damned_institute | 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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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]

Night 41: F11-20 Hallway

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