damned_institute | Day 39: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]

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Day 39: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]

Yue was all too pleased to leave the cafeteria by the time lunch was over, even if he still wasn't satisfied that Fai was properly taking care of himself. It was clear that Touya hadn't accepted the answers he'd been given and intended to find out just what the guardian wasn't telling him, and being watched so closely was beginning to get uncomfortable.

It was clear that the truth would have to come out at some point, especially if they were going to be spending any amount of time together. Avoiding him was entirely out of the question, but at the same time Yue stubbornly refused to consider the idea of just outright telling him about what had happened in the last week. It was a dilemma indeed, and only served to make him even more irritable than ever.

How could he admit any of it? That he was weak and crippled, betrayed and altered by his creator? That he'd almost broken the promise he'd given in exchange for Touya's power? The latter he couldn't help but be reminded of every time he saw this Touya, who had only just gone through it, and would remember it even more clearly.

Fortunately Yukito was staying silent for the moment, although he could feel his other self's disappointment at being unable to speak to Touya so far, and it didn't make him feel any better.

In the midst of all this Yue was rather dismayed to realize that the nurse wanted to lead him to the music room, of all places: that was the room where he'd met the Sakura-who-wasn't-his-Sakura the week before, and needed neither the reminder nor the inevitable noise in that room. He abruptly halted in his tracks and refused to continue on. The nurse seemed initially disappointed, but finally agreed to let him stay in the Sun Room instead; the guardian found a corner in which to stand, arms folded across his chest and lost in his own ~~brooding~~ thoughts.

[for Sokka]

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Lunch with Anise had been great and Honey was in high spirits when he entered the Sun Room. He posted up a bulletin and hoped there would be enough time to get everyone assigned to a safe group before the end of the day. Last night had been kind of messy, but if they could organize a little bit better, that would help everyone and would get them that much closer to cake!

Once the bulletin was posted, Honey looked around for a place to sit that wouldn't be too hard to check the board frequently. There weren't a lot of spots left, but he found one without too much trouble and sat, Usa-chan in his lap.

[Ayu-nee!]

"Really little with blond hair and brown eyes" might describe several other people here, but the rather distinctive pink plush bunny made it completely clear. This boy was the one who had been exchanging messages with Okita on the bulletin board, the one who liked to dress up as members of the Shinsengumi for fun.

Ayumu wasn't entirely sure what to think about that part, but it seemed apparent that he knew something about the Kyoto she knew - enough, at least, to recognize that the supposed "Hijikata" couldn't be the real one. And that certainly interested her.

After a glance around the room, noting the presence of Homura, Okita, and Robin in various places (as well as the person who had to be the alleged Hijikata), she drifted over toward where the boy was sitting as though at random. The room was filling up, and there weren't all that many open spaces left. "Your pardon," she began, with a hesitant smile, "but is this seat taken?"

It wasn't the first time Honey had been approached by a woman who seemed just a little older than he was. It just seemed to happen more often with the loli-shouta type and he'd come to expect it. Girls were wonderful for so many reasons and being a little more mature was kind of nice sometimes.

The woman who came to sit with him was definitely pretty, but in a more traditional way. She was polite and shy too, which was really cute. He gave her one of his brightest smiles and sat up a bit straighter.

"It's not! You can sit with me if you like, I don't mind company at all," he said cheerfully.

"My name's Honey, what's your name?"

Ayumu's smile brightened in response to his cheer, and she gave him a polite bow before sitting down. "I'm Sen. It's a pleasure to meet you, Honey-han."

Just how old was this boy? From what he was saying in his notes, she'd guessed he was in his later teens. He certainly didn't look like it, though - not in the slightest. Not that Tetsunosuke particularly looked his age, but she hoped it wasn't for the same reason.

"That's a very cute toy you have there," she observed, with a nod toward the pink plush. "Does it have a name, too?"

"Sen-nee-chan, I like it, it's pretty!" Honey decided, adding his own nicknames on and giggling quietly at the one he'd been given. -han meant she was from somewhere around Kansai, right? It'd been a while since he'd been sightseeing down that way.

In his excitement though, he'd completely forgotten to introduce his stuffed animal companion as well. "Ah-!" he startled, "Yes! This is Usa-chan! My gram-gram made him and he's my favorite." He gave the neglected plush a tight squeeze.

The unexpected "nee-chan" startled a brief flicker of surprise into Ayumu's expression before she quickly hid it again, chiding herself for allowing herself to show emotions like that. Especially when there were so many people in the room she needed to be wary of, too.

She covered the small lapse with a quiet laugh and bowed her head to the bunny as well. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you, then, Honey-han and Usa-chan." He certainly didn't act his age, either, which only made her wonder all the more. Maybe it was some kind of elaborate charade to make people think he was cute and sweet, though she was curious what he might have to hide.

