Day 35: Bus 3 (Return Trip)

[secret_orchard]

Armand wearily climbed the steps of the bus. He was less tired than cold, but it made his limbs ache. He hoped they'd actually make it back to the Institute before dark this time. He hadn't seen either Citan or Morrison in town, so he kept an eye out for either one climbing back  into the bus. He still wondered if Morrison had been able to rest

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[forgot_my_life]

Takaya climbed up, glaring at the nurse who tried to help him and jerked away from her attempted touch. "I'm fine," he hissed, before stalking to the back of the bus. He spared a moment to glance at Armand, embarrassed and ... frightened of the man, before taking his own seat as far as possible from him.

Maybe he'd get lucky and someone would sit next to him that didn't want to talk.

[braidless]

[Hope this is okay?]Qui-Gon's words were still weighing heavily on Obi-Wan's mind. Jedi -- or, at least, Force-users -- who had been there before them, and judging by the blood on that lightsaber's handle, had met an untimely demise was not something to take comfort in, although the information was important to know just the same

[forgot_my_life]

(It is most certainly okay! ^^)

Takaya's gaze snapped over to Qui-Gon as soon as the man sat down, then he quickly looked back out the window.

"Yeah," he said. There was something .... weird about this guy, he remembered that, and he remembered feeling calmerthe last time they'd spoken. "I mean, yeah, it's been a while. I don't give a shit if you sit there."

[braidless]

Obi-Wan smiled to himself before settling down in the seat. "Thank you." It was likely the young man would have rather been left alone, but given how dangerous the ride back to the Institute last week had proved, the Jedi knew strength in numbers was best for now.

Although he and Takaya had never interacted extensively, Obi-Wan could sense something was different from the last time they'd met. It was difficult to pin-point to what extent, or what the cause could be, but he supposed that, given all the uncertainties of the Institute, that alone wasn't, unfortunately, so unusual.

"The air is getting colder outside," he remarked, his hands clasping between his knees. "But it was nice to leave the Institute, if only for awhile." The words were spoken with a neutral tone, and in such a way that didn't necessarily warrant a response if Takaya didn't want to give one. For some who were troubled, companionship was a welcome relief, but for others, it was simply a burden, especially if speaking was involved.

[youlackmascara]

Well, that had been mildly interesting, at least in that if he escaped the Institution, he at least knew some of the nearby assets. Not that they were great in number, but if allowed to operate on his own without the inconvenience of nurses, there would be nothing in the town to stop him from taking what he wanted. Besides, he would not have accomplished much more if allowed to spend the day in the Institution instead. His one regret was that he had not been able to gather more information about Special Counseling or garner himself a History Club assignment, given the absence of a bulletin board. Also that he had not found a sweet shop, but in the large perspective that was not a high priority.

Itachi climbed aboard the "bus" again, finding a seat to himself and staring blankly out the window. He was prepared for the machine's motion now, and he should not have that irritating reaction again.

[for the brother and his boyfriend, I think?]

[toadally4boobs]

[For the brother and his boyfriend and the in-law, yes! ♥]

Jiraiya climbed onto the bus, trying to hide his disappointment. His books weren't there. Even after his student and he canvased all the shelves of the bookstore, they remained missing. For a moment, he thought the unbelievable, and wondered if his books simply weren't popular in Doyleton.

No, that couldn't be it. It wasn't it. They had--as the others had told them--to be in another world. It was the only logical explanation. (Naruto would groan if he knew that had driven the point home to Jiraiya's heart more than anything else had as of yet.) He let out a loud, rather pathetic sigh, and began to scan for two adjacent seats for him and his student.

And that's when the Toad Hermit noticed the one who wiped out the Uchiha clan. He froze for a moment, feeling Naruto bump into him. Oh. Oh, shit.

Two thoughts immediately sprang to mind--Itachi must know the truth, and Naruto's about ready to cause a scene, again.

[whirlingwinds]

"Oomf!" Naruto hadn't entirely been paying attention to where he was going, as always, instead just trusting Jiraiya and following his lead. He hadn't expected him to stop in the middle of the bus, and so had bumped into him, Jiraiya's stop abrupt enough for a sound to escape him.

