When the bus had lurched to life, Okita was barely able to contain his scream of terror. He was lucky no one was sitting next to him or he would have died of embarrassment at his actions. Never having seen or even been in a modern transportation vehicle, he spent most of the trip curled up in his seat, gripping it like it was his only lifeline. The bus terrified him - the sounds it made and the way it jolted along the road. When it had become apparent that it wasn't going to explode, though, he'd relaxed enough to realize that unlike riding a horse, this metal monstrosity made him motion sick.

As soon as the thing stopped, Okita was off it, looking a little green. He remembered to take his sack breakfast and the coupon book, though, and quickly fled the area to find the closest place to hide. It ended up being a beautiful park with carefully sculpted lawns and what looked like play equipment. The fresh air did him some good and he quickly moved to the swings, setting the brown bag in his lap as he lazily moved to and fro on them.

He still had a lot to think about, he'd been able to supress most of his worst homocidal urges on the bus. Hijikata couldn't just disappear like that. Perhaps he'd been rescued earlier and would be somewhere in town today. All Okita had to do was get up the courage and start moving - no matter how difficult that seemed to be.

There was, Naomi decided, some sort of cosmic irony in all of this. Not that she was trapped in a deranged and possibly other-worldly asylum with a man she'd idolized for years and a boy who was being investigated for - among other things - the murder of her fiance. No, at this point, those were perfectly normal occurrences. Rather it was the soft, pretty, feminine pink sweater dress she'd been stuffed into in the morning. A chance to wear normal clothes, and she looked like a soccer mom. The white blazer and white boots only made her look like a soccer mom who maybe hadn't given up gogo boots.

It was humiliating. Why couldn't she have jeans and a sweater? And sneakers? Something she would conceivably wear? Not this damned pink monstrosity. And her nurse kept saying how pretty she was.

She didn't care if she looked pretty.

Grumbling to herself, and taking it out on her muffin, Naomi was shoved onto an empty bus and told to 'sit tight'. Oh, she'd sit tight alright....

At least she was relatively certain L was alright. She'd spent the whole night with him, and other than falling on his ass, nothing had happened to him. And hopefully nothing would happen to him in town, either....

[From here.]

Sousuke rushed into the room, immediately turning around in a circle, his pole at the ready. It didn't look like anything was in there, but Sousuke still felt uneasy. His soldier's sense was prickling. But maybe it was just his imagination...

"Let's go," he muttered, moving ahead urgently. He kept turning, as to avoid blind spots, all the while moving towards the Cafeteria door.

[From here]

Ami stepped out into the wider corridor. Again, silence. It was disconcerting. Glancing around, Ami couldn't see anything threatening. Yet. She forced her fear back, determined not to let its icy claws grip her.

She walked across the hallway and into the women's bathroom.

Ami stepped out into the dark hall. It looked like no one was out of their rooms yet. Heart fluttering slightly, Ami closed her eyes to allow them to adjust to the dark hall.

A few minutes later she opened them, able to make out the long corridor and various doors. She began walking quickly and quietly down the corridor.

After Momo had departed, Integra was resigned to her indefinite wait for the vampire yet again. She could never know how quick he would or would not be, but knew the time in between must pass so much slower for her, having so little to do. Still sitting on her bed, the woman made another map copy by flashlight -for him again- now including the new information her roommate had provided.

Integra still wondered as well if the stranger Mustang had assigned to meet with them would show after all. She’d left her room number on the bulletin board, but couldn’t know if the one named Dias had ever seen it. Whoever they were, she assumed they’d be intelligent enough to knock at least if they did come before her servant reached her though. The knight had no intention of waiting in the hall as an idle target by herself.

After finishing the newest map, she tucked it back away with its identical brethren also in her pocket. If they did end up having company, she and Alucard could always share one and give the other to Dias. If the stranger didn’t have their own by now. Surely everyone had been covering more ground each night and documenting it. Cutting the flashlight back off to conserve the battery, Integra stretched to lay out on her sheets in the darkness. There was no fault in resting while she could, though the fools better knock before barging in.

