damned_institute | Night 43: F1-10 Hall

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Night 43: F1-10 Hall

Breaking down the bed frame after she'd eaten some of her meal had given Teresa something to do while she waited for the night time phenomena to arrive. Having not been conscious when it occurred the previous night, she was curious. She was not disappointed. The overhead words were certainly something different.

As the door opened, Teresa finished wrapping shredded bedding around the bottom portion of the six foot long metal bar that had once been a main side support of the bed's frame. It wasn't good quality metal by any means, but it was better than nothing. At least, she didn't think it'd break the first time she hit something with it given her reduced strength. As she hefted the weapon, she swung it around to get a feel and decided that it would do for now. Should she manage to find the right kind of stone or a file, she could even work a rough edge onto it.

A few more strips of cloth and the hybrid tied the makeshift weapon across her back, the 'hilt' sticking a foot and a half above her shoulders, and fashioned the cloth so she could pull on the knot by her right shoulder for a quick release. That done, Teresa took her flashlight and exited the room.

[to here]

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Can anyone? Raine brushed a hand over Sheena's hair again. "All right. Is there anything I can do for you?" She was willing to pass on messages if requested, even if she had to lie and say Sheena was sick. It wouldn't be much of a stretch.

She wanted to do something for her... one of the hardest parts of being a mother was knowing you couldn't fix everything.

Is there anything Raine could do for her?

"Yeah, I guess," she muttered. "In my dresser drawer are a bunch of red ribbons. I've been meaning to give them back, but never really got around to it."

Sheena had been meaning to hold them hostage thanks to the youkai's teasing ~~and her own curiosity~~ but she didn't think she had the energy to keep it going. Besides, maybe it could be like a silent show of gratitude for the way the youkai had taken care of her at the end of the previous night. Or something.

"They should be next to my cards." A pause. "And I know how many cards are in there," she added on as a silent warning that she'd know if one was missing.

I still don't see what harm peeking would do... Still, when Raine found the ribbons in question, she made it a point not to pick up any of the cards while she was at it... though she still examined the one on top very curiously.

Before Sheena could yell at her for it, though, she closed the drawer and turned back. "Where would you like me to take these? I'm going to the clinic, as always, but I can take a detour."

Sheena had been counting the seconds, so she knew Raine had looked a little. As much as it normally would have annoyed her, she knew the symbols were hard to make out on the playing cards given the pattern of the backs that she'd used as her card facing.

"Yukari's in F20; those are hers," Sheena replied, rolling onto her stomach. "You met her last night," she continued, mumbling. "Warn you, she'll probably be wearing a purple dress and a stupid-looking hat. Feel free to make fun of the hat." The dress did look nice on the youkai.

Raine put the ribbons in her pocket. "All right." She wasn't sure it would be appreciated, but she wasn't expecting thanks, either... she came over and tucked Sheena in. It was a gesture usually used only on children, but Raine knew what it was like to have a childhood cut short, and it had happened to Sheena at an even younger age.

"I'll see you in the morning." With that, she left.

[[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/698750.html?thread=58083198#t58083198).]]

Sheena didn't respond when Raine tucked her in, though it was possible the half-elf might have heard a very quiet, mumbled thanks from the ninja. Or maybe it was just a trick of the bell as Sheena shifted under the covers as the doors closed behind Raine.

Once comfortable on her stomach, the sheet covering most of her save for the bare shoulder with the bandage on it. The cooler air felt better on the skin surrounding the wound. Letting out a heavy breath, Sheena cushioned her head in her arms, the bell on the pillow next to her where she could see it, gently grasped between two fingers.

After a bit, she closed her eyes. Tears trickled down her cheeks again. She was so tired of the void inside.

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/698750.html?thread=58083198#t58179454)]

Yukari came to a halt outside F2, pondering what exactly to do. If Sheena was actually unwell, knocking and waking her would just be a bother. If, on the other hand, she was curled up in a ball of misery like she had after the night she'd been brainwashed, knocking wasn't going to get the youkai a reply, much less permission to enter.

So she did what was a disturbingly normal thing for the youkai and entered someone else's room without their knowledge or consent.

Slipping inside with the flashlight clicked off, Yukari let her eyes adjust to the darkness before moving. She immediately spotted the ninja immediately and smiled. Sweeping silently over to the girl's bed, she knelt down beside her.

