Day 39: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]

[winged_moon]

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]

Comments

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

[Yahiko]

After his conversation with Okita, Kenshin still wasn't at his best. Sano's disappearance had hit him hard. He wouldn't be smiling or oro-ing or acting like himself again for a while. And yet, what Okita had told him had also been...oddly comforting, in a way. Okita Souji, the man who had sworn to kill him on more than one occasion (and had attempted it not so long ago) had told him exactly what he needed to hear, had repeated the same speech about protecting others that Kenshin usually gave himself.

Physically and emotionally exhausted, the rurouni climbed into an armchair and dozed, hovering in the place somewhere between sleep and waking.

[no-chan-allowed.livejournal.com]

Yahiko still wasn't completely convinced that disappearing from this place was a bad thing. Wherever Sano was now, it was better than here, right? And he was sure that Kenshin could handle the absence. After all, Sano'd been gone for five years outside, and even though a little part of Yahiko missed him sometimes, he knew he was having a ton of fun exploring the world.

Still, he figured that he'd do that ninja girl a favor and check on him, just to prove that he'd be okay. He never turned down an opportunity to talk to Kenshin, so it definitely wasn't any trouble. Yahiko sat down at the other side of the sofa and folded his legs before him, facing the prone redhead. "Hey, lazyhead! Wake up." His voice carried its usual optimistic confidence, and although not grinning, there was still a smile on his face. It wasn't like Kenshin to sleep in the middle of the day like this...he was usually up and about doing things, even if those things were laundry or other errands. But there was no way Sano's girlfriend had been right about this. Yahiko had only seen him in the depths of despair once, and that had been because he blamed himself for what he'd thought happened to Kaoru. There was no way to protect someone from disappearing. It was like protecting them from getting headaches or getting old.

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

Kenshin opened an eye and looked up at Yahiko, trying his his best to smile. That was right. Yahiko was still here and even though he looked like he was shaping up to be a fine swordsman in his own right, Kenshin couldn't help but see the determined little pickpocket who had tried to rob him that day on the bridge. Even though he was an 'adult' now, the rurouni had never gotten to see him grow up. In Kenshin's mind, he was still that child.

And that child needed protecting. Kenshin couldn't just sit around and mope because Sano was gone. There was too much that needed doing here and now to let himself fall into that cycle.

"Oro? This one wasn't asleep. Just...resting." He rubbed his eyes as if he really had been asleep and smiled again. "How are you, Yahiko?"

[no-chan-allowed.livejournal.com]

The smile was less than convincing, and with it, Yahiko's smile dimmed as well. Kenshin wasn't supposed to lie. He didn't lie when Yahiko was a kid, and he definitely shouldn't lie now that he was an adult. After a few seconds of a concerned expression that seemed somewhat out of place on the boy, he scowled and crossed his arms.

"You don't have to pretend for me," he grumbled, almost adding 'I'm not a kid anymore' before reminding himself that Kenshin shouldn't have pretended for him back then either.

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

Kenshin shook his head and smiled, and this time it wasn't forced. "No, obviously not," he said gently. "Apologies, Yahiko. This one keeps forgetting that you're not the boy he remembers." Kenshin hadn't tried to keep things from Yahiko then, not really, but despite his strength and his determination, he had still been a child. The rurouni had tried to allow him his innocence, at least a little. Now that Yahiko was standing in front of him, nearly a man, he realized that he had to treat him like one.

Yahiko needed protecting, yes. All of his friends did. But the boy--who wasn't a boy--didn't need someone there to hold his hand. That much was clear to Kenshin now.

"Yahiko, we need to talk."

[no-chan-allowed.livejournal.com]

The second smile cooled most of Yahiko's anger, and within seconds, his expression had shifted to something more neutral. Kenshin's voice was serious now, so he responded to it in kind, letting his hands fall back to his lap as he tilted his head to listen. It was about Sano, most likely...maybe Kenshin knew something that Yahiko didn't. He'd assumed from the bulletin note that the man had disappeared the way everyone seemed to disappear, but that might not be the case. Still, Yahiko tried to keep the worry from his expression, grateful that Kenshin no longer seemed to be protecting him from the truth and determined not to give him reason to change his mind.

