After that, most entertaining conversation, William gathered his notebook, a pen and his flashlight before setting off into the dark hall. He had to be quick about this, or else his idiot roommate might end up insisting on tagging along. And William had the idea that Armand didn't have the stomach for science.

Or the nerves either. Oh well, William could always introduce it to him later, just to see what effect it had on the fool.

[To here.]

[from here]

It was lucky for both him and Usopp that their rooms were just a block down. Not that he'd seen many monsters or otherwise around the patient blocks themselves, but the further apart they were the more likely there would be something that could stop them on the way. Here they had simply a short run between them. Granted, it would have been even better if they'd been in the same block or even the same hallway, but given the overall situation they could have been far worse off.

He took one more glance around, saw nothing and no one, and continued on his way.

[to here]

_{[from here]}

Aidou exited the cell block, heading down the hallway to the second male block. There were two stops he had to make in there, and with any luck there wouldn't be too much of a hold up. After all, he made a point of keeping out of the glow of people's flashlights as much as possible--even wearing white over grey, it was more easy than not to blend in.

Habitually, he kept an eye on each end of the corridor, absolutely refusing to be caught unawares himself.

_{[to here]}

[Dropping down from Bus 3.]

Shana dropped into the darkness from the open window above, keeping her back to the carraige as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the pitch blackness surrounding her. It must have been a cloudy night, for she could make out no stars or moon above. Eerie sounds filled the night and she shivered, not liking the sound of it, nor the fact that she was out here alone with no idea of what could be lurking in the shadows.

Shadow was still trapped in the bus somewhere above and behind her, and she had no idea where Valyn and Keman were. Focusing her magic, she tried to reach out and feel for them, wondering if they'd felt her cast her magelight spell, wondering if they'd cast anything in return for her to find them. She had no desire to spend the night separated from them, especially since she hadn't been here long enough to know her way about the place, let alone the extent of dangers it could hold

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.

Momo's mind was turning over all the possibilities surrounding this "field trip" to the surrounding town when she settled down in the corner of the Sun Room away from the Arts & Crafts room. She curled her legs underneath her as she waited for Shouko-san to find her. The shinigami had no idea what she looked like, so she kept an eye on all those entering the room.

It was still very cold, or at least she was cold, and the momentary thought of getting her coat from her own room passed through her mind amidst the field trip thoughts. She pushed it away and decided to deal with it being as cold as it was since she'd already been late to one meeting today and didn't want to start making it a habit.

As she waited, she pondered the next day's possibilities. Maybe, just maybe, once away from the institute the shinigami will have access to their full reiatsu. And if not, maybe they'll have a better idea of how they are being limited so much. Maybe Aizen would be able to find her then. He'd save her... right? Right?

Renji wasn't so certain what this grilled cheese thing was all about, but he liked the sound of some soup. Even if it was strange western soup, well... there wasn't anything bad people could do to soup, in his experience. His good mood was starting to fray at the edges, a little, from the strain of dealing with the Ichimaru issue, and even more from what had been on the bulletin board earlier.

He'd never had difficulty simply writing something before. But...

He shook his head as he entered the line. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to hold on to the tenuous equilibrium he'd managed to find.

Renji got himself a large bowl of soup, water, and even one of those sandwiches, just to try it. Old habit, recently awakened, had him over to one side of the cafeteria, where the fewest people possible would have the chance to pass behind him. He sat there with his back toward the wall and started eating.

"Calvin, the whole reason we have scheduled mealtimes is so that our patients can eat!"

Keman marveled at how severe his short, plump nurse could look. She wasn't fooling anyone, of course, but it was an admirable effort. The dragon shrugged. "But I was talking. I forgot to eat." He'd long given up trying to insist that his name was Kemanorel, not Calvin Jacobs. It was just too much of a headache.

The nurse gave the napkin full of food that he had tried to smuggle out of the cafeteria a disapproving glance. "All right," she said heavily, and Keman rolled his eyes. Honestly. It was just food! "I'll let this go just this once. Now, I know you don't want to do Arts and Crafts, so just be a good boy and stay here in the Sun Room, all right?"

Thus free of his obnoxious watchdog, Keman found a couch and stretched out on it, grinning happily. It seemed like Valyn's hurts weren't going to be that lasting, and Max had taken the revelation of what he really was in stride. All in all, not a bad morning...even if he'd had better. He was still feeling a little drained from all the magic he had used last night, so maybe he'd be able to take a little nap.

After eating, of course.

The young dragon-turned-halfblood popped a strawberry into his mouth and closed his eyes. There really was quite a bit to be said about two-legger food. Especially the sweet things.

