http://hailmegatron.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] hailmegatron.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] damned_institute2009-08-09 01:04 pm

DAY 43: CAFETERIA, MORNING

Where was Blitzwing?

Lugnut ignored the nurse's fussing over his foot, even as it howled objections to his ill treatment of it the night before, pounding through the town in search of his wingmate, reportedly helpless and injured by an attack the night before-- and not finding him, not seeing even a glimpse of his crazy triple-changing ally.

Snarling at the nurse, but restraining himself from shows of violence-- Blitzwing would mock him if he showed up drugged already, and he would be useless to Megatron like that--he made his way impatiently to the cafeteria, stopping for just long enough to post an urgent notice on the board.

Where was he?

Looming in the middle of the cafeteria, he took the tray the nurse handed him (filled with disgusting human fuel, didn't she know he didn't have time to eat, not when his wingmate was missing?) and ignored it, watching for Blitzwing, where was he?

He refused to think about what might have happened to a wheelchair-bound, drugged, incapacitated warrior, with the swarms of monsters flooding around him, clawing and biting...

[for Scourge]

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 06:58 pm (UTC)(link)
The intercom buzzed and the voice did not belong to Nurse Lydia or the Head Doctor. Kio sat up in bed. He was feeling rather sick and his nurse was already in the room, fussing over him. "You had such a bad sunstroke, you poor thing." He didn't remember any sunstroke. He... he'd been in the shop, looking for lollies and then... darkness. Kio looked uncertainly at his nurse, afraid of the smile she wore. He decided not to question her and got up shakily.

Silently, she led him to the Cafeteria, to brunch. He noticed the note from Soubi and his heart jolted, but with pain and fear, he could not tell. Silently, he let her pile food on his plate. His friend was there, his blond hair visible among the few patients.

Kio sat down and frowned. "Sunstroke," was all he could say before he put his hand over his arms. His resolve was crumbling, he knew it.

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
All relief evaporated into bafflement when Kio spoke.

"Excuse me?" he frowned. He came close to worrying that he should understand, but....this was Kio. Kio was prone to being weird and hard to understand sometimes. At that simple thought, Soubi smiled. Warmly.

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 07:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Kio couldn't see the smile, no matter how badly he wanted to. His head still rested on his arms, his eyes closed. He wanted to go home. Why would his wife put him in this place? His mind answered neatly, "So you can help others." Wasn't that a good thought? To help others indeed. Slowly, painfully, his eyes met those of his friend and the smile registered. Kio smiled back.

"My nurse said I got to the shop and then had a sunstroke. I don't remember anything. I was with Demyx-kun..." his voice trailed off. "What happened, Sou-chan?" Kio felt lightyears tired.

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 07:15 pm (UTC)(link)
SOmething even stranger than a warm smile. Soubi laughed a little. Softly.

"Only you, Kio," he sighed. "You'll be happy you missed it. Your friend was right. There zombies. A lot of them." For a moment it seemed he wanted to say more, but he stopped himself.

Demyx was likely to be safe too. Maybe another case of sunstroke. Soubi hadn't even thought of his roommate. But the guy could fight, there was no real need to worry.

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 07:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Laughing. How long had it been since he'd heard Soubi laugh like that? It made him smile again and with a sigh, Kio grabbed the tray and started eating. Just a bit, not enough to make himself sick. So, Chi was right. Zombies. His eyes had glossed over a death note, but he would have to read up on it again, when his brain stopped feeling like fuzz.

"Did you get hurt? Or Ritsuka-kun? Or Demyx? Any friend of ours get bitten or whatever it is zombies do? Munch? Crunch? Om nom nom?" A small smile passed over his face.

Kio looked around the cafeteria. Maybe he was early, but there were only a few in here still. Zombies. Landel's was insane, sure, but who would have thought he liked his horror movies, too?

yeah, I thought the wrong death note....

