damned_institute | Day 40: Recreational Field

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Day 40: Recreational Field

Kio's breakfast ended on a much happier note than it had started. However, for once the announcement truly surprised him. He blinked as his nurse came to pick him up. Recreational Field? But.. but if they had a greenhouse, he wanted to go there. The prospect of gardening was a truly liberating one, an island of joy in this hellhole. He thought about going to the Sun Room and lying down, but it occurred to him that he hadn't had proper fresh air since being here. With a cheery goodbye wave to Honey, he followed his torturer outside.

It was much better than he had expected. The sun wasn't too hot (what time of the year were they in, anyway?), so he walked slowly along the walls, fascinated by the size of the field. He wondered if Sou-chan was alright. He hadn't even checked the board. Well, if Soubi wanted to apologize, Kio would be willing to listen. The place was so crisp and clean. He had to think if anyone had ever gone over the walls. What was out there? Freedom? Or a different sort of monster?

Leaning against one of the walls, Kio took as much advantage of the sun as he could. He desperately wanted a lollipop. One was quietly nestled in his pocket, but he would need to wait until the nurses were busy with other patients before he tried anything. Soubi had gone to some trouble to get them, the least he could do was make sure they didn't get confiscated. So with bated breath, Kio waited for a shift in the mood. He was, for once, content. Not happy, but not going crazy either.

[Sou-chan! Team Loveless deploy!]

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Soujirou seemed to be getting the hang of things and Honey clapped when the boy caught the ball the second time. He smiled and nodded enthusiastically when Tama was mentioned too.

"Mm! Tama-chan started the Host Club back home. He's me and Takashi's kouhai. We're really good friends!" he assured Soujirou, just in case there was any doubt. He'd known Tamaki for a while now and he was sure the boy made as many friends here as he had back home. He had charisma that was hard to ignore. But Honey was pleased that Soujirou was thinking of visiting with the Cake Club. They could use more members, even if they only came once in a while.

"Ooh!" Honey's eyes widened for a second or two when he heard about the time Soujirou was from. And he'd just talked to someone else from the same time earlier today! It didn't escape his notice that this Soujirou person might very easily be the Okita Souji, but he kept it to himself. "So that's why Soujirou-kun didn't know about baseball! It makes sense!"

Honey caught the ball easily and threw it back a little harder the next time, still smiling just as impishly as ever. "I got the top scores in my class for History," he replied. "So I know it pretty well!"

So Honey was older than Tamaki, even. The saying that warned against books and covers certainly rang true with them. Honey apparently had a friend named Takashi, too, and combined with the now absent Kyouya Otori, that made five. Filing that bit of information away for later, Okita nodded and conceded his ignorance on baseball. "Yes, being from so long ago is why I didn't know. But this game is fun, Honey-kun. Thank you for teaching it to me."

The boy's eyes widened in recognition at Okita's time period and the swordsman smiled. That was exactly what he'd been hoping for. As Honey had said before, he knew everything there was to know about the 'Bakumatsu' - and perhaps he'd be a little more willing to tell him about things, like Hikaru had been. "Do you? Maybe you could tell me what you know and I could tell you how much time has changed things? I'd be interested in hearing what the future has to say about us."

"It's no trouble at all!" Honey was quick to reply. Souji or Soujirou, he was still nice and still enjoyed playing, which was always a plus. It was harder to find nice playmates here, too many people were angry or too serious or any number of different things.

"Sen-nee asked me about that today too," he said, thinking over the question. It made sense too if he thought of the bulletin board. Okita wanted to ask him about the past also.

"I told her all about the Ikeda-ya at breakfast. Do you know Sen-nee-chan?" he asked.

"Sen...?" Okita blinked, looking at the ball in his hands. That last throw had been harder - perhaps he should toss it back just as hard in order to cover up his pause. If Ayumu knew about the Ikedaya, then she knew she hadn't been there. It was entirely possible that she knew she was dead then, and if she knew that, things changed. Hopefully, Honey hadn't gone into too much detail as to the days leading up to the Ikedaya for her sake. Rolling the ball in his glove for a moment, Okita pretended to think as if recalling the name was difficult for him. "Sen... Ah! Yes, I believe I've met her once, very briefly here. She's from the same city as I am, but we never had the fortune of meeting before coming here."

That sounded plausible. Taking the ball, Okita threw it back to Honey with a little more force than before. "And the Ikedaya was a terrible thing - the fighting woke everyone in the neighborhood up. The wolves of Mibu were rather frightening that night, or so I heard. Do you know what happened to them after that? I talked to someone here and they said they all died."

"She's really nice," Honey decided, giggling when the ball was thrown back just as hard. Even if he hadn't played before Soujirou had pretty good coordination.