[[from here]]

The feeling was strong.  There was something out there.  And as he neared the Sun Room, it was even stronger.  It felt like an Akuma, but he couldn't be sure, not in this place.  As much as he didn't want to wait around here, he had to meet Emily.  He couldn't help thinking that they should have picked a safer place.  He'd never been very good at planning things though.  He just had to take things as they came, one at a time. 

He leaned against the wall with a sigh and settled in to wait, moving his flashlight up and down the hall just to be sure nothing was coming after him.

[[ from here. ]]

The door opened for her, her hands needing only to coax it gently as it creeked and allowed her entry. River entered the room, a wide-eyed girl wandering in the darkness, entering the castle of a vicious lord with innocence and white robes draped about her small, thin form. But even through the mist, the trained eye would see the illusion.

The figure was merely a sword, finely crafted and dressed up to look like a simple girl. It was a play, and the actors would soon reveal themselves to be just that. With every sense honed to the sounds and the essence of the expansive Sun Room, River gently shut the door behind her and began to skip forward, eyes on the ground but aware of so much more. She sang a tune softly to herself as she danced further into the darkness of the arena.

"Night's come again. Two by two, dancing in blue." The haunting, sing-song melody of her voice pierced the otherwise perfectly silent air as she waited.

This corridor looked almost the same. Still quiet, though now he noticed more people about. At least that meant he hadn't run into any monsters. He ran along the hall until he saw the door that had caused him and Dr. Birkin so much trouble. From the day now, he knew that at the end of this hall was almost a lobby with the hall to the Sun Room and Cafeteria to the left. He didn't want to go there, so this was the end of the blocks. Right? No bathroom. He must have missed something.

Armand backtracked until he found another door that opened easily.

Armand didn't like the man's voice from the air. He sounded cruel, even when he was trying to sound nice during the day. Oh well, not that it mattered to the evil doctor if Armand liked him or not.

When the lights went out, Armand reluctantly put away his journal and pen in the desk, and grabbed a sweater and his flashlight. He slipped the sweater over his head as he entered the dark hallway. He'd run halfway down the corridor before he turned on his flashlight. There was a door to the right, he thought, at the end of the hall. He needed to get to the men's lavatory at the "end of the men's hallways." He knew of the one at the end of his block of rooms, but was there another?

Another evening, another extremely quiet dinner. Jack wasn't sure what was up with his roommate, but he kind of missed having a little light conversation over his meal. Especially when it was a meal as good as steak.

After a moment of consideration, he decided not to bring his second knife with him. He certainly wasn't going to trust Luxord - the man was crazy as a loon, if hot - and while it wouldn't bother him that much if he got gutted with one of his own knives, he'd rather not lose the weapon when he already had his other knife on loan. And considering he'd slept with people before to get a chance to steal their stuff, he certainly wasn't going to put it past anyone else. The skillet, though, he did take. Most people would consider it a humiliating enough weapon that they wouldn't want it, which was stupid, but it was something to work with. It also was a lot harder to go for something that big without anyone noticing. He grabbed his flashlight, and his radio. The apron was left behind tonight as well.

There was an extra cheerful bounce to his step as he headed out. Either way, this was going to be a fun night. Hopefully Gin would have some fun without him, as well.

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.

The only reason Momo decided to go to the Game Room was the fact that she hadn't been there yet. She really didn't have much desire to play any games, but Hitsugaya would be in the showers for at least the first part of the shift; she could at least look the room and what it has to offer over before relocating to the Sun Room to give her report to him.

The meeting at lunch was productive, and yet, it wasn't. Maybe she was taking the wrong approach or perhaps she was just lacking the right person. As much as the thought abhorred her, she would have loved to have Unahana-taichou or, at the very least, Isane here to do the work for her. Never mind the fact that she'd taken the task upon herself to get things started. If she had things to do, she didn't have much time to think about Aizen.

And speaking of not having things to do...

One look around the game room and the shinigami didn't recognize any of the games. She'd been kind of hoping for a Go board, but after a quick rummage through the games, gave up searching any further and sat in one of the couches. She curled her legs up underneath her and, using the couch's arm as an uncomfortable headrest, laid her head against her arm. She was tired still and too many things were turning over in her mind.

Trying not to fall asleep, lest she forget to go give her report, Momo kept an eye on the door wondering who all would venture into the room.

Scar felt cold and sick, though more the latter than the former. As he rose from his bed, he didn't quite know which way was up, and the artificial light coming from overhead seemed as hot and as blinding as the Ishbal sun.

