damned_institute | Day 50: Cafeteria (Brunch)

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Day 50: Cafeteria (Brunch)

Somehow, after their talk in the chapel, Elaine felt simultaneously more accepting of and more irritated by her future husband. On the one hand, seven years had clearly been good to him. He seemed more sincere and thoughtful than he had been before his disappearance, and he had a more mature (dare she say, handsome?) look to him. On the other hand, there were clearly some things that made even time throw up its hands in vain and say, "To hell with this!" Guybrush was still inexorably prone to disastrous accidents if the story about the Pox of LeChuck was anything to go by, and he was so obviously keeping something important from her that any passing dolt in the Institute would have been able to tell. In the end, that eternal underlying sweetness of his that won out, keeping her from punching him again, at least. That was only by a hairs width, though. Her snugglecakes was going to have to stay on his best behaviour if he knew what was good for him.

She left the Mighty Pirate™ alone for the time being when the announcement of the next shift went off. He would want some time to catch up with Morgan next, presumably. As much as the woman's attitude bothered her, she was a friend of Guybrush's, as she had claimed. Elaine could be strict, but she wasn't the kind of shrewish future wife/past fiancé who would keep her man from seeing his friends. Besides, she needed some more time to catch up on the goings-on of the Institute. Patients filled the building to the brim, now, it seemed; there would be a lot to investigate.

After a few quick trips back and forth to the bulletin and a few new leads to follow up on, the governor gave in to her nurse's persistent nagging and headed to the cafeteria for brunch. After the relatively light fare of the day before, Elaine took advantage of the Institute's admittedly scrumptious offerings and loaded up a full, balanced brunchfast of eggs, sausage links, waffles, and vegetable soup. As expected, the selection of drinks did not offer either root beer or grog. Grog she could live without, at least, she thought while making a face. Eugh. For now, she settled for a tall glass of water.

Elaine settled into a seat in the cafeteria and tucked into her meal. Her eyes didn't stay on her food, though, instead gazing around restlessly; she hadn't seen LeChuck so far this morning, and god forbid he wanted to invite himself to brunch with her if he chose now to show up. A certain horribly unpleasant dinner on Mêlée Island came to mind. She was prepared to either move at the first sign of the dread pirate or signal a random stranger to sit with her before he could.

[For Dean]

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[For Kaito~]

Having that little bit of a buffer between the night and his inevitable scolding to come was nice. Zack was a kind man even if Okita hadn't been able to get a lot of information out of him. That people had been able to go home at all was something of a shock, and it made Okita's blood run cold. Martin Landel was toying with them all like rats in a maze, like the politicians sometimes did with the lower samurai and the ronin. It was annoying, but it wasn't anything Okita was unaccustomed to dealing with. His family may have been samurai, but they were weak in the order and had been poor forever. He knew how the higher ups could be, and he'd learned to deal with them by simply ignoring them. He could ignore Martin's little attempts at cracking him, too.

Or he could try to.

Thankfully, brunch brought an easy distraction from his thoughts and Okita piled his plate with pancakes and sweet syrup, fruit and anything else that looked sweet. For a brief and painful moment, he entertained the thought of what Ayumu would say when she saw his plate, but he was interrupted by his nurse sighing at him.

"Julian, really. That can't be good for you," she said, shaking her head. "Take some--"

"Tofu," Okita interrupted, holding up a small bowl filled with white cubes. He set it down on his tray and then indicated the other bowl of edamame that sat next to it. He also had a little muffin that was apparently filled with "banana nuts" whatever banana nuts were. "Tofu is good for me."

In more ways than one, but the nurse still refused to believe him. She picked up a bowl and filled it with something called 'granola' and gave it to him, along with a glass of milk. "Eat it, Julian. I'll be watching to make sure you don't go dumping it on someone else."

He gave his nurse a long-suffering look, but she was immune and lead him to an open table, seating him so she could watch him from afar. Okita didn't like having his back to the door, but he had little choice in the matter because as soon as he tried to move, his nurse was coming over to reseat him. Eventually, the swordsman gave up and plopped into his seat, picking at the granola for a moment before he went right into the pancakes. They were soaked through and through with syrup and butter and oooooh did they smell good. They tasted even better and Okita ignored his healthy options for once in favor of the Western foods.

Spending the morning with Yukari and Yuffie had been really enjoyable. He didn't get to show off his magic much since coming here, and that was something he felt he should rectify. At the very least, he could do card magic like he had for Yukari, or maybe make some more props like the paper flowers...

And then there was the entirely different matter of Kid's magic.

