damned_institute | Dayshift 22; First Shift; Sun Room

Sora woke up with his hand against his chest, breathing hard. It was still so disconcerting to be one place one second and in his bed the next, morning having suddenly arrived.

The boy was overwhelmed with how tired he was - the night had been so rough on him - and he fell back against his pillow with a sigh.

Renji, Nowe, Kurosaki, and then Scar...

Scar. Scar had been yelling at him, blaming him for leaving his friend to fight that monster that had hurt his friends so badly, but he hadn't had any other choice, and the man had told him to go, but maybe he really should have stayed (that would have been the right thing to do, and, and, and...)

But there was no way he could do anything about it now, other than make sure that everyone had come out of it okay, and to apologize to the two he'd gotten caught up in his mess.

Rubbing the gunk out of his eyes, Sora rolled out of bed and jerked in surprise when he saw another bed across from his own. With someone in it. It wasn't anyone he'd seen before, but it looked like he'd somehow ended up with a roommate! That was sort of exciting, actually, and he was about to go over and inspect his new friend more carefully when his nurse walked in.

"Now, now," she said with a tsking noise. "Don't wake him. He's new here and needs to get his rest."

More patients? Sora frowned. It was disheartening, but he looked forward to getting to know the other boy once he woke up. When he was offered a choice of where to go, he chose the Sun Room without much consideration. Religion had never been a big part of his life, and he didn't see any reason why that should change.

Upon entering the Sun Room, however, he didn't see any of the people he was looking for. No Renji, no Nowe, no Kurosaki, no Scar, no blue-haired-guy-with-a-sword. There were a few Organization members around (and Larxene looked pretty hurt), but he certainly wasn't going to approach any of them willingly.

His eyes finally landed on someone he did like: Tamaki. He had only spoken to the boy a few times, but their conversations had been nice ones. Stepping over to where Tamaki was standing and positioning himself behind him, Sora poked him playfully on the shoulder.

Tamaki was standing rather defensively, his hands clasped at the small of his back and his shoulders hunched. But he jumped when someone touched him, whirling about with wide eyes.

"Sora-kun!" His startled expression - slightly exaggerated - faded into a wide grin. He'd liked Sora, very much, from the minute they'd met. And he noticed Edward, sleeping on a couch, and his grin only widened. Edward was okay, and sleeping. He wouldn't be sleeping if something had happened to Adel! His friends were alright!

"You startled me!" he said. "Are you doing well?"

"That was sort of the point," Sora admitted with a grin, pulling both of his arms up behind his head. He was doing his best to be cheerful even though he had no idea if his friends were all right, but he reminded himself that they could be in the chapel - and sort of wished he had chosen to go there, even if he didn't care about that stuff.

"I'm okay. Hey, was there someone else in your room with you this morning? I mean," he stammered, "another bed. With someone else there." That had been a little embarrassing.

He wanted to tell the other boy about his concerns, even if he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything to help him. Just getting it off his chest would be nice, and he was pretty sure Tamaki would listen... But he'd wait until they had chatted a bit more. That was the polite thing to do, right?

"Someone else...?" Tamaki paused, thinking. Now that he thought on it, his room had been different! There had been another bed. He'd been so worried about Ed and Adel that he hadn't given it much thought.

"Yes! I think there was!" He nodded, enthusiastically. "I was distracted when I woke up. My friends... bad things happened last night. But I know they're alright now. But I do remember another bed! Do you think it's permanent?"

He hoped the person in his room was nice!

"Yeah, I think we have roommates," Sora explained. It was nice to see that Tamaki was just as excited about this as he was. "I'm gonna be happy to have someone to talk to when I eat dinner," he admitted as he let his arms fall to his sides again. He always got lonely when he was waiting for nightshift to begin.

"Bad things happened last night for me, too," he admitted, his chin dropping slightly as he his eyes searched for the floor. "A lot of my friends got hurt, and none of them are here. I... I didn't get hurt, but they did, and I got some other people involved, but I didn't really have any choice." He was babbling now, but he was so worried, and he felt so guilty...