"So how long have you two been here, if you don't mind me asking?"

Uh oh, she'd seemed a little surprised by 'nee-chan.' Maybe she wasn't old enough to be nee-chan yet. He hoped she wasn't offended or anything! She seemed really nice. Not a lot of people actually wanted to know about Usa-chan.

"Hmm... It's been almost a week now I think. Well... 5 days maybe? What about you Sen-nee-chan?"

"This is...oh, my third day now." Ayumu had paused a moment to consider, absently tapping a fingertip against her chin as though counting days. "Although I arrived the night before that."

She glanced back at Honey and smiled, offering a small shrug. "It seems longer than that, though, maybe because it's just so strange, compared to home." Now to see if he'd take the prompt and ask where she was from - this was one of the few times she didn't mind admitting the fact that she was from the same time and place as Okita.

Speaking of which, though, she did wish she'd managed to get close enough to Homura's conversation to overhear what they were talking about. She didn't like the idea of a Hijikata-who-wasn't wandering around claiming to represent the Shinsengumi, not at all.

"Awwww they made you come here at night? That's so mean Sen-nee! I bet it was really scary!" he gave her a look of obvious sympathy. She looked alright though. Maybe she'd made friends to help her. Or maybe she really could fight and take care of herself.

"Sen-nee-chan is from Japan, right?" Honey was quick to deduce. "Let me guess, let me guess! Is it Kansai? Osaka? Uwaa... I haven't been that way since our field trip to Himeji Castle in elementary!" The slight accent gave him a hint, but it was still possible she'd moved or he'd gotten it wrong.

Ayumu nodded slightly at that, folding her hands in her lap as she allowed her smile to fade just a little, as though she were forcing herself to look brave. "It was a little - but I ran into some people who helped me out, so I was fine. It was really nice of them."

Her gaze drifted slightly toward where Robin was sitting, as though by accident, but she quickly pulled her attention back to Honey again as though slightly abashed by her distraction.

"Yes, I am," she replied, tilting her head to one side a little, as though surprised he had guessed. "I'm from Kyoto, actually. Though...I've been told I'm from a different time than most people here? It was the first year of Genji, when I left."

"I'm glad!" Honey said, some of his worry vanishing. "I would've been so scared if I was here in the middle of the night and didn't know anyone! You're really brave Sen-nee!" That much was no lie. He might have been able to get through it alright, but it wouldn't have been easy. Being with Takashi made things a lot less difficult.

"Kyoto! Mm, it's been a while since I've been there, but it's really pretty! Ah-! But wait, the year of Genji? Isn't that- Uwaaaaa! That's such a long time ago! Sen-nee-chan, that's incredible!"

Though she only nodded and waved a hand a little as though dismissing Honey's worry, Ayumu looked more uncomfortable at the continued talk about her first night in the Institute, the "brave" smile she was wearing fading just a little more. The change of topic, then, she seized upon with apparent relief.

"Oh, so you've been to Kyoto, Honey-han? I...I miss it, but..." She paused a moment and blinked at him. "You're familiar with it, then? Are you - when are you from?" All this talk of people being from different time periods really was rather hard to grasp, and she allowed some of her puzzlement to show.

"I've been there a few times, mm hmm!" he nodded. "My family travels for business and we take a lot of trips with the Host Club too, so I've seen a lot of different places." Luckily he didn't have to help with the family business quite as often since he was still in school. He could still have a lot of fun.

"Hnn... If Sen-nee-chan is from Genji, nn, well it's almost the twentieth year of Heisei when I'm from. That's close to a hundred and fifty years later," he looked somewhat troubled by the thought. But if there was Okita Souji, then there might be other people from that same time, even if it didn't make sense.

"One hundred and..." Ayumu's voice trailed off as her eyes widened, one hand lifting to her mouth in dismay. "That's...how is that even possible? I mean, I...everything is very strange, but..."

She fell silent again, eyes distant as though she were thinking, then she blinked and focused on Honey once more. "So I'm like, like a history lesson for you?" she asked, still sounding more than slightly stunned.

Uh oh. Had he said something bad? She'd asked when he was from, but maybe she didn't know the answer would be like that! Honey looked somewhat troubled and he hated to think that one of the girls he was talking to was upset because of him.

"Oh- um- well, I heard it happens a lot here, so don't worry okay Sen-nee? I even saw Okita Souji said he was here. A-and Hijikata too, but I don't know if he was playing pretend or not..." Honey trailed off.

It was hard to know what exactly she was feeling or what the right thing to say might be, but he didn't think he'd like feeling like a history lesson.

"But Sen-nee-chan is much more than a history lesson! She's very nice and friendly too."

Ayumu nodded almost absently, brow furrowed slightly as though she were trying to reconcile the information, while in the meantime she took note of the woman who'd joined Mello where he was sitting. The blonde woman's appearance was distinctive enough that Ayumu rather thought this was the "Renamon" she'd heard of, and she wondered what the two of them had to talk about.