Unlike Sen though, Soujirou was from a little bit later, at least that's what it sounded like. And the first thing he asked about was the wolves of Mibu. It was kind of suspicious, but Honey kept it all to himself. Maybe he could ask Takashi about it later. Still, if it was Okita, he really wished the boy would tell him. He really, really wanted to meet him! Even if it was just to see if Haruhi's cosplay had been accurate. Then he'd know what to fix when they got back home.

"Hnnnn," Honey thought for a second, throwing the ball into his mitt a few times before answering. "Well if today is more than a hundred years later, they'd all be dead I'd imagine," he replied. "But um... you mean like, right after the Ikedaya though?"

He'd paid plenty of attention in History class, but it was a small detail when compared to the rest of their lessons. "Well, that incident is what made them famous. After that, they had to leave Kyoto. Most of the famous ones were killed in battles that took place after that. They retell a lot of the stories about Shinsengumi in tv dramas um... like plays. People like those kind of tragedies I guess."

He wound up this time, "it's coming faster, okay?" was all the warning he gave before throwing again.

Okita laughed and nodded. "Well, since it's a hundred years later, I expect everyone is probably dead - not just them. I guess I lucked out, huh? Oh, and Sen-san, too."

Information that they left Kyoto was interesting. Okita wondered just where they went. To Ezo, as Himura had said? Or someplace else? Where was the turning point that Okita could use to change the entire war? Sakamoto Ryoma? Who did he have to kill to save Yamanami from committing suicide and Kondou from being executed? What could he do to keep the Shinsengumi in Kyoto and away from Ezo? Honey mentioned that their story was a tragedy and Okita smiled, the expression not quite reaching his eyes. Perhaps there was nothing they could do. "I suppose people do."

Honey wound up and threw the ball again and Okita had to step back in order to catch it. The force of the throw was a little surprising and his hand stung in the glove from the impact. At eighteen, Okita should have expected such force, but for it to come from such a small body - Honey was something else. Holding the ball in his ungloved hand, Okita leaned down and smiled. It was time to end the charade. "Honey-kun knows who I am, doesn't he."

Soujirou took it all pretty well. If Honey met someone from the future, he wasn't sure he'd be able to do the same. It didn't seem all that fair, but that could be said of a lot of things here. And when the other boy smiled, even though the news was sad, and asked, well, stated that Honey knew the truth, it was harder than he'd thought to look Soujirou in the eyes.

He wasn't just a line of text in a history book. He was a real person. It was easy to forget that when he was cramming names and dates and just trying to pass tests.

"Can I call you Souji-...chan?" he asked in a voice that was much tinier than before. He looked up, hoping the other boy wouldn't be too upset with him. "Is that okay?"

It wasn't hard to face the truth. Okita had been dealing with it since he first met Himura Kenshin in his first few days here. Speaking to people over the bulletin, meeting those who spoke of Tokyo and those who said they read about him in textbooks - it was all the way time flowed, and Okita had come to accept that. Of course, it didn't mean he liked it. He wished with all his heart that he could change things. Maybe if the country hadn't closed itself off for 200 years, they could have held the foreigners off better. Maybe if they'd all pursued Dutch studies and taken their weapons from them, they could have prepared for the shifts in power. So many maybes, all brought about by one little boy who was having a hard time looking him in the eyes.

Okita smiled, pushing back his thoughts so Honey couldn't see them in his eyes. "You'd be the first, but I don't mind." Reaching out, he dropped the baseball into Honey's glove gently and then patted him on the head. Not many people would be so bold as to call the child prodigy and demon killer Okita Souji, '-chan.' It was refreshing, to hear his name spoken with something other than reverence or outright fear. "Perhaps someday you can tell me more about what happened to my friends, hm? When I go home, I'd hate to be out of the loop with all that has happened."

Honey was really glad that Souji was so nice about everything. They definitely hadn't mentioned that in any of the textbooks. People had made assumptions or written him in different ways for plays or movies or television, but it was another thing entirely to know the real person.

He looked down at the ball, and when he heard that Souji might want to see him again later, a smile broke across his face and he looked up at the other boy, suddenly cheered. "Mm. I'll do my best Souji-chan. I'll try to remember as much as I can if it will help."

Even as far out as they were in the field, he could hear the distant mumble of the PA system and saw the nurses beginning to round the other patients up. "Let's play together again soon, okay?"

If only Okita could be truly described as nice. He knew he wasn't doing this for altruistic purposes. He needed information and Honey had it - and Okita Souji would do anything to get it. He did love playing with Honey, but their conversation was what was most important. He hoped that next time they met, Honey could volunteer more details about the battles he would face or the people he would need to kill in order to save the Bakufu and his friends.

The smile on Honey's face was returned easily and Okita straightened, waving as the the nurses drew them apart. "Of course, let's play again later. I'll be waiting for you, Honey-kun."

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Day 40: Recreational Field

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