DAY 33: BREAKFAST

[yin_yang_fox]

Renamon blinked, and suddenly she was laying flat in the bed she had originally woke up in. The timing was impeccable, accenting Orihime's explanation perfectly. She just hoped that she hadn't freaked the girl out with her little disappearing act. She quickly shifted out of bed, and grabbed the journal she had wrote notes in last night, and jotted

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[thatdamnedninja]

(Waiting for Kuro-mama, I think? :x)

Yuffie had argued with her nurse all the way to the cafeteria. Well, sort of; arguing wasn't exactly the right word of it. For one, she'd been doing most of the talking. The nurse, on the other hand, had been politely, helpfully oblivious.

Nursey, as she had been dubbed, hadn't been able to tell her about Vincent. Or about the rest of AVALANCHE. Or, to Yuffie's irritation, much of anything, really. No word of the fighting, no word about the Deepground soldiers or the WRO. Just that she was at some place called 'Landel's', and that she'd be staying there until she was better.

Which didn't make much sense, because she was fine. Jumping at shadows, but fine. Even the best ninja got a little spooked sometimes, right?

And another weird thing, Yuffie thought hurriedly- she didn't want to think too much about why she was freaked- as she stared at the selection of food she'd been led to, was that the nurse had gotten her name wrong. 'Hanna Bloom' was nothing like 'Yuffie Kisaragi', no matter what

[contentincloset]

Kurogane's poor nurse had gotten the first dose of his irritation, as always, once morning had come. Now it was up to five nights that he'd done absolutely nothing towards getting to the basement so he could search for clues. That was five days since he'd been able to take the metal stick up the side of anything's head. He might have been more angered over it had it not been for the fact that the Princess had been involved this time. No movement meant that she hadn't had to endanger herself anymore, and that was probably for the best

[thatdamnedninja]

After being prompted by Nursey, Yuffie finally decided on apple juice and some random cereal. She was more restless than hungry, though, so whether or not anything would actually get eaten was just yet another mystery to add to the pile.

And boy, there were a lot of mysteries. Where her friends were, where her enemies were, why she didn't have any of her stuff and was being forced to wear a weird shirt with a smiley face-- it was either the shirt or go naked, and she was pretty sure there were rules against that.

Not that she was one to listen to rules very often. Maybe she should contemplate running around nude later? If anything, it'd be a great way to cause a stir.

But! First of all, she needed to find out what the Hell was going on in this place. More people (patients?) were trickling in as time went on, and Yuffie was willing to place bets on them being a better source of info than the likes of Nursey. So all she had to do was find a victim person who looked like they might know what they were talking about

[contentincloset]

It wasn't teasing the magician was doing, but conversing, and seriously by the look of their expressions. That was rare enough, seeing Fai take anything seriously unless he'd been forced into being so. Kurogane couldn't think what the other might have done to get that response out of his companion, but it was clear that something had been done. The what was a mystery though.

Watching was all he could do for now. Fai wouldn't continue to be seriously if Kurogane interrupted, and it was easier to watch from a distance anyway. Or it would have been had he remained uninterrupted in his watching.

His red eyes turned up at the girl who'd spoken, hard as ever but not glaring with any intent. What did she want? "What?" he asked.

[thatdamnedninja]

Yuffie had to seriously resist the urge to stop and stare.

Woah.

Had... had this guy stolen Vincent's eyes?!

Nah; he couldn't have. Vincent wouldn't let anybody steal his eyes, at least not without the thief ending up either full of bullets or as monster chow for one of the demons. Or both.

Instead, she just blinked and summoned a small, friendly grin. "Hey," she said again, shifting her tray in her arms. Without asking, she dropped herself down into the seat across from him, setting the tray on the table with a small 'thunk'. "I'm new here, and Nursey isn't telling me anything- where my friends are, why they're callin' me a weird name, and why I've gotta wear a shirt with a demented smiling face on it, amongst other things. I figured that since she's about as forthcoming as brick wall, I might have better luck talkin' to one of the other, uh, patients."

