damned_institute | Night 41: F11-20 Hallway

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Night 41: F11-20 Hallway

[F15]

As usual, the doctor's announcement was vague and led her nowhere as far as figuring out what his intentions were went, but definitely foreboding. There was no way to tell what exactly he had in mind when he was cutting himself off like that among all the static, which was frustrating, but ... she supposed sooner or later, they would all see what would happen-- if it did.

For now, however, Naoto knew there were other important things she had to wait for, so the riddle can be further sat on later. Setting her journal back on the desk, she went to prop the door to the room open and sat back on the edge of her bed, then set the flashlight up to give the best lighting around the room she could get it to. Anyone else wouldn't be wandering around the pitch black halls without their own light, but Naoto figured it would be best if those dropping by could see easily in the room, as well.

Now, all there was to do was wait. She didn't care when in the night her radio delivery came in, but she wanted Yousuke and Kanji to hurry. There was a lot to talk about, and Naoto didn't want any of this time wasted.

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Since there was only one block of rooms for the female patients, Yue had assumed that it would be easy to find Sakura - dulled his senses might be in this place, she was still Sakura and he knew he could recognize her aura anywhere. (He just...had to be a little closer now.)

As they'd entered the block the sense of her presence grew stronger, drawing him like iron to a magnet. At the same time, though, his worries and apprehensions grew; had his wings still been present the feathers would have been ruffled with tense agitation. He nodded once in curt response to Touya, eyes fixed on the patch of light. "That way," he confirmed, and didn't quite hurry as he headed in her direction.

Although she didn't recognize who they were offhand, Sakura sensed Yue and Touya as they approached and turned the flashlight toward the boys. "Who's there?" Her heart pounded as the beam met the boys' faces, and she stood in place for a moment, still clinging onto the door as their presence sunk in.

"O-Onii-chan..." Sakura stammered, barely audible. Overcome with joy, shock, worry, and relief all at once, she was unable to say anymore. Slowly letting go of the door, she began to walk towards Touya. The beam of light bounced around as her hands shook, but she never let it point out of range of their faces. About halfway to them, Sakura abandoned walking and broke out into a run. "Onii-chan!" she called, coming in for a hug.

Well, that was Sakura. It couldn't be anyone else, after all. Who else would come running at him squealing like that? He let her hug him around his waist, putting a comforting hand on her head. She was taller... if only by a little bit. She must have come from his future, like Yue and Yuki had.

"Hey," he said, holding her to him briefly. But only for a moment. A second later, he was pushing on Sakura's forehead with his index finger. "See you haven't grown much. Did Dad stop feeding you because you were eating us out of house and home, monster?"

There, now that he'd seen his sister, hopefully Touya's mood would improve. She did tend to have that effect on people, Yue mused, as he half-turned away from the family reunion to keep a watchful eye on the rest of the hall. There had been that attack in his hall the night before; one never knew what dangers might be in the area.

You don't have to make excuses, Yukito observed with fond amusement, as he watched the siblings from the corner of his other self's vision. They like you, too. Don't be so grumpy.

Yue's lips pressed together into a thin line at that, but he otherwise didn't move from his self-imposed guard position. He wasn't grumpy.

[Special icon just for Touya! XD]

"ONII-CHAN! I'M NOT A MONSTER!!!" Sakura's expression changed sharply as she shot a nasty glare at her brother. The first thing he said to her after finally reuniting was, "See you haven't grown much" followed by calling her a monster? Almost by reflex, Sakura raised her foot and prepared to stomp on Touya's toes from point-blank range, but luckily for Touya, she stopped herself. "Next time..." she thought to herself. "Next time..."

She pulled back so she could talk with her brother without having to completely look up. "Are you okay?" Sakura asked. "Yue-san told me you just lost your powers..."

[He's so honored~ ♥]

He grinned widely at her reaction. Yep, he'd expected that. If she hadn't flipped out and threatened to kick him in the shin, he'd be worried. But anything to preserve some sense of normalcy, he supposed.

"Yeah," he said, putting his hands in his pockets and assuming a relaxed position. "But it's not so bad. I'm eating and sleeping a lot, but it'll pass in time." Just like his wounded shoulder had--and not a day too soon. If he'd shown up here with his arm in a sling, Sakura would never stop worrying over it.

"Yue said he's been weakened, though," Touya said, looking back at the guardian and then back to Sakura. "What about you?"

