Day 34: Sun Room

[scarletspeedstr]

[One speedster, free to a good home! Plays well with others and has had his shots. Adopt today!]Wally followed the steady stream of patients from the cafeteria towards the showers, but was prevented from entering by one of the ever-present nurses

Comments

[justice_to_a_t]

Mikami had thought writing something down in the provided journal would help, and although the lines weren't as straight as he would have liked and he was still uncertain as to what was going on, the action did make him feel slightly better. For one, his mind was definitely clearing. As he wrote and drew, the decision had been made that he didn't want to meet any of the people responding to his comments on the bulletin board- most of them were decidedly corrupt, and although he'd been briefly tempted to seek one or more of them out, it was likely in his best interest to keep to himself for the time being.

He found it fortunate that, although he hadn't exactly planned his choice of seating, being out of the way and looking busy had kept anyone so far from seeking contact with him. He mused that, with the current set-up, he would be able to tell if anyone started to come near.

Ironically, just as the thought took form, he clearly sensed someone approaching.

Several thoughts flashed through his head. He vaguely hoped they were just going to pass by, but it didn't seem likely. They were coming from the direction of the board, so was it possible...? No, he hadn't given anything away about his actual identity that he knew of.

Well, hopefully he could just get them to go away. The only problem would be if they blocked his lighting... a thing that had always bothered him. But although it seemed to be late afternoon by now and shadows were getting longer, surely nobody wou--

He frowned down at his darkened journal. He was actually going to say something, but the other man spoke as he came to a halt and Mikami froze. What the... He looked up, wondering why the man sounded so much like Tamaki.

"No," he answered truthfully.

[justice_to_a_t]

Mikami knew he was being examined but couldn't guess why, or why the young man had approached him in the first place. He seemed polite enough when he'd asked to seat himself, but otherwise strangely serious. Of course, maybe the incident in the cafeteria had just made Mikami cautious.

He noticed Light's gaze wandering and followed it to an awkward-looking someone becoming increasingly upset at a younger, blonde man with a scarred face. He looked back to the brunette, eyes lingering a moment on the spot where there should have been a name and lifespan, looked away, and then went back to his journal.

Despite his calm appearance, he was really fighting down a sense of growing discomfort... vaguely similar to wondering at work if he'd left food out on the counter. He tried to alleviate the sensation by shifting his weight. It didn't really work.

Listening to Light's question with his eyes still focused down, he hoped to hide his reaction to that voice. That Light knew he was "new" bothered him for a moment, although he quickly realized it was probably because he hadn't been made to take a shower. He conceded with a nod.

"Someone had started explaining the situation at lunch, but they didn't say specifically where we are. Well, aside from mentioning we aren't in Japan and..." he paused to carefully fix a stroke on a character (cheap pens were so unreliable). "...other worlds... or something." He tightened his lips. "I've also read a bit of the bulletin board, although I honestly haven't the time to go over it very thoroughly. What can you tell me?"

[justice_to_a_t]

So... his growing suspicions about "Landel's" were true- they really were in an institution for the mentally ill. At this, Mikami found himself struggling to keep down a surge of anger. Above all, he thought, he was most certainly not crazy. The sheer indignity of this- it was incomprehensible that he would be stuck in such a place... living in near proximity to people who were undoubtedly filled to the brim with unrighteous thoughts and feelings. People who had most likely done evil in their sickness. Ridiculous. Those types of people needed to be dealt with squarely, and had he still had the Death Note and the Eyes, he would not have hesitated to do it himself- killing first the idiots in charge and... working down to the people who had dared make fun of him and his god Kira on the bulletin board. They did not deserve to live.

Fortunately, he seemed to have found at least a few sane people in the bunch. He was glad someone was taking the chance to explain things to him, and while Light was speaking he wrote down the more important bits on the journal in his lap.

While he was writing, his mindset underwent a subtle change. If different worlds, both spatially and temporally, existed, and there were people from said worlds, it still stood to reason that the same morals should apply... it didn't matter where one was "from." Even if some were unaware of Kira Himself, it shouldn't present much of a problem. If they were not on his side, they were still meant to die. They had nothing useful to give to society, and it was pointless trying to rehabilitate them. This point was something Mikami believed in dearly- as a prosecutor he had always pushed for the most severe sentences he could get others to agree with. He never wanted evil people to escape from their punishment once caught. Ever. Suddenly, accepting the circumstances of the place he was in wasn't such a stretch any more, so long as he still had his ideals of order to cling to.

As Light reached mention of the nightly shift of the institute into a place of monsters and chaos, Mikami's writing had reached a fever-pitch to match the pattern of his thoughts. Although the handwriting itself was not noticeably different, he had been pressing the pen in considerably harder, and his notes had become lengthier until he was practically transcribing the brunette's speech word for word, his right hand moving faster and faster as his left held the paper steady. Unsurprisingly, it caught him off guard when Light finally paused. He sat with his pen hovering over the paper, waiting for more, mind racing.

And then, Light asked a question and he found himself looking up at him. For a moment, there seemed to Mikami to be a connection between himself and the young man sitting so near- a fleeting awareness that was gone as fast as it had come, but had caused his thoughts to suddenly scatter. He blinked, perplexed, trying to gather enough of himself to formulate a response.

"If I am to understand you correctly," he started after a few seconds of silence, "it sounds like you have a great deal of experience in this matter." He peered at the shafts of sunlight coming through the ceiling at an increasingly low angle. "What should I do about fighting off... 'monsters?'"

And it suddenly occurred to him that he should have actually read more on the bulletin board, and now he surely didn't have much time to do so. He pulled straight a wrinkle in his pant leg, frowning slightly.

[justice_to_a_t]

Mikami continued to take notes as Light explained defending oneself and then the various clubs. He thought it might be beneficial to eventually join one of the groups, but he definitely wasn't going to make a decision without first meeting a representative or otherwise getting first-hand observations of them. Plus, certainly it was too late to join one by this time of day.

As the intercom snapped on, signaling the change to the next shift, the fact that he had a massive problem on his hands became more apparent. He'd missed his chance to read anything more off the board and, more pressingly, post up any requests for allies.

He had two options, both of which seemed exceptionally inadequate. The first, simply staying in his room, seemed to Mikami fundamentally wrong. Denying any help he could give by hiding away was useless... the mere thought disgusted him. The second relied on making an acquaintance some time after "night" had started, and he would have much preferred to see if the people accompanying him were truly righteous. In addition, he desperately hated the thought of taking such a chaotic course of action. However, having rejected the former of his choices, it would have to do.

The actual gravity of the situation... the fact that the institute filled with full-fledged nightmarish monsters at night, hadn't yet hit him.

"Mikami Teru," he supplied at the inquiry, and then listened carefully at Light's response. Unusual name. He held his pen to the paper for split indecisive moment, and then wrote it down in katakana. Not that he was likely to forget it, but habit was habit.

He then rose, seeing his ever-present nurse approaching and wanting to conclude the conversation so the younger man wouldn't have to deal with the woman as well. "Thank you for your help, Yagami-san, perhaps we can speak again some time."