Nightshift 25: Stairway near nurse station & waiting room 1

[itneverwas]

[From here]Xemnas briefly paused as he reached the staircase, his orange eyes slightly narrowing as he gazed upwards, trying to determine whether something above waited, or not

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[never_learns]

[From here]

Yohji guided the two of them into down the corridor and towards the stairwell in silence. He could be quiet sometimes, even if he was known for being the outgoing one of the group. Talking on a mission could have got him killed anyway. Even if he wanted to, he was a little too preoccupied to hold up his end of a conversation.

He slipped into the stairwell, holding the door open to Aya. "This way. We should try this side of the building first I guess." Made sense.

[seiran314]

Yohji's first comment was lost to Aya. In the flickering light of a passing flashlight, he saw a face he could have recognized even in his dreams, no, nightmares rather. Heart skipping a beat, his feet stumbling, he just headed wherever Yohji's voice and form was leading him. For a moment forgetting he should have been acting like a professional assassin.

He was dreaming. There was no other way to explain this. Maybe hallucinations if he finally had flipped over the border of sanity. Kikyo was not in the same building with him.

"...um, stairs..." he muttered, distracted. "Yohji..." His voice shouldn't have sounded that weak. Infuriating! Even after he had killed Kikyo, he still affected him this much. The flashlight was trembling in his hand as he followed after Yohji, hand reaching for the wall for support. Say something - anything! "...that's fine," was all he could squeeze out finally.

[never_learns]

Yohji turned back to Aya, frowning slightly in concern. He seemed distracted, not something Yohji was used to seeing from the usually taciturn assassin. Aya was always the one who'd been so focussed.

He reached out, touching Aya's shoulder for a moment lightly before pulling back. Probably a bad move if he was acting so odd. "Problem?" he asked curiously. "You look like you've seen a ghost." And that was usually Yohji's problem.

[seiran314]

Aya blinked, rubbing shaky fingers over his eyes before glancing at Yohji. "Gh-ghost?" It did not make sense. First of all, Kikyo was not alive. Second, Aya did not believe in ghosts. And last but not least, he did not stutter.

Frowning, he glanced back towards the hallway where they had came through just now and shook his head. "I thought I saw someone I once knew." He sounded nervous, and he did not like that fact.

[never_learns]

Okay, definitely out of character. He nodded slowly, his expression darkening in worry. Last thing they needed was two unstable killers. One was quite enough. "Yeah. Ghosts." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "If you're seeing things, then there's something pretty wrong. It's not a good state of mind to be in." He'd never told them about the things he'd seen the arguments with himself, with people who were dead, and that was about as close as he'd get to an admission willingly. The nervous tone of Aya's voice was making him feel nervous too.

[seiran314]

Sad smile crossed Aya's lips at Yohji's words. He returned his gaze back at the blond, snorting so softly it was only a huff of air without a voice, pointless. It seemed all of them had their crosses to bear, dead faces to meet.

"I know," he said softly, sad tone almost palpable in his voice.

He stepped forward, towards the stairs, one hand wrapped around his middle, the flashlight still hanging from his fingers. This place truly had a talent in fucking with one's mind. He felt closer to Ran even by just seeing a ghost of the person who had murdered him as much as he had murdered Kikyo. And yet, he felt like 'Ran' was slipping further and further away from him by every dream of Kikyo.

He had never thought he'd have to face the reactions to seeing him in a presence of a teammate, though.

[never_learns]

That smile made Yohji scowl for a moment before blanking his expression. Their pity and understanding was so much worse than if they just decided to put him down once and for all. It just made him hope pointlessly.

Then again, they all had their ghosts to contend with.

He turned away and headed on up the stairs, trying to put Aya's odd behaviour out of his mind for now. He didn't need to know. He just needed to make sure the other man didn't get hurt. The reminder that Aya was a year or two younger than him wasn't one that he liked.

[To
here]