[from here]

And there they were: the doors to the Sun Room!

But where was Allen?! Rhode stood at the doors, tapping her foot and looking around. There had been such a gathering here last time, so why wasn't anyone here now? Not that she cared for anyone past her favorite white haired exorcist, but she had still expected to at least find someone there!

She peered inside the open doors, not finding Allen through the darkness and rather doubting that he was in there (his glowing eye would have given away enough light for her to spot easily. Allen Walker out of sight, and no reason yet to go in search of the area above her, Rhode turned her back to the doors, folded her arms, and took to tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for him to show up. She'd give him... at least a few minutes before deciding to yell at him the next day for making her wait.

[from here]

Good, everything still looked familiar. Or as familiar as was possible in the darkness. Rhode still had yet to discover the joys that belonged to the flashlight nestled beneath her pillow, but her eyes were so accustomed to the darkness of her own dimensions that the hallways did not bother her. A little light would have been welcome, if only to flash against her golden eyes and scare away whomever had the misfortune to stumble onto her. She smiled at the thought of someone screaming as they ran away.

Only a little farther now.

[to here]

[from here]

The hallway was empty here as well. Just how much earlier had she headed out tonight? Probably not by much. The absence of others in the hallway barely bothered Rhode as did the presence of others. Her mind was usually so dead focused on getting somewhere or finding someone that she had never really paid attention to what other things happened around her.

A left at the next hallway and down a bit for the doors on the left. That should be right. She hoped the ghost woman's influence on her wasn't messing with her memory.

[to here]

The intercom gave its cheery jingle just before the Head Doctor's equally buoyant voice rang through the halls.

"Ah, and finally, our day is coming to a close! Rooms and roommates have been reassigned with care, though what great partnership can start without a good meal? Ah, yes, after the nurses escort all of our patients, new and old, back to their proper rooms, everyone will have the chance to enjoy a savory chicken pot pie, full of peas, carrots, potatoes, and of course, chicken. On the side, we'll have buttery corn on the cob and green beans, and to drink, you may choose from the regular slew of water, milk, or assorted juices, which your nurse will bring to you.

"I believe that's all for now! Phew, long day, huh? I know I'll be happy to get some sleep, and thank you to all our vigilant doctors and nurses, although Dr. House seems to have gone AWOL... Hmm... Well, in any case, have a good dinner, everyone!"

The intercom clicked off again as the nurses began organizing the patients for the small trek back to their rooms.

[ OOC: Remember, room threads go in response to THIS post, and please put your respective room number in the subject line of your first post. Thanks! ]

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be.  Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information.  Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in. 

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet?  They'd all been fairly close together when they'd left Rekord, but he hadn't seen a trace of any of them.  He was able to communicate easily with the people here though, which led him to believe Mokona was within a mile or so.  Unless the ones running this little game had some other way to let all these other-worldly people communicate amongst themselves.  In which case, the others could be very far away indeed.

The library had that wonderful smell of old books, and Fai traced his fingers along the shelves, skimming titles and pulling books that struck his fancy.  Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The War of the Worlds, and with a smile, he found Bram Stoker's Dracula as well.  Raven had been telling the truth then, in spite of his own lies.  Ought to be a good start.  He sat leisurely at one of the tables and began flipping through his selections.

[waiting for Tamaki~]

Day came too soon.

Sora hadn't been able to find Rena, had instead been forced to crumple onto the grass of the recreational field and bleed all over himself, and hadn't even accomplished what he'd been sent out to do. What he'd been entrusted to do. He didn't know how he was going to be able to face Renji and the others, but he also knew he wasn't going to hide from them, either. That would just be low, after all, and he was ready to face up to the consequences.