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"No. Ritsuka and I were fine..." he said. He could feel it again. The worry. The desire to go and find the idiot in front of him. He wasn't supposed to feel that for anybody but Ritsuka. Sure he'd made that promise to himself, that that wasn't....about feelings. Just a duty he felt.

"Demyx can take care of himself, I'm sure. So...who's Chihaya and what do you need to talk about?"

Kio: Messing with your Death Gods since 2008

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, it wasn't like he doubted Soubi's ability to protect Ritsuka or even his desire to do so. For all that Kio had voiced his concern numerous times at the whole 'ownership' idea and the passing down of Sou-chan through the Aoyagi male line, like a toy or an heirloom, there was no denying his devotion. Kio felt somewhat jealous that this devotion did not extend to him, too.

"I'm happy you were there for Ritsuka-kun," was what came out, but it sounded sincere enough, even to him. "I need a friend, Sou-chan. I'm losing my mind. I almost told my nurse I'm this Akatsuki guy, I'm sick of this place. Monsters, zombies, a lunatic doctor. I just want things to go back to how they were." Kio didn't want to talk about Chihaya. Not now. Not right now.

S'ok so long as you give them apples.

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Soubi nodded, but he didn't seem pleased. Was he supposed to admit how afraid he'd been, how difficult it was to stay in that room and not ask if he could find his friend?

"I'm your friend," he said, simply. But as Kio continued...he understood a little better. And remembered how much he'd craved Kio's company before. "I understand," he nodded, "but we don't know if that's...safe." Soubi had almost done it himself. After the experiment and after his visitor. Soubi lowered his head to the table, miserably.

"They can't," he muttered. "They....changed everything, Kio." At least they had for Soubi.

A healthy kind of bribe, of course

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Kio threw his fork down, earning him a look of annoyance from one of the nurses. He looked back at her with his best indifferent face, the one that made the teachers leave him alone when his lies about Sou-chan's 'ill grandmother' were painfully transparent.

"What can I do? I won't fight them. Any of them. But I can't stand back and see you and Ritsuka-kun get hurt. I can't. I can't just stay in my room and accept that you might..." his voice sounded high and strained, but Kio plowed on, "might not wake up." Kio wanted to reach out again, like he had a few days ago, when they'd tended his wound. He wasn't sure how Soubi felt about that, though.

"Are you sure? What did they change?" Kio needed to know, he needed to help Soubi, needed to do something, make someone happy.
Edited 2009-08-09 20:09 (UTC)

Re: A healthy kind of bribe, of course

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 08:14 pm (UTC)(link)
"What's wrong...aren't you eating?" he frowned. Ritsuka had been going off food lately too. It was worrying.

"Still a pacifist? They're not...human. Some of them aren't even alive," he tried, earestly. "Would you at least consider learning to defend yourself? I can't be expected to run around after two children."

He looked up at Kio, something strange and dark in his eyes, but far from mean. "I'll always wake up, so long as I'm needed."

What did they change. His body, his life, his duty perhaps. His choices. His orders.

"That...the thing on my neck that you hate so much. They....replaced it."

Re: A healthy kind of bribe, of course

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"I eat their food, I encourage their delusions. I accept that I am who they say I am, that I'm insane, delusional. They told me, in that cursed file of theirs, that I want to make people happy because my father killed himself." He felt his throat closing up, but a little bit of juice changed that. He wanted to make others happy because it made him happy, but then, what did this place know about cheer?

Kio knew they weren't alive. But they had been. At some point. "Only if you teach me, Sou-chan," he added with a trace of the Kio smile. "Ritsuka needs more tending than me. You have to hold him while he cries, you know." He wasn't sure what to say to Soubi. He needed him now and he assumed that Ritsuka did too. Kio didn't know how he would deal with Soubi disappearing, or worse.

His eyes widened momentarily. "Replaced? What with?" His fingers touched Sou-chan's. He wanted to hug his friend, but the nurses seemed to frown on cheer and love. Not that he Loved Sou-chan. Kio capitalised big letters in his head.