It wasn't fair, unloading all of this on a boy he'd only spoken to two or three times, but there was no one else to talk to at the moment.

Honey had followed the nurse into the Sun Room without saying much, until they arrived. The nurse escorted him to one of the couches. He was about to ask her for a blanket and what happened to his bunny, and the name of the place, but she'd dashed off as soon as they entered. He frowned.

The room was large and inviting. It almost reminded him of the Third Music Room. He took a moment to look around, and he got a confused look on his face. That is, until he saw one familiar face, speaking with someone. He didn't know the other boy, but he certainly looked nice. Honey decided to shake off the grumpiness from being awoken early, as much as he could, and walked up to them.

"Tama-chan? I...I hope I'm not bothering you and your friend. Where are we? Is this one of Kyou-chan's hospitals?"

He turned to the other boy. "I'm sorry if I interrupted you. My name is Haninosuka Mitsukuni, but you can call me Honey. Everyone else does."

As if to illustrate, a redheaded boy came up to him, clapped him on the shoulder, and did just that.

"Honey-senpai. You're here, too?"

Hikaru had actually been happy for the end of Nightshift. No more smelly President, no more homicidal brothers...waking up back in his bed was a definite improvement to being threatened with a scalpel, even if it was without Kaoru.

That his room had doubled in size and now contained an extra bed didn't concern him that much. They had probably just moved Kaoru in with him, like they'd asked. Kaoru had left without him, and that was rather annoying, but he was sure they'd meet up later.

In fact, things were looking pretty good...until he realized (belatedly) that he still wasn't talking to Tamaki. Shit. He settled down next to Honey and shot a glare in their Lord's direction, catching the unfortunate, spikey-haired boy in the crossfire.

"My friends got hurt last night, too," Tamaki said, quietly. He shifted. "But I didn't. There wasn't anything I could do. And sometimes... sometimes we just can't protect the people we want to, no matter how much we want to." He looked up at Sora, blue eyes earnest. "We all need to help each other, Sora-kun. It isn't your fault that anyone got hurt."

The blond reached out to squeeze Sora's shoulder, but he was immediately drawn to the small voice by him.

"Honey!" Tamaki's face fell and he knelt down on one knee, reaching out to place his hands on the smaller Host's arms. "Oh no.... this isn't one of Kyou-kun's hospitals....."

And then Hikaru - he was relatively certain - was there. And Tamaki seemed unaware the two were having a fight of sorts. "Were you okay last night?" he asked, ignoring the glare. "Oh! This is Sora," he said, finally, introducing his friend. "We met in the shower!"

Sora hadn't been hurt, either. In fact, he was pretty much the only one who hadn't. That didn't seem fair. Everyone else had taken the blows for him, and now he wasn't even sure if they had made it out okay. "No, I can't... I can't admit to that. I always have to protect my friends, no matter what." But the facts were impossible to ignore. He had done no protecting this time, had caused even more damage by roping in others for help.

Luckily, the boy was distracted from such thoughts when two people he didn't know approached them. Sora's eyes widened when he realized how young the one called Honey was. "Oh, gosh... how... how old are you?" he asked, looking thoroughly distressed.

When he was introduced, he nodded to both of them amiably, but his cheeks reddened when Tamaki mentioned the circumstances of their meeting. It was probably best not to comment on that...

"Hi, Sora. It's nice to meet you!" Honey smiled brightly and offered a hand to the other boy. A friend of the Lord's was a friend of his in his mind, no questions asked.

"I look young for my age, but that's because I'm so short. I'm actually 17. Everyone is surprised when they hear that, though."

His bright smile quickly faded, though. "Sora-kun, Tama-chan, Hika-chan...where are we? And Tama-chan... what did you mean on the bulletin board when you said I wasn't supposed to be here? I'm confused. I kind of thought when I woke up here that this was some kind of new thing for the Host Club that Kyou-chan had organized. I know I'm grumpy in the mornings, so I guessed that was why you didn't tell me. But it's not one of Kyou-chan's family's hospitals?"