He didn't try to make excuses for himself. Even though there had been a Special Counseling patient, they had managed to take her down by sheer numbers. The fact that he hadn't seen any sign of Rena was what had him the most worried. He hoped he could find her today.

The boy laid in his bed for a good while that morning before his nurse finally came in to collect him. She clucked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and leg, and asked him if he was okay to walk.

Once Sora assured her he was fine (he didn't really want to use crutches, as that would just attract attention to himself, and he didn't need others worrying over him), they made their way to the cafeteria. Sora yawned and winced against the bright light of morning - it seemed even earlier than usual, and he realized why when they entered the cafeteria and found it empty.

The boy shuffled over to grab a chocolate chip pancake, a bowl of cereal, and a glass of milk (good for the bones, or so his mom had always told him) before settling at a table. He kept an eye on the door, hoping he would see Rena walking in soon.

Momo had once again thoroughly cleaned her katana and was set for the night mission when the intercom clicked on. She listened to the announcement and sighed. So this was what Hitsugaya had meant by Special Counseling. One of the patients turned temporary enemy for the night was right in in the way of her mission and this time she had a young girl with her and Signum. She sighed again and slid the cymbal into the back of her pants and her katana into the sheet-belt at her side. She was even happier that she'd come across Kimbley this morning than she'd been earlier. She was going to need Signum properly equipped.

Stepping out into the hallway, Momo put her back to the wall after checking the small bit of the hall to the left before the wall. Sumeragi-san and Signum will hopefully be moving rapidly. They needed to move.

The intercom clicked on with its usual jingle, the Head Doctor clearing his throat before he made his last shift-changing announcement of the day.

"Well, now that everyone is clean and having fun, I suppose it's time for everyone to be escorted back to their rooms for dinner! Yes, yes, I know the game room can be entertaining and doctor sessions can be fulfilling, but we only have so much time in the day, don't we?

"Ah, and speaking of dinner, tonight, we'll be having an old favorite--seasoned steak, a baked potato, and peas! Yum, yum. You also get a choice of vegetable soup or caesar salad--just tell your nurse which you'd prefer--and may also choose from our usual variety of drinks."

He made his usual pause, perhaps contemplating what the night would have in store once the sun fully set. Now, however, wasn't the time to reveal such musings, and so he ended on his usual cheery note:

"That's about all for now! I hope you all enjoy your suppers."

And again the intercom turned off.

Some day, he really did intend to go to the game room, just to see what they had in the way of games. But not today. He was simply not in the mood to do anything approaching fun, and he was starting to feel like shit from a combination of being sedated and not having eaten anything yet all day.

The nurses bought it when he did a little exagerated stumbling around, and let him slink off to a corner of the Sun Room. He figured he'd lay down and pretend to be asleep, and maybe he'd be lucky enough that everyone would leave him the hell alone. He even found a couch with its back to the door so he wouldn't be immediately visible and laid down on it. His feet hung over one of the arms, but it wasn't as obvious as his hair being visible.

He had a lot to think about. Like trying to understand why he both did and didn't want to see Rukia. And the things the mysterious person on the bulletin board had said. Thinking about it made his hands shake and made him feel sick. It made it nearly impossible to try to tell himself that nothing had happened, now.

Renji closed his eyes tightly and wished that he really could sleep.

Momo's mind was whirling with the things Kimbley had told her at breakfast about Mustang. She really didn't know what to think. Kimbley seemed so... happy, almost, to be telling her about the things Mustang had done and then there was the fact that she hadn't seen anything from Mustang himself to indicate that it might be true. But Momo knew her judgement in the past with men that hid themselves wasn't exactly stellar...

Hearing the intercom go off, Momo perked up just a bit from her dour mood at the prospects of bathing. As her doctor wasn't quite ready for her yet, she did have therapy this shift, the shinigami convinced the nurses to let her bathe until her presence was required.

