Day 54: Breakfast

[arc_wrench]

For once, HK was working very hard to hide a giddy facial expression as he met his nurse at the door. He'd already hidden his scalpels in his clothing. The wonderful, sharp implements of doom would be needed today. “Statement: Despite my reticence towards all processed meat and plant products, I am experiencing intolerable levels of hunger,” he

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[terriblehaiku]

That... made absolutely no sense. He could understand somehow managing to kidnap people from all over, but how did you take someone from a time that hadn't happened yet? It was nonsense. Souji should have been bright enough to recognize utter lunacy when he saw it, he seemed to be believing every word of what he was saying. Unless this was just an elaborate scheme to mess with him. As fond of practical jokes as the younger man was, however, Hijikata couldn't see him going so far as to feed him false information when they were stuck in this sort of situation. Not for the sake of a joke, certainly.

Which meant he'd just ignore the fact that the whole thing was utterly ridiculous for the moment, and concentrate on the part that mattered. Gion. The Ikedaya. If that was true, Souji remembered significantly less than he should have, even if he'd somehow been in this place a month already. It meant his last memories were of victory for the Shinsengumi. It meant he thought Sannan was still alive, and knew nothing at all about that thorn in his side, Itou. Well, it could stay that way. There was no need to burden him with the things he himself knew. If he asked--

The sudden racket was almost welcome, even as he reached instinctively for the sword that wasn't there and cursed under his breath at the absence. He scanned the chaos quickly, keeping Souji in his peripheral vision so he could move if the captain did. "I have no desire to get near any of them," he replied, scowling at the ridiculous attempt at a riot that was quickly unfolding in the room. Anyone with a brain in their skulls could see this wasn't going to end well. It was too chaotic and poorly organized. As a distraction, it might serve well enough, but he couldn't spot anything in the midst of the fight that looked the least bit organized. "What do these idiots think they're doing?"

[notachick]

"Having fun?" In reality, Okita had no idea. He'd seen people throw food before, sure, but that had been in jest and mostly when those involved were extremely drunk. Sometimes Okita wondered in the people here were in a state of constant drunkenness considering how some of them acted, but even that wouldn't excuse this. It was just tactically impractical to attack when there were new additions to the staff. The fact that the new people were carrying weapons only compounded that fact. Now, if a patient could hope to get a weapon away from someone, that would change things, but it was a gamble that could end with an unnecessary death. And with the disorganization that seemed to be rampant, there was no way this riot was going to end well.

Okita had been in a riot that had been rather well done and even that had ended poorly. This, however, was just going to end in someone going to solitary and a lot of people getting sedated.

Another tray came whizzing by Okita's head and the swordsman leaned away from it, letting it clang onto the floor. "Perhaps it'd be best if we left the area? It really isn't this--" He sidestepped to avoid someone's half-eaten sandwich. "--strange all the time, Hijikata-san. You just pick the best times to show up."

[terriblehaiku]

"This isn't fun, it's idiocy." He scowled as more food and dishes went flying past. If any of this hit him, so help them...

But he couldn't really do anything about it. Not here, where it was obvious the staff was retaliating with force. It made sense, on their end. There were more kidnap-ees than staff, despite the power imbalance, and if they didn't deal with it quickly it would continue to escalate. Why the idiots who'd started this mess couldn't see that this was bound to backfire, Hijikatata couldn't see. Perhaps they just didn't care. There were plenty of people who just didn't give a damn about anyone but themselves.

"I think that's a good idea." He really had no desire to be pelted with whatever people chose to fling in their direction, especially when they couldn't react without attracting undesirable attention to themselves. He looked around, trying to decide on the best path of escape. "Aren't I lucky?" Really. This was shaping up to be the worst morning he'd had in a very, very long time.

to the Sun Room

[notachick]

Okita laughed despite himself at Hijikata's almost expected answer. He couldn't exactly argue with his leader on that point, but he did think it was a little bit fun. Even if the food flying around was wasteful and the mess it left behind unclean, people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Whether they were merely throwing food or actively attacking the nurses and being beaten down by the new guards, they did seem to be having fun. Maybe there was something to be said about reckless mayhem.