It took a lot to worry Honey most of the time - worrying about things just wasn't in his nature. But this was...what in the world had happened? And why did the Lord and his friend look so worried, and what was all the talk about people being hurt?

He wanted to offer them Usa-chan. That was what he would normally do when he saw a friend that he thought could use some comfort, but he didn't have the bunny to give. He sighed, kicking his heels against the bottom of the couch. This was confusing.

"Oh, he's seventeen," Hikaru said right as Honey answered. He blinked. "Huh. What he said." Normally only he and Kaoru answered in unison...

"I dunno, Milord," he said, leaning back into the couch. "I think that the all-Japan judo champion faces a better chance in here than any of us...well, Mori-senpai, too, but I haven't seen him."

Hikaru desperately wanted to tease Tamaki about meeting this "Sora" (not exactly the most MASCULINE of names--who names their son "sky," for crying out loud?) kid in the shower, but he just couldn't do it without Kaoru. Together they were funny. Apart...well, he just sounded like a stupid spoiled brat. So he let it slide. He didn't want to, but there wasn't really much he could do.

"I'm Hikaru," he said, sounding bored.

"You know what I mean, Hikaru," Tamaki said, gently. "At night. But I have a sword now." He glanced down at Honey, smiling somewhat sadly.

"This isn't something Kyouya planned," he said, trying to keep a smile on his face. "This is a... a very bad place. We're trapped here, and at night very bad things happen. I know it's hard to believe, but there are monsters that come out at night. I've seen them. I watched my friends fight them last night, and...." He didn't want to talk about what he'd seen.

"This isn't even a real hospital. The doctors do... they... they're like the mad doctors in a horror manga," he finished, lamely.

This... this Honey was older than he was? Sora couldn't help staring for a moment, and he ended up nodding speechlessly. It wasn't like his behavior betrayed his age, either. It was a little unnerving, and the boy got the feeling he wasn't the only one who thought that. Wouldn't anyone who met this seventeen-year-old be a little disoriented?

"It's nice to meet you, too," he said, a bit delayed, and then glanced over at the boy who seemed closer to Tamaki's age. "And you, too." It was hard to be as enthusiastic as he normally was when that earlier shock was combined with his general worries.

As the three spoke, it became more and more obvious that they had all known each other beforehand, so the Keyblade Master found his attention wandering when their conversation started to go over his head.

It was then that he spotted Kurosaki. He was looking worse for the wear, but he was alive! Sora had to stop himself from calling out and running over to his friend. He seemed busy, after all, and really, all he needed to know was that he was okay. So the others were probably just in the Chapel, and everything was going to be all right! Suddenly, he felt a lot better.

Honey frowned, listening to what everyone had said. Suddenly, he felt smaller than he actually was in terms of height, and angry, at the same time. He might have expected the behavior from Kyouya, but none of the others had any reason to lie.

He looked around the room, really noticing the surroundings for the first time. He noticed a lot of people looked like they'd been hurt, or worried. And they were all different ages, different backgrounds...he realized, with a jolt, that he actually had no idea where he was.

What's more, you weren't supposed to get hurt when you were in a hospital. They were places where people went to get better.

His tone suddenly turned serious, and his voice dropped, as much as it could actually drop. "What do you mean, monsters? Where are we?"

Hikaru gave Sora a wry grin. He looked pretty weirded out by Honey's real age. "His size is his selling point, you know. Girls love talking to him because it's like talking to a little kid. He's also the 'lovely item' that makes another one of our friends more approachable."

He stood and ruffled Honey's hair a bit in an awkwardly comforting gesture. "We don't know, senpai, but it's dangerous here. This isn't a normal hospital."

"Monsters. I've seen a... a big robot with laser swords twice now." Tamaki offered another faltering smile. "But I've heard about other things." He ran a hand through his hair and sat down.

"We don't know where we are or how we got here. Nobody does. And there are people here from hundreds of different worlds! Like Sora!" He beamed at his friend.

