Day 43: Chapel

[constellates.livejournal.com]

And just like that, the disorienting feeling of blacking out just to wake up in an unfamiliar bed came again. Alkaid had wondered if it would - everything about last night had been different, all the way from the zombies to the eerie emptiness of the Institute to the strange broadcast at the end of the night. Had the Head Doctor been shot? Damn, someone had gotten to it before her. And who was the voice at the end there? It was like she'd been allowed access to some kind of strange mystery that she could not understand, one that had been going on for a long time before she had arrived and would be going on for quite a while in the future, after she was gone. Had these strange sets of circumstances been bugs in this place's programming? Who could say?

The morning's intercom greeting was strange, as well. Federal training whatsit? It didn't seem like this happened very often, from the sound of it, but so much had happened since the last day she remembered that the former Demon Palace Emperor was ready to take pretty much anything at face value.

The room she woke up in was still empty. Wondering where to stick the half-cracked bat that she'd picked up last night, she shoved it under the mattress hastily when she heard footsteps in the hall.

The stupid nurse was the same as ever, though. Some things never changed. "Ahh, good morning, Eileen. It's so nice to see you awake."

Alkaid rolled her eyes at the nurse's chuckle, and shook her head. She didn't care that the NPC thought it was nice, she just wanted to see the rest of the institute already.. see what had changed! "Yeah, it's fantastic. Whatever! Just take me where I'm going and be done with it!"

It was just then that she realized that she was not wanting to devour the flesh of the nurse in front of her. And that the pain on her arm had kind of abated - she couldn't see through the thick bandages they had covered her arm with, but she wondered if her skin was still rotting off like a zombie. Had they somehow cured her infection overnight? Or was the nurse not human, like Alkaid had always thought?

There was only one thing for it: she had to go somewhere else.

"Chapel, sun room, or cafeteria, then?"

"Does it look like I care?"

The nurse sighed, then started walking Alkaid down the hall, up the stairs, and down another hall to the chapel. No one here yet, huh? That was weird. She couldn't imagine that no one else'd show up, but who could say? This place had been turned on its ass.

The chapel was empty so far, and kind of nondescript. She shooed the nurse away, and stood in the middle of the space between the pews, standing akimbo. What would happen today? What would she learn about herself... her situation? How long had she been sleeping? Was she really still going freaking undead, or had that been somehow taken care of?

All this would come to light really soon. She hoped. Geez, too many mysteries!!

[unwittingly awaiting Haseo]

Comments

[totallytheseme.livejournal.com]

[jumping in with Tia's permission. If you don't want him, though, feel free to send me angry e-mails and I'll delete. XD]

Apparently, Hikaru had slept through the zombie apocalypse.

He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that. Sure, he could be a heavy sleeper at times, but...seriously? The rest of the Institute had been in Doyleton of the Dead and he'd been snoozing away, perfectly comfortable in a bed he was grudgingly coming to regard as his own?

That was sort of anti-climactic, wasn't it?

After a cursory glance around the Sun Room revealed that his brother and his friends were nowhere to be found, Hikaru decided to allow "the help" to conduct him to the Chapel. Honey and Mori were kind of hard to miss; Mori was so tall that you could practically see him from space, and Usa-chan was anything but inconspicuous.

Hikaru gave the woman they were with a cheerful grin and plunked down next to his friends, uninvited. "Hosting so soon after your Thriller Night?" he asked. "Good thing Kyouya's not here. He'd probably make her pay in cheeseburger vouchers."

[host-club-honey.livejournal.com]

Sen didn't seem surprised or make a big deal when he told her how old he was, which was a plus in his book. She was sweet and encouraging and it make him feel a bit more confident in his decision.

"Ah! This is my best friend Takashi!" Honey started to introduce his rather tall friend now that he was near enough to join their conversation. He would've said more, but yet another host popped in. Hikaru, looking no worse for the wear in spite of last night, sat down with all of them, joking and laughing as usual. Worrisome as last night had been, he was glad that Hikaru was alright and even more important, that he was well enough to be joking around.

"And this is Hika-chan!" he continued, sending the boy a bright smile. "This is my friend, Sen-nee. We met a few days ago. So it doesn't count as hosting if we're friends, right?"

[tostepforward.livejournal.com]

So now she was with a fighter who looked younger than he was, a dark-haired fighter who seemed a man of very few words, and they'd just been joined by a loud redhead. It was almost like being home again, except for the fact that they weren't pleading to be fed.

Ayumu had no time to spare to miss her familiar surroundings, though, and thus dismissed the comparisons with a shy smile and nod to the two newcomers. "It's nice to meet both of you," she offered, before her expression turned to a mildly puzzled frown. "'Hosting'...?"

Honey had mentioned something of the sort, when he'd talked about how he and his friends liked to dress up as members of the Shinsengumi. Were these two of those friends, then?

[mukuchi.livejournal.com]

A familiar scent - missing it's pair. Mori shifted his weight slightly back when he caught wind of his friend, but didn't look back over his shoulder to confirm. Soon enough he would come over, Mori was certain of it. It was a relief to see Hikaru alive and well because if he was okay, that meant Kaoru survived the night, too. Mori was curious as to where the boys had gone, but considering he, Tsubaki and Mitsukuni hadn't been able to get much beyond the toy store, he was glad the twins hadn't been in town. There was no way he could have gotten to them in time to protect them from the horrors that had been sprung upon them.

Thankfully, he seemed alright, since he wasn't speeding up to them with any urgency.

Mitsukuni introduced him and Mori bowed, keeping his position at the end of the pew even as Hikaru came over and plopped down. He seemed to be in high spirits despite the night. Tilting his head back, Mori imagined Kyouya - all stern and businesslike - asking Sen for cheeseburger vouchers in payment for early morning hosting. Somehow...he didn't think Kyouya would do that. There was no profit margin in commoner hamburgers. Looking down at his friends just as Mitsukuni asked his question, Mori shook his head and let the conversation flow along. Sen seemed confused about Hosting, but he was sure one of the other boys could explain it.