Day 57: Sun Room
It figured that night would end before Rita and Taura could progress any further. Rita wasn't particularly disappointed to wake up abruptly, as they had reached a dead end. Really, the institute was doing them a favor by bringing them back to the starting point, where they could regroup.
What she didn't appreciate was the loss of valuable time, ( Read more... )
What she didn't appreciate was the loss of valuable time, ( Read more... )
And... No. Being deposited in a large room with numerous others was nothing close to gaining answers. Mikado stood there for a moment, dumbstruck, as the man who had escorted him just left. The attempt to follow him out the door was stopped by another man, who shooed the boy towards the center of the room. Uh. He. Had no idea what was going on now. A holding area? If it was a holding area, what was it for? And why were everyone dressed the same? It was as if--
He looked down belatedly. "Ahh!" He pulled the shirt out from his chest, staring at it. Okay, he was dressed the same. Obviously, this meant something that he couldn't discern. The men who escorted him and stopped him were dressed differently, and weren't... All that willing to answer questions. He'd do better focusing on someone dressed like himself, maybe?
What was going on?
Nearby there was a boy that looked around Mikado's age, maybe a little younger. Mikado approached hesitantly, stopping a few feet away. "Ah... Hello," he greeted, smiling nervously, the expression soon deteriorating back into pure nerves. "Do you know what's going on here?"
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He hadn't expected to see someone else closer to his age, though, despite all the things he had prepared himself for mentally (and it was a lot of strange things in his head, from a sudden Behemoth attack to fairies of all things. Because with his luck lately (and it was bad), it could happen).
"Ahh-- hello?" He responded tentatively, hands going to grip at the hem of his shirt, unused to not being able to just tug on his gloves when he was nervous. Another patient? It looked like it, from the way they were both dressed, if patient was even the right word. But people had said hospital, even if it wasn't like anything he had ever seen before. Not to mention the staff here were crazy, always trying to call him by a different name.
Was that a trick question, though? Hope wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to that... although it wasn't as if he knew an answer, anyway. Instead, he opted to shake his head, looking more at the ground than anything else.
"I just got here... yesterday?" The night before? That was if that hadn't been some grand delusion... "I-- don't really know."
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Mikado moved to the chair across from the other boy, and dropped into it, eyes looking around the room nervously. No. None here were familiar. How would he ever get an explanation at this rate? Mikado glanced back at the other, moving a hand in concern. "Oh, no, that's okay. I guess we're in the same situation then."
A frown. A situation that was offering no information on itself. Shouldn't the people in charge at least be letting them know what was going on? "I'm Ryuugamine Mikado." Maybe an introduction would help the other boy relax a little. If anything, he looked more upset than Mikado felt. And that... Was impressive.
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Still, it was easier to know that people here were just as confused as he was (okay, maybe not as confused, or at least about the things he was confused about. And, for that fact, perhaps panicked for a different reason). It was unnerving to go without his gloves, the brand on his wrist in plain view unless he tried to shove it against his clothes, pretending to himself that it didn't exist at all. He wasn't so much concerned about... what was going on or what would happen during the day so much as he was concerned about home and stuck in the memories of the past few days.
And Lightning. This entire time he had to think about her, and he still couldn't figure out how-- what-- the whole situation was messed up. No way back, no way to finish his Focus (although there was a nagging doubt in his head that he would have gotten far on that idea anyway). And with her here and behaving so strangely...
He shook his head, trying to push the thoughts away. He didn't want to think about it. Not right now, anyway, not while he could be thinking or even talking about other things. Something else.
"Sorry." He murmured, somewhat distractedly. "I'm just. I guess I don't really get why we're here."
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...If they weren't, he probably just made a fool of himself--but really, why was he even worrying about that in the middle of who knew where, in a safe house or prison? Some kind of hopelessness crossed Mikado's face at the thought. And here he was thinking things were going to settle down for a while. The thought of something like serenity was too dumb, really, and not all... That likely with someone like Masaomi as a friend, for one thing.
And anyway, if it came down to it, Mikado probably wouldn't choose that with the option given to him. He wanted things to remain as they were forever, and he wanted things to keep moving forward. He had thought on it and--
And, well. Here he was, in a place he didn't know. Talking to someone who was in the same situation that neither of them likely wanted to be in. At the other's apology, he slid a hand to the back of his neck in habit, waving off the apology abashedly. "I don't either. They wouldn't even tell me what this place was for."
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Instead, he latched on to something that he could answer, even if the answer felt... unsettling and crazy. But he had his fair share of crazy recently, at least enough that he didn't really question it anymore. Being here was just as crazy as the rest of his life right now... or maybe not as crazy. He wasn't so sure.
"We're at a hospital." He leaned forward a bit, his voice slightly quieter even although not a whisper. "At least, that's what I heard. I've never seen one like this before, but--"
He bit his lip in thought. "People seem really sure this is another world."
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Something to pick up at another time, maybe, if he ever saw Hope again. For now, Mikado was a little preoccupied with what was in front of him, which, largely, was a lot of nothing and confusing details put together. Really; nothing here was familiar, and some of the hairstyles of the people present put anime and manga to shame. Or at least matched it. Did that girl have pink hair? That had to have taken a lot of bleaching with the length. And those tattoos on that other girl....
He almost didn't hear when Hope continued speaking. "What? A hospital?" So he had been right? But the other boy was correct--it was nothing like a hospital that Mikado could recall. His brow furrowed in thought, going over the aspects. If he thought about it, maybe....
His gaze snapped up to Hope, disbelief passing through him. "What? They can't be serious."
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