Day 36: Waiting Room/Lobby 1
Oh yeah. This was bad. Grabbing a chair and ignoring the woman who had brought him in, Takaya crossed his arms and glared at the wall. He wasn't going to participate in this bullshit. Being told he had 'company' and that he should he happy about it had ruined what was otherwise an okay day
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But then she noticed her mistake in mentioning her father, and in an instant her entire body felt cold and stiff, her eyes growing wide over the hand shot to her mouth in alarm. She hadn't meant to remind him of it, and although he seemed calm right now, who knew what might serve to set him off. She'd been asked to keep quiet about it, but naturally she couldn't have just made it easier on them both by keeping her mouth shut.
"He wants you to get better... we all do," she said hesitantly. "After all... the wedding was to be this summer, and...." Once again, her eyes went elsewhere, nervous, and she turned the ring on her finger absent-mindedly.
"Fifi's really wondering where you are," she blurted suddenly, "The vet says her puppies are due in about three weeks... m-maybe you'll be out of here by then?"
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But...
Marriage?
Matsuda's body went cold as he tried to figure out just how to respond. He wasn't even sure if he loved that lie or hated it. It was definitely something that he wanted very badly. It was amazing to hear, and had, in that simple instant, made him a very happy man. But it was just that, a lie, and he knew it. If he lived anything like that, he wanted it to be real, not for her to just be someone brainwashed into loving him; Sayu, but not entirely. The Chief was only back because of this place, and they could probably kill him off again just as quickly.
But if he took it, it would be a truth. Sayu even had a ring to prove it. Matsuda figured he could be happy and not really have any worries about getting killed over justice. Not that he wasn't already a fairly optimistic person, but he could be happier than he probably had been since this whole mess started. He'd even have a dog!
It took Matsuda a long moment of silence, but he finally convinced himself that no, he was not going to tell her that he'd definitely be out in three weeks or less. He couldn't do that to everyone, and had to put in his share of helping out. If nothing else, he had to be the one to stick with it, in the event that no one else did.
"It was to be this summer, and...then I went crazy, and wound up here," he finished, sighing and putting his head in his hands for a moment, staring down at the table through his fingers. He could hear what sounded like someone retching in the room, and some other commotion from the same area, but he was more focused on the current issue.
"Anyway, I...maybe. We'll see," he admitted. He looked back up, gave her a sad smile, and hoped that it wasn't too obvious of a lie. Then again, who knew? They could brainwash other people, so they very well could just brainwash him within the next few weeks and be done with it. "I'd really like to see them. And I'm...really sorry that this had to come up now, just...I don't know what happened. Please...tell your dad I'm sorry. I hope he doesn't think I'm not good enough because of..."
What was he saying? He already knew what the Chief would have thought of this, and it was all wrong, but he was starting to not care. Even if he couldn't accept it, there was nothing saying that he couldn't just go along with the visitor and try to keep her happy, right? He'd be along to rescue her eventually, it was just a matter of...well, something. Even he didn't know what, because they knew so little about this place.
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Then, without any more warning, she began to cry, half-turning away from him as she sobbed into her pink-manicured hands. An older-looking nurse gave the man across from her a disapproving look.
"Why?" she struggled out, although she must have already known the answer. "All these things you say... with Daddy dead and... is reality just not good enough for you? We were so..." she sobbed, peering out and up at him, "...so happy before."
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"I...no, that's not it. If anything, reality is too good for me, I just..." He didn't know how to end it. In the short amount of time that he'd been here, Matsuda had seen several things that he never really wanted to come across again, and he came from a world essentially controlled by a murderer that they'd been unable to catch for five years. Both of those would, for the most part, really suck compared to this life. "I don't know," he finished lamely.
He was being stubborn, but he had to be. Not only did he have things that needed to be taken care of here and back home, but it if would also dishonor the Chief's memory. Without being revived and brainwashed, the Chief had been against it, and Matsuda didn't want to take advantage of that. Also, if he just gave in to this place's lies, that would also go against the way the Chief had tried to live his life, even against what he'd died for, in a way. Why did everything always have to come back to duty and honor?
"I'll try to get out as soon as possible, so...please wait for me? I'll come find you, I promise." Matsuda still intended on rescuing her and getting her back home, but he also hadn't wanted to make her cry even more. So he'd tried to find a good way to put it that was only a half-lie. He just hoped it actually would cheer her up.
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