It seemed like Hattori wasn't too bothered by Kudou's accusations, but that may have only been because of the unfortunate distraction provided by Sen's death. Sooner or later, it was going to come up again, whether it was in meeting Kudou one-on-one or Kudou bringing it up to Hattori. As nice as it was to try avoiding the subject with the detectives entirely, he needed to be prepared for that eventuality.

If he were at home, he could have talked to Jii about everything (and probably give the old man a heart attack in the process), but he wasn't at home.

Mulling over what his next move should be, Kaito helped himself to a bowl of soup and a slice of pizza for brunch before looking around to find a place to sit. He spotted Okita; the man was the closest thing Kid had to an ally here, and although he was dreading telling him about what had happened the other night... He needed to.

Putting on a smile, he walked towards where Okita sat. "Are you waiting for someone, or may I join you?"

He was halfway through his stack of pancakes and considering going back for more in a bit when he heard someone approaching. Even with his back to the door and his ability to visually check the area decreased, Okita could tell when someone was approaching him. It was a trained skill and one he'd need today in order to avoid getting chewed out by Homura or possibly killed by one of Sai's friends possibly seeking revenge for what he'd done last night. He didn't think Sai would be the type to send others after him, but all it would take was one friend with righteous anger and a lax guard, and Okita might find himself in the infirmary.

But the person who appeared wasn't an enemy at all, and was, in fact, someone Okita had been hoping to talk to with soon enough. He raised his head when Kaito called out to him and returned the boy's smile easily, motioning to a seat. "Please. It's been too long, Kaito-kun."

Far too long. Too long between when he'd heard of Shinichi's revelation and Hattori's dilemma to now when they'd finally been able to catch each other. Okita was almost always busy with club business of some sort and the rest of the time, the Institute saw fit to separate the adults from the children. Okita had always thought it strange that boys of Kaito's age were still considered 'children,' but he supposed Western cultures were weird like that.

"I'm glad you came to see me. I was hoping we could chat." Okita's smile never wavered and he went back to eating his pancakes as if nothing were wrong. "It's been too long, hasn't it?"

Kaito set his tray down and then took a seat. He almost winced when Okita said he'd been hoping they could chat--did that mean he'd heard about Kaito's botched job of handling Kudou, or did that mean he just wanted to catch up?

"Yeah," Kaito agreed. "It's been a long time." Now that he thought about it, hadn't the last time he'd seen Okita except for from across a room the night he'd been attacked by Homura and Kudou had been attacked by... something? And that lovely disaster had been well over a week ago now.

Kaito's gaze had settled on his tray, but he glanced at Okita as he picked up a spoon for his soup. "Have you, uh... talked to Hattori or Kudou lately?"

No reaction to Okita's comment - at least not openly. Kaito was still being careful then and keeping up his guard around Okita. The swordsman wished he could be a better confidante to the boy, but since he knew so little about the situation (and asking Heiji or Kudou would seem suspicious) it was difficult to know what to say in order to get him the open up. However, the fact that Kaito had approached Okita in the first place was a good step in the right direction. Perhaps Kaito himself already wanted to talk.

"Almost...a week, hm? Not since that little problem I had," he said with a lighthearted laugh. Getting stabbed to a wall was the least of his problems right now. There was one right in front of him, another floating somewhere behind him and a third waiting to pounce and reprimand him for trying to murder the second last night. Picking up his spoon, he chased a strawberry into it and popped the thing into his mouth, leaning back in his seat.

The way Kaito was looking at his tray and then only momentarily at him as he spoke said it all. He was looking to talk about what was going on between him and the two detectives. Okita leaned forward again, resting his elbows on the table as he traced circles in the syrup on his plate. "I have, in fact. Heiji-kun was rather distressed that Kudou-kun left him to get eaten by something while he chased off after a mysterious 'kid.' He complained that Kudou-kun has it all wrong." The spoon stopped its lazy progress across the plate and Okita kept his gaze on it, rather than raising his eyes to meet Kaito's. "He believes in you, Kaito-kun. No matter what, he will always believe in you."

This time, Kaito did wince. Okita had already heard what had happened from Hattori, but the detective didn't have the full story. He couldn't let Hattori know the rest of it.

"I know he does," Kaito said, dipping his spoon into the soup and leaving it there. Hattori's faith in him just made the whole thing worse. He was glad that Hattori had believed his lies about not being Kid, sure, but he couldn't help but feel guilty because of it. He steeled his nerves and finally looked away from his tray properly, looking up at Okita. "But it doesn't change the fact that I made everything worse. I... misjudged things."

