This wasn't a hallway she'd been down before, but that didn't really matter. They were all pretty much the same anyway; boring, boring, boring.
Normally Yuffie would be grouching about the lack of stimulation, or making at least some mischief in an effort to keep herself entertained. But now, that was the furthest thing from her mind - all she really cared about was finding Cid and kicking him in the shins for making her worry. Her... worry! The pilot'd probably bust a gut laughing.
Well... he would, when she found him! Following the room numbers, Yuffie dashed along, thoroughly ignoring Sagara and Shrimp. Cid's room wasn't far, was it? Just at the end -- aha, there! "Hey, old man!" She called, rapping on the door of M21. "Rise n' shine, I'm comin' in!" Without waiting for an answer, the ninja pulled the door open, an obnoxious grin plastered on her face.
The grin fell off her face as though it had burned her, the moment she got a good look inside. One side of the room was occupied, but not by anybody she knew. And the other side... it was clean, well-made. Cid wasn't ever that neat, and that could only mean one thing.
Cid was gone.
No… No way. He couldn’t be gone. Yuffie wavered in the doorway, torn between diving in and… and searching the closet, under the bed, in the other dude’s bed… or slamming the door shut and… then what? She couldn’t think of a clever scheme to get her friends back, couldn’t wager, bargain, or bribe… she couldn’t even blackmail!
So she slammed the door shut anyway, just because it made her feel better.
Yahiko batted away Sano's hand with a grumble, but he was right: there was no way Yahiko could understand what was being explained. A pretend hospital? For crazy people? Did those even exist? And he still didn't know if they were in Mongolia!
The next question, though, was easy enough to answer. "I'm fifteen," Yahiko said, a strong note of pride in his voice. "Kenshin gave me his sakabatou as a genpuku celebration." He still mostly used wooden swords, of course, but after knowing Kenshin for so long, he expected Sano to know that. Swords weren't drawn lightly, even swords designed not to take lives.
When the girl took off running Yahiko pursued, assuming Sano would do the same. He stood back, watching her open the door expectantly, wilt, then spin and slam it shut behind her. Um. Alright.
This was definitely something for Sano to deal with.
"Seriously?" Sanosuke beamed in pride when he heard it, even though he wasn't too surprised. The kid had always been strong and dedicated. Even after all that Jinchuu shit, he had been the one telling them that they'd overcome. Kenshin had been broken, Sanosuke had left, and Yahiko had been more faithful than them both. Ignoring how Yahiko had hit his hand away earlier, Sanosuke reached out, not to hit his head, but to pat his back. "Good job. I can still call you kid, though."
There was a hell of a lot he wanted to ask, and that he needed to say, but Yuffie came first just then. She'd slammed the door hard, and despite experience cautioning him to stay away and guard his crotch, Sano moved over to the woman.
"I'm not about to offer to let you beat me up again." Sano had learned that lesson well enough the first time, thank you. "But we will save them, Ninja Girl. Believe it."
This wasn’t fair, and Yuffie didn’t know how she was supposed to feel. Maybe she wanted to cry, maybe she wanted to hit something, or maybe… maybe she wanted to fix things. Fix them right now so she didn’t have to be confused, and so she didn’t have to feel that odd, gnawing loneliness, and that underlying nag of betrayal.
They’d left her, but they hadn’t done it on purpose. Cloud would never do something like that, and neither would Cid; they could be assholes, but they were caring assholes. They were Avalanche -- they didn’t abandon their own.
…. Not anymore, anyway…
For a moment, Yuffie wavered in that indecision, her bangs covering her eyes. But when Sagara spoke, she lifted her head. “Yeah, we will,” she said, walking away from the door. She was done moping. “And if Martin Landel wasn’t gonna get it bad enough anyway, now he’s gonna pay.”
Yuffie managed a small grin, hurt but determined. Fierce in the way that suggested, to those who knew what to look for, that Yuffie getting her hands on Landel just now would result in a bloody death. And it wouldn’t be hers.
