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]

_[>|]

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.