Day 37: Arts and Crafts Room
Honey was relieved when breakfast was over. Even though there'd been plenty of sticky-sweet french toast to be had, the company left him feeling a little inadequate. Usually girls fawned all over him, but Callisto had been downright mean. Had he done something wrong? What kind of girl wanted to fight rather than play? It'd only been a few days
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It was hard not to worry about everyone. The knowledge that a shinigami had died during the night was sitting heavy on her shoulders; acting cheerful for Toph had kept her low spirits at bay, and although Tsubaki smiled for the nurses and let them take her tray from her and give her a choice of where to spend her time, she felt like she'd rather be alone, curled up in a warm bath. Not only was she separated from Black☆Star, but her maybe her whole world, and her own weapon forms were being kept out of her reach.
There was small solace in promising herself she'd do her utmost come nightfall. She might not be able to stop people being taken away to the second floor, but she could try and get to them as fast as possible. Anything to help and not be as useless as she felt.
The Sun Room, she'd been to, but the adjoining rooms were still a bit of a mystery... In an effort not to let her thoughts be a drag anymore than they already were, Tsubaki clasped her hands behind her back and wandered over to take a peek through the Arts and Crafts room's door. Where the club had taken its name?
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Maybe Tamaki would too.
He looked up just in time to see a familiar face poking her chest head in. "Oh, Tsubaki-san! Hi!"
They were on a Hosting roll, right?
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He added the braid before finally looking up. "That would be cute. On most people," he said, thoughtfully.
"Hi!" he called out, with his brother. Looked like they might be in for a fun shift after all.
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She was distracted from having to think about it too much when she heard her name be called. Huh? Looking around, her eyes landed on the twin’s table, and once she realized they were calling her, she was quick to smile. “Hello!” Tsubaki said, making her way over. “I’m glad to see you!” In one piece was something better left out.
But then she paused, giving both a scrutinizing look.
Then: “Sorry, I haven’t talked to you separately enough to be able to tell you apart well yet.” A small, sheepish smile. “I think you must be Kaoru-san,” she tried, looking to the boy at the table. “And you’re Hikaru-san?” to the one poised over the other’s shoulder. It was hard to tell; she hadn’t seen as much of Kaoru with him having sat in the bus seat behind hers.
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Oh dear. Tsubaki had guessed correctly. It happened from time to time, of course. People had a 50/50 chance of getting it right, but the twins still had to keep them on their toes. "Sorry," Hikaru told her, adopting Kaoru's voice. "That's Hikaru."
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Maybe they'd find out why the guy got to keep his name too....
Kaoru laughed Hikaru's laugh. "Don't worry, even our friends are no good at guessing! But you almost had it, right?" he smiled.
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“Oh, I’m sorry,” Tsubaki apologized, going into a bow, “I’ll try harder, I promise.” When she straightened, she had an entreating smile on her face. “Next time?”
Watching how each one talked and moved through subtle glances was one way to keep her mind occupied, though it was more out of a sense of obligation now… Everybody was different, after all. It was equally rude to mix up Thunder and Fire, despite how easy it was to tell those twins apart because of the different colored clothes they wore. Hikaru and Kaoru did have their hair parted differently… Unconsciously, Tsubaki tilted her head while she thought. Had it been parted the same way when they’d met? It must have. Oh well; she’d have to make better note of it this time.
“But… how are you? Have you been well?”
The one thing she did remember clearly was the small undercurrent of tension that’d been present during and after the bus ride.
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Hikaru decided to let Kaoru answer Tsubaki's question this time. He knew his brother was still feeling a little annoyed from their breakfast with Glitterman, and the last thing he wanted was for Kaoru to stay mad at him. This was a peace offering; he wasn't even going to comment if Kaoru tried to gloss over it again.
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"We're good," he smiled. "It gets a little boring here, but boring's better than scary, right?" Besides there was a cross dressing club now, and Tamaki's new friend. Plenty to laugh about. They weren't getting into another discussion about who'd been ill, that was for sure. And his brother seemed to have realised it.
He shot him a little smile of thanks, disguised as something a little more casual.
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People smiled for all sorts of reasons.
Hers brightened into something more sunny. "I'm glad to hear it. When you tried explaining about how the nights work, I hadn't known the half of it. I haven't thanked you properly for that." She would have to return the favour sometime, with Kurogane, too. "So far I wouldn't call it boring, but you've been here a lot longer than me. Do you even think we come from the same Japan?"
Boring was better than scary. She kept her arms held behind her, where her bandaged forearm was out of sight. She was also glad Hikaru and Kaoru didn't appear to have any serious injuries.
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"You're welcome," he told Tsubaki almost automatically, a little taken aback. He hadn't really thought about it that much. "And maybe. I don't know. We've never heard of a city in America called...what was it. again? Death City?"
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