… Not that she’d been planning to let him off easy to begin with. Yuffie disliked senseless murder, but this was hardly senseless. That bastard had it coming. Nobody messed with her, and nobody (except her) messed with her friends!
Yahiko was prepared to protest being called a kid, but once again his attention was drawn to Sano's angry girlfriend. The most he could gather about about the situation was that whoever was being looked for wasn't there, and had presumably been kidnapped and taken somewhere else. Was kidnapping a common problem here?
"Yeah, whoever it is, we can get them back I'm sure," he said with a confident nod, despite the fact that he knew next to nothing about what had happened. If Sano said it would be done, then it would be done, and that was all there was to it.
He turned to look up at Sano. "Do we know where they were taken?" That was the first step in any kind of rescue effort. The fact that Yuffie had called him a shrimp (repeatedly!) was put on hold for the time being, to be picked up when there wasn't more important stuff to do.
Sanosuke followed after Yuffie, his grin a bit wider than hers. He knew she was hurting a hell of a lot then, but she was channeling it the right way this time. Reaching out, he patted the center of her back, high and far away from her ass, her breasts, or anything else that could even remotely be considered perverted.
Then Yahiko chimed in, something that didn't surprise Sano too much. The man sighed, shaking his head. "No." Though he did have an idea of where they might see them again. Part of him didn't want to say it in front of Yuffie, but he knew how likely it was to happen, and he wanted the woman to be prepared. "But when they vanish like that, nurses say they've been released. I've heard talk about them being the visitors, maybe."
Knowing Yahiko wouldn't get it, he focused on the boy then. "That's what this place does. It tries to break people so they'll be brainwashed and start believing they're other people. When the nurses come get you, they'll call you something else besides your name. Pinky calls me Bruce Lee. Just make sure you remember it, and your room number."
Maybe it was for the better, that Sagara and Shrimp hadn’t recognized exactly what she wanted to do right now - and she’d definitely do it, come hell or high water, even if she had to use a pen or a pair of slippers… or her hands. That would be hella satisfying.
Yuffie glanced back at the pat on her back, and smiled. It was kinda thin, but hey, beggars couldn’t be choosers. “They’ve gotta be around here somewhere,” she said, glancing at Yahiko. She began to head back the way they’d come. “Even if they’re not in this dump itself, they can’t have gone too far, right? I’ll find ‘em, or I’ll find Landel. Whichever comes first.”
One would lead to the other, after all. He’d be able to point her in the right direction, and then she’d be able to point him out of a really, really high-up window.
Released? Visitors? None of this was clicking in Yahiko's mind, though he didn't doubt a word. Hopefully, when Sano had time to explain it in full, he'd be able to understand it. Because he knew an explanation would be forthcoming soon, he left his questions unasked and focused on the situation in front of him.
Yahiko continued down the hallway, unconsciously trying to move a step ahead of Yuffie. Although he was sure that she could defend herself, Sano made it sound like there was dangerous stuff out there and he couldn't help wanting to make sure this person was safe, even if she did call him a shrimp.
Normally Yuffie would be grouching about the lack of stimulation, or making at least some mischief in an effort to keep herself entertained. But now, that was the furthest thing from her mind - all she really cared about was finding Cid and kicking him in the shins for making her worry. Her... worry! The pilot'd probably bust a gut laughing.
Well... he would, when she found him! Following the room numbers, Yuffie dashed along, thoroughly ignoring Sagara and Shrimp. Cid's room wasn't far, was it? Just at the end -- aha, there! "Hey, old man!" She called, rapping on the door of M21. "Rise n' shine, I'm comin' in!" Without waiting for an answer, the ninja pulled the door open, an obnoxious grin plastered on her face.
The grin fell off her face as though it had burned her, the moment she got a good look inside. One side of the room was occupied, but not by anybody she knew. And the other side... it was clean, well-made. Cid wasn't ever that neat, and that could only mean one thing.
Cid was gone.
