damned_institute | Nightshift 38: M31-M40 Hallway

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Nightshift 38: M31-M40 Hallway

(From here.)

Holding a gun, ammo, a katana, and a kunai wasn't very easy. Especially when walking around a dark area at night. He'd waited for Akihiko to leave because Homura probably would have skinned him alive if his roommate had found out the club was in possession of a gun. And a key.

But he made it safely to M39 without falling on anything, which was a bonus considering he couldn't see a bloody thing without his flashlight on. He set his katana aside for a moment and knocked on the door.

"Uh... Kenren-han?" he called softly. "It's Hattori Heiji, the young guy from last night? I have that thing you need."

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It sounded like something had gone pretty badly. Was this related to the 'training' the two had been doing together? Usopp hadn't trusted Mello from the start, but he'd figured Sai'd be able to handle anything that came up, and not trusting Mello was in a way sort of reassuring; at least he was sure what he thought of the guy.

"If you're careful, I guess so... I just don't want you to accidentally choke to death or lose a piece of leg or something because a little glass got chipped, you know?" Usopp sighed. "Sorry, you probably carry around dangerous stuff all the time as a ninja, anyway--help yourself to whatever you want."

"I will be careful." Sai smiled again, voice softening ever so slightly in tone. "Thank you for the concern. I don't wish to worry you too much. The person I'm taking them to is in the same hallway, so I won't be going far. Can I borrow an extra shirt?"

He could use those to wrap them carefully. He set the pillowcase down the bed for the moment. "A couple of the less volatile ones might be okay. I don't think anything needs blowing up."

"Oh, it's to trade with someone?" That sounded better than a fight with them, at least. Usopp relaxed a little more, and if it was just in the same hallway, he might hear if Sai got into trouble on the way or while he was there. "Sure, take all the shirts you want. They seem to come back anyhow. Like the bedsheets. You've still got the stuff from our trip out, right?"

Some things were tradeable, but after nights and nights of struggle to get to the stupid shed, Usopp wasn't about to lose a solitary salvaged screw if he could help it. "Be careful tonight, with whatever else you're doing, too."

Yes, Sai's closet was still cluttered with random lawnmower pieces. He wondered if Honey would notice. "I still have everything. Don't worry, Usopp. Those are yours." The ninja normally wouldn't even be making a trade like this, using items that didn't technically belong to him, but circumstances lately had made the decision easier than he would have expected.

"I'll be as careful as I can be," Sai smiled again, such an easy and natural response. He went to the pirate's dresser, pulling out two shirts, as he figured that would be more than enough. "If you could get them for me? I don't want to mess up any of your organization."

"Well, yeah, but... it doesn't make any difference to you what I take out? Or do you just want me to pick out what you wanted?" Usopp was a little confused again, even as he slid the closet open. "Thanks for keeping the lawnmower stuff. I'm hoping to take it back soon, so I'm not using up the room. I just... need to rearrange things, a little..."

That was obvious, from the awkwardly balanced and divided closet floor covered in various items other than the chemicals. "I need to get some stuff back from a crewmate too. How do you feel about maybe having a fire some night?" If he didn't find charcoal, well, he could always make it the old-fashioned way, right?

"He wasn't all the specific, to be honest." What had his exact words been? Sai gave it a moment's thought. "'Strong acids' was all he asked for." Nothing explosive, really, but acids would still have to be handled with care. The ninja assumed they had something like that at least.

He blinked at what Usopp said next. "A fire? Where would you have it? There isn't much ventilation in these rooms." Surely they'd know better than to make a fire in here, though. Everyone would suffocate. Wasn't making one outside a bit dangerous?

"I'd feel worse about this if it weren't for the fact that anyone could just go upstairs and get these again anyway, if they really wanted them," Usopp commented, finally pulling out a couple of glass containers. "If we wrap them up carefully before you put them in the bag, I mean pillowcase, it should be fine. I think."

Standing up and offering the containers, he added, "I mean outside, a fire! It'd be dangerous, especially if we couldn't find a clear spot. I'd want to invite my crewmates too. I think they'd like it if we managed to get one started; being outside at night with a fire makes it kind of like camping, right?"

"Thank you again, Usopp." The pirate was very generous when it came to things like this. Anyone else could have easily denied Sai his request, or at least have been more rude about filling it. Usopp just cared for his well-being. He was such an odd person.

"I suppose." Sai still looked a bit confused on the fire topic. "Do you plan to cook over it? You'd better be careful." What was it with patients wanting to risk themselves for food? Weren't they fed enough during the day?

"You're welcome. If Mello gets mad, I'll tell him he should have come back to take care of them instead of acting like I'm spare storage." Granted, Usopp had more than a little spare materials in other people's closets as well... but he was grateful enough, or at least he thought so, and those things didn't have any chance of explosions or poison gases.

"Cooking over a fire outside might be nice, if we could clear out enough monsters and things to have time. I should talk to Sanji about it. Well, it wouldn't be anytime soon, but I'll be sure to invite you, okay?" Usopp smiled back at Sai, despite the obvious confusion Sai had on the whole issue.

