Day 40: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]

[clockmongler]

Well, that was... special. No wonder he was losing respect for this place--the fearful Martin Landel was coming undone, most probably with boredom. So scary. Even Nursey seemed a little exasperated, though that most likely had more to do with X's constant insistence to stay in the Sun Room rather than go inside the Greenhouse

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[bewarethecute]

It was the same for Ururu at the end of lunch as it had been the previous two shifts. She hadn't really wanted to go, especially not after Kurogane had gotten upset at her. She didn't mean to make him mad, but she knew why he was. She'd said mean things, and she'd really meant them, which made it even worse. But the nurses didn't care how sad she was, or that she wanted to stay with the men. They still told her she had to go.

So Ururu wound up in the Sun Room again, curled up on almost the same spot on the couch, and looking at the door to the cafeteria. No Orihime, no Shiki, no Ken. Even though Fai-san had said they probably just weren't feeling well, and Ururu believed him, she was still hoping that maybe she'd just missed them somehow. If she could just see them, then things would be better. She'd know they were there for sure, and she wouldn't have to worry anymore.

Which was why Ururu watched and waited again