When Kyon entered the Arts and Crafts room, he was not only feeling physically fatigued, but mentally as well. The last few shifts had not gone well at all. Kyon had spent the better part of the last shift staring at his food, wondering what the hell he was going to do about the coming night. Aidou's intentions had to be anything but good, and he'd stupidly given his room number to him under a slight panic.

Couldn't he just stop time for a few minutes so that he could rest?

Thankfully picking a slightly quieter room than the rest, Kyon sat down at one of the ables and put his head down. He didn't want to think anymore. He just wanted to peace for once since his stay at this damned institute.

[OOC: Awaiting Hokuto~]

Hitsugaya left the chapel no less frustrated than before. The head doctor once again had chosen not to hide his face, yet promised he would be making an appearance at some time in the near future. He didn't like being patient, but there wasn't much choice. Either the head doctor would show his face, or he wouldn't. Renji had already seen him, and knew how to find him. That was enough.

The thought of eating made him slightly nauseous as usual, but he knew he needed to get his strength up. He could either be weak and try to force his way through brunch without eating anything, or he could be smart and actually give himself something to eat. And there was rice. Rice and fruit. He took a heaping pile of rice, and grabbed as much watermelon as he could fit on his plate, then proceeded to an empty table. He scanned the room, watching for Momo. He wasn't exactly looking forward to their conversation, knowing how she'd acted yesterday; however, he knew he had to speak to her, and there was a good chance that she would show more restraint now that the drugs were out of her system.

Thoughtfully he consumed his rice and waited.

[free at the moment, pester if you wish]

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.

[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.

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.

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.

Ashe couldn't deny that she was a least a little relieved when the lights went out and the doors slowly groaned as they unlatched and opened. The transmitted and flashlight would of course be needed if she were to progress efficiently in her exploration of this institution; apparently, an entirely new level and a few choice foes had been selected for them tonight, if Cliff's testimony about monsters was to be believed.

Wondering if her roommate knew the ropes just yet, the princess halted at the door as she'd been ready to brave the halls and had managed to forget her probably less-than-capable companion. Turning back to look for Nadine, she awaited the other woman's reaction.

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.

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.

[From here.]

Rukia rounded the corner without bothering to look around. She stopped at the end of the F11-F20 hallway; hopefully Vice Captain Hinamori would come out of her room soon, with Renji's katana in hand. And then Rukia would go straight to see Renji.

She couldn't quite stand still. The beam of her flashlight wavered, hovering around the floor outside F12.