A plastic fork went flying and Okita laughed to himself again. "Very lucky," he agreed and then motioned to Hijikata as he headed toward the cafeteria wall, weaving through the crowd of patients and nurses and gun-toting guards. Since he wasn't trying to join the attack, the staff seemed more than willing to allow him to pass, pushing by him as they ran into the fray.

Okita was more than happy to be ignored for once, and he began to notice others doing the same as him. Getting out of the cafeteria and away from the fight seemed to be a priority for quite a few people. Some were heading the opposite direction, but the objective was the same: leave the area. He could see some people running for the courtyard and others were going in the same direction as he was trying to lead Hijikata. The captain didn't bother to look behind him. He knew Hijikata was with him. He could sense the man's presence nearby and he trusted and knew Hijikata would follow him here where Okita knew the layout of the area better.

Soon enough the swordsman ducked past the last of the nurses and padded out into the freedom of the Sun Room. He took a few steps in before he stopped to look back at the chaos, picking a piece of scrambled egg out of his hair. He hadn't gotten away completely clean, but he was in considerably better shape than those still in the cafeteria. Once Hijikata joined him, Okita smiled up at him and said, "Well! Wasn't that exciting?"

[terriblehaiku]

Woken up at an ungodly hour after being apparently kidnapped and trapped in some kind of completely ridiculous jail, and now his captain was laughing at him. Wonderful. Well, it wasn't as if the day could get any more trying than it already was. At least, he certainly hopped no. And he could forgive Souji his laughter. At least it meant someone was enjoying themselves.

He followed as the younger man started to lead him away from the chaos. He was keeping one eye on the riot in the center of the room, watching to see how the ones who were ostensibly in charge were acting. Those who were apparently part of the regular staff seemed irritated, at best, although they apparently had some means of subduing the troublemakers. Probably the thing Souji had warned him about. The ones in black seemed in distinctly less good humor about the whole thing, and he had to wonder just how it would take before things got very out of hand. All in all, he was glad they were leaving.

While he doubted they were making their way completely unobserved, it seemed they simply weren't very important at the moment, and no one tried to get in their way as Souji led him out of the room and into another. They weren't alone, though, and the way they were being watched seemed to indicated that should they try to go much further, they'd be met with resistance. He ignored that for the moment in favor of shaking bits of breakfast off of his clothing. "Very," he replied dryly, and made an instinctual grab for his pipe, which obviously wasn't there. He scowled and dropped his hand to his side. "They're obviously not kidnapping people for their tactical planning abilities." The whole thing looked to be a mess, from an organizational standpoint.

[notachick]

"You'd be surprised," Okita replied as he reached behind his neck and unclipped a second pen from its hiding place in his shirt collar. This he offered to Hijikata with a pleasant smile. He remembered all too well how Hijikata had dealt with the withdrawal before and while the captain thought a little less smelly tobacco in the commander's life wasn't such a bad thing, he also knew how difficult it was to deal with. Thankfully, Okita had some of those modern mini-pipes left over from when he hadn't been able to pass them off to Badou or the other Hijikata. He wasn't sure if his Hijikata would take them, but it was one other way to help him at night at least.

"I would say most of the people here are either former or current fighters, soldiers, or leaders of something. Even those who are not have some sort of ability to fight, or have experience in the support fields like medicine and espionage. Several here have 'powers' unlike anything we've seen before. One girl here is a ninja with considerable acrobatic skill. There were once people here who could create weapons with their bare hands in the blink of an eye. And...a man I once knew was a demi-god and could control fire." It was still strange to think of Homura as being gone. Especially now that Hijikata was back and there would be no division of Okita's loyalty. He considered briefly telling Hijikata about the demi-god, his former leader and the man who'd kept him from falling apart every time Hijikata left, but he decided against it. It was information that Hijikata didn't need in order to function here. No one left in these walls knew of his and Homura's somewhat strained relationship and it was best that no one ever did. "It's a strange place, but I can see why Martin Landel picked this group to be here. There are, of course, those who slip through the cracks and seem to have nothing to offer, but they are few and far between."