"Good evening," said the youkai, surprisingly civil. No joking, no teasing, just a normal greeting. Perhaps tinged with concern, perhaps not.

She barely acknowledged the sound of the door opening, but the youkai's words made her focus on the room and not the hallways of her own mind. She was simultaneously irritated at Yukari's presence (what all had Raine said to her?) and comforted that the youkai had bothered at all. It did make Sheena wonder what Yukari had planned, but Sheena just didn't have the energy to really worry about it.

She did not turn her head in Yukari's direction, nor did she open her eyes, as she didn't want the youkai to know she'd been crying. "Why are you here?"

She shifted, rolling onto her side with her back to the youkai, accompanied by the gentle jingling of the bell held lightly in her hand. As she settled in, exposing more of her unclothed back, the cooler air reminded her that her shirt was currently on the bed, probably right in front of Yukari. Normally, she would have scrambled to don the garment again, but she just didn't care enough at the moment. Still...

Taking the sheet, she pulled it up to cover as much of her pale skin as she could. "I'm not your entertainment tonight."

Yup, she was sulking. Not that she didn't have a right to, but at least it was less concerning than her being this way because of her injuries; there wasn't anything Yukari could do, at least in this place, for ailments of a physical nature, especially considering Raine had already seen the girl.

"I'm here for you, of course," she replied lightly. She barely even noticed Sheena's state of undress; matters of the body were hardly her concern at this moment. "Not for my own entertainment, though I'll admit partly for my own assurance, assuaging and alleviation." The youkai crossed her arms on the bed before her and leaned her chin on them, staring intently at the back of the ninja's head. She was still smiling faintly. "You know what I mean?"

The ninja's brow furrowed. What was with the youkai using big words like that?

"Maybe I'd know if you used words I understood," she replied blandly. "What does assuaging mean anyways?"

"The act of relieving, calming, soothing," the youkai recited. "That's besides the point though." She reached over and gently poked the back of her head. "It means I was worried about you and came to make sure you were all right. Last night wasn't so great." And it seems today wasn't either, though Yukari decided not to mention that quite yet.

Oh, so that's what it meant. Why did they make such a big word when worried worked so much better? Whatever.

Not reacting to the head poke, Sheena tried to process why, exactly, Yukari cared enough to be worried about her. It's not like she was anything to the youkai but a toy. Sure, there was something there, but the ninja was pretty damn sure it was all from her end and she was so confused over it anyways.

"Last night sucked," Sheena replied quietly. "I hate zombies. A lot. They're all over the Gaoracchia Forest." She shuddered a little, remembering the feel of the zombie's hands on her. "Umm... thanks, by the way," she tacked on in a barely heard grumble.

"I should be the one thanking you," said Yukari, smile returning. "You valiantly defended me not once, but twice from the monsters." And gotten horribly injured in the process. Why couldn't everything just be danmaku play? "Raine said you still have your injuries... does it still hurt? Seeing spots or any of those other things from last night?" Hopefully those more worrying symptoms were a result of blood loss and weren't an ongoing infection.

She idly began stroking the ninja's hair, her face leaning against her other arm on the bed.

"If you hadn't been asleep, I might not have had to. I don't know how you managed that with all their creepy moans and stuff," Sheena replied. Then again, Yukari could probably be able to sleep through the annihilation of Palmacosta.

Fingers in her hair slowly made the ninja relax and she shifted just a bit to let the half of her hair that was trapped under her free and available. With the movement came the jingling of a bell as the ninja refused to set it down.

"Shoulder hurts a lot if I bump it against something, but otherwise it just throbs. I ripped the stitches this morning cause I moved too fast, but that's it," she answered. "Raine poked at it and stuff, so I guess I'm ok."

"The moaning was kind of a bother, and they looked really gross, so I had to leave the bench I fell asleep on and took a nap in the horse shed instead," she replied far too nonchalantly. "I didn't think they'd find me there..."

A little laugh that trailed off at the ninja's movement. Yukari set to work on casually disentangling the hair that she now had access to. But what was that jingling noise?

"Well, that was silly of you. Why'd you do that?" Not that it took much imagination; someone - that baldy again? - got her upset and she tried to do some kind of ninja attack... yeah, that sounded like Sheena.

Sheena mumbled something that might have sounded like stupid youkai when Yukari admitted to taking shelter in the shed and falling asleep. There wasn't much in it since she was easily distracted by the attention to her hair. She was almost tempted to undo the pink ribbon in it, but then she'd have to worry about possibly losing the ribbon - it was her favorite one and she'd had it for years (and showed it).

"Miku got sick this morning in the Sun Room and I had to ninja out of the way. I just kinda... ninja'd too fast onto the arm of the chair."

Or there was always "accidentally ran into furniture". Not particularly ninja-like, but from the girl who was traumatized about falling down holes and caught her hair in a tree, it didn't sound too unlikely.

"...that was silly," said Yukari. And now to start broaching the harder topic. "Anything else exciting happen today?"

"Better that than getting covered in Miku-mess. I had been hugging her," Sheena replied. "Nurses even let me get the stitches redone without having the stick that stuff that numbs the skin in me. That stuff makes me feel all weird." This is why she preferred Raine's magical healing over the institute's conventional healing.

At the youkai's question, every muscle in Sheena's back tensed. "No," she stated flatly. "Nothing exciting." Traumatizing, yes; exciting, no.

True, better to be silly than gross. Though did she just say she got stitches without anesthetics? Yukari winced; she'd never had stitches before, with or without anesthetics, but it didn't take a great imagination to know how painful having someone sew your flesh together would be.

And there was the response she was waiting for, the poorly concealed lie. Of course, she was cheating since Raine had already told her, but she didn't have to let the ninja know that.

"Oh, really?" she said, her tone laden with disbelief. "Nothing at all? You just felt like sleeping in because of an aching shoulder?"

"No, I'm in here because if I go out there, I'll just end up getting myself killed," Sheena stated, bringing her knees up as she curled into herself. She was so unfocused and uncaring about her own physical state because of all this, going out at night where the monsters were was an invitation to a gruesome death. Then where would that leave Corrine?

Free. Sad, but free.

"And why would that be? Even with a hurt shoulder, I'm sure if you were careful you'd be fine," supposed Yukari. But you wouldn't be careful, would you? At least the ninja had the presence of mind - or lack of will - to stay inside instead of getting herself killed. "Or is something on your mind?"

Just what had happened with Corrine this afternoon to leave the ninja so depressed? Yukari could imagine, but...

"There's a part of me right now that doesn't want to exist." Sheena paused. "I may be a big huge disappointment, but at least I'm smart enough to not go looking for it."

Monster-assisted suicide? A desire for self-destruction was never good, so Yukari was relieved Sheena had a handle on it. If she had been forced to search the institute for a wandering, depressed ninja, that could have been quite troublesome.

"A huge disappointment?" murmured Yukari, brushing the ninja's hair softly. "And wherever did you get that idea?" Though with what she knew of Sheena's past and her tendency to blame herself, it wasn't hard to figure out; she'd heard this before. But what had brought this up? Her visitor? Yukari found it hard to believe someone the ninja cared for so much would make her feel this way, but with the way this institute changed things...

"I had to ask, didn't I? I couldn't just keep my damn mouth shut," Sheena mumbled. "Who put me in this ranch? Great fucking question."

Sheena didn't often swear that badly. "I asked, and he said it was Grandfather." The bell jingled again as the ninja squeezed her eyes shut, fighting tears, as she brought a closed hand up to cover her face. "I shouldn't have..."

Yukari couldn't recall any mention of her grandfather, though she had mentioned that she had no parents. Was he the one who raised her? If so, then that would be rather hurtful, that sense of betrayal, or worse, thoughts that it was somehow punishment.

"Your visitor did?" confirmed Yukari, her mind still with the conversation enough to recall that she was keeping her own knowledge of the situation a secret. The other part of her mind was wondering who had put her in here, according the "real" world. It would make sense that it would be Linnea, as her personal assistant and whatever else their relationship might be, but unless this was a difference between Ran and Linnea, she couldn't imagine the shiki- the woman doing something like that to Yukari, even if she thought she was crazy. Someone else?

"You were close to your grandfather?" she asked quietly. She must have been, for that simple piece of knowledge to evoke such a reaction.

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