"It's very sweet of you to say so," she replied after a moment, her expression slowly brightening again as she smiled at Honey. "But...did you say 'Okita Souji'? And Hijikata...as in Hijikata Toshizo? Of the Shinsengumi?" From the way she was looking now, the idea of those two being here was almost as surprising to her as the idea that Honey was from so far in the future.

"Mm hmm, do you know of them Sen-nee?" It might be possible, Sen did say she lived in the same area. She probably would have at least heard of them.

"I haven't met them, but Okita-san sounded really nice when I talked to him on the bulletin. I'd definitely like to play with him some time," he explained. Takashi might want to play too. How would a modern day kendo champ match up against one of the legendary samurai? It would be really exciting to see!

"Oh, of course I've heard of them. But do you really want to play with...with Okita-han?" Considering that Okita didn't really engage in practice with others, and for very good reason, Ayumu had to wonder if Honey didn't quite know what he was getting into. Even if the boy was secretly a martial arts champion, well.

She just shook her head a little, though, looking concerned. "Of course I've heard of them, but..." Ayumu glanced around, as though making certain nobody was close enough to listen, and lowered her voice. "I heard they're dangerous. Especially Okita-han."

Oh good, he wasn't too far off-base then, assuming the Shinsengumi were as notorious as the history books had said. It was kind of hard to think of Okita as very dangerous though, especially after how cute Haruhi had looked when she cosplayed him.

"Yup!" Honey chirped, none of the concern seeming to affect his good mood. He knew how dangerous it might be, but...

"Mm, well, the Shinsengumi stood for a lot of really great things," Honey explained, even though Sen probably knew it already. "They were honorable and brave and... well, I know Okita-san is an amazing swordsman, but I don't think he would hurt someone for no reason. So... if he says we can play, I'm sure it'll be okay!"

"They were? I mean...are?" Ayumu hesitated a moment, then laughed, a little embarrassed. "Sorry, it's still kind of hard to think about it that way. I...I'm used to living in Kyoto where they're roaming the streets, and to you - well, it's just a name in a book, isn't it?"

It really was difficult to grasp, that her reality was someone else's dull history. Or, apparently, costume choices. Not that anyone was going to be dressing up as her, or anything of the sort. If she did her job correctly, nobody would know she was there.

As for Okita...well, Honey would have to deal with that. Ayumu assumed the man would be wise enough to warn anyone who wanted to spar with him, if he was willing to do so. It was none of her affair.

"Mm, well I think so. That's what they taught us in class. And there's all kinds of historical dramas and t.v. shows that are based on that era," he explained. Things might be a little bit different living at that time though. It was full of fighting and danger, so he could see why Sen might not feel the same way about them.

"Yeah, I guess that's kind of true though. I only know from what I've read and heard about him, but I bet the real thing is different, huh."

Well. Perhaps they did manage to make a difference after all. If there were so many dramas and...well, whatever a "t.v. show" was, then perhaps they'd managed to defeat the pro-imperialist forces in the end?

"Oh, I suppose so..." Ayumu considered that, then gave a helpless laugh and a shrug. "I don't know that anyone would really know what it's like if they're not actually living in it. I mean, stories never really manage to tell you everything."

She paused again, catching her lower lip in her teeth as she glanced around again. "But...I have to admit, I'm a little curious. What did they teach you in class?"

It was normal to be curious, especially when someone else knew something you didn't. It wasn't really fair to have them all come from different times like this, but would it hurt anything to tell her some of what happened? He'd already promised Okita.

"That's true. I think they based the stories off of a lot of historical records and um... one of the captains wrote about it too. But it's still just what a handful of people said happened, huh."

Honey looked thoughtful, resting his head on top of Usa-chan's as he sat. "Mm, if you want, I can tell you. Are you sure that's okay though? It wouldn't be like spoiling the end of a story, would it?"

"I..." After a second, Ayumu sighed and shook her head. "I really don't know if it would make a difference or not, to be honest. I mean - even if I know what happens, is it possible to change it when I get home, if it's already the past for you? If...if that even makes sense."

And she would get home, she promised herself, sooner rather than later. No matter what.

Her smile brightened as she waved one hand a little, as though brushing away such serious talk. "But still, it's not as though I saw much of what was going on. I don't really have much to do with it, except for living in the city."

Sen did have a point. There probably wasn't any harm in letting her know, so Honey tried to wrack his brain and remember the order of events from history class. He did well in all of his classes, top marks, not to mention his traditional family stressed the importance of history, so it wasn't too terribly difficult.

"Mm... okay. So the first year of Genji would be..." he trailed off, trying to think of where to start. "Did you hear about the Ikedaya Affair? I think it was in that year, wasn't it?"

Day 39: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]

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