True, he'd been trying to help Kudou by 'Kaito' not learning his secret, and he'd anticipated that the detective might want to have a little chat, but Kudou confronting him during his cover-up the next day had been outside his calculations. He'd been expecting it to be kept private between them.

So there was indeed more to the story than Okita had already heard. He had thought as much when Heiji came to him, but he hadn't wanted to say anything to the detective. He was hurt enough thinking that one friend had left him behind that knowing another had been lying to him this entire time would have broken what faith he had in his most important friendship here. Okita was determined to ensure that wouldn't happen, and to ensure that Kaito remained free from prison.

"Tell me everything," Okita said, setting his fork down as he leaned both elbows on the table. Without all of the puzzle pieces, Okita would have no idea how to put this mess back together or if that were even possible. He had pledged to help keep Kaito's secret and so he wanted to protect that promise, but only if he had all the information necessary. "What happened that night? I can't ask Kudou-kun for his side or it would look suspicious."

The soup was already beginning to cool, but brunch would simply have to wait. If Okita wanted to hear what happened from him, he would get it his undivided attention.

"I can't tell you everything," Kaito said seriously. "But I can tell you most of it. Kudou has a... secret that I, as Kid, have known about for some time. I know what it's like to hide something from those closest to you, so I've always been willing to help Kudou keep that secret, despite our professional rivalry. I won't tell his secret, but what happened is because of it."

When it came down to it, his miscalculation had been the idea that Kudou might extend him that same courtesy when presented with his real face, but he didn't voice the thought. The idea stung a bit, but in the end, he was a thief and Kudou was a detective. They were on opposite sides of the law; he could render detectives all the assistance he desired when their goals coincided, but if he were to ever be caught, he would be arrested in spite of it all.

"I overheard something I wasn't meant to hear that night, and Kudou's secret was revealed. I... suppose I panicked, and in the end I thought the better course of action would be to keep the knowledge of 'Kaito' and of 'Kid' separate. 'Kid' already knew, after all, so Kudou might feel less anxious if one less person knew about him. I called him by a nickname to let him know that he was dealing not with 'Kuroba Kaito', but with Kaitou Kid.

"Kudou picked up on the hint I'd dropped him, and he wanted to talk to me—to Kid—alone before we entered the file room. I agreed and let Hattori go on alone; I thought it would only take a moment, but..." He shook his head. He'd gotten caught up in taunting Kudou, and because of it, Hattori had gotten hurt. "When we rejoined Hattori, he was already under attack. I was back in my room not long after that."

Kaito paused, lacing his fingers together and considering his next words. "From the beginning I'd had how I'd handle it all planned out. The detectives both know Kid as a master of disguise, and even though we're stuck here, there's at least the possibility of recovering what I'd need to pull a disguise off. I thought it was safe enough as Kid to brush off any private accusations by Kudou about my identity, and then as Kaito claim that Kid had knocked me out, taken my place... It's not something uncommon of me to do, after all, and Kudou is familiar with my methods. I hadn't expected him to accuse me in front of Hattori."

So many secrets were flying around the three of them that Okita wondered if any of them knew everything about the others. Heiji seemed to be the only one so far that wasn't hiding something from everyone else, and even then he was bottling things up. Okita had been watching Heiji for the signs of eruption, but this place made it so difficult to keep an eye on people. The boys were always separated from the adults when Okita most wanted to speak to them.

That Kaito was willing to keep Kudou's secret though was admirable. While Okita would have preferred to have the whole story so he could better understand the entire situation, he wasn't going to compromise Kaito's integrity to do it. Conversely, it raised Okita's respect for the boy a little more for the maturity he was showing in his decision. Unfortunately, the world was not going to be as understanding and as Kaito continued his story, Okita closed his eyes.

Once a man of the law, always a man of the law. Kudou wasn't going to rest until he'd either proven or disproven Kaito as Kid now that he had a clue, which meant eventually the three of them were going to head straight into an ugly battle with only one outcome. Unless Okita could somehow stack the odds against Kudou being able to prove Kaito was Kid. "Thankfully, Heiji-kun doesn't believe Kudou-kun about that. He believes your story more than Kudou-kun's at the moment, especially since he feels Kudou-kun left him alone to be attacked."

And he held no such grudge against Kaito. Not that Okita liked the idea of turning this around to make Kudou the bad guy. He was just...singlemindedly focused on catching Kid instead of focusing on the real task at hand. Okita knew that feeling all too well whenever he glanced at Himura so he couldn't exactly fault Kudou for his devotion. "Kudou-kun and I have something in common in a way. If I spoke to him about this, about him putting his personal feuds and cases above the work he must do here to survive - would that help or hinder?"

