Day 40: Breakfast

[roseoverture]

Utena's second night seemed to have ended even sooner than the first had, which greatly disappointed her. She had been hoping that at some point, she could have coaxed her friend into telling her what was so horrible that happened in her future. Then again, curiosity aside, she was also somewhat relieved that she didn't have to hear it just yet.

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[rope_victim]

Miku awoke, breathing a sigh of relief. The night had gone smoothly and though some of her emotions tumbled about, she'd managed to go the entire night without a scratch on her. In fact, she only felt a little nauseous, which was more welcome than the usual violent attack she had when she saw things. A quick check under her shirt assured her that the bruises didn't look so terrible today, either, having moved into that awful yellow-greenish stage. The burns from the ropes had become gross and scabby, though those were still mostly covered, as were the worst of the stab marks.

Hiding her necklace with her other night items, Miku waited for her nurse patiently, finally able to do a little more than be drugged and slow-minded. She pulled her hair back into its usual massive bun, though her arms burned in protest. I should be more careful, what if Sousuke thinks this is Subaru's fault...?When the nurse finally appeared (was everyone running late today?) and swept Miku away to breakfast, she looked around the cafeteria thoughtfully,

[blood_and_pocky]

[Gonna get a smack, biotch!]The vampire went through the motions of another breakfast shift without paying the world outside of his head any mind. He stepped into the line-up, uncaring of what he put on his tray

[rope_victim]

[You mean you are.]

Miku's nurse sat her down at a table and cheerfully motioned for Miku to eat up. She didn't see anyone yet, but that was okay for now; even if it did make her worry a little bit. If there was one thing she didn't want to admit, it was that she was a little bit happy here, even if it was a terrible, scary place. She had her friends, and Sousuke. She wanted to protect them as best she could, even if it was only throwing a pebble in a pond.

It wasn't long after she picked at her food a bit that she looked up again and settled her eyes on Aidou. Miku's skin felt hot and cold at the same time. Though she'd managed to forgive him in her mind last night, she wondered if the creeping feeling there was still a little sadness or anger at his casting off of her feelings for Sousuke. "Oh, Aidou..." she sighed, and poked back at her meal.

He used to be such a nice person, she wondered what had changed.

[blood_and_pocky]

[Cameras don’t work on vampires, sissy girl.]

He’d known it’d be wise to bring his journal to the cafeteria with him; he wasn’t hungry, not for greasy human that wouldn’t sustain him, and he could use the time to write down his summary for Hinamori. The vampire had been “team leader” in all but name, which appeared to be what counted… However, he didn’t trust Senna to do her part as well as he can, and even if she did, Hinamori would get two reports from two sets of eyes, which would only benefit her.

He’d do this thing, and then his debt would be repaid. Abarai Renji’s memory could no longer hold anything over him.

It was when his smiling nurse offered to bring him a small salad and settled it on the tray that he felt someone watching him. The potential threat wasn’t enough to detract from his racing thoughts, and even when he turned and sought out the culprit… Miku, an absent part of him supplied. No one important right now, was what followed. Aidou was scanning the cafeteria with keen eyes, searching out the most advantageous

[rope_victim]

[But punches to the eyehole do.]

Years of being picked on for something that she couldn't control had made Miku sensitive to certain tones in speech. Like the one Aidou was using right now: unnecessarily cool and a bit holier-than-thou. She supposed that, unlike her, he was probably one of those people who went to bed angry, rather than working out their tangle of emotions to the best of his ability. Still, she put on her best face, and smiled kindly at him, "Good morning, Aidou-san."

Even though her instincts were screaming at her to get up to find Sousuke (Allelujah's suggestion having made her worry a little more) and leave Aidou to his own devices, Miku stayed put. "I'm glad to see that you made it through another night." She was, too, there was no cover up in her tone, or in her manner. Miku was earnest, but, the weird air between them made her heart twist uncomfortably.

[blood_and_pocky]

[Not even that! Assuming she can reach that high. :/]The nurse didn’t try to lay a hand on him again, and for that, he didn’t have to spare her any words when she picked up and left. Miku only received more of the usual court behavior; he’d been raised a noble and refinery was their talent. One didn’t have to invest personal emotions in the exchange of words, and he didn’t have anything in particular to talk to her about. The 'good mornings' didn't even stir something unpleasant in him as they usually did

[rope_victim]

Miku shifted uncomfortably in her seat, and wondered why he had to look so calm when they'd had such a... disagreement the day before. This was weird, and she didn't like it. On one hand, she wanted to talk about it and come to a conclusion they both could work with. On the other hand, she wondered if it was better to just let it go, even if it meant that she'd always have this strange air between them.

Perhaps, Miku thought with a slightly unhappy sigh, this is something I can't fix at all. The thought was sobering. She looked back down at her mostly-untouched plate of food, and felt her appetite dry up faster than water on a hot stove. Aidou had been one of the first people she'd met here, after all. She looked up again, and steeled herself, "Aidou-san? About yesterday..." Oh lord, here it came. "I think we misunderstood each other."

This was kind of similar to stepping onto a high beam, she realized, and her stomach clenched.

