Dayshift 42: Bus 2

[liveforthispart.livejournal.com]

Before anyone could come to any decisions for their next move, the room suddenly filled with a thick fog. Faster than he could realize what was happening, it had filled up the entire room and swallowed every single one of his friends. Then there was that undeniable stench of iron, blood and... he last remembered taking a step back and feeling that slippery skid and the realization of what that was. By the time he yelled, he was sitting straight up in his bed like he'd bolted awake. Like it'd been nothing more than a bad dream. ...What the hell just happened?!

"Oh! Good morning!" The nearby voice made him yelp with a half squeak-like noise. Oh, for hell's sake. It was one of those freaking nurses again. She was beaming at him like nothing had happened at all. Before he could so much as ask one question, the hag started blathering real fast about some field trip and buses and getting changed and hurrying up before everyone left without him and... OH MY GOD, WHAT WAS SHE DOING?! She was grabbing at his shirt like she was about to start helping him get dressed (or undressed in this case).

He flailed in a desperate attempt to get away from her and yelled his consent to go along if she would get out and let him change HIMSELF. What was the matter with her?! Thankfully, she left but told him to hurry. Hell if he knew what she'd do if he took too long. So for the sake of not getting freaking stripped, he quickly changed into the clothes she'd left on the bed. Clothes being the ugliest looking white-and-black track pants he'd ever seen and a bright blue sweatshirt with a cute little penguin design on the front. This was some kind of joke, right? ...Not to say the penguin wasn't cute or anything but there was no way, no way, he was wearing something like this in public.

But the nurse had burst right in again, and before Kanji could offer much protest, he was being pulled down the hallways and through the doors of the bus. He'd yelled some things her way, but she totally wasn't listening at all. By the time they stopped, he was standing at the front of the bus with a paper bag and the nurse had run off to cart another poor sap along. Frickin' PERFECT. For the sake of not standing up there like some kind of zoo animal for everyone to stare at, he plopped himself into one of the seats by the front and sighed in complete exasperation.

[Free. No limit.]

Comments

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

And then the next thing he knew the wall that he had been leaning against barely a minute before was leaking- no, bleeding- and then-

Kibitoshin woke with the drum of his own heartbeat and the rush of his own gasp ringing in his ears. Silence. W… was it over? Had the entire thing just been some kind of horrible, cruel nightmare? Was he back on Kaioshinkai?

Cautiously he lifted the blanket from his face. The room around him was white, stark and depressingly, depressingly familiar. Oh.

Not even the nurse’s enthusiasm when she came to wake him a few minutes later could get him to smile. She fluttered around him anxiously, pressing a hand to his forehead. “Don’t tell me you’re coming down with something! Especially after that nasty fall you had yesterday with that poor shoulder of yours.” She sighed deeply. “And on your first day out to town, too!”

“Day out? Town?!” Oh, no! Immediately, Kibitoshin’s mind flipped out of snooze and into panic mode. Trunks! He’d left him all on his own. How was he supposed to check up on him in a strange town, especially with his ki senses all out of whack?! And on top of that he really had to make sure Apollo and Dahlia were okay, and…

Dressed in an uncomfortably snug blue sweater and a wool coat (still not as smart as his Kaioshin uniform…), he found a seat near the front of the bus. Even if he couldn’t talk to them he might at least be able to see them come on from here. In fact, there was Franziska! Well, she looked a lot better now than she had last night- that was a load off of his mind. Relieved, Kibitoshin offered the pretty red-haired girl sitting next to the chosen seat a hopeful smile. “Excuse me? Is this seat taken?”

[fear-attachment.livejournal.com]

Chidori's first instinct was to point out acidly that clearly, the seat was empty. Why did people even ask such obvious questions? But that went against the spirit of trying to 'make friends', or at least not actively chase people off, which seemed to be important to Junpei for some unknown reason. So Chidori just sighed and shrugged. "It's not."

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

Kibitoshin blinked, hovering in the aisle uncertainly. Was that an invitation to sit down? He didn't want to seem rude if it wasn't, but there were people still behind him and he didn't want to hold them up either...

Well, there was no point in standing around. With a clumsy, "Thank you!" he sat down quickly- a little too quickly, perhaps. The sudden press of the seat against his now-bandaged shoulder (how strange, he didn't remember being treated...) drew a slight gasp from him but he covered it with yet another smile instead. "I'm Kibitoshin, by the way."

[fear-attachment.livejournal.com]

Chidori scowled as Kibitoshin's clumsy settling of his weight on the seat caused her hand to jerk and ruin a line she had been drawing. And it was in charcoal, too--it wouldn't erase cleanly with the supplies she had available to her. She was trying to be 'friendly', but this boy was making it hard! "... Chidori."

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

O-oh! She was drawing! And judging by that look he was getting he'd messed up somehow! "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to jog your line! It won't happen again, I promise!" He bowed his head humbly and jammed his hands into his lap before they could cause any more damage. Barely a second later, though, he found himself glancing sideways at Chidori, unable to fight his curiosity. "Um... if you don't mind me asking, Ch- uh, miss, what are you drawing?"

[fear-attachment.livejournal.com]

Why did everyone seem to find the act of drawing so fascinating? To Chidori, it was rather like people being constantly surprised by and interested in the fact that she was wearing clothing. It wasn't significant. She wore clothes because she liked not to be naked. She drew because she liked to draw. "I don't know yet. I just started it."

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

“Oh. I see.” Kibitoshin nodded wisely as though he understood the artistic thought process completely (he didn’t…) and directed his stare back down into his lap. Oh, dear. Somehow, something in the back of his mind was telling him that this journey wasn’t going to be wanting in awkward silences. Not one to be disheartened, he tried again. “What kind of things do you draw normally?”

Oh, dear.