Day 29: Sun Room

[not_rly_fai]

It was with some relief that Yuuhi awoke the next morning, in his own bed, sore and tired and achy.  He would've slept more had they let him, his face down in the pillow, away from all the others and their questions and their concern.  He didn't want to see them, but he managed a little smile when the nurse came in and didn't object when she lead

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[meironohosoku]

It was with a slight start that Hanyuu awoke, and she had to spend a moment trying to remember the previous days events. The last thing she remembered, was curling up in a seat on the bus, after spending most of the day walking around with Rena. Had she fallen asleep, then?

Somehow, the idea of sleeping through nightshift seemed odd... Although she couldn't deny being somewhat relieved, too. At least she hadn't needed to worry about running into any monsters again... But what about the others? Mion, Rena, and Arlene; Hanyuu had no way of knowing if they were okay. Hopefully they were, as there were no second chances to be had in this world...

The former spirit was still dwelling (and 'auau'-ing) on that thought when a nurse arrived to coax her out of bed. Hanyuu had yet to see what the Chapel looked like, but the Sun Room sounded more appealing, so she chose to visit the latter once more.

The first thing she noticed, was that there were only a few others in the room at the moment-- one person being her roommate. Most of the others present seemed to already be talking to someone else (and it wasn't as though Hanyuu was comfortable approaching others right away, anyway) so the girl moved to an available seat and curled up.

If nothing else, she could at least do what she did the last time she had been in the Sun Room and get a little more sleep.

[endlessjune]

Nightshift was terrible - well, Rika had the idea that it was supposed to be terrible, but it seemed more terrible than usual. She had finally gotten a glimpse of the monsters she was warned about and she could have lived several lifetimes over before seeing one ever again. But really, compared to Hinamizawa... was this place really worse? Rika still had troubling deciding that one out.

When she awoke, she was met with a rather sharp pain when she flexed her hand, now wrapped in gauze. The helpful nurse explained to her that it was because the patients had a tendency to hurt themselves at night - in Rika's case, she must have dug her nails into her skin as she slept.

Rika didn't say much to that. She just smiled, nii-pah'd, and requested to go to the Sun Room. That turned out to be the best decision she made upon arriving her, because she found someone she needed to talk to very badly. Rika almost didn't recognize her from behind without those horns (where were they?) but...

"Hanyuu!"

Rika ran forward, making a grab at the spirit's shoulder - only to find that she could actually touch it!

[meironohosoku]

Though Hanyuu typically jumped when people approached her in this place, her reaction this time was different. She couldn't help but smile as she heard the familiar voice calling her, and she wasted no time in jumping up from her seat as the other girl ran over.

"Rika!" Hanyuu hadn't thought she'd ever be happy to see anyone she knew in this place, but knowing that Rika was here made her happier than she had been since first arriving. "Thank goodness you're here!"

There were still some things Hanyuu was trying to reaccustom herself with when it came to the physical world, but physical contact wasn't one of them (she had gotten well used to that her first night). Therefore, she didn't show any surprise at the touch on her shoulder-- in fact, Hanyuu took it a step further by giving Rika a quick hug.

"I've been so worried, Rika," the former spirit began, her smile fading, "I thought you were still in Hinamizawa. How long have you been here?"

[endlessjune]

It was sort of funny that Rika had been more surprised at Hanyuu gaining a physical form than Hanyuu herself was, but Rika had thought Hanyuu wasn't here at all! The way she spoke though... the girl could already tell that her spirit friend (or, ex-spirit friend) was not responsible for bringing her to this world.

"As did I," Rika nodded, her voice dropping down to her serious tone. "I came here about two days ago - what about you? How did you get here?"

Rika sometimes took Hanyuu for granted, and she knew this. 100 years could make her ill-tempered and harsh towards the spirit, but she truly was relieved and happy to know that Hanyuu was here. A familiar face, especially one that she had been bonded to for so long, was very appreciated.

[meironohosoku]

Rika had been here for two days, too? That was both surprising and a little disheartening. Hanyuu had long gotten used to being able to find Rika when she needed or wanted to, yet she hadn't had any idea that Rika was in the same building.

"I came here two days ago, too," Hanyuu replied. "I... I really don't know how I got here, either. The last world... We were supposed to try a new one again, but when I opened my eyes, I was here. And like this." She held out her hands to indicate her physical form.

"I thought I had brought myself here by mistake, but... Auauu," Hanyuu shook her head, "I don't think it was me anymore. Rena and Mion are here too, and from the way they spoke, they've been here longer than a couple days. And Mion even said that nearly everyone here is from a different world."

[endlessjune]

Rena and Mion were here too? And she somehow didn't see them... If Rena and Mion were here too, then this wasn't just the error of Hanyuu or herself landing in a wrong world. This was... too much of a coincidence.

And everyone being from a different world? So, that would explain why Peony was speaking of rappigs and other strange creatures that she had never heard of. And if there were people from completely different worlds, even different than the numerous worlds that Rika had lived in, then this could not be a mere mistake. No, they were here for a reason, but Rika wasn't sure if this worked out to her favor or not.

"If Rena and Mion are here, then Keiichi and Satoko should be nearby as well. But you did not mention them, so..." Rika bowed her head, but she knew that just because Hanyuu didn't see them didn't mean she wasn't there. In fact, Hanyuu didn't even know Rika herself was here until just now. It sort of gave her comfort.

"... Don't run off from me again, Hanyuu," Rika 'scolded', giving her friend a light tap on the forehead.

[meironohosoku]

"Auauu... I wanted to find out if anyone else we knew was here, but I couldn't think of a way to ask without raising any questions... They never mentioned Keiichi or Satoko though, and I'm certain they wouldn't let either of them go around at night alone..."