His head hurt, but that was nothing new. After all, the last thing he remembered from the night before was fighting a homunculus off of Lust and then having a conversation about events best left forgotten. The man hadn't been his brother. He just hadn't. And if what Lust had said they'd done to her was true...

Scar stood with shakiness that he wanted to attribute more to a bizarrely weakened physical state than a mental one. Had he been knocked out by some kind of lurking monster before the morning had come? He felt as if he had been out for days, being a veteran of such circumstances, though as he took the practiced role of being an obedient follower behind the nurse and orderlies that came for him, it didn't seem as if much had changed.

This place was probably just playing tricks on him again, and he was tired of being the man left out of the loop. He grabbed some food he didn't really care for and sat down, not seeing anyone he knew already seated. On one hand, he wished he had someone to talk to, and on the other, it scared him that he was no longer used to being alone.

He dug his fork into his food and tried to block out any related thought.

Gluttony didn't want to leave his Lust, not after he'd just found her!  But the mean tasty nurses said he had to.  "You can't join her in the women's showers" was a bad excuse.  He didn't like the mean tasty nurses.  Maybe Lust would let him eat them later.  Still, he knew he would see his Lust again, and that was good.  He liked Lust.  She was good and beautiful and smart and kind.  Why did they have to take him away from his Lust?

Still, he would see her again.  And she would tell him it was okay to eat the tasty nurses, and that would be good.  His new friend liked eating people, too.  That made him happy to find a friend who shared a love for eating people.  Today was a very good day.

As he entered the showers, he stood under a shower head and opened his mouth wide to drink up the water.  It wasn't as good as eating people, or eating waffles that didn't scream when he bit into them so weren't nearly as good as eating people, but it was still swallowing something, and that made him feel better.

Sai awoke rather groggily, which wasn't a good sign for a ninja. It meant he was probably ill. He'd need to get checked up with a medic-nin before he did very much more that day. Eyes blinked open slowly to stare at the ceiling and then narrowed in confusion. Not his ceiling. Was he already at the hospital?

"Mr. Pastello... wake up, hon."

Turning his head to the side revealed a vaguely familiar woman in a white uniform. A nurse? ...Oh yes. His nurse. Landels. He sat up at her direction, feeling mildly dizzy as he did so, and glanced down at his arms as he folded them in his lap. They were covered in clean bandages, no longer bleeding. The dizziness told him he was still suffering a bit from the blood loss, however.

When had he passed out? The last few events of the night hadn't been very clear. He didn't know what had happened to the two pirates and, looking around, the mess of blood they had left seemed to have been completely cleaned up. It was amazing, really. He smiled at his nurse, too weary to do much else but let her lead him to breakfast at the moment.

She helped him to his feet, where the light-headedness was even more apparent. It didn't seem to be anything he couldn't put up with, though. The nurse seemed to know a bit about what he suffered from, but made no mention of it aside from telling him to avoid lifting heavy objects and to drink lots of fluids as they made their way to the cafeteria. The subject of blood-sucking leeches never arose, and he figured if it had she'd surely feign ignorance.

It wasn't until they got there that he realized just how absolutely starving he was. He'd had what, corn for dinner? The smells were simply enticing, even though he had no idea what waffles were supposed to be. He was sure anything edible at this point would be fine, and made his way out of his nurse's grip and to the line with more speed then he'd probably ever gone after food at.

The intercom came on with its usual nighttime crackling, though this time the Head Doctor seemed to be in a calmer mood than he had been in before. His tone was cool and his breaths were even as he spoke, even if his speech itself contained the same megalomaniacal ranting as usual.

"Hm. Perhaps I'm overestimating you, Radio Man. Perhaps I'm putting too much stock in how much sway you have over the patients, in how much you can truly help them. Why, yes, even I am capable of admitting my errors, as few and far between as they may be!"

He coughed, cleared his throat, and continued.

"But enough of that wretched man, dear patients. I believe it's time to announce something grand, something new about this Institute. Oh, yes, we're always coming up with new surprises for all of you, as undeserving and selfish as you all may be, but luckily for us, the new secrets of this building may only be opened by those of supreme wit and physical prowess. Allow me to give you a hint, in fact, much like the savior you all put so much stock in: Down is the way you want to go if you want to uncover the secrets of this place, ladies and gentlemen, though uncovering the keys to knowledge will be far more difficult than any of you can imagine."

A pause, and then he sighed and chuckled lightly.

"Not that I imagine many of you will succeed in the tasks ahead of you, though perhaps the newly-arrived members of Group 4 will be able to assist all of you in your future endeavors. Good luck to you all, though I doubt you'll make much use of it."

The intercom slowly died down into a small whine, then silence.