Day 28: Bus 2

[hajike_tobiume]

Momo tugged on the collar of the light blue sweater she was wearing as she followed her nurse to wherever these buses were, winding her hair up into its customary bun as she went. It was an odd feeling, knowing she was about to go outside of the institute's borders. Maybe the Head Doctor was about to make an error and the shinigami, as well as

Comments

[rope_victim]

Miku had slept relatively undisturbed throughout the night. Her dreams followed a chain of events, and when she awoke she felt well enough to smile just slightly more than usual. Best of all, her bandages had been removed from her arm. The skin was still scabbed and pink, but at least she could wiggle her fingers and not feel lip-biting pain.

"Aliiice!" Her nurse trilled as she handed Miku her clothing. "You're going to have such a good time on the field trip, won't you dear?" Miku blinked. Field trip...? Oh, yes, someone had mentioned that.

When the nurse turned so Miku could get dressed, the young woman moved quickly enough, embarrassed. The clothing, on further inspection, was almost... cute. Sure, the grey skirt was a little longer than usual for her but it had cute blue embroidery that matched the color of her long sleeved shirt. Her shoes were black, as were her jacket. Without complaint, Miku took her bagged breakfast and wandered down to the buses with the rest of the patients, finding a still-empty seat in the middle. The

[clockworkblond]

Alfons, all things considered, had made out pretty well. He hadn't been injured in the fight, much to his surprise, and the clothes he'd gotten were exactly what he usually wore- white shirt, slacks, suspenders, and the usual shoes as well. With a sack lunch and a bright morning, it almost felt like when he was studying under Mr. Oberth. Almost

[rope_victim]

Miku turned from the window and smiled fully at Alfons. "Good morning!" she replied, excitedly. Why hadn't he sat next to her? That was okay, wasn't it? As long as it was Alfons or Ritsuka, and not someone creepy (Chase, though he'd vanished), mean (her roommate also on the bus a few seats behind) or obnoxious.

With those thoughts in mind, the photographer slid out of her seat, mindful of her skirt. She plopped down right next to him, the appropriate few inches of space between them that the brown faux leather seats allowed. "It would be troublesome to the other people if we called between seats," she said and flushed embarrassedly.

[clockworkblond]

Ah! Alfons hadn't expected Miku to shift over to his seat! Were women so forward in the world where she came from, that they could sit together and no one would ask questions? But then she explained the situation, and the boy nodded in understanding. "I suppose that's true," he allowed, feeling a faint blush on his face.

After a moment of awkward silence, Alfons quietly said, "You seem to be a lot better this morning. I hope that you're feeling well?"

[forgot_it_all]

Thankfully this nightshift's change hadn't been quite so strange. He'd been in his room already, but... Ritsuka sat up and looked around, finding that all the patients were gone and his stuff was still sitting out. Quickly hiding everything, he checked the camera and found, to his dismay, it needed batteries. Apparently, about the same size as his flashlight, too. He'd have no problem sacrificing the batteries for that. His nurse decided to enter then, and his face fell.

Was that what she wanted him to wear? In public?

After much yelling and fighting over it, the nurse won and dropped Ritsuka off on the second bus. His face was burning from embarrassment as he made his way down the aisle, hoping no one would say a thing about how utterly ridiculous he looked. The jeans and black turtleneck weren't bad - they even helped hide all his bandages - but the light blue sweater with kittens playing with string, the red kitten earmuffs and the red scarf were too much. If there was one good thing, though, it was that the size of the

[rope_victim]

Miku felt like she might burst from happiness. "Good morning, Ritsuka-kun," she greeted him with a smile. He looked... all right. Just the same as always (and she was especially fond of his earmuffs. Maybe he would let her wear them, it would cover up the fact her ears were turning pink, and not entirely from the fall chill), which drew a relieved breath from her. They were all together, thank God for small favors.

Turning her attention back to Alfons, Miku smiled. "I'm much better. Didn't I tell you, sleep cures everything? Well, mostly everything." Her shoulder throbbed in reminder. "And did you two fair well last night? I'm sorry I didn't meet up with you, since I was asleep and all," she apologized with a duck of her head.

[clockworkblond]

Alfons was honestly glad to see Ritsuka... even if that sweater was kind of much. And seeing the two of them with so much reminded him that it was really getting cold outside; he'd have to see if one of the nurses had just forgotten to hand him a jacket or something, or if he'd just overlooked it earlier. In his condition, getting a chill wouldn't be a good thing. "I'm glad to see you," he said to the black-haired boy, then turned to Miku.

...and was Miku feeling all right, really? Her ears were turning pink, so maybe she was cold after all... Trying his best not to worry, the tallest of the three instead said, "I met a few people, but I didn't really get that far... there were two monsters one right after another, and I couldn't really get past the second." He'd almost been petrified, really; how many horrible things would this Institute have!?