"Oi, what's going o -- " He started, a frown on his face, when he noticed the person that had caused Jiraiya to react this way.

His face immediately closed off some, his eyes narrowing and his fists clenching. He hissed, and would have launched at Itachi right away if it hadn't been for the couple of nurses that walked by the bus' window right at that instant. He didn't want to know what kind of trouble he could get into, as badly as he just wanted to slam his fist into Itachi's face.

He'd never liked Itachi, never understood him at all, but now, with the situation even more messed up than it had ever been, his anger was over flowing.

[sasuke_of_sound]

Sasuke had thought the sedative had worn off, but when his nurse came by to escort him back to the bus (and scold him along the way, apparently) and he stood, it became kind of obvious that it hadn't. The ground came up under his foot a good deal more quickly than he expected and he swore, earning a steadying hand under his elbow and another reproving stream of chatter from his nurse.

He ignored it and focused on steadying himself, which was a good deal trickier without his sight. Involuntarily he remembered just how difficult it had been when he'd fought Itachi -- a wave of rage flooded up and he snapped at his nurse before he realised it.

So she was somewhat sulky when she'd walked him onto the bus, but her words caught his attention: "Oh, Sean! I almost forgot! There's someone you must be happy to see!" A pause, and then, "Oh, wait, I'm so insensitive

[enigmaticmedium]

[for Zelgadis]

Xelloss still wasn't in a bad mood when he returned to the buses. In fact, he asked his nurse politely, "I hope you'll go slowly, a very good friend of mine has a sore on his behind that'll be quite aggravated by bumps if the buses are in too much of a hurry!" as he was herded on, although he doubted that would increase or decrease their speed at all. If Landel decided to play the same game again, lovely, if not, perhaps next time. Or perhaps something wonderful and new.

He sat down at a blank seat again, despite the risks of having another seatmate like this morning, and contemplated the growing darkness outside. Honestly, he felt as though he were anticipating presents. Perhaps it was just from his successes last night, successes that still ached in his leg muscles (such an odd sensation) but that were lovely to be able to consider. Xelloss hadn't had enough progress recently. Tonight, he already had a mission for himself, and perhaps Lord Hellmaster would also have requests. It was good to have purpose.

[accursed_rock]

Zelgadis had been is a daze most of the day. Never leaving the bus, he had simply replayed last night's events continuously in his head. Despite this, he still could not convince himself of what he had seen, plainly, in front of him-- Mason was dead.

He searched the bus as though he might still be there, smiling. The first person to reach out to him in this retched place. The only person to call him a friend.

He sat down, still seeking Mason out, but when he turned to see his seat mate he realized it was a trap.

"Xelloss!"

[enigmaticmedium]

Xelloss blinked once, still looking out the window, before turning with his usual closed eyes to look at Zelgadis. "Really, Zelgadis, this is becoming a habit." The man had some strange way of gravitating towards him, didn't he? Even though he didn't seem to want to.

Zelgadis seemed more off than usual, however, blank, despair tinting him rather tastefully. Usually the chimera was stronger than this. Had he been refused free ice cream with his tickets? Or had the man come here because of something that had happened? It would be nice to imagine it was a friendly warning about a potential danger or problem from a fellow prisoner, but Xelloss knew the odds of that were low and instead braced himself to be accused of a new crime. Honestly, it was the worst part of all, being accused so often while not actually getting to perform the cruel acts he was credited for. "Do you need to talk to me about something?" But his tone, as always, was perfectly polite.

[accursed_rock]

Why was this always happening to him? Xelloss always appeared at the worse possible moment, and there Zelgadis was, sauntering leisurely into his trap.

He looked around the bus, ready to find another seat. No luck.

Zelgadis turned to the mazoku, ready to defend himself should Xelloss attack him outright. The trickster priest didn't movie. Instead, Zelgadis was taken by surprise at the seemingly innocent question.

Do he need to talk to him about something?

...Was that a hint? Should he keep the mazoku talking? Why would he be so obscure about it?

When was Xelloss not obscure, though?

"Y-yes." He stuttered, hoping to buy himself time.

[rope_victim]

"I knew you two were sweet on each other," the nurse had trilled when she finally came power walking up the path two them. "Come along now, dears, it's time for us to go." Miku had felt her head catch on fire, and obediently helped Sousuke into his chair before the nurses hurried them along.

