Day 29: Courtyard

[traitors_smile]

Though he hadn't been able to stomach much of the cafeteria food, as the day went on, he did feel marginally better.  The fever seemed to have broken and he'd held down what little he'd eaten.  It made him a little anxious, to sit around so much, and even if it was difficult, a walk outside sounded like a nice break from the usual.  He had no

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[full_score]

Well, bunch had been kind of...strange, to say the least. Claude still felt stunned from everything. He wasn't sure how to really feel about what Ashton had told him. Granted, it was all stuff he'd at least kind of suspected, but the thought of Dias and Ashton together was a little tough to take!

But brunch was over now, and Claude didn't think it would be a good idea to stew over it for too long, nor was he in the mood to go hunting down Dias for details, even if he knew he'd likely be doing that at some point. The stuff about visitors was kind of strange, but Claude figured he wouldn't have to worry about that. It wasn't like he had any family here to come visit him -- his mother was in the distant future, and his dad was...

At any rate, he was glad when the nurse offered him a chance to go outside. All the other rooms sounded interesting, but Claude hated being kept inside all the time, and he figured the fresh air would do him good. As they made their way to the courtyard, he asked his nurse if there were herbs and things growing outside, and it was then that he learned of the greenhouse on the other side of the wall.

Claude would have to definitely check that out sometime.

But for now the courtyard would have to do, and he managed to keep a pleasant expression as his nurse left him. It wasn't long before he spotted a young girl who looked about Leon's age sitting by herself next to the pond. Man, it was a shame they were taking kids here too, even if Claude knew some were pretty tough in their own right.

The blond made his way over, and he gazed out towards the pond. "It's a nice day, isn't it?" he remarked. "The sky's clear and the air's crisp and clean. I wouldn't mind if they let us come out here more often, to be honest."

[meironohosoku]

It would seem that Hanyuu hadn't been the only one to think of spending her time in the cafeteria. But, unlike her, it didn't seem Rika minded the offered foods-- if the sudden taste she got was any indication, at least. Even though she would have much preferred something sweeter, Hanyuu couldn't help but think that the food was pretty good... At least it wasn't spicy.

The familiarity of that connection coupled with the mildly relaxing atmosphere of the Courtyard, helped her momentarily forget about her physical form. So, when a man she didn't recognize approached and spoke, it took her a few seconds to realize he must've been speaking to her. Once that realization hit, however, Hanyuu started slightly and cast a quick look around just to make sure.

"Ah, y-yes, it is!" the former spirit said, quickly turning back to the blond. "I was, um... I-I was a little surprised that they would let us come outside at all."

[full_score]

Claude hadn't meant to startle the poor girl, and he looked a little sheepish as he scratched the back of his head. But she didn't seem to be telling him to go away, so he figured he'd stick around a little bit. There was nothing like friendly chatter to make for a nice distraction, right?

"Yeah, it is kind of weird, isn't it?" Claude said with a thoughtful frown. "I mean, there was the field trip yesterday, but that was almost like a trap, with the way they had us get here after dark." Everyone had been clawing to get back inside the institute. He still couldn't get over the cruel irony behind that.

"I guess it's best to enjoy the fresh air when we can," he added, smiling a little now. "Though I'm certain there will come a time when we can escape and go outside whenever we'd like."

[meironohosoku]

Hanyuu managed to smile slightly, which she hoped would be enough to let the man know she didn't mind the opportunity to speak with him. After all, she couldn't expect him, or anyone else for that matter, to know she wasn't used to such things. And, truth be told, meeting people during the day wasn't as scary as meeting them at night.

As he mentioned the field trip and the arrival back at the hospital, Hanyuu tilted her head slightly. "We came back after dark?" Normally she wouldn't have given that a second thought, but she already knew full well that this place changed once the sun set. "Auau... D-did something bad happen..?" Rika hadn't mentioned anything out of the ordinary, but then Hanyuu hadn't thought to ask about it, either.

She tried to relax a little following the question, but found it difficult to do so. "It'd be nice if we could escape... But... I wouldn't know how to get back home if I did. I haven't even been able to figure out where this place is. Would you happen to know?"

[full_score]

He was glad to see she didn't mind speaking with him, even if she seemed slightly reserved. But that by itself wasn't such a bad thing, and, really, who could blame a kid who'd been whisked away to a strange, scary place for being a little shy?

"Yeah, the sun set just as the buses pulled into the gates," Claude said with a frown. "All the nurses turned into crazy monsters, and everyone had to escape from them however they could." As if to illustrate his point, he raised his right hand, which was stitched up and bandaged. He knew some patients had been spared from all of that, though, and it seemed this girl was one of them. "You're lucky you weren't caught up in all that!"

And then there was that inevitable question of how to get back to their homes once they did escape. It had worried Claude once he'd gotten a good look at that electronics store, but Guy had raised a valid point when he'd reminded him that they'd all gotten here somehow. Still...time travel and possibly cross-dimensional travel! That was pretty heavy stuff. The fact they were stranded several hundred years in the past didn't really help things, either.

"We're on the planet Earth, around the early 21st century," he replied. "Where are you from?"

[meironohosoku]

Hanyuu had been grateful for being able to sleep through the previous nightshift, but after hearing what had happened she was even more so. Her side was still bandaged and sore from what had happened before they took that field trip; having to deal with monsters again so soon was not something she would've wanted to do.

"Auauauu," Hanyuu murmured, lowering her gaze. "That sounds horrible... I am glad I didn't have to go through that, but... everyone else... A lot of people were probably hurt." If his injury was any indication, at least. She was glad to know Rika was okay, but she had no way of knowing if the same could be said for Rena, Mion, and Arlene. "Auau..."

Planet Earth, well, she hadn't expected to be on another planet or anything to that extent. Hanyuu wasn't sure she would have believed that, even with everything else about this place... It seemed Mion had been telling the truth when she said it was the year 2000, though. After all, that would be the 21st century, right?

"I'm from... I'm from Hinamizawa, a small village in Japan," she replied, looking at him once more. "It was only 1983 back home, too... It's kind of strange to think that we're almost 20 years in the future, but I'm almost glad for that." Somehow, it was comforting to tell someone that much.

"Ah! I-I forgot to say that my name's Hanyuu. What's yours?"

[full_score]

"I think most people made it out all right, all things considered," Claude told her with a reassuring smile. "But it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to use the bulletin to check on any friends you might have." He sure hoped she had some friends, at any rate. The idea of a little girl wandering around Landel's by herself didn't really sit well with Claude at all.

"Oh, you're from Japan?" he said, his expression almost relieved in a way. At least she hadn't been whisked away from some underdeveloped planet somewhere. Of course, it was already a given that the people running this place had effectively taken laws prohibiting that sort of thing and thrown them out the window.

And she was only 20 years into her future, too. Not great, but, really, she hadn't made off all that badly, considering. "Yeah, it's a lucky thing, isn't it?" the blond said pleasantly. "What would you have done if you'd wound up 200 years in the future?"

Or past, he added glumly to himself, but he shook himself out of that thought as soon as it'd entered his head. There wasn't any use in getting all mopey about any of that, honestly.

"It's nice to meet you, Hanyuu," he replied with a slight incline of his head and a smile. "My name's Claude."

[meironohosoku]

"Oh, good." The former spirit couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Even though the vast majority of people here were people she didn't know, she had seen more than enough violence in her years of existence. And besides, there were some people she knew, and those were the ones she was most worried about. "I'll definitely remember to do that too, but, um... Can you tell me where the bulletin is? I don't think I've seen it before..."

Hanyuu then nodded, and even managed a small smile. "It is lucky!" Although she had a feeling they were using the word for different reasons. To her, it was refreshing to see what the world, or at least the part that this hopital resided in, looked like past 1983. "It would have been scary to wake up 200 years in the future, but if Rika was with me, I don't think it would be too bad."

As he went on to introduce himself, Hanyuu's smile widened slightly. "It's nice to meet you too, Claude." Maybe, she thought, meeting people wouldn't be so difficult. Claude certainly seemed nice-- at the very least he hadn't called her a monster or anything of that sort. "Are you from the past like me, too?"

[full_score]

Claude looked a little surprised when he learned Hanyuu didn't know where the bulletin was. It was one of the first things he'd discovered, and he'd used it on several occasions. "It's in the sun room, which is on the way to the cafeteria," he told her. "It has all sorts of messages up on it. You can't miss it." The blond looked at her curiously. "Are you new here?"

He wasn't sure who this Rika person was, but it sounded like she was a good friend of Hanyuu's. "It's nice to have friends like that," he remarked. "Is Rika here with you now?"

When she asked about his own time, the blond rubbed the back of his head a little. "Actually, I'm from the future. About 400 years." It was pointless to beat around the bush about it -- most people here were victims of surprise time travel as it was.

[meironohosoku]

"Um... kind of new," Hanyuu replied, scratching her cheek. "This is my third day here, and yesterday we went to that town so I haven't really seen much of this place. Thank you for telling me where it is, though, I'll look the next chance I get."

As he asked if Rika was here as well, Hanyuu nodded. "She is! I'm really glad for that, too. I know this place is dangerous, but... I'm still glad she's here."

When Claude admitted to being from 400 years in the future, the former spirit couldn't help but give him a surprised, yet equally curious, look. "You're from the future?" Somehow, that seemed stranger than being from the past. Although that was likely due to it being centuries into the future.

"What's it like where you're from? It's probably not like this place, is it?" The world changed as the years passed-- or at least in the natural years that passed. There were no changes in the years that passed due to the resets, so Hanyuu was curious to know what the world looked like past the recurring June.

[full_score]

"I haven't been here all that much longer than you, then," Claude said with a small frown. "How are you adjusting? It's pretty jarring, waking up in a strange place, isn't it?" Granted, he was practically a pro at it by now, but that still didn't make it any less weird.

"I can understand the sentiment," he told her when she said more about Rika. "I have friends of mine here too. I don't know what I'd do if I'd wound up here without them, to be honest. It's really good to have someone watching your back."

Claude paused when Hanyuu asked about the future. It probably wasn't a good idea to give away too many details, but describing things in general terms couldn't possibly hurt, right?

"Yeah, you could definitely say it's not like here," Claude said with a small laugh. "They've done a lot more with space travel, for one. Discovering new planets has become a higher priority, too. And the technology is a lot more advanced - sleeker, more compact than the models this place has, though some things would be completely unheard of around here."