[forgot_it_all]

Pulling the earmuffs from his head, he let them hang around his neck and leaned over the seat to get a better look at the other two. Soubi would undoubtedly be coming along any moment, so he wanted to enjoy his time with his friends as much as possible. It worried him that Alfons had run into monsters again, but hearing that Miku spent the night asleep was a bit of a reassurance. He'd been worried about them last night, even though he'd finally had a productive evening.

"It's alright, a friend of mine from home was with me and we were actually pretty successful until we ran into a few giant rats," he said to Miku, trying to downplay the monster attack. Then turning to Alfons, he frowned slightly. "Are you alright? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

He was itching to show Alfons the camera he had hidden away, but he wanted to wait until it was appropriate to do so.

[rope_victim]

Giant Rats..?! Ugh, Ruri might like the idea, but that was one thing the girl hadn't encountered yet.

Miku gave them both concerned looks, furrowing her brow. Well, that was silly. If the two had been especially hurt (more than she remembered them being), then they wouldn't be here, wasn't that so? Of course it was.

She plucked the juice box out of her bag and shook it. "I'm glad you both were with someone last night."

[clockworkblond]

"I'm fine," Alfons insisted with a small grin. He certainly didn't want the other two worrying about him, not when he'd made it out in one piece. "But are you all right, Ritsuka? Giant rats can still be dangerous... though I'm also glad that you met someone from your home."

Wait... wasn't that guy that Alfons had talked to earlier talking about finding Ritsuka? Mm, it was worth asking about. "And did Mr. Soubi ever find you, either? He seemed kind of desperate to speak to you, when he was talking to me..."

As it was, though, Alfons really wasn't that hungry. Last night had kind of robbed him of his appetite, so he put his breakfast to the side and out of mind.

[forgot_it_all]

It was good that they were all unscathed for once. Their luck with monsters seemed to be the worst in the Institute, and seeing that every so often they could get away from them without major injury was encouraging. Ritsuka sighed slightly in relief and picked up his breakfast, pulling the juice box out. He would have preferred milk, but this was good enough. Hanging over the top of his seat, Ritsuka shrugged at the giant rats. He didn't want to worry the two of them unnecessarily

[rope_victim]

"No, no it's fine," Miku replied almost automatically, her eyes glued to the camera. It... it was so tiny. "If you'd found it, I'd just be happy to know it's around. Though, maybe the person they expect me to be, this Alice girl, had a camera. That's what the doctor told me, in so many words, anyway." Miku smiled at him.

"I'm glad you didn't have too much trouble, Ritsuka," she continued as she stabbed the juice box with a straw, and kept her thumb over the straw's opening so it didn't shoot out and hit her. "Tonight, though, I think I'll try my luck and go searching. I haven't done anything for... days." The photographer frowned slightly and sipped her juice. "Anyway, that can wait. Shall we stay together in town?"

[clockworkblond]

As for Alfons? He found his attention focused on the camera, his eyes wide and an expression of pure baffled confusion on his face. That was... "...it's so small," he said in wonder, "how can it possibly work?"

His hands reached for the device, yet he managed to stop himself before actually touching the thing. It would be the height of rudeness to do it without Ritsuka's express permission, after all... and Alfons knew that he'd run the risk of breaking it just by not knowing how it worked when he handled it. Still... he really really wanted to know how it worked. Really!

As for that question? Alfons pursed his lips, thinking. "I don't have many other plans, so I'd be fine with staying with the two of you, if you don't mind."

[forgot_it_all]

"She might. I don't know whose box I found this in, but there might be more like it there." Ritsuka was excited. Both of his friends seemed interested in his camera and that meant they might want to make memories later in the day. The idea of Miku exploring, however, made Ritsuka pause. "Are you going with someone? That room is dangerous

[beloved_less]

Soubi had been unable to speak all morning. Even his battl-eaxe of a nurse admitted he looked 'scary'. But what did they expect? All he and Ritsuka had to do was drop off the supplies to Tamaki and head off to his room. Just him and Ritsuka. In his room. Peace and quiet, songs of bunny rabbits and trees.

Instead, the 'clinic' was crowded and then BAM- Soubi woke up alone.
He hid his new treasures away and sat on his bed hating Landels more than ever. Even is it was delaying the Goura trip

[rope_victim]

Making memories sounded like a good idea, and she was as interested in the little camera as Alfons was. If she and Rei used these on assignments, why, that would take care of more than half their equipment! She was about to answer Alfons and Ritsuka's worries (really, she didn't get hurt all the time. Usually.) when some stranger joined them.

Instantly she felt nervous, and he was touching Ritsuka in such a... weird way. "Ritsuka-kun, is this your friend?" she asked, choosing to skip over their concern for her plans for her concern of her friend.