Yue tensed briefly as someone else walked by, but the other patient paid the small group no mind. The guardian looked after the man for a moment before turning his attention back toward Touya and Sakura, assuming a lofty expression that said he didn't care if they were talking about him.

When Touya brought up his weakened powers, though, he frowned slightly and pretended to be interested in someone walking past the hallway. He wasn't involved in this conversation at all. Really. And he wasn't going to be annoyed that they were talking about how useless he was.

Sakura gave a nod. It'd take some time, but hopefully Touya would recover like he did back at home. "If you need anything, just let me know," she said with a determined tone.

"Really?" The mistress glanced toward the silent and seemingly ambivalent Yue. She had been told that everyone's powers were weakened earlier, but apart from the lack of wings, there was nothing that distinguished Yue as weaker than before. Even his demeanor seemed as proud and confident as ever.

Turning back to Touya, she rolled her head to one side in thought and continued, "Everything that I use for magic isn't here, but I could still sense you approaching."

Oops.

Touya looked back at Yue when Sakura did, his expression slightly apologetic. He didn't know Yue hadn't explained his limitations to Sakura yet--especially if he'd mentioned that Touya had lost all of his powers. Well, he supposed that made them even: Yue hadn't told Touya his sister was around, so Touya told Sakura that her guardian wasn't as powerful as he'd been before. Seemed like an even trade-off.

"That's my line," Touya said, ruffling Sakura's hair. "I'm fine. It's you who has to deal with losing your magic stuff."

"Everyone has their powers weakened here," Yue admitted grudgingly, glancing toward the pair long enough to catch Touya's look. He blinked once, then gave a tiny nod in acknowledgement and returned to his survey of the dark hallway around them. It hadn't been a deliberate snub, but he still didn't want to get into a discussion over anything of the sort. Not unless Sakura asked, or it became important.

Although - Sakura's arrival had altered their plans slightly, so hopefully Touya still wouldn't want to head for the basement. Or would he?

He frowned slightly, then observed to nobody in particular, "We should probably go inside the room, if we're not going somewhere right now." Best to chat in safety.

"Oh..." It wasn't until then that she realized the gravity of the situation. If all three of them either had no magic or less magic to work with, then even the simplest monsters would be dangerous. Nonetheless, she tried to put on a weak smile in response to her brother. "Even without magic, I'll be all right."

Afterwards, Sakura turned to face Yue once more. "Where are we going tonight anyways?"

Touya nodded, trying not to appear as worried as he felt. 'Even without magic, I'll be all right'. He wondered if he could trust that assertion this time. He thought he'd be okay with just a simple trip outside to get a bat--and that had landed him with an injured shoulder.

"Dunno," Touya said, turning Sakura back towards her door by the shoulders. "We should talk about it inside though," he said firmly, looking back at Yue in confirmation.

Where were they going? If Yue had his way, Sakura would be staying in her room, safely out of danger while he took the risks like he was supposed to. Considering the discussion earlier that day, though, as well as his experience with the girl over the last while, he already knew she wouldn't agree to anything of the sort.

The guardian merely nodded in response to Touya, this time a bit more emphatic, and moved back toward the door to her room himself. "There are a few options," he replied as he went. "Some a bit riskier than others."

"Okay..." Sakura replied as she was steered into her room. They were already going out of their way to take her along, so it was probably best to cause as few problems as possible.

Once inside, she prodded on for more. "What are they?"

"Outside isn't much of an option anymore," Touya said, drawing this conclusion on how easy it was to push Sakura into her room. One of those things could pick her up and carry her off before he and Yue could even turn around. "It's too dangerous.

"There's a basement as well--supposed to house the secrets of the Institute or something, from what I read. I'm curious about that myself.

"And Yue and I were on the second floor last night, though it doesn't look like there's much up there besides supplies and stuff."

He looked back at Yue. "Was that all of them?"

Yue glanced from Touya down to Sakura, quirking one brow a little as he caught the meaning behind that. It was true, those oversized birds outside would hardly find someone so small a burden. "Hn. True."

He moved to one side once they were in the room, frowning slightly as he considered. "There's also the library. Though we'd have to pass through the Sun Room to get there." It seemed as though that room was one of the most hazardous in the building, more often than not.