[blood_and_pocky]

But what did the presence of that flag really mean? In a way, Senna’s final question had been fair--there were things Landel liked to dangle in front of them like carrots in front of a rabbit. The basement, the outside, the caverns… they weren’t necessarily ‘fake’, but perhaps long and winding dead ends. The fool behind the intercom sure didn’t seem to think what progress was made was progress at all. So did a broken town that appeared to be American mean what it appeared to? If he chose to believe so, then he’d have to be willing to accept the possibility of certain things he’d rather not

[rope_victim]

"The note," she said, in an attempt to jog his memory. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about our misunderstanding, and I know you don't approve of Sousuke, but..." Miku took a breath and squared her shoulders. "He's a good person. I just wish you saw him the same way I did." She stood slowly and bowed, wincing as her healing bruises and battered muscles protested the movement.

"So, please don't think badly of him."

[blood_and_pocky]

Aidou found himself keeping one eye on the spectacle, despite having left a sentence half finished.

He didn’t have any reason or patience to bring himself out of his tangle of thoughts long enough to include Hinasaki Miku in them, because yesterday… that asinine post on the bulletin board… it was so unimportant, it was hardly worth remembering. And yet she bowed like it had meant something when only what felt like moments before, the vampire had been walking through a ghost town, ravaged by some unknown plague, with a schoolhouse that’d had an American flag and a decontamination center, of all things.

It struck him as being wholly pointless. Like Senna’s desire for ‘fun’ had been pointless.

“So you want to get something off your chest,” he murmured, and for the moment, kept his gaze on her. “Why are you telling me this? I’m surprised my words had any affect on you.” How silly. If he hadn’t sat down here, she probably wouldn’t have felt the need to talk to him.

[rope_victim]

"It's not 'getting something off my chest', Aidou-san," Miku's voice was quiet, but serious. "You're my friend, too, how could I not take your words to heart?"

Even worse, how could he not take her apology yesterday sincerely? This might have been deemed pointless to other people, but to Miku it was just the same as reaching out and being normal. Normal people apologized for misunderstandings. Her ribs and arms burned, her legs screamed, but she held her bow.

[blood_and_pocky]

Friends?

His eyelids fell to half-mast before he blinked again and refocused on her with more intensity than before. Friends? She’d intruded on his musing to talk about friendshipThe tip of the pen tapped against the paper once. He looked down at the spot where he’d left off, and after a pause, returned the pen to writing position where the sounds of writing continued. There’d been a misunderstanding, but it wasn’t about the vampire’s idle teasing the day before. “You and I both know we’re not friends. There’s no need to pretend otherwise,” he said calmly. “You couldn’t care less about me or my opinion, my ‘feelings’ even less so. I was only teasing you the other day; I’ve known almost from the first moment we met you weren’t interested in me, and it’s been out of my way to figure out why. You don‘t need to explain this to me

[rope_victim]

It was proven fact that one could do many things to Miku, and she would take it, like an abused pet or a doormat that kept itself clean despite the muddy footprints that tracked all over it. But, no one had ever doubted her friendship for people. Ever. She liked having friends, it was a new concept for her.

And here she'd been willing to let it all pass under the bridge. Stupid Aidou.

With more force than she'd ever been able to muster before, Miku straightened up and ignored the pain of her body. "How dare you, Aidou! HOW DARE YOU ASSUME SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Her face was pale, but her cheeks were red with exertion. The burst was short-lived, and Miku gasped in pain as her body reminded her that it was still rather wounded. Her hand found the edge of the table and she leaned. "You... hah... you don't know anything..." she gasped bitterly.

[uruz_vii]

Suddenly and silently, Sousuke slipped out of a group of patients moving to find a seat, and loomed calmly over Aidou. He'd seen Miku overexerting herself earlier, which he didn't like, and he didn't like seeing her upset. Or shouting. The shouting was new on him.

He positioned himself directly behind Aidou, putting a hand firmly on his shoulder. Sousuke was displeased.

"What's going on here?" He asked. But his tone implied that he knew exactly what was happening and was daring Aidou to try to deny that he was upsetting Miku.

[blood_and_pocky]

Like the breaking of a storm, Miku’s shrill voice assaulted him like the wailing of an angry child. His pen froze. Stupid girl. The staff won’t ignore that.The vampire looked up at her with eyes that glittered like jewels. He wouldn’t deny that his instincts had awoken and begun to prickle at the outburst. “Oh?” was what he said at first, and his voice was as smooth as silk. If the girl wasn’t careful, she’d seriously hurt herself, but she knew that. Her shrieking served no purpose. And he liked being wordlessly threatened even less than he liked being on the receiving end of such an unwarranted reaction. He pushed his chair back and stood as Sousuke came up at his back, blocking the hand that made to touch him with a jerk of the shoulder

[uruz_vii]

Sousuke watched Aidou go with narrowed eyes, making sure he would be moving an adequate distance away. The deserts of Afghanistan would be ideal, but the other side of the room would have to do. He had half a mind to chase that bastard down and make him eat his words--and the tray. However Sousuke had never been the type to initiate pointless violence unless it was violence against shoeboxes.

Once satisfied, the sergeant looked back at Miku, his expression concerned. "Please sit down, Miku," he said gently, reaching across the table to help her back to her seat.