Hattori may have believed Kaito rather than Kudou, but that was part of the problem. "Hattori... asked me if Kudou was right—if I was Kid—after Kudou accused me. I told him I wasn't."

He looked down at his tray, picking up his spoon again. "I've been trying to do damage control again. I tried to talk to Kudou again as Kid—in Kid's suit; the clothes... ended up in my closet one day," he said. "And I think I stopped him from resigning from the club."

Kaito sighed. "I appreciate the offer to talk to Kudou, but... I think he's already willing to work together despite his suspicions. To be perfectly honest, I think I'm the one preventing it right now. I can't do anything that might make give him a reason to think he was right all along, so I've been watching what I say, what I do. I've got a lot more leeway as Kid than I do as Kaito, but I... can't ally with Kudou that readily as Kid. Not unless there's something we both want. But as Kaito... I've been avoiding Kudou a little since his accusation. Before you might talk to him, I think I should try talking to him one more time, without Hattori around."

Okita watched Kaito closely and tried his best to keep his face as level as possible. Lying to Hattori probably didn't sit well with the thief considering how close their friendship had become since arriving here. There would always be a slight divide between them on Kaito's side, but Okita could see now that it was perhaps wearing on him. Keeping secrets may have been his business, but it certainly wasn't his pleasure.

When Kaito picked up his spoon again, Okita was surprised to hear that he had been working to keep Kudou in the club. Kaito himself wasn't extremely active in it and Okita had always thought his and Kudou's involvement were only through their friendship with Hattori. As long as Okita asked it of Heiji, the boy would remain in the Club - as proven by his continued association with it despite his open distaste for Homura.

Closing his eyes, Okita continued to listen to Kaito as he explained what he'd been doing. Kudou was going to keep working together with everyone, but the strain was going to be visible. Okita understood the differences between Kaito and Kid and the ways they could move. Finding a solution to this problem, however, was going to be much more difficult than merely understanding it. Everything was being held together tenuously by strings and by cutting even one of them, things were set to fall apart at the seams. Okita was almost tempted to just throw everyone into one big room and lock them in until they learned to get along, but he sincerely doubted that would work right now. Opening his eyes again, Okita smiled faintly and said, "I will defer to your authority on this, Kaito-kun. You know more about Kudou-kun and his methods than I do, and know better how he will react. Once you have spoken to him, let me know if things to do not go as planned and I will do my best."

Raising his eyes, Okita's smile widened. "But remember, you're important to us, too, Kaito-kun. I don't want you to feel you have to carry all of this on your own shoulders."

Kaito grinned, feeling a little better now. He really did appreciate Okita's offer to help, but if he could settle this on his own, it would be better. Less suspicious. The last thing he needed was Kudou to catch some hint of Okita being Kid's accomplice, because Hattori certainly didn't need to think the man he so obviously respected was helping a thief.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll let you know how it goes. And thanks for the concern, but my shoulders can handle it." Kaito held up one arm as if to show off his muscles, even if there wasn't much to show. "I may not like lying all the time, but I have a lot of practice at it. I'll be fine."

He dropped his arm down again, the grin fading away as he fixed Okita with a serious look. "But if I can't cover this up, or if I can't manage to make Kudou doubt his suspicions... I won't let him try to convince Hattori that he's right. It'll be my last resort, but I'll make sure to keep an ace up my sleeve: I'll come clean to Kudou if I absolutely have to. Maybe he'll even understand."

Kaito's optimism was so refreshing. Okita couldn't help but let out a genuine smile when the teen flexed his muscles to reassure the swordsman that he could handle things. Okita knew Kaito would do his best and that in the end, things would work out, but it was the rocky road to get there that worried him. In this place, they needed each other so much. To lose even one person was a devastating blow, especially since it seemed so many people were disappearing and giving in. Or dying.

"As you wish," Okita said, nodding slightly as he turned back to his meal. "And if that is your last resort; I will act before it. You should not have to compromise yourself unless absolutely necessary. Kudou-kun seems like the type to see justice as absolute. the risk of him trying to arrest you and his actions breaking the bond you share with him and Heiji-kun is too great." The stability of the group had to be ensured. The upcoming battles and the strain that Okita himself was putting on it all was enough. The last thing Heiji and the other boys needed was to lose their main support. "Anything you need from me, Kaito-kun, and you will have it. The three of you must remain together."

The force in Okita's statement surprised even him and the swordsman lowered his gaze, staring at the table as the command in his voice softened. "The most important thing here is to stay close to the people that matter. I won't let your friendship be destroyed over something like this."

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Day 50: Cafeteria (Brunch)

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