Day 52: Sun Room

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

No better way to start the day than with a bucket full of sunshine, huh? Too bad that'd been the opposite.

In the end, Yuffie had been more than glad to escape. All the angst and sap and drama; it'd been too much, and way too personal. She'd done her best, for her friend's sake, but that Tomoe chick was gonna be hard work. Why couldn't Kenshin have asked for her help in something simple, like killing the big bad of the day?

… Oh, wait.

Groaning, the young ninja gave up on just walking through the sun room. What kind of a way to cheer herself up was that? No, she needed something interesting—she needed a distraction. Walking on her hands wasn't a whole lot better than walking on her feet, but it did get Plucky going.

"Hanna, stop that this instant! You'll break your neck."

"Oh, come on; only a moron'd kill themselves doin' a handstand. They're child's play!" Yuffie, after shifting her weight to her left hand, waggled a finger at her nurse. "It's a waste of my prodigious talent, actually. You really should be grateful." She hopped forward several more paces before dropping her hand back down.

"Be that as it may," Plucky replied, doubtfully. "I must insist."

"Insist away," said Yuffie, nonchalantly, pausing just long enough to let a cat stroll past her.

"You'll disturb the other patients!"

"Your face'll disturb the other patients." It was petty, and it was childish, but Yuffie didn't care; it was getting her what she wanted. And what she wanted was something to laugh at, something to poke at, something that, while it kept her wandering attention in the here and now, didn't really require her to think.

[For Kaito~]

Comments

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

"Does it hurt?" Tsubaki stepped back and watched him inspect the bump on his head. It wasn’t bleeding, but it looked like he’d hit it pretty hard.

She snuck a glance over her shoulder to make sure a staff member wasn’t ready to pounce before regarding Takashi again, the worried creases still pulling at her eyes. Even the question, which should’ve been simpler to answer, meant confessing that after her night with the Head Doctor, she was beginning to feel that she was going down a different path from the others. After all, she didn’t think Landel could’ve made similar propositions to a great deal of people without someone finding out. And when she’d been busy with that, Honey had… well, the same thing had happened to him that had happened to the twins. He’d just gone, without anyone being able to prevent it, not even one of the people she thought he was closest to.

Tsubaki, at least, didn’t have a way to fix that.

She let a slightly sheepish expression cross her face. "Not a lot, to be honest, but it’s been all right." There were still a few open spots to sit in the room, and she added, "Were you going somewhere or did you want to sit?"

[mukuchi.livejournal.com]

Did it hurt? Of course it did, but not enough to really bother mentioning. Mori didn't really want to worry Tsubaki more than he already had anyway. She was obviously fretting about him and as a Host and a gentleman, that was the last thing he should be doing to her. Tamaki would be upset with him. And Mitsukuni, too. The twins would probably laugh at him for falling. He kind of missed that.

To answer her question, he shook his head, closing his eyes lightly as he did so. He was still a little dizzy, so he didn't want to shake too vigorously. Instead, he looked toward the couches and places to sit, nodding a little. Sitting would be good and he could finally get a little bit of dignity back. Pulling away slightly so he wouldn't take her with him in case he fell, he started for the couches, making sure to stay neither ahead nor behind Tsubaki. He nodded again to acknowledge that he heard her and then thought for a moment.

There had to be something she was doing, right? She didn't seem like the sort of person to stay tucked away inside, not after seeing what she was capable of doing that night in town. She had powers and impressive ones at that. So what had she really been doing and why wasn't she telling him? Mori supposed it was simply because it wasn't any of his business. Although it did make him wonder... Was she safe at night? Who was she going out with? Did she need anything? He supposed she could take care of herself, but if there was something Mori could do to help, he certainly would like to do it.

Before he got very far, he stopped and looked at Tsubaki, deciding to ask her before his thoughts got away from him. But he didn't know exactly how to ask without seeming rude, so instead he just inclined his head and looked at her for a moment. Was she telling him the whole truth? Probably not, but did he have the right to ask for it? He wasn't sure. "You...sure...?"

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

_{[THIS RAN TWICE AS LONG AS I INTENDED. DX]}

Oh… good, that was good that they had some time if he didn’t have anywhere else to be. Tsubaki wasn’t under the mistaken impression her company was going to be of the highest priority, and it was rather plain to see that Takashi had a lot on his mind now. She would have, too. Sitting was certainly a means for him to get off his feet, at that; she though it would do him some good.

As they started toward a seat, Tsubaki observed him from the corner of her eye, watching just in case. Maybe they could at least get an ice pack or something…?

Although his sudden stop came as a surprise, at the same time… it didn’t surprise her all that much at all. Despite the fact that she would’ve liked to say now wasn’t the time to worry about her, that was what friends did, whether they’d known each other a long time or not, and she already knew Takashi was a good friend. And the simple reality was, her answers sounded tinny even to her own ears. But even if she could, the option of telling the truth just wasn’t there. There was no virtue in keeping every burden to one’s self to try and bear it alone at the expense of those who cared, but… There was no easy solution to bearing a burden that would only get heavier if she shared it. She didn’t want to add to the ones Takashi already had, either. This wasn’t like the matter of her brother: Tsubaki couldn’t completely contain the problem of Professor Stein and the Head Doctor’s deal-making within herself without some of it leaking out. One choice was to lie--and have to truly recognize the lie--but another was to at least let him know she was working to better the situation.