Of course, it was possible that they were there, but hadn't yet found anyone else they knew... This place had already proved how difficult it was to find your friends at times.

Hanyuu blinked, then put on a slight smile at Rika's last comment-- and its accompanying tap. "I won't, Rika, I promise." ...even though she hadn't intentionally 'run off' in the first place, she was going to do her best not to do so again.

The former spirit's smile, however, was once again short lived, as she finally noticed the bandage covering the other girls hand. Rika had been injured? That might explain the smell of blood from the other night... Although it had seemed rather strong to be coming from an injury on Rika's hand. Not that Hanyuu was going to complain about that; her initial thought at that time had been much worse. She was just glad that her friend hadn't been hurt worse.

"You have to be careful," Hanyuu said, as she lowered her voice slightly. "I don't think we'll have any extra chances as long as we're here."

[endlessjune]

Meeting Hanyuu here was the best thing that happened to Rika. Now that Hanyuu was here, and Rena and Mion... her list of allies was growing again. She knew now that they would be able to put their strength together and escape from this place. At least the Rules were no longer in place. There was no suspicion, no doubts, a clean slate for everyone. Perhaps coming here really was a miracle. Yet, when Hanyuu warned Rika of the danger...

"Yes, I figured as much. If you no longer have any power... There is no chance for mistakes," Rika nodded. "But we have much more time now, I think. We will be able to plan things more carefully." And they would need it, as Rika had no idea who this new enemy was...

... Or who their old one was, for that matter.

"Hanyuu... I don't remember how I died last time," Rika spoke, after a thoughtful silence. "Usually, I don't, but this time, I do not even remember receiving the anesthetic and blacking out. Do you think that has something to do with us being here?"

[meironohosoku]

Hanyuu couldn't help but lower her gaze as Rika mentioned having more time. That certainly seemed to be true-- after all, if they were no longer in Hinamizawa, then it was highly possible that they had escaped from the person who wanted to kill Rika. Hanyuu could understand how easy it was to get ones hopes up; she herself had been rather optimistic a few times in the short time she had been here, but... This wouldn't be the first time the odds had seemed to be in their favor.

As Rika spoke up once more, Hanyuu looked up before canting her head slightly as she thought it over. It was odd, to say the least, to hear that Rika couldn't even remember blacking out. Although the former spirit couldn't help but wonder if it was better that way. The moments leading up to Rika's death were never pleasent, perhaps it was better that she forget them completely...

Of course, those were thoughts she would not voice aloud to Rika.

"That is... a possibility," Hanyuu began slowly. "If this place is capable of pulling people from different worlds, then it's possible that they can affect the memories of people, too. Unfortunately, there's a lot we don't know, so it's difficult to say for certain... I'm sorry."

[endlessjune]

Affecting memories? That could be possible. Their new enemy was already powerful enough to just pluck people - gods - out of their respective worlds. But that would raise the question of why their enemy just didn't wipe all of their memories.

But Rika wouldn't bother mentioning it. No use giving their seemingly omnipotent enemy any ideas.

"I see... That is a disturbing possibility," Rika sighed. Hanyuu brought up a good point indirectly - they were going to need more information before they would try to tackle this new enemy. They knew too little last time - and this time, they had to win.

"Hanyuu, do you know anything else about this place? Tell me all you know, and I will tell you what I know," She asked, hoping the spirit knew more than her.

[meironohosoku]

Now this was something Hanyuu was more used to. The familiar act of sharing information with Rika was mildly comforting in a way. Unfortunately that feeling was short lived, as the former spirit realized that what she did know raised more questions than answers. Maybe, though, Rika would know more, and then they could attempt to piece together what was going on.

Hanyuu wanted to believe that, but she still found it difficult to do so. Regardless, she closed her eyes momentarily as she tried to recall the conversations she had had since arriving.

"The man who seems to be in charge of this place is called the Head Doctor," she began, turning her attention to Rika once more. "I think he's the one who makes the annoucements during the day, but few people have actually seen him. It's said that the people he brings here aren't merely from different worlds, either. Some people are said to come from the past or even the future."

That thought still seemed a little strange, but it was beginning to seem more likely. Especially if what Mion said had been true. Speaking of that...

"I don't know if it's due to my physical form, or if it's another effect of this place, but I haven't been able to figure out the date. Mion said that some people claimed it was the year 2000, though. I'm... not sure what that means for us..." Before Hanyuu had known Rika was here, that idea had frightened her. But, even with Rika here now, it was still a little unnerving.

"Then there are the monsters that appear at night, but I guess you already knew about that." If Rika's injury was any indication, at least. "Another mystery is what happens after night. No one seems to know what happens between nights end and the mornings start; people simply wake up in their rooms again, and any wounds they received are already cared for."

[endlessjune]

The date! Rika had nearly forgotten about that once-important fact. Once she realized that no one (or at least, no specific person or thing) was trying to kill her deliberately, she had stopped worrying about it in favor of worrying about how to actually get out of here. But she still never found out the date.

It seemed like no one else had either. 2000? That was nearly twenty years after she was supposed to be killed; how could she be pulled 20 years into the future?

But at the same time, this was a person - perhaps a god, now that Rika thought about it, one more powerful than Hanyuu - who was able to bring them through space, so why not time?

"We are not facing a human. How could a human do this? This is the work of a god," Rika decided, staring at Hanyuu thoughtfully as she spoke. But did gods work this way? Hanyuu had been weakened by the years of rewinding time, so perhaps another one could have overpowered her, but...

"Hanyuu, is there another god that you know of? One who could be powerful enough to do this?"