*fails at subject lines* L, don't you know Death Gods fear the dentists/whatever apples keep away?

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-09 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"Kio... we've been through this. It's all lies, that never happened. Right?" Kio told Soubi things about his family...but rarely about his father. And certainly not the insane lie about a wife and child!

"I can't," Soubi said, shaking his head, ignoring Kio's smile. This was serious business. "I'm not strong enough as it is. But there's a boy who can help."

With a sad sigh and a bit of a pout, Soubi said, "he doesn't let me see him cry, let alone hold him. Anyway. I think he's upset with me right now."

Head hidden, Soubi let his fingertips touch with kio's for a moment before he clenched his fists. Too many people already knew, but none understood. Kio wouldn't either but... despite not knowing everything, he usually helped Soubi out.

"Two terrible words. Words that might be more true than 'beloved' ever was..." He automatically moved a hand to the bandages. "Kio. What are you willing to do for me?" he asked, finally looking up.

Does that make Landel a dentist?

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 09:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Right." It was anything but right, but with how things had been, Kio didn't know up from down. Still, it was strange how well he had managed to keep his cool, not erupting and dancing on tables like some of the other ones.

The cheer was draining from Kio's face. "Boy? Endangering a child? Sou-chan... I'll try and take care of myself. These clubs, always asking for members. I can help find things, stay out of trouble." He wanted Soubi not to worry. He worried enough about Ritsuka and although Kio refused to believe in this ownership crap, he couldn't deny that this boy had changed his friend. For the better. From the zombie he had been with Seimei to a lively, happy Sou-chan.

Kio shook his head, smiling wearily. "Why is he upset? Did you say something to hurt him?" Normally, he would have offered to talk, but the boy wouldn't want to see him. He'd lied to him. Maybe, though, he could help Soubi out.

Their touch, however brief, made his stomach clench. He ate some more, forcing himself to swallow, telling himself it was the only thing that would keep him from breaking apart. He looked straight into Sou-chan's eyes, his gaze determined. This time, he would not waver. "Anything you want me to do, Sou-chan." His voice was hushed, but the words held power. Like he had decided to go to that school, knowing the danger, so now Kaido Kio pledged himself to his friend. For better or for worse.

Yes. Yes it does.

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 01:31 pm (UTC)(link)
"See, you'll be fine. Just....ignore them," he urged. "None of their lies matter, we need to think about getting out."

"Well, perhaps boy is the wrong choice of words. He's about eighteen, I believe. A friend of Honey-chan's." Hm, did they have a club? "You can join their club or something. At least I'd know that you're in good hands that way. If you want to stay out of trouble, you'll stay in your room. And give me back those pictures."

Soubi looked away, a sure sign of guilt. "Well. I...didn't expect it to. Certainly not as much as it did. Maybe he'll look at the photos today and forgive me?" he sighed, mostly to himself.

Soubi kept Kio's gaze for a moment. "I need you to cut out these words. It wont hurt. It's fine. Sheena would be on hand. All you have to do is cut enough to distort the letters and...not enough to kill me." Simples. "And don't freak out."

Soubi, you thief, you make Kio cry! :|

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yes. You're right, I know." Getting out. How nice that thought had been in the beginning, how simple. Kio had been here long enough now to realise that no matter how far he would run, he could not escape the Institute alone.

"The Cake Club?" Kio thought about it a second and Mori's name came naturally back to him. How he'd fought. So quickly, so valiantly, for him and Wonka. "I think I'd do better foraging. I could see which group includes more than a fighter and stay with them." His face took on a grim look when the pictures were brought up. He silently opened his journal and showed Soubi the last page of the diary: taped in there were the pictures from the file. "I know you want them, but these at least are no lies. Let me have this."

It pained Kio to see his friend agonise like this. "Ask him tonight. Let him be, and apologise tonight. He knows you care, you just have a harder way of showing it."