"But don't be worried. We're going to get out. We just have to make friends and work together with everyone!"

While Sora was preparing to explain more about Landel's to the group he was with, he was distracted by what Hikaru said. Selling point?

Girls?

"Wh-what do you mean?" he asked. He'd never heard anyone speak like that before and he wasn't sure what to think of it. When his own peculiarity - the fact that he was from a different world - was revealed, he simply grinned. It wasn't all that amazing, in his opinion, considering how many worlds he had been to.

That wasn't important, though. They had to be prepared and he had a lot he could tell them. "Don't underestimate this place. It isn't... normal. But it's true, the main thing you need to know is that we have to find a way out of here as soon as possible. It's just that... that's not very easy."

Honey blushed a little. "Hika-chan, Tama-chan, and I are all part of the Host Club at our school. We have guests over and entertain them. And I get to eat cake! A lot of cake!"

He smiled at the mention of cake, but then remembered what the others had said. Back to business it was, or as much business as Honey could think of.

"What do you mean, it's not very easy? A friend of ours...oh."

His face fell when he realized he didn't have his cell phone. He'd wanted to call Kyouya and ask if he could please send his private police over and pick them up.

"Did people hurt you? I...well, my family runs a martial arts school, and I was the national judo champion in junior high. I used to be in the Karate Club before I joined the Host Club. If anyone hurt you..."

Honey didn't like fighting if he didn't have to. But if someone had hurt his friends...

Surprise number one had been waking up in a new room. The fact that he couldn't remember how he got there wasn't a shock anymore. But he really hadn't expected a new room.

Surprise number two took on the form of Honey-Senpai, sitting with his legs dangling as he spoke to Tamaki, Hikaru and some other guy.

Number three was that he wasn't surprised to see Hikaru without him, surrounded by people. He only hoped that the new bed in his room didn't belong to Hikaru. Why would his twin run off without him?

He draped himself over Hikaru and looked down, making sure his brother was alright. Then it was to the business of Honey. Seeing the little guy actually filled him with some faith. The twins still weren't all that used to friendship, but he realised how nice it felt to see someone familiar. He felt a little safer. Of course, that could have something to do with Honey's skills.

"Nobody messes with Honey-Senpai. Only, he usually has Mori with him who looks a little...scarier."
He shot Honey a smile.

He hadn't looked at Tamaki yet. He felt like his face might burn off with shame if he tried. Was Hikaru talking to him now? If he wasn't then they might lose Honey too. Why would he stay with the twins when the King was around?

"'Robot with lazer swords,'" Hikaru repeated, deadpan. That kind of trumped his 'giant mutated rats' from a couple nights ago, as well as the 'patients with homicidal intent' from last night. Speaking of which, he could see them in this room--Kadaj, sitting by himself and looking like he'd just found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and Yazoo, sitting with some guy with...nekomimi? Cosplay, maybe?

Whatever.

"We all have selling points as Hosts," he said, grinning slyly at Sora. "Honey-senpai is small and cute, my Lord here is handsome and charming, and I'm..." Well, he'd just leave it at that. No need to ruin the surprise...plus, the conversation had already moved on.

And speak of the devil.

Hikaru nuzzled his face into Kaoru's chest, in full Host-mode. He knew how much their...interactions tended to creep out most of the uninitiated. The (straight) guys, anyway. They could usually bring out the yaoi fangirl in most women if they tried hard enough. "But Mori-senpai isn't here," he murmured, tracing his fingers along his brother's collarbone. "So we need to look after Honey-senpai ourselves. Kaoru, did you leave the room without me? You weren't in bed when I woke up. I'll have to...punish you for that tonight."

He looked up at Sora. This is our selling point.

And obviously, nothing Tamaki had said had gotten through to the twins. He guessed Ed was right. He couldn't convince them that this place was nothing like home, they'd just have to realize it themselves.

He opted to ignore them, rather than glare at them. They probably just wanted the same thing he did, some sense that everything was normal. Even though it wasn't, at all. He just gave Sora a somewhat sheepish look, instead.

