damned_institute | Day 51: Breakfast

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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Jack seemed pretty down. She couldn't fault him for that, but she hoped there was something she could do. It was hard enough to see people come and vanish without a trace, so she'd help with whatever she could.

"Mm... w-well. The nurses say that... I don't remember things right. That my name is different and... that I'm not the person that I... that I know I am. Ah- But you shouldn't listen to them Jack-san. It isn't so."

Even when some people had trouble remember who they were, she knew. She knew all the awful things they could do here and how they could hurt people. Why she was still around might just be a matter of luck, but she remained even so.

"This place is bad. Really bad. It's just- in the daytime they pretend it's nice. That we're all sick."

A pattern. Well, there were only two of them, so not an actual pattern, but he wasn't the only one. "There's no way anyone could dream up my life." It wasn't exactly the reassurance one would hope it to be. How much better would life be if everything he knew to be true was just a dream? Not possible, but it would make things so easy. He would prefer to be insane, but that was nothing new.

Wait.

In the daytime.

"What happens at night?"

The way Jack said it, he seemed terribly certain. She was pretty sure no one could just dream up her life either. Having a family full of people cursed by the Chinese zodiac so that they turned into animals if they got hugged by someone of the opposite sex... that was just beyond weird, no matter how you thought about it. She nodded, to show that at least she understood.

"That's... well... at night everything changes. The doors to our rooms unlock, but the halls, they're... full of monsters and terrible things. It's alright if you don't believe me now, but... please be careful tonight Jack-san. Don't go anywhere by yourself. It's very dangerous," there was a bit of hesitation in her voice as she tugged at the collar of her t-shirt, showing the scar tissue and miscolored flesh that made up a good piece of her shoulder now, after that spider attack. He might just write it off as something else, but nothing she knew of, even back home, could leave marks like that.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt so... so please be careful."

Concerned for his safety. It made it almost laughably obvious that she didn't know him at all, but he supposed it was sweet in a very human way. She had a big heart. She probably wouldn't last long. She was the type that went back and helped. The girl who went back and helped never almost never made it to the end alive.

"I believe you." He could offer her that much. A hospital that turned evil at night. He'd never run into that specifically, but there were plenty of possible explanations for it - none of them painting a particularly sunny outlook.

An honest smile and a slight blush colored her cheeks at his reply. She didn't know him well, but he seemed like he meant it. Even if it wasn't a great thing to be telling him, she could be sure he'd take her warning seriously. Even that might be enough to keep him safe his first night. Some didn't even last that long.

"Th-thank you. I'm glad," she said quietly, glancing back down at her food. "Not everyone listens."

"I've seen more evil than I care to think about," he said, stirring his spoon in the cereal he wanted even less now that they'd begun talking. He forced himself to take another bite, though - chew and swallow it down. "The worst of it usually hides behind the mask of virtue."

No, he had no problem believing that something was wrong in this place, where people were taken away and made to think their mind was slipping. Doubt yourself, and you would doubt everything. If the hospital had any shred of respectability, then no one would ever believe him, even if he found a way to communicate with the outside. If he wanted to get out of this, he'd have to do it himself.

Maybe that was why Jack seemed so down. If he was around evil all the time, it would be pretty hard. Kagura felt lucky that she only had to deal with it once in a while back home. Well... okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. Akito wasn't totally evil, it just felt like it sometimes.

"I'm sorry," she replied, "that must've been hard for you." Most of the incredible stories people told, she could only imagine. Like Leon and fighting those awful viruses, or the shinigami or even Bridget with his bounty hunting. "And then to be brought here..."

He cleared his throat and dropped his spoon into the soggy bowl of cereal. He didn't want it fresh, he'd be damned if he'd eat it when it was mush. "Life is hard." Perpetual life even harder. But that was nothing new, now was it? "I don't imagine anyone's glad that they've been brought here."

The toast wasn't all that warm any more, but Jack picked up a slice and began taking small bites. "It'll be all right," he lied. "I see this sort of thing all the time. There's always a way out." If it wasn't all right, and she died, she wouldn't have the time to know he'd lied. Even if she did, she'd be gone and he wouldn't have to deal with it. After death came the black, the nothing. She wouldn't exist after that last breath, so what did it matter if he threw fake reassurance at her in place of real conversation? It was easier than saying anything that really mattered.

Day 51: Breakfast

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