"Sure," he said, closely watching Kenshin's expression and mentally steeling himself for whatever he was about to be told. "Talk about what?"

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

"Sanosuke," Kenshin said heavily, sighing. "It's very likely that his disappearance means that he has not, in fact, gone back home. He isn't back in Tokyo with..." he faltered. "With the rest of us. This one has it on very good authority that those who are 'released' are brainwashed into actually thinking that they are the person this place tells them they are. They're just as trapped as we are here, only this time they're not able to fight back.

"You've learned by now that one cannot merely leave the walls to escape--you'll just wind up right back where you came from come morning. Before we can help those other former prisoners, we must break the hold Landel's has over us ourselves. In order to do this, we must continue to work with Homura and his group. Now that it's just the two of us, this work is even more urgent. This one finds...taking orders to be distasteful, but necessary." Kenshin peered at the boy, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Yahiko, if you don't want to be tied down to a group every night, this one understands. But if you do agree to work with this one, you need to know that full cooperation is...expected. Our relationship with Okita is a delicate one at best. You are this one's friend, and that's enough to make you an enemy in his mind, never mind that you were born in the first year of Meiji and missed the Bakumatsu entirely."

[no-chan-allowed.livejournal.com]

Yahiko's attempts to keep his face cautiously calm, which was already quite a feat for the volatile young man, ended almost immediately and his mouth dropped open as he continued to listen, caught in obvious shock.

"But he's...how..." he said, words that might have formed a weakly hopeful question or statement but faded into the air. Only a few seconds passed before he'd moved on into anger, then a much more familiar determination. "If he's somewhere that he can't fight on his own, then we'll fight enough for the three of us until we can get him back," he said, fists balled in determination and muscles tense. Physically, Sano was far from defenseless, but if this was like Kenshin described, he needed to be protected. Even if Sano hadn't been one of the most important people in his life, as a practitioner of the Kamiya Kasshin-Ryū, Yahiko had vowed to protect life. His eyes met Kenshin's in search of the certainty he expected from the man, but even if the rurouni wasn't ready to provide it, Yahiko would just be certain enough for both of them.

Yahiko knew little about Homura. He'd heard a number of names since coming here and most passed over his head, but the specifics of this situation didn't matter. Kenshin had been the guiding force behind the last five years of Yahiko's life, and although all of the boy's pride and some of his temper still shone strong, a large part of his identity had been defined by the rurouni's ideals, faith, and encouragement.

Yahiko gave a nod in response to the initial description of Homura's group, and tried to avoid showing that the hand on his shoulder was more reassuring than he would have liked to admit. "I'll do whatever we have to, if you think it's what needs to be done," he said firmly. If Homura gave orders that Kenshin would follow, there was no question that Yahiko would follow them as well.

[degozaruyo.livejournal.com]

Kenshin saw that familiar determination staring right back at him, and he suddenly felt ashamed. When had he become so weak? Yahiko was looking at him for strength, and he wasn't finding any. Had he fallen so far?

That had to change. He couldn't afford to let this place get to him like that. There were too many people who relied on him--here and at home--for that to happen.

"The three of us, hmm?" Kenshin had to smile a little at that. "Yes, of course. We'll fight. We'll fight for ourselves, for Sanosuke, and for those here who cannot fight their own battles. We'll get you armed soon, Yahiko. This one will speak with Homura about getting you a sword--a proper sakabatou, not a wooden pole--as soon as he can." Hopefully it wouldn't take as long to get Yahiko armed as it had taken Kenshin. Luckily, Yahiko had no need for a sheath, since Kamiya Kasshin-ryuu didn't use battoujutsu. From what he had seen with Kaoru and had explained to him, Kamiya Kasshin-ryuu's power was in the hilt, not the scabbard.

"Thank you," he said softly when the boy agreed to be a permanent part of their little 'History Club.' This one is going to ask that you be assigned to him from now on. That way, the only person whose orders you'll have to follow will be this one's." The rurouni smiled again, blue eyes twinkling with genuine amusement. "And they'll be more like suggestions, anyway."