Sakura sat down onto her bed in thought. Since she had only been here for half a day, she had no idea which places held which specific dangers and which places could yield the best results. From what her brother had said, the basement seemed most promising, but at the same time, that was the one place Sakura didn't want to go. Stereotypically, scary things hid in the basement, and she wanted to stay as far away from supernatural creatures as possible. However, she had made the decision to join them in their night adventures, and if she was going to help, she needed to be willing to brave the terrors as well. Thus, she decided to put her faith in her brother's judgment.

"Let's try the basement then," she suggested, rising back up. "Maybe we can find some information on what's going on or how to get home in those secrets."

"We have to go through the Sun Room if we want to go to the basement too, right?" Touya said taking out his map and examining it by flashlight. "Yeah, entrance is... in the fridge. Right?" He looked to Yue for confirmation.

"Anyway, I agree with the squirt," Touya said, ruffling Sakura's hair. "If the basement has some sort of secret to it, that'd be a good place to start. Don't you think?"

"It is possible to get to the kitchens without going through the Sun Room." Yue hesitated a moment, then moved closer to look at the map Touya held. He frowned at the page, then reached out to tap one fingertip against the outdoor field, then the courtyard next to it. "This way. Though it would involve climbing the wall."

He did not look at Sakura right there, but it was still true: getting her over the wall would take a bit more effort than it would for one of them to do so. Even if Touya's shoulder was still injured, a fact that Yue had noted the young man wasn't planning to mention. Well, so long as it didn't interfere...

The guardian glanced at the two siblings, then breathed out what wasn't quite a sigh. "We'll try it. But if we run into anything dangerous we should leave. Immediately." The last thing he wanted was for one or both of them to get injured in front of him.

Sakura frowned slightly as Touya ruffled her hair. Even after 12 years, she still didn't like it when her brother teased her. However, she quickly pocketed her disapproval to focus on their options.

Once Yue highlighted the second path to the basement, Sakura's imagination flowed as she pictured herself attempting to climb and wall and utterly failing. Her face quickly flushed red, revealing what she was considering, before she finally continued. "Okay," Sakura replied, confirming Yue's conditions. "We're going through the Sun Room though, right?"

Touya nodded to Yue. "Yeah. If we see anything, we'll get out of there."

Of course, in order to run successfully, they'd have to see the thing before they could figure out they needed to run. And if Touya or Yue didn't see it, it would be a huge disadvantage--just like with the bird.

"Guess we should start moving, then," Touya said, shouldering his bat again. He thought briefly about asking if Sakura had a weapon... but decided that was just too disturbing to think about.

They had both agreed to his condition, but Yue still wasn't entirely pleased to be heading toward the basement with these two. Not with Sakura defenseless as she was, and Touya armed with nothing but a bat. But...well.

He sighed again, biting back the multitude of arguments that he could make and was well aware would be futile, and just resolved to do his best to detect any danger before one of them was hurt. As long as they did as they'd agreed and ran...

"Very well. If you're certain." Yue frowned at the pair for a moment, then nodded toward the door. "We'll head for the Sun Room first. If there's something guarding it, then we can go the longer route. I'll go first, if you want to watch our backs?" he added, with a glance at Touya. It would put Sakura between them, where hopefully she'd be safer.

The young girl remained silent as the other two planned. Inwardly, she was glad that she would be sandwiched between the boys, as she wished that they didn't have to go out in the first place. However, if she gave off any significant sense of fear, they would reconsider bringing her along, so Sakura did her best to hide her fear behind a mask of determination.

"Gotcha," Touya affirmed with a nod, rolling the bat off his shoulder. "C'mon squirt, I'll be right behind you," he said, putting a comforting and firm hand on Sakura's shoulder. He knew she was scared. What twelve-year-old wouldn't be? And he had the added benefit of being Sakura's brother, so he knew how to read her a bit better than the average kid.

But if she didn't get out tonight, she never would. If he showed he was scared too, she'd never leave. He had to stand as an example to her--powerless, exhausted, but firm in his mission to get them all out.

"It's this way, right?" Touya said, pointing through the wall in the direction of the Sun Room.

Another look at Sakura only solidified Yue's resolve to make certain that nothing happened to the girl this night, no matter what. She had to be scared, in a situation like this, and yet she was still so determined to keep going.

He nodded once to Touya's question, then moved to the door. "Follow me."

[to here]

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Night 41: F11-20 Hallway

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