The whole day had finished on a happy note, even if the Institute was likely going to attempt feeding them to those horrible birds again. She slipped down into a chair, tiny prickles of her sixth sense warning her to be careful of most of the men currently on the bus with her. Miku reminded herself that just because she had a protector, she would be foolish indeed to be carefree of everything.

She leaned her head against the glass and looked out at the rest of the patients being herded about like cats. Night was coming, she had to be prepared.

[damnrudecock]

The beef stew wasn't the same beef stew he knew of from home, and the rice had been about as bad as the stuff they served in the hospital, but Sano on the whole had thought it was pretty good. And even better, he didn't feel sick or anything when he was taken back to the buses by Pinky. Maybe he'd even catch a nap or something on the way back.

Or maybe not. Sanosuke grinned as he saw the empty seat next to Miku, thinking if nothing else, it'd be a worthwhile way to spend the time.

"Hey." Sano slid in beside the younger girl, trying to figure out just what she was looking at, or maybe who for. Except it wasn't that hard to figure out. Sano had seen looks like hers plenty of times around the dojo, typically when Kenshin wasn't around. "Spend some time with Sagara Number Two today?"

[rope_victim]

"Ehh...?" Miku turned her head and reddened more on instinct than guilt. "I... er, I..." Where were her words? She needed to find them and quickly. One couldn't be loosely brained around this Sagara. "I did, we, ah, we went to the bookstore... I pushed him around the park..." And they'd gotten a book, but that was besides the point.

They'd also kissed, but there was a snowball's chance in hell that she was going to tell him that. "W-why do you ask?" she stuttered and was suddenly afraid that he could see right through her. Miku bit her lower lip nervously.

[damnrudecock]

Oh, this was just too damn good. Sanosuke's grin broadened, mostly because Miku was telling him exactly what had happened. Maybe not in detail, but it wasn't like he'd spent the past nineteen years living under a rock.

"You pushed him around, huh?" Around, down, whatever. Love ended up inspiring all sorts of violence sometimes. Sanosuke wasn't falling for the omission routine, and Miku should have been able to figure that out by now. "You push your lips against his too?"

Okay, so maybe it wasn't the nicest way to say it, but that's what a kiss was. And no way she was going to fool him into think that wasn't what had happened. Not the way she was red a a damn beet.

[broken_exorcist]

When they rounded up the patients again, Allen couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty that he'd spent a good portion of the day in the toy shop, looking in awe at all the strange devices and wondering what half of them did. He hadn't been able to find Rinali, which only served to increase his worry, and it was with some apprehension that he finally boarded the bus and took a seat near the back.

[for Falis]

[himetsuru]

That had been a highly unproductive day. Falis never left the park because Yukari had never left the park. Her plan of observing the girl to see her reactions to various people went nowhere since the girl spent the entire time talking to someone she'd just met upon exiting the bus instead of moving around. This just meant Falis was going to need to use another tactic tomorrow since she had plans tonight.

And speaking of those plans, Falis grinned when she saw the nurses had forced her onto a bus the little exorcist had also chosen. She supposed this was acceptable since they weren't letting her stick around to get herself on the same bus as Yukari. The princess headed to the back of the bus and plopped herself down next to Allen. She gave him a toothy grin, wondering idly if the French braid they'd put her mane of hair into helped or hindered her intimidation ability.

"Have fun today?"

[broken_exorcist]

Of all the people Allen wanted to see, the crazy akuma girl wasn't one of them. She pounced on his empty seat and smiled that predatory smile of hers. Allen tried unsuccessfully to scoot further away in his seat.

"I..." he started, still a bit surprised by her entrance. "The weather was nice and I saw a couple of shops. What about you Miss..." he trailed off, hoping she'd take the hint and give him her name this time.

[himetsuru]

Aww... The boy was trying to get away from her. Falis was tempted to put her arm around the boys shoulders just to see if he'd squeak.

... what the hell. Why not?

With a grin, the bounty hunter slung her arm around Allen's shoulders and purposefully dodged the prompt for her name. "I stayed in the park and kept an eye out for anything interesting. It was boring. I'm looking forward to tonight instead," she said, giving him that grin again.