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]

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.