Eyes widened just a second, enough to show the fear he was pushing away. Who was Sheena and why did he trust her? Words? More than one? Kio remembered tending Soubi's wounds and how it had torn him to give back that key. He'd bandaged and cleaned, staying up at night to listen to his friend's breathing and check for a fever. He could do this. "Tonight. Go to Ritsuka's and apologise. We meet in the main hallway. Bring Sheena. I'll do it, Sou-chan." Not because he would take any pleasure in it, but because it would destroy Landel's evil.

Re: Soubi, you thief, you make Kio cry! :|

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"That sounds right. And you're not foraging. I'm putting you under the care of the Cake Club. I'll drop you off at night and they can train you to at least defend yourself. Agreed?"

Soubi looked at the pictures and frowned. So that was where Kio hid them.

"You're very sneaky. And I told you the truth... now you have to at least give me the one of...those people." Soubi wasn't comfortable with Kio having a picture of Ritsu, but it didn't matter as much as the photo of his parents.

"I tell it to him straight and he still gets angry," Soubi sulked. "He only just lifted the ban on 'I love you' and now I can't use the words for fear of upsetting him."

Soubi reached out and grabbed Kio's wrist. "You mean it?" he asked, a little surprised. Kio was an artist. He had a steady hand...maybe this would work! "I....still have to secure permission from Ritsuka. And get a hold of the things we'll need."

Did he steal the file?

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Kio glared. He didn't want to be with the Cake Club, because all they seemed to do was go to the Kitchens. They would never find a way out by bribing Landel's with sweets. "No. I want to go and explore this place, find a way out."

Soubi pointed at a picture Kio assumed was of his teacher. Soubi seemed to be the right age for it. He didn't have his ears, but that was a subject best left alone. The one picture Soubi wanted was of him and adults. Parents. Another taboo subject, as usual. It was a time when he'd been happy. Kio wanted to see that image forever in his mind. "Sou-chan, let me keep them. They're my photos. I wouldn't show them to anyone." The words 'I love you', which Ritsuka seemed to allow, made Kio look at his plate. Still, he said he would help. "Don't use them for a few days. Let him forgive you. He's as stubborn as me, you remember?"

There was no pain where Soubi grabbed him. There was that familiar twist in his stomach again. He would manage. "I mean it." His expression darkened somewhat. "You say something to Ritsuka now, he'll forbid you to do it. Talk to Sheena. We..." he quickly pulled out the map of the Institute. "We find the stuff in these rooms here," he stated calmly, pointing to the Examination Rooms. "I need a scalpel, some gauze and disinfectant. Have Sheena ready for tonight." Kio had never seemed more serious. "Tell no one, Sou-chan. It's tonight or not at all." His eyes glittered with determination.
Edited 2009-08-10 20:30 (UTC)

Yep

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-10 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
"Leave the 'exploring' to me. Just...learn to take care of yourself so I don't have to worry or run around after you." He gave Kio a stern look.

Soubi couldn't look at the pictures for long. "They're not yours. We can take new ones...just...give me that one. It can't mean anything to you. It...it barely means anything to me. That's why I have to....put it away somewhere," he admitted. He needed it hidden. Not destroyed. That had been a mistake before.

Soubi sat up and pulled a strange face. "Ritsuka....already knows," he said, with an air of guilt. "That's what we argued about last time. Before...well, it... Once I have it ready, I'll discuss it with him again. I have a scalpel secured. I have bandages. If it comes to it, we can just use those things."

Why was it Kio could do this but not give back some lousy photographs...

Bastard :|

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-11 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Kio could glare like a million burning suns. "I never said you had to chaperone me, Sou-chan. If there are fighters in the group, and there always are, I'll be fine. I'm done foraging for cookies, I want to help others." Soubi couldn't stop him. At all. Just let him try.

