Day 51: Breakfast

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie Kisaragi, indomitable bouncing ball of sunshine and unfathomable ebullience, was tired. It'd been a long night full of gibberish and getting nowhere fast.

"Can't I—"

Plucky, who had been busily loading a plate full of French toast and bacon, tittered. "I'm afraid not, Hanna, darling. A chat over a nice, hearty breakfast would do you a world of good, don't you think?"

"Aaaaactually—"

"Come on, let's find you a seat. Plenty to choose from this morning!"

For a long moment, Yuffie seriously considered doing something—anything—to act out. Punch her nurse, rub jam in an orderly's face, climb a wall and hang off the ceiling, jump on a table and parody Loveless… A ruckus like that would definitely jolt her back into gear, right? Sedation aside. And it'd turn Plucky's good day right on its head, which was always a bonus worth shooting for.

But, by the time she'd reached a decision—and it was an epic decision, a really awesome one; everybody'd appreciate the genius, she was sure—she was already alone. Her breakfast tray had been set down neatly by the nurse, who had left with an infuriatingly winsome smile.

"Wow," Yuffie muttered. Shaking her head, she picked a chair at random and threw herself into it. She kicked back, one arm slung across her eyes, to wait. For what, she wasn't totally sure. Some moron to decide that she looked like good company? That was how it usually went.

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[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

_{[I PLEAD THE FIFTH.]}

Tsubaki was hoping this morning wouldn’t turn out to be one of those where the people she wanted to see didn’t show up for breakfast, whether because they were sleeping or "sleeping" in. Thankfully, her fears were unfounded, at least where Kurogane was concerned. The man came striding in, only to spot her almost at the same time she spotted him. She let out a quiet breath of relief.

"I’m fine," she answered as his nurse left. Unconsciously, she took a step forward. Where to even begin? "Are you? Did anything happen besides that... message? I got one last night." The Head Doctor didn’t do anything to you? She was only reminded of the girl in the tank, and that made her pray they could figure something out about this… this investigation business. There was no choice but to. As for what her reward was supposed to be today, well, she didn’t even want to think about it.

Before anything else could be said, though, the third person Landel had made his offer to arrived in the cafeteria. "Fai-san," she breathed, then added, "I’m glad you’re here."

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

"Calm down," he told her first, recognizing a small bit of panic in the girl's voice. Even if she was doing well to keep it under control. "I'm fine, and we heard it too..."

He would have continued except that Fai showed up not soon after. Kurogane just snorted at the magician's front before determining that if he didn't want to punch the expression off of the man, he'd best keep his attention to Tsubaki. "We were sent to the town last night by some weird ring," he told her in a low tone then nodded towards the tables, "And we don't need any of them listening."

The nurses were already giving the trio looks for how they had stopped at the door. Even Kurogane would have thought to take caution against that kind of thing in this place. Fights had become more frequent from the new arrivals, and it didn't help that he was watched like a hawk when around Fai.

"Let's sit."

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

After their last meeting, he couldn't imagine why Tsubaki would actually be glad he was here. It was probably just an attempt to be civil. No matter how he tried to explain it, he'd made the decision two nights back for his own selfish reasons. But of course, little of that showed on his face. A practiced smile greeted her as he nodded.

"You too," he glanced at Kurogane, watching how his gaze strayed to the nurses. There were plenty of empty tables. He couldn't say he was all that hungry, so he headed toward the seats first, pointing out an empty spot where they could all fit.

"Will this work?"

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

_{[I’m Canadian. I’m allowed to piggyback off the American culture as much as I want. :|]}

Calm down? Kurogane wasn’t the kind of person to say unnecessary things, so Tsubaki was obliged to take a figurative step back to assess what he meant. Maybe it was true, that she’d been letting this fester for too long, but it was almost too difficult not to. She’d never be as unwavering as Black☆Star. Nonetheless, she was too committed to her way of life to go to pieces like a novice; she took a breath and waited, letting the facts come to her instead of grabbing for them.

Taking a seat and appearing as casual as possible was the reasonable thing to do before they started anything. Nodding, Tsubaki looked back and forth between the two, then moved to take a chair at the table.

"You used the ring to go to town?" she reiterated, speaking quietly in turn. It beat her how the rules governing their inability to talk to others about what they knew where supposed to work--if they could speak to each other about the event and were loud enough for someone else to overhear, would that make the forced silence kick in even around each other? Though more important than that was…

"Does that mean… you went together to look...?"

Of course their companion’s well being was on the line, and Tsubaki couldn’t be surprised if both of them made up their mind to fulfill the task to the letter just to save her. She was an outsider in that.

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

Kurogane was more concerned over nurses overhearing than he was of the patient populace, though after thinking about it he remembered what Landel had told them. There could be more trouble if anyone outside of their unwilling group learned about what had happened. Tsubaki seemed to understand by her hushed voice, and Kurogane followed suit despite where the conversation was going.

"He used it," Kurogane huffed, anger clear, "After I told him to wait. So you can ask him why he didn't wait to find you."