No… No way. He couldn’t be gone. Yuffie wavered in the doorway, torn between diving in and… and searching the closet, under the bed, in the other dude’s bed… or slamming the door shut and… then what? She couldn’t think of a clever scheme to get her friends back, couldn’t wager, bargain, or bribe… she couldn’t even blackmail!
So she slammed the door shut anyway, just because it made her feel better.
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The next question, though, was easy enough to answer. "I'm fifteen," Yahiko said, a strong note of pride in his voice. "Kenshin gave me his sakabatou as a genpuku celebration." He still mostly used wooden swords, of course, but after knowing Kenshin for so long, he expected Sano to know that. Swords weren't drawn lightly, even swords designed not to take lives.
When the girl took off running Yahiko pursued, assuming Sano would do the same. He stood back, watching her open the door expectantly, wilt, then spin and slam it shut behind her. Um. Alright.
This was definitely something for Sano to deal with.
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There was a hell of a lot he wanted to ask, and that he needed to say, but Yuffie came first just then. She'd slammed the door hard, and despite experience cautioning him to stay away and guard his crotch, Sano moved over to the woman.
"I'm not about to offer to let you beat me up again." Sano had learned that lesson well enough the first time, thank you. "But we will save them, Ninja Girl. Believe it."
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They’d left her, but they hadn’t done it on purpose. Cloud would never do something like that, and neither would Cid; they could be assholes, but they were caring assholes. They were Avalanche -- they didn’t abandon their own.
…. Not anymore, anyway…
For a moment, Yuffie wavered in that indecision, her bangs covering her eyes. But when Sagara spoke, she lifted her head. “Yeah, we will,” she said, walking away from the door. She was done moping. “And if Martin Landel wasn’t gonna get it bad enough anyway, now he’s gonna pay.”
Yuffie managed a small grin, hurt but determined. Fierce in the way that suggested, to those who knew what to look for, that Yuffie getting her hands on Landel just now would result in a bloody death. And it wouldn’t be hers.
… Not that she’d been planning to let him off easy to begin with. Yuffie disliked senseless murder, but this was hardly senseless. That bastard had it coming. Nobody messed with her, and nobody (except her) messed with her friends!
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"Yeah, whoever it is, we can get them back I'm sure," he said with a confident nod, despite the fact that he knew next to nothing about what had happened. If Sano said it would be done, then it would be done, and that was all there was to it.
He turned to look up at Sano. "Do we know where they were taken?" That was the first step in any kind of rescue effort. The fact that Yuffie had called him a shrimp (repeatedly!) was put on hold for the time being, to be picked up when there wasn't more important stuff to do.
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Then Yahiko chimed in, something that didn't surprise Sano too much. The man sighed, shaking his head. "No." Though he did have an idea of where they might see them again. Part of him didn't want to say it in front of Yuffie, but he knew how likely it was to happen, and he wanted the woman to be prepared. "But when they vanish like that, nurses say they've been released. I've heard talk about them being the visitors, maybe."
Knowing Yahiko wouldn't get it, he focused on the boy then. "That's what this place does. It tries to break people so they'll be brainwashed and start believing they're other people. When the nurses come get you, they'll call you something else besides your name. Pinky calls me Bruce Lee. Just make sure you remember it, and your room number."
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Yuffie glanced back at the pat on her back, and smiled. It was kinda thin, but hey, beggars couldn’t be choosers. “They’ve gotta be around here somewhere,” she said, glancing at Yahiko. She began to head back the way they’d come. “Even if they’re not in this dump itself, they can’t have gone too far, right? I’ll find ‘em, or I’ll find Landel. Whichever comes first.”
One would lead to the other, after all. He’d be able to point her in the right direction, and then she’d be able to point him out of a really, really high-up window.
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Yahiko continued down the hallway, unconsciously trying to move a step ahead of Yuffie. Although he was sure that she could defend herself, Sano made it sound like there was dangerous stuff out there and he couldn't help wanting to make sure this person was safe, even if she did call him a shrimp.
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