_{[to here]}

[arrogantflame.livejournal.com]

Wolfram struggled, but only watched as Aidou walked away. The other boy was scared of him for sure. Good for him.

In the meantime, he had no desire to back down from this stupid phony nurses. At the moment, he didn't care about the fact that they'd always been nice to him. Everything had changed the moment Yuuri had officially disappeared.

"I won't stop! Not until I find out where Yuuri is, or you let me go home too!"

He sounded and looked very much like the spoiled little price he used to be that had horrible tantrums when he couldn't have his way. It was something he'd finally been growing out of and had avoided for the most part, trying to prove that he was grown up. But not now.

The look he gave Kaoru was desperate, almost pleading. "Help me make them tell us why he's gone!"

Then he began to really struggle violently against the orderlies trying to stop him.

[damned-nurses.livejournal.com]

One of the boys had left, wisely taking himself out of the situation. The nurse rather approved of that; it showed a certain maturity to not get involved when other patients grew hysterical. And after an initial outburst the redhead had apparently realized the same thing.

The orderly Kaoru had accosted glanced down at him for a moment, one brow upraised until the boy let go and backed off, but was then forced to adjust his hold on the one who was actually causing the problem. He and his companion each took hold of one of the boy's arms, holding him firmly as the nurse gave a soft 'tsk' and pulled out her syringe.

She prepared the dose with the ease of practice, moving in to administer it quickly as the orderlies held the patient still long enough for her to do so. "I'm very disappointed in you, Alex," she said, sounding as though she really meant it. "You need to focus on your own recovery, all right?"

And as she spoke she cast a glance in Kaoru's direction, indicating that he needed to do the same, lest she have to deal with him as well.

[hangenki.livejournal.com]

Kaoru looked between Wolf and the nurse, frantically. He understood his friend's feelings, but he knew fighting was pointless but...

"Why can't you tell him where his fi- where his friend went?" he shouted. "Please? Can't you see he's distressed?!" Kaoru asked, sounding a little distressed himself. He didn't like this. They were hurting Wolfy and he couldn't just stand by. He looked around for help, but who was going to bother? More staff would be called out.

He bit his lip and clenched his fists when the nurse looked at him again.

[arrogantflame.livejournal.com]

By that point it was too late to resist anything, and despite Wolfram's best efforts, after a few moments he started to feel a bit dizzy, and finally his legs gave out. Forcing the orderlies to support his weight, his vision blurred and he found himself unable to keep his eyes open.

He knew Kaoru was still there, and that in itself was a little bit of a comfort somehow.

"'M sorry Yuuri," he mumbled softly, "I tried..."

He didn't remember much of anything after that.