Perhaps that wasn't the best thing to say to Mello, but it wasn't as though there was much the blond could actually do about it. He'd gone and made a mess of things, so he could take some responsibility for his actions.

As long as the pirates were careful, Sai was willing to support their efforts at fire building - pointless though it was. They were strange people, like Honey and his friends. So many people were made happy by such simple things.

"I think I would enjoy that. Thank you." The ninja smiled again, nodding his head, before carefully arranging the supplies and preparing to leave. "I'll see you again."

Then he stepped out the door, making his way down the hall.

Usopp waved a little as Sai left, and didn't close the door at first, listening. But Sai had things under control, as usual, and eventually Usopp was satisfied that he hadn't sent his friend off to injure himself and closed the door behind him.

Sanji had mentioned dropping by, probably with the wood from his closet. He'd been a good sport about it, really, and Usopp thought maybe he could rig something under the bed, if not take up some of his roommate's space. Working was difficult. He'd hoped to explore a little this evening, too...

Sanji didn't knock on the door. He kicked it. Several times. And loudly. "OI. This shit's heavy, so open up!"

He had the rest of the sniper's branches in his arms, though this hadn't kept him from lighting up a cigarette before he'd gathered them up. It wasn't as though accidentally burning this place to the ground would be much of a tragedy.

The wood wasn't even really all that heavy, despite his yelling. It was just awkward to handle. He hadn't felt much like searching for a better choice of words, though.

[Sorry, I was thinking maybe you had wanted to just say 'it happened' without playing it out and I'd misremembered, or did I? ^^;]

That kind of noise made Usopp jump, but Sanji being noisy wasn't a huge surprise. Guessing that the 'shit' was his wood, he opened the door up wide and stepped back, so Sanji could come through if he wanted and put it down.

"Evening, Sanji-kun! Thanks for keeping it this long." Now Usopp had to decide who else would hold it for him, at least until... "Hey, how did you light your cigarette? Do you have matches?" Of course, if Sanji had matches, he also had a use for them, so he might not be willing to share...

The chef frowned as he dumped the whole load onto Usopp's bed and went to sit on the other. He had matches, obviously, but he didn't have a ton of them. Though he was sure Usopp could make good use of them, he didn't really want to hand them over. Nevertheless, he pulled what he had left from the small pocket of his pants. "Do you have a real important need for them?" He had less than half left. If he needed to hand over a couple...

But he'd come for another reason as well. "Oh. Here." Setting the matches aside for the moment, he pulled off the shoes he was wearing and tossed them back to his crewmate. "You can have these back. They scrunch up my little toes after a while, and that's just not going to work for me." The width just wasn't right.

Usopp started picking at the wood once Sanji dropped it, dividing it into pieces based on size and shape and other criteria that presumably existed only in Usopp's own mind. Sanji's question was a problem, put off by the familiar shoes tossed Usopp's way. Turning, Usopp picked them up and sniffed them, then put them more neatly to the side. "Well, I thought it might work; it was worth a try, anyway."

That didn't answer the question about the matches, though. Were they important? Absolutely, everything was important! Were they real important? "Mmm, well, where'd you get the matches? If I could find a supply for them, it'd be handy, but I guess it's not vital or anything." At the absolute worst, he could start looking for viable flint outside; that might even be better in the long run, but for now, something to quickly spark flames would be handy. Still, Sanji's chain-smoking needs were pretty important too, and Usopp wasn't entirely sure he wanted to spend time around Sanji if Sanji'd be going without smokes all because of him.

The chef 'hmphed' and began prying a few matches loose from the packet. He didn't have many cigarettes left anyway. He held onto the ones he'd taken off and handed the packet to the other pirate. "I got them from a visitor," he sighed. "I have no idea where to find them in this place."

Standing up then, Sanji stretched his arms above his head. There wasn't much point to sitting around here now. He might as well see if he could run into Luffy or Chopper - someone - before the night ended. As he was about to turn and leave, however, he suddenly looked back and pointed at the match book. "Anything you have left in there you give back to me, all right?"

"That many?" Usopp's eyes sparkled, and he looked alarmingly close to hugging the pirate chef as he clutched instead at the packet. "Right! I'll take good care of it! I won't burn anything unless it really needs it! Thanks, Sanji-kun, you're the best! Take care!"

Well, not the absolute best. For example, now Usopp would have to figure out how to arrange the wood in his closet. At least he had his own boots back again, even if it was too bad Sanji hadn't fit them. And Sanji had been nice enough to keep them for this long, and to bring them by safely... leaving behind precious supplies that they might not be able to get more of easily.

Knowing very well when he handed them over that he might not get any of them back, Sanji nonetheless gave the sniper a small grin as he headed out the door. Shit might be hitting the fan pretty hard, but at least Usopp would still be Usopp. He gave a short wave as he walked out.

"See you later," he said, then closed the door.

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Nightshift 38: M31-M40 Hallway

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