Very far and very few. Okita was fortunate enough not to work with any of them, but he did feel terrible for him in an abstract way. They were left here to struggle to survive night after night while the stronger ones went off to do what was necessary. It was always those who were least visible, least useful who disappeared without anyone to mourn them, too. Okita wondered how many had left already without a single person to notice. "I'll introduce you later to the History Club. We are a smaller group, but everyone is battle ready." He paused for a moment and then laughed some to himself. "Or at least battle eager."

[terriblehaiku]

Hijikata frowned when Souji held the object out to him. It was a little annoying that the younger man had clearly pegged his fidgeting for what it was, but at least he had the good grace not to say anything about it. He took it and looked it over, trying to work out what it as. It was the same as what Souji had used to write on the paper earlier, but didn't resemble any sort of brush he'd ever seen. And he couldn't say for sure what it was made of. There'd be time to examine it later, he supposed. For now he just held onto it. It was enough to keep his hands occupied, at least.

He listened to Souji's explanation, looking a little skeptical. Glancing from his captain back to the chaos that was still going on in the next room, he found most of it hard to believe. "If that's the case, they have poor impulse control." Then again, so did some of the men back home, so perhaps it wasn't quite so hard to believe. It seemed odd to gather so many trained individuals in one place if you were looking to contain them. It also seemed odd that if nearly everyone had the sort of capabilities Souji said they did, they were all still here. Was the lack of teamwork so great that they'd never been able to put together a focused assault? Or were the odds that stacked against them? I supposed only time would tell.

Hijikata nodded. "I'd like to know who I'm going to be working with." Because it went without saying that if Souji was working with them, he would too. What he wasn't looking forward to was the number of toes he might end up stepping on in the process. Tact and diplomacy had never been his strong suits. Well, he'd leave it to Souji to smooth that out. He was good at it, and presumably knew these people well enough to anticipate any issues that might arise.

[notachick]

Even if Hijikata wasn't using the pen yet, at least he'd accepted it. Having something in his hands would help him throughout the day until Okita could find him at night and offer the cigarettes as a substitute. It wouldn't be the same as his pipe, but perhaps it would help Hijikata overcome the worst of the cravings until the man's pipe could be located. The patient possessions room was a good place to look. If Hijikata's 'real' life persona had been a smoker as well, it was entirely possible that the pipe would be there.

More, importantly, it seemed like the staff was starting to leave the room and Okita stepped away from the doors, leaving room for Hijikata to do the same. "Oh, yes, they're terrible about that. You should have seen the last riot. Now that was chaotic," he said with a laugh that belied his careful observation of the staff. It wasn't just the nurses that were abandoning their posts, the new guards were doing the same. They were leaving and quickly for some reason or another. Those that were out of the cafeteria first seemed to be shooing the patients in the sun room further from the doors, too.

"There are two factions, unfortunately - those under my command and those who follow Himura Kenshin's way of thinking. He refuses to kill despite being a former hitokiri." But introductions could be done later. Okita took another step away from the door and trailed off in his explanation. Something was definitely happening and Okita didn't know what it was. He thought he heard a sound coming from the walls, but he couldn't see anything and it was distant; somewhere in the room they'd so recently vacated. Just what was the Institute doing?

[terriblehaiku]

The shift in the staff's mood was telling. He might not have been at all familiar with his surroundings or these people, but Hijikata knew enough to know that when the people in charge started abandoning their posts, nothing good could come of it. It was hard to tell if the people still rioting sensed the shift as well, or were simply too involved in their act of rebellion to notice they were being abandoned. He shifted away from the doors with Souji, keeping an eye on the situation. It was hard to say what was going to happen, but he wanted to observe, if possible. It was information he could use later.

"A hitokiri who doesn't want to kill." He snorted a little derisively at the thought, but made a mental note to speak with this Himura at some point. He hadn't forgotten Souji's earlier remarks about the man who'd seen the end of their dispute with the Choshuu rebels, and he wanted a chance to question him. "Well, we'll deal with that if it becomes an issue." If the thought made him scowl, it was only because he was remembering the things he'd already done in the name of keeping group solidarity. He didn't particularly want to deal with a similar situation here, but he'd learned that history had a nasty way of repeating itself when you least desired it.