She returned his look without comment for a moment, before letting her gaze wander to the bulletin board. A lie would have just been too brittle. Takashi was still too perceptive to accept it and Tsubaki was not that obstinate. "Things haven’t been going in a good direction," she elaborated, "even before Honey-san left us. I don’t think my roommate’s here anymore, either. I’m figuring out how to go from here." And in the middle of that, there were the friend she’d made and the obstacles they’d been facing at the same time as her. She looked back and gave him a smile that was both sympathizing and heartfelt. "Spending time with the two of you really raised my spirits, though. I’m going to miss seeing him, but now that we’ve met I know we will again." It wasn’t for her own wellbeing that she was saying everything she was. She put out her hand again, this time to guide him back around for them to sit. "So in the meantime, let’s believe he’s doing fine outside of here, okay? Once we get out, we’ll have lots of time to talk about more cheery things than this."

[mukuchi.livejournal.com]

There was still something she was hiding. The pause between his question and her answer was too great to indicate anything else. She did open up and admit that things were going poorly for her, but beyond that she didn't give any information. Mori wished he had kept up with her better so he could help her, do something to be of aid to her, but his hands were tied unless he became persistent and invaded her personal space. He wasn't the sort to do that, though, and so instead he looked down at the floor.

He was glad spending time with Mitsukuni had raised her spirits, but that just meant he'd let her down, too, by letting him get taken. He couldn't let Tsubaki know that, though. If he did, she'd likely add it to her worries and that would mean he failed her again. Mori didn't quite know what to do, but he did know one thing: the thought of Mitsukuni being out there when Mori was still stuck in here hurt more than anything. His cousin never did anything without him. They'd been together their entire lives. Mori always did everything Mitsukuni asked of him if it was for his good and leaving this place by believing its lies was definitely not something Mori could agree with.

Mori couldn't manage to smile, but he did nod his head and then put a hand lightly on Tsubaki's shoulder. "You need anything, just ask."

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

Tsubaki let out a small breath. It was clear to her that what she’d said had done little to encourage him--practically the opposite.

Where Honey’s disappearance was concerned, sometimes there wasn’t anything that could be said that would help right away. Tsubaki’s concern was for a dear friend, but for Takashi, Honey was a very important person who had been here one minute and was gone the next. A special bond, she thought, and knew that though both her homesickness and trouble with Professor Stein were bad now, had she found Black☆Star here only to have him taken away, she would be in a similar place. Time wouldn’t make it better necessarily, but…

When he put his hand on her shoulder, she smiled and lifted her head to look him full in the face, before nodding back. "Mm. I will." She reached up to touch his wrist. "That goes for me, too, and I’m sure for all the friends you and Honey-san have made." Asking wasn’t going to factor in it, either. Tsubaki was going to keep an eye on him--closer, seeing the state he was in. Maybe Honey would end up back at the hospital, but for now Honey was gone and Tsubaki hadn’t been able to do anything for him, but Takashi was still here. And above all, she wanted to protect the friend she had left. "If you’d rather I didn’t bring it up, that’s fine, but… are you going to try and collect his things from his room?" she asked, turning to take a seat on an open couch. For one, there was his stuffed animal; he'd taken his bunny everywhere...

[mukuchi.livejournal.com]

She touched his wrist and something in that touch hurt. Maybe he knew what was coming, maybe he didn't, but something in him said that this might be the last time he saw her. She wouldn't know and he wanted to tell her, but if his instinct was wrong, then he'd worry her unnecessarily. Instead, he squeezed her shoulder as if to say he understood and then moved on toward the couches.

Did he want Tsubaki to leave the topic alone? Probably. Did that mean he should? He didn't know. Mori wasn't used to dealing with things straight on. He punished himself for Mitsukuni's pain by making Mitsukuni angry and piling hurt upon himself. He took on the scorn of those he cared for in order to apologize for his trespasses. None of it was very straightforward. But he did need to answer her question. Was he going to go pick up Mitsukuni's things? He supposed he should, yes. If the nurse left them there, or if Mitsukuni hadn't taken them with him. Mori nodded and then sat next to Tsubaki on the couch.

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

Knowing that what she was doing put a certain amount of pressure on him, she could do no more than wait for his response.

Funnelling energy into other people was a way to handle one’s own concerns--or not handle, as the case could be. It was just something people did, sometimes as a way of ignoring themselves or to simply cope with a hard thought. Tsubaki understood how veering away from a point didn’t always mean someone was fighting it, because she did it herself, most definitely while she’d been here, always wanting to come back to what had bothered her. She didn’t want to run away. But the extreme opposite wasn’t to drive straight ahead, fighting tooth and nail. It was for someone like Black☆Star, but not everyone.

Was it the same for Takashi? She wasn’t certain what he was going to do. At the very foundation of her question there was turmoil, and that in itself made everything delicate. Delicate to face, and delicate to bring up. But it was there; she could sense it.

"I’ll go with you, if you want," she offered.