Stepping into the room, she frowned a little seeing there weren't any baths and the shower system appeared to be of a Western design. She should have expected it, but with her bandages, the showers were going to make getting clean much harder. No one else was there, yet, and as she disrobed carefully, the nurse offered to help her wash, taking in the bandages on her neck as well as torso.

How demeaning...

Momo politely declined and, after being warned to keep her bandages dry by the nurse, took her towel and wash cloth to a shower unit off to the side. She fumbled for a moment with the unfamiliar controls, but soon got a gentle warm spray going. She was fairly certain she'd be able to keep the bandages dry, but she wasn't sure if she'd be able to wash her hair.

Running a hand through the shoulder-length black locks, she scowled. Her hair really needed washed.

The staff had been frustratingly slow in depositing her back to the cell for dinner, so she and the girl had had very little chance to actually speak before the doors unlocked once more. From what could be seen though, Momo still appeared much insulted from the obvious distrust Integra had exuded earlier.

The knight could still hold no sympathy for the stranger's thin skin however, believing herself fully right in having more than enough reasons to never take anyone’s words as genuine again. They could still work together even tomorrow night of course -this was a desperate time- but Momo would simply have to move past the fact that Integra would always be working to the benefit of her own goals without true alliance or trust in this place. This notion could be thought of as selfish yes, but all that weighed on her mind now were the people she’d already failed and had to get back to as soon as possible. Prior obligations were where her only real loyalties lied.

She did regret not getting to find out where that bloody sword had miraculously come from before Momo departed though. Maybe the talk about weapon smiths lurking around was indeed correct then. The sight caused the blonde to remember she still had yet to speak to a man named Colonel Mustang about that. But for now, all she could do was remain waiting as she hoped her greedy servant would hurry himself along. The promise of her blood should have given him wings tonight.

Momo decided that what she really needed after healing Mustang was some fresh air. By the time the intercom went off, she had recovered mostly leaving her with that annoying headache and a drained feeling. It wasn't like she was tired, but her spiritual reservoirs had definitely been tapped – more than she liked. The air should do her good, though she really wasn't sure what soccer was.

The shinigami looked across the cafeteria and made eye contact with Integra, indicating to the woman that she was heading outside. Hopefully the knight would get the hint and follow along outside instead of heading to the Sun Room. Especially since Hitsugaya would be there and the odds of Alucard being present went up drastically as well. It'd just be best all around if Integra and her had some reasonable privacy while they talked about the sensitive matter the shinigami wished to.

Once the nurse had lead her outside, Momo tilted her head back to take in the sun and drew in a deep breath. It was nice being outside with the wind blowing across her. She relaxed some and, as predicted, she felt a little better.

The shinigami ignored the black and white checkered balls the nurses had out and walked to some trees on one side of the field. As empty as it was and as few female patients as the intercom indicated, it wouldn't be hard at all to be found. Now all she had to do was wait.

Renji had mostly been ignoring what the head doctor said, until he got to the magic r-word; that certainly captured his attention. The prospect of rice made him a little more willing to let the nurses separate him and Rukia.

In the lunch line, he piled his plate to the maximum with steamed rice, adding a little chow mein, balanced precariously on the side, as an afterthought. That and tea was all he needed.

He sat somewhere he'd be pretty easy to spot from the door and started wolfing down his rice. He wondered if Hisoka and his friends would show up before he headed to the lunch line to get seconds.

Miku was very glad that the breakfast shift (and the uncomfortable conversation) was over. She hadn't felt like gardening - the photographer was likely more apt to killing plants - and her arm throbbed beneath its bandages.

Resting seemed like a better, healthier choice. The sun room was empty when she entered it, and the young woman breathed a sigh of relief. She claimed a spot on a couch, resting her head on her good arm and tucking her bum arm under her chest, where it would be safe. Her hair spilled over her face, obscuring it.

Maybe, just maybe, Miku would be undisturbed because of her Sadako-like appearance. At least, that's what she hoped.