"It means you were once genuinely happy. When you didn't need Aoyagi to smile. I want to cherish that thought, Sou-chan. I won't destroy it or show it to anyone. Please understand that I need this." His eyes spoke volumes. Kio was being selfish, yes, but he wanted this view into Sou-chan's innocence, before whatever it was that broke him got there.

"Ah." His voice held no emotion. "Discuss after it happens, Sou-chan. He won't let me go through with it otherwise. He'll stop us. I hated that thing that Seimei gave you. I will destroy it, no matter what it takes. Tonight. You, me, Sheena and an empty examination room." His eyes glittered again, but he pushed his glasses up, so the light reflected in them made them invisible. He could do this for them, for their friendship.

Looking at their barely touching fingers, Kio added in a whisper, "What do I mean to you, Sou-chan?"

:|

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-12 03:08 pm (UTC)(link)
"This has nothing to do with anything you say," Soubi pointed out, blandly. "It's happening whether you like it or not." He could always drag Kio along to the corridor of doom but...there was still the issue of spells. Not that Soubi was ever going to try again, not with Ritsuka there.

"All children are happy in their youth," he huffed. "I don't even remember those days, they don't matter to anybody. It's...foolish to hold onto such silly things. Especially when they're making me unhappy." He couldn't look Kio in the eye, he knew what look he'd fine and it was annoying because...it could be effective.

He shook his head. "I can't do that. This has to be his decision..." Soubi felt a nervous buzz. He would obey. As best as he could. There were some brief moments when he came close to clawing at his throat, desperate to tear the words away...

Soubi frowned at Kio and gave him a wry smile. "You're my friend...aren't you? You're the relationship guru, you tell me," he said with a sigh, sitting back. Stupid Kio. Soubi had never wanted a friend, on the one hand they got in the way of his duties And on the other hand....they were just another person who'd one day leave him....

I mean it, you make Kio :|

[identity profile] stalksperverts.livejournal.com 2009-08-13 03:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"I'd like to see you try, Sou-chan," Kio retorted calmly. His roommate was gone, safely out of the Institute, as the nurse had told him cheerfully. Cured. So the minute the intercom opened the door, he could be out. Demyx and Soubi were still together. He'd run away if that was what it would take.

Kio's expression softened. He knew about the happiness of children. He was a father, wasn't he? "Regardless," he replied, clutching the journal tightly, "I want this happiness. Call me selfish, sure, but I want it." Stubborn, as usual. But to obey someone like Ritsuka when he was clearly so unhappy. "And meanwhile, you'll destroy yourself with guilt over it. My offer is not indefinite and I will not put this on the whims of a child. Sou-chan, I followed you to that school of yours. I stayed and tended you when Seimei left you for dead. In this, I will make it your decision or none at all."

He ignored Soubi's words, angry with himself. He was ready to do this. He wanted to help Sou-chan, to be the one to destroy the last vestiges of Aoyagi's power. But he could not wait for Ritsuka to understand. Already the rift between them was growing. Kio stood up, his food half-uneaten. "Think on it, Sou-chan. Tonight, main hallway. I will wait for 20 minutes or so, no more. It's the time it takes me to eat a lolly, when I don't hurry." Kio touched the pocket where it was hidden. Sou-chan's lolly. "Let me help you, Soubi. Please." With a long, lingering look, Kio called his nurse and headed out of the Cafeteria.

Kio makes Soubi ¬_¬

[identity profile] beloved-less.livejournal.com 2009-08-13 04:11 pm (UTC)(link)
"Kio....do you really think you have a chance?" Ooh, a chase. Soubi was a little surprised at how exciting it seemed. Not that there'd be much of one.

"Ritsuka would like you again if you gave it back, Selfish," he huffed. "It doesn't belong to you and it's not true happiness. It's...child-like idiocy and naivete."

Soubi shoulders sagged a little. Kio could never understand how it was for Soubi. He shook his head. "I don't have that right."

He gave Kio a little, sulky, finger wave. "Hm, that talented tongue of yours," he said, wryly. "Tonight then."