There were things Kurogane wanted to ask her, but he first wanted Tsubaki putting Fai in a sort of check for the conversation. She had been there when he'd gone along with Landel, so she should already know. How difficult it was to travel with someone like this, and how fragile he was.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

He shrugged easily enough at the accusation, raising an eyebrow at the huffy attitude, but doing little else to even acknowledge it was pointed at him.

"We didn't have a plan or a meeting place," he explained, "we could've spent half the night just trying to find each other."

It made sense when he said it, but it wasn't that he didn't feel at least a bit guilty about leaving her behind. The truth was that he didn't feel nearly as confident or sure of his decision as he had when he'd made it, but he'd see it through, for his brother and for Sakura.

"Which is probably what we should figure out now, right?" he added. The ring, if it worked as it was supposed to, should now take them right to the house. But would it do them any good? Marc's group hadn't been there, they'd already moved on, but to where? At the very least, it seemed likelier to him that they'd be in the town rather than anywhere in the institute, in the enemy's own territory.

"I don't know if it matters so much that we search together, so long as we search," he added with another slight shrug.

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

_[>|]

Tsubaki couldn’t help glancing at Kurogane at his tone of voice. The two of them probably knew each other better than she knew either of them, but one thing remained constant between that night and this morning: tension, simmering between them. Not entirely the same as it had been in the Head Doctor’s office, not but different, either.

Fai hadn’t wanted to wait and Kurogane hadn’t agreed, that was what she heard. And she was being positioned to take sides. It was a voiceless, wordless understanding, and an equally inherent part of her thought, No, that can’t happen. This can’t happen or we’ll never a the way.

There was a long pause as she looked back at Fai and thought what to say. There was a lot riding on her response, the most obvious a unity between the three of them that she would much prefer to the alternative. The alternative being the start of something potentially destructive down the line. And Fai… Fai pretty much put that potential into words when he insinuated there was a choice to act apart from each other. She didn’t know him well at all, but she hadn’t forgotten his silences, that he had been the first one of them to ask about an incentive, to ask for a way to bring someone back.

She was afraid she already had the answer to her underlying question.

For a moment, Tsubaki just looked into Fai’s face, not with any one emotion, but not shyly. Her hands had been resting in her lap as she’d sat, and she lowered her gaze to the table for a second as her fingers closed gently around her other wrist. "I’m also at fault for not finding out where I could meet you yesterday," she started, then looked back up at the both of them. "I think you were right not to wait when there was a chance of letting time go to waste. But…" and this was only for Fai, spoken over top of his casual gestures in the soft way she had, "Fai-san… You’re not doing anything alone."

Not fighting for that girl, finding Marc, or even obeying the Head Doctor in order to use some of his powers. Not once they’d been called on together. Tsubaki already knew that she might not agree with the reasoning behind accepting, but even so, that didn’t negate those things.

It wasn’t an order or a demand, but a reminder.

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

Damn right he isn't Kurogane thought, but kept his words to himself. His way of thinking was much different from the girls, and he knew it. She was trying to be more encouraging and supportive, things Kurogane couldn't manage through words and didn't even try for in other ways. The best he'd ever done was let the kid get beat up for the training he'd asked for, and that he'd given reluctantly.

But at least he had someone to talk to the magician that way. He wouldn't.

"We'll meet up tonight," Kurogane said, taking control of the conversation so as to move past last night's errors. He looked to Tsubaki again. "Your room's a good inbetween," he told her on the assumption that she was probably in the only female part of the place, "Just wait for us to get there." That way she wouldn't have to risk traveling alone and he could grab Fai on the way over.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

He hardly thought Tsubaki ought to blame herself for yesterday. He'd been so out of sorts after the meeting with the head doctor and the visitor that followed that it was only luck that had him running into Kurogane at all. Otherwise he would've gone to that town alone.

Before he could offer any consoling remarks though, Kurogane had already given out orders. Whether or not he knew where Tsubaki's room was, he had a feeling it hardly mattered. Kurogane would drag him kicking and screaming but it was best to at least keep up a pretense of complying.

"It's alright. This is pretty new to all of us," he tried, giving Tsubaki an understanding look and a slight shrug. "So we'll meet at your room tonight? I don't think I know the number though."

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

That wasn't quite what she'd meant, but she suspected Fai might already know. Her stare didn't waver, her blue eyes heedful; she tipped her head slightly before breaking it a moment later. Deep down, she was also worried, worried about… everything that could come out of the Head Doctor's task. This was different than what Landel did to them in his office, out of sight. He had reached out and twisted their arms this time.

To start off with, deciding on a rendezvous point ahead of time was a good idea. "I stay in room 31," Tsubaki supplied. "I'll wait, then." And until that time, she wouldn't think about what would happen if she waited and no one showed up.

But even before that, there was one question out of the many she wanted to ask. Couldn't not ask. It wasn't something for Landel to overhear, as it was something they had to decide themselves, but there was never any certainty he couldn't. That was the bad thing about the Institute.

"What will you do with Marc once he's found?" It was for both of them, and something she’d had to ask herself, too.