"Don't go out alone at night," he told Honey, and smiled. "As long as you have friends with you, everything will be okay! But it's a good idea to make friends with people who have skills you don't. Like my friend Ed... he can make weapons. He made the sword I used last night."

Now Sora was starting to think that this Host Club sounded pretty cool. You got to meet a lot of new people and eat good food... What could be bad about that? He was about to ask more about it when someone who looked exactly like Hikaru walked up.

They were twins! Just like the Fairy Godmothers, except... not at all, really. The point was that it was neat.

Or so he thought, until they started falling all over each other and then things become a little uncomfortable. Sora's blush deepened and he had to avert his gaze. As Hikaru started to explain their 'selling points,' it got even worse.

Luckily, Tamaki spoke up and made him feel a little better. He would just have to change the subject. "Yeah. And... I have a weapon I can use, too, so if any of you need help, just let me know." These boys all seemed really normal, if they were questioning what happened at night to such an extent. They seemed friendly, so Sora hoped he could help them, being someone who could fight.

The twins' behavior didn't even faze Honey anymore. He was used to it. And, he was glad to see Kaoru. Plus, it was nice to have a new friend.

The thing that concerned him the most - Tama-chan had a sword? He'd carried one during the club cosplays sometimes, but it was always as a "Prince Charming will come to the princess' rescue!" item. It worried the small Host that he felt the Lord actually needed one for anything else, but what he said was right. As long as he was with friends, it would be okay.

"And if you need anything... my family has trained in martial arts for a long time. I don't like to pick fights with things, but, well. We're friends now, Sora-chan. If you need anything, it's OK."

His stomach growled at that moment, audibly. "Um. Do they feed you?"

"Hikaru... I feel so bad for Honey-senpai. I'd die here without you," he said sadly, stroking his brothers cheek. Their new 'friend' (probably from the land of Zombobyagob and has the power to engage inanimate objects in song and dance) seemed to be getting a little uncomfortable. How nice.
But he was momentarily thrown off by Hikaru's second comment. He picked himself up quick enough that nobody but Hikaru would be likely to notice. "How could you accuse me of that? I only just left my room," he pouted.

All this talk of weapons had sparked his curiosity. Weapons looked cool, but he'd never been overly interested in learning much about them. But what with those creepy brothers last night, he was starting to feel the need to learn for his brother's sake. And Tamaki had a sword, of course. Because he was Tamaki and had a way of getting what he wanted. It wasn't even through him trying particularly hard. Things fell into his lap easily sometimes, it seemed. Or maybe it was to do with him being nice to people.

"What sort of weapon? How did you get it?" he asked Sora. He was serious now, but still draped over his brother.

He looked at Honey and almost felt sad. Really heartbreakingly sad. "They claim to. But the cooks barely pass as mediocre with some of their dishes."
As for the cake...
"We'll take you to get breakfast," he smiled suddenly. He was going to win Honey over to their side, just in case Tamaki was still feeling too good for them.

Just like that, Hikaru dropped the Host act and sat up straight, still leaning against Kaoru. "What do you mean, you just left the room? I woke up this morning and there was another bed in my room and it looked like it had already been slept in." He sighed. "This place is so messed up."

Even he was intrigued by all this talk of weapons. He had read enough manga and played enough video games that his imagination could run pretty wild if he wanted it to, and now he was getting a mental image of himself and Kaoru, flashing brilliant swords and taking on the monsters, grabbing Haruhi, and leaving this place. Oh, and Honey was in there too, somewhere.

Tamaki really rubbed off on people that way.

"It's a lot of Western food," Hikaru told Honey, frowning. It was almost sacrilegious that he shouldn't get his cakes. "And it doesn't taste that bad, but when they tried to attempt Japanese food, it was a disaster. I haven't seen any cakes here yet...but..." He smiled, catching Kaoru's intention. "You can have all the sweet things on my plate."

Dayshift 22; First Shift; Sun Room

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