And then, it seemed, a commotion of a different sort broke out in the room the staff and soldiers had vacated. It wasn't a riot anymore, just a room full of panic. What on earth were they doing in there?

[notachick]

Deal with that? Okita's smile faded slightly as he continued to watch the cafeteria scene, knowing exactly what Hijikata meant by that. He would deal with it as they had dealt with Niimi and Serizawa - decisive and bloody. That was simply how the wolves of Mibu operated. Anything that didn't help them was pushed aside because that was the image they had to project. They had to be terrifying, murderous fiends to scare the rebels who were quickly approaching the capital. They had to strike fear into their enemies' hearts at the very sound of their name. The true battlefield was decided there, not with steel and strength, but with cunning and fear.

"I'll brief you on the situation later," Okita replied, suddenly realizing the difficulties Homura had experienced whenever Okita had tried to kill Kenshin. It was so easy to want to kill the man, too. It was too easy to revert back to the person he'd been, ignoring the person Kenshin was now.

And suddenly people in the cafeteria started choking, crying, scrambling for exits like packs of wild beasts gone mad. They were being affected by something unseen, something that caused the eyes to run, the body to spasm and... Okita didn't really know. He had no idea what was going on. He'd never seen anything like this, but suddenly he was very, very glad he and Hijikata had decided to leave. Being stuck in that mess would have gone very badly for him since even the healthy patients were coughing and struggling for breath.

The captain backed away further from the door, frowning. So the Institute could do these sorts of things, too, could they? "...It seems I still lack knowledge of all of the enemy's weaponry."

[terriblehaiku]

Hijikata didn't miss that slight shift in Souji's mood, knowing where the younger man's thoughts must have gone. He'd have to reassure him later--he was ruthless about getting things accomplished, yes, but he wasn't going to jump to the most brutal solution right off the bat. If Sannan's death had taught him anything... well. He didn't want to think about that right now. Dwelling was pointless. He had to learn from it, and move on from there, even if his current trajectory had been drastically altered by being dragged off to this place. For now, he simply nodded in acknowledgement. This wasn't the place for that kind of discussion.

Whatever was transpiring in the room they had vacated, it was violent and chaotic. The people left in the room were clearly in a great deal of pain. He'd never seen a reaction quite like that before, and he'd seen a great deal of things both in his role as a samurai and his past, peddling medicine. Whatever it was was wreaking havoc on those who'd remained even after the staff had cleared out, and he was very, very grateful they'd had the sense to leave. He was healthy enough to withstand such a thing, but for all he liked to feign ignorance, he knew full well that Souji was not. "Someone else might know," he replied, watching with a sort of macabre fascination. "We'll find out how they did this." Because if they knew, he could plan for it, in case such a thing became a routine means of control.

[notachick]

Someone else might know. If someone else knew, then Okita would just have to find out what they knew and how much they knew. Some people seemed to be getting out of the cafeteria with minimal damage while others were dropping like flies right where they stood. It was with mixed feelings that Okita noted Sai among the ones who seemed to be getting away. He could speak with the boy about it, but he knew better than to try. The last time he'd seen Sai, Okita had tried to kill him. That never left a favorable impression on anyone.

"I'll find out what I can," Okita said, turning his head slightly as he noticed the nurses coming toward him. Now that the riot was suppressed, apparently it was time to go back to what they were supposed to be doing. As he recalled, it would mean going outside onto the recreational field. Maybe there he could get some more information and organize his notes on the various clubs.

"There's the bulletin board behind us on the wall where people speak to each other over notes," Okita whispered as his nurse came to get him. "It's a good idea to keep an eye on it."

"Julian? Are you ready to go?" The nurse, polite as always, seemed a bit relieved to see Okita on this side of the chaos and so the captain smiled at her and nodded. He looked to Hijikata and gave him a small wave before heading off.