damned_institute | Day 46: Lunch

The mere fact that she'd been susceptible to whatever hold the Institute had had on her yesterday was sufficient to leave Ayumu both upset and angry - no, not angry, downright furious, both at herself and whoever was responsible for that. But there was also the fact that because of it, she'd lost out on an entire day of work, and in several ways had ruined some of what she'd done already. That little conversation with Himura the day before, for instance, was something she'd sincerely prefer not to remember if she'd had any choice in the matter.

Unless the man was a complete moron, which, unfortunately, was one thing she couldn't believe of him, he had to have realized just who her brother was. After all the effort to keep that fact quiet (not exactly a secret, but certainly not advertised; half the Shinsengumi probably never even realized it because there was no reason to) she'd gone and chatted about it with him. Told him all about it, practically painted a bright target around a weakness that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

She'd spent the shift in the Sun Room pretending to sleep, while in truth forcing herself into calm. After years of practice she could shunt away the useless and distracting emotions, focusing only on what was important and needed to be at the forefront of her mind, and by the time the intercom signaled the lunch period she was feeling considerably calmer. The time to silently observe others had, as well, alerted her to something she probably should have noticed earlier: Mello was back. Would her previous objective be reinstated now? He seemed to have far less of a bulletin presence this time, so perhaps not. Still, though, it bore investigating.

None of her thoughts were visible, of course, as she moved through the line, examining the lunch selection somewhat dubiously. Now with the benefit of Yuuko's memories she might recognize the food, but she certainly didn't share the enthusiasm for it that her imaginary self apparently had. Ayumu skipped past that part and settled for the salad bar and some bread, then positioned herself in a place where she could watch both the door and the rest of the room, setting her journal open in front of herself as though planning to write something. There was far too much that she'd missed, too much work to do now.

[for Okita]

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Her plans came to nothing. Escape from a man-made institution required the help of other men, and Ange... Ushiromiya Ange had no ally, no human to rely upon. What she had were distractions and dead hopes. The insane dressed as dreams, a few who appeared trapped in a situation no better than her own. And Rika, that girl, had offered something not many had given.

What was the point in that, though? This place was proving no different from Saint Lucia. The people held a better disposition than those annoying bullies, and yet, she could detect no change. A prison, again, was still a prison.

Therefore, she had to wonder: how long would it take for the short bursts of color to fade to grey?

Food was ignored for a second time, and the girl drew up a seat as far from the crowds as possible. She escaped all but one, another female close to her age, whom Ange eyed carefully before sitting down. Something like worry was written across her expression--one that warranted addressing--but true to form, Ange nodded once in greeting and then looked away. Its source didn't have to be her business as of yet.

This new girl didn't look particularly like someone Shizuru could get a lot of information out of. She seemed cold, aloof--

(Like Natsuki, a voice murmured in her head. She could not afford to forget Natsuki, not now, not ever. But this girl was not Natsuki, not even close.)

But Shizuru would try anyway. If nothing else, charming some reaction out of her could prove to be an interesting game in this intolerable place.

For a few minutes, she just watched the girl, daintily eating her pizza (if anyone could eat pizza daintily, it was Shizuru). Finally, she ventured, "I expect you won't get another chance to eat for a while. Perhaps you should take advantage of it."

The response wasn't one she expected, but then again, she did not know much about starting conversations. Ange glanced down at the empty space ahead, as though considering her choice in responses. In truth, she already knew what to say; actually saying it was an entirely different matter.

"Probably not," she finally answered, looking up at the other girl. "Pizza's not my thing, though." Among many.

It appeared to be hers, however. This was the first Ange had seen a person be mindful of their pizza. Not even well-bred daughters of Japan's elite had the patience for eating foreign foods without gorging in some way. "I'm impressed. Not many can eat pizza without spilling it all over themselves."

"I'm afraid it's not really mine, either," Shizuru confessed, putting down her half-eaten slice. "But it's all they're offering, isn't it? And now that I've found myself in a strange place being called by a strange name, I certainly don't want to go hungry."

She smiled politely at the compliment. "It's nothing much. You just have to eat with care. No different than eating a good bowl of udon, in the end." She was curious--were the other people here also from Japan, even though the food being served seemed American? Of course, she couldn't ask outright. "It's a surprising thing to find for lunch, though, isn't it?"

Ange was partly tempted to smirk at the comment; it was, after all, funny in a strangely morbid way. Instead, the girl chose to be her usual flat-lined self. "Of course," she muttered. "Although, some would take it as a sign not to eat."

And now that they were venturing close to the unspoken topic, Ange decided it was best to let the matter out. "It is," she continued nonchalantly. "Hospitals usually don't serve junk food. Not the real ones, anyway."

"Strangely morbid" wasn't Shizuru's usual style. But then, finding herself in a place like this wasn't her usual situation, either. If her serenity seemed out of place here, perhaps to the point of morbidity...well, that was the place's problem, not hers. She would remain calm. It was all she had left.

"A hospital? Is that what this place is posing as?" she wondered. A glint flickered through her eyes, there and gone. "But what is it really? I certainly have no need for a hospital."

"That depends on who you ask," replied Ange, shrugging. "The general consensus is that the place becomes a danger zone at night. Something about monsters." Coming from a witch's twin, the idea of monsters held more weight in her mind than usual.

She sighed. "I haven't been here long enough to confirm the last part, but I can certainly say nights are pretty special." Again, patients normally were not permitted to wander around hospital grounds at the dead of night.

Something inside Shizuru relaxed a little at that. Monsters--clearly that meant Orphans. It would be difficult to go up against them without her Element or her Child, but at least she knew what they were. And from there, she could begin to have some idea of where she was. But the more important questions were still unanswered: how she could get out of here, and where Natsuki was.

But now she had to try to figure out how she was going to handle these monsters, without her HiME abilities to help her. "My, what an unhelpful hospital," she said. "Are we even given any way of defending ourselves against such monsters?"

The other girl appeared to be taking the news well. Good. Whether she actually believed the claim or was merely humoring Ange didn't matter as long as things stayed calm like this.

"Beyond each other and what we can find, not really." She pursed her lips in thought. "Though, it seems the people here are fairly organized about the matter. The room we passed through--" Here, she indicated with a slight tilt of her head. "--has a bulletin board. I would suggest starting there."

It was a general rule that Shizuru took things well. However, she reflected somewhat regretfully that she'd surely be able to take all this better if this cafeteria offered tea. Not that it would go well with this pizza, in any case.

Shizuru prodded a little more at said pizza, then decided to leave it alone. To tell the truth, she wasn't particularly hungry. She had far too many other things to think about. "Is that so? I'll be sure to take a look. But I reckon none of them have found a way out of here, hmm?"

Day 46: Lunch

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