[contentincloset]

She didn't answer for a little - what was she, stupid? - so he was able to let his eyes go back to the table with Fai and the other for a moment, and just in time too. It wasn't hard to see that the color had drained from the magician, and if that hadn't been enough the slam of his hands to the table proved beyond a doubt that he'd been shaken.

His eyes flitted to the other, observing even as the girl took a seat across from him and spoke. More of his attention was being directed elsewhere, but he was good at multitasking and heard every word she spoke. The only lips he saw moving though belonged to the man with Fai as he was reading something out of a little notebook he held with him.

What did that notebook hold to make Fai act like that? His mind thought for what while his words went towards the girl, "You're in a different world, get used to it." Not very kind, but he wasn't one to beat around the bush. She may have gotten more information if he wasn't in the process of watching someone else to see what was happening.

[thatdamnedninja]

Apparently, this guy had stolen some of Vincent's attitude, as well.

Yuffie peered across at him from over her apple juice. He looked like he could be pretty intimidating... Something in the eyes and in his posture, rather than any signs of brute physical strength. Or maybe he was just a grouch.

Or maybe, she amended as she studied him, he was distracted. She followed his gaze for a moment, to another table.

... Boooring. Nothing but a couple of guys being all serious about something she had no idea about.

Yuffie opened her mouth to say something, but Grouchy's next words had her simply whirling back to face him, mouth snapping shut. The silence lasted for about three seconds before she could think of something to say: "What?"

Was this some kind of joke? The old space programme had failed, hadn't it? And as good as the WRO was, they didn't have the resources to spare on another one!

[contentincloset]

"Just what I said," he responded to her disbelief. For him it wasn't all that big a deal, but for someone new who maybe wasn't used to crossing dimensions, he supposed she had a right to her shock. Still, it was an annoying thing to deal with when he was trying to observe another conversation.

The moments he'd watched hadn't shown any change in Fai's disposition, nor the others. What the hell was going on over there?!

[thatdamnedninja]

Yuffie continued to stare, but it was pretty clear that she'd made the wrong choice with choosing her target. After a moment, she turned slightly, looking around the room.

She sighed heavily, purposefully exaggerating it. Well, she might as well try making the best of it. Even if the guy was about as talkative as a rock, and even if he was talking crazy, she was getting more out of him than she'd gotten out of Nursey.

And Grouchy had to be lying, or deluded, or something. Didn't he?

... Huh, the cafeteria was green. At least the decorators had some good taste.

"Another world, huh." She said blandly, twirling her spoon. Maybe if she focussed on the little things, instead of the crazy stuff..? And maybe if she talked at Grouchy enough, he'd actually pay attention to her? "Nursey told me this is a hospital, but like I said, she was about as forthcoming as a brick wall. This doesn't look like a medical place."

It really didn't. There were some injured people, yeah, but other than that, it wasn't like any other medical facility she'd

[contentincloset]

"I'm not from here either, girl. Neither is anyone else." So far as he knew. No patient he'd spoken with had said anything about actually being from this place. Besides that the guy in charge liked his game too much to drag actual people from this world into it. That wouldn't have been any fun for such a sick bastard as him.

Now a change had come. There wasn't shock on the magician's face anymore, it had faded over to something else. Doubt, or a similar emotion to it. Kurogane seen it before a few times, each time he'd confronted the blonde over his actions or his lies. He hadn't needed to see it to know it was there long before, however. Fai covered a lot with his expressions, and doubt was only one of many things he likely had buried.

"Don't expect me to know much about it either. Just stay in your room at night and don't go out," he added. Even if she didn't get it, there was enough warning in his tone to prove that he knew how dangerous it was.

[ooc: Re, really need Yuffie to do something to take Kuro's attention away from Fai

[thatdamnedninja]

With the sheer diversity of the people that were now in the room, it was pretty damn obvious that they weren't all from the same place. But that so didn't equal this being a whole different planet.

Besides, Vincent had to have brought her here, right? Unless... Unless the bondage dude had kidnapped her! That weirdo might have been able to summon that darkness of his, but she really doubted he had some kickass ability like world-hopping.

"I-" She started, intending to explain why he sounded like a lunatic. Grouchy suddenly began speaking again, though, so she closed her mouth. He was... telling her to...

Telling her to stay in her room?

"Are you my old man in disguise or something?!" Yuffie demanded, fingers clenching around her spoon. "I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! I don't need to hide in my room!"

Her leg snapped out underneath the table, aiming to give him a solid, hefty kick in the shin. At the same time, her hand gave a barely perceptible flick, sending the spoon whizzing towards him. How dare he!?

[contentincloset]

The other man looked to be pulling something out of the notebook now. What attention he'd been giving the girl flew away to the table, waiting to see what was going on, but just as he caught the slight tip of the manila color beginning to show a twinge of pain shot through his shin.

He jolted a bit, then looked back and slammed a hand hard on the table. "What the hell?!" he barked, then quickly grabbed the spoon out of the air with his free hand. The kick had alerted him to the threat, if it could really be called that, so snatching the second wave was an easy thing. Why the hell was this girl kicking him and throwing spoons?!

And had she said Ninja?

[thatdamnedninja]

"You don't get to half ignore me then treat me like I'm six, old man!" Yuffie barked right back, eyes narrowed. The fingers of her left hand curled into a loose fist. She was not going to be intimidated by Grouchy!

She held her right hand out, almost as an afterthought. "And give me my spoon back!"

Stay in her room. She could hardly believe it- sure, she was the youngest member of Avalanche, but she could take care of herself just fine!

[contentincloset]

"Why the hell should I pay attention to you in the first place?!" Came first since that was really the important matter here, then, "and I'm not old!" followed.

She was now acting like she was six, so he honestly should treat her like that! What kind of teenager went around kicking people when they didn't pay attention, anyway?! He didn't think he had been treating her that way earlier either, he'd just had other, more important things to pay attention to than some new girl that didn't believe him!

Glaring and growling at the same time, he eyed her hand, then her spoon. If she wanted her spoon back so badly, then fine. "Here!" he said, but instead of handing it over immediately, he put his other hand to it and quickly snapped ti in two. Then he tossed both pieces back over the table. "Now stop bothering me, brat," he snarled, but was no longer able to divide his attention as intensely as he had before. Now he had to be aware of her, especially if she tried to kick or throw things his way again

[thatdamnedninja]

"What's that supposed to mean? I was asking you about important stuff!" Yuffie snapped, "And yes you are!"

Yuffie glowered right back at him, blue eyes snapping with indignition. Her fist clenched all the way when he snapped her spoon, but she took it with the other hand calmly enough. Dropping the useless bits of cutlery onto the table in front of her, she forced her muscles to relax and picked up her cup.

"Thanks," she said with brittle cheer, taking a sip of the apple juice. "Crusty old coot."

[contentincloset]

"You were barely listening," he sneered, convinced of it. She hadn't sounded like she'd believed him in some respects, at least. "Twenty-three is not old either!" he added in a huff, then growled again at how she started pretending to be the one who was above arguing. Too late for that! He already knew that he was the older one there, at least in looks, and because of that chose not to speak in response to her final comment. Grabbing his muffin, he stuffed a side in his mouth for a bite and chewed it angrily.

This girl was aggravating.

Dammit, that reminded him! He sent a quick glance back towards the other table, but things had already passed. The man was no longer pulling anything from his notebook, and Fai seemed to have his attention directed at the table. Just what he was looking at, Kurogane couldn't see for Fai's back being in the way. Something had changed hands though, of that much he was sure.