Nightshift 31: East Wing, South Hall 1-B

[wishescankill]

[from here]

[going here]

Comments

[rectifies]

[From here.]

Finally, his destination.

This section of the hallway was surprisingly empty. People were either beginning their journey for the night or they had a head start. In either case, it did not appear as though Yukari had arrived yet. With a small sigh, the boy leaned against the wall and--to prevent monsters from catching him--turned off his flashlight.

A part of him began to wonder exactly how their appointment had managed to acquire a spear, and why he was willing to lend them a spare. The other part pictured the length of the handle and the balance. If it was a tall individual who had wielded the weapon before, Ken might have to compensate for the surplus in height. It wasn't impossible, but the learning curve might be longer than what would normally be anticipated.

[remedying]

[from here.]

Even with his light off, Yukari still had hers. The next hallway was just as empty as the last, but she made sure to scout it carefully in case Ken made it here before she did.

Which happened. It wasn't hard to find him leaning against the wall. "Hey, Ken-kun," she called out; her voice sounded more exasperated than usual.

[rectifies]

Ken nearly lost Yukari's voice thanks to the myriad of thoughts in his head, but he managed to catch it at the very last minute. Good! She made it pretty quickly. He pulled away from his spot near the wall and jogged over to the older girl.

"Hey, Yukari-san! Are you--" Ken stopped dead cold in his tracks as a certain sight registered. "What... What happened to you?"

[remedying]

Meeting Ken like this for the second time was already starting to make her feel guilty. Yukari wished he wouldn't look so surprised about it, it made it harder to bring herself to explain.

It was a good time to wish she had her signature choker, too; at least it would have been easier to hide the injuries. Yukari's face clearly then conveyed how she felt. "I'm fine now, okay? Don't worry about it too much." That probably wouldn't suffice, however-- she knew better than to think it would. Reluctantly, she added, "It... kinda ended up the same way as yesterday."

[rectifies]

A pained expression fell across his face, the boy quick to piece together the background behind Yukari's injured state. He should not have assumed it ended with the first nor thought the nurses would have placed the antagonizer elsewhere. Considering what transpired at night, they wouldn't look twice; it was incredibly stupid of him to think otherwise.

Ken furrowed his brow in frustration. No, you're not fine now. "We'll discuss this later," he muttered, his tone not unlike the one his mom used back in the day. "Are you okay with moving on tonight? We don't have to go, Yukari-san." They couldn't risk monsters like this, even for a capable weapon.

[remedying]

"Wha--" Yukari raised an eyebrow at his first statement when she caught what he said-- it wasn't hard to with how quiet it was, despite the other people shuffling by. A tone like that coming from him threw her off guard, it was a rare moment when the two so much as got frustrated with one another. Apparently, her stubbornness was capable of bringing them to that point.

With a scowl of her own and hands on her hips, Yukari continued, "I'm perfectly fine." Which was a lie, of course; if she were telling the truth, it would be more like she felt horrible... In both the physical and emotional sense. They had plans they needed to follow through with, though, and she was determined to get them done as quickly as possible. "Shouldn't I be telling you that?"

[rectifies]

Her question caught Ken off guard. He hadn't really considered his own injuries since losing that migraine. "I..." The boy shook his head. He was fine, or at least felt fine. Sure, his shoulder was sore and his head a little light, but they were hardly significant. Yukari, on the other hand, looked like crap.

What he wouldn't give to have a Dia spell this instant. Even a medical powder would help...

"I'm okay. I really am," Ken insisted, his voice softening a bit. "You just-- You honestly don't look good, Yukari-san."

[remedying]

With a sigh, Yukari dropped her hands to her sides. The last thing she wanted to do was make him worry.

"I can do it, Ken-kun," she did some insisting of her own, averting her eyes off to the side. "Worry about yourself for now, alright?" Yukari nodded her head down the hall, turning slightly in that direction where she was. "Let's get business done first, then we can talk about what we should do afterwards. We've already taken a long enough time as it is."

[rectifies]

No matter how much Ken wanted to insist otherwise, he had to listen to Yukari. Now was hardly the time to dig in his heels, though the boy swore he would figure out exactly what occurred the second they were finished. He couldn't let this happen again.

"Okay." Ken inhaled slowly, trying to clear the strain in his mind. "Which room are we looking for?" he asked.

[remedying]

"Umm," Yukari unfolded her map, looking down at where she circled their destination. "M22. It's a little bit of a walk from here."

[rectifies]

M22. A bit of a walk, indeed, but Ken was not going to complain. The room blocks tended to be safe. "Got it. Ready when you are."

[remedying]

With a nod and a hand gesture to follow, Yukari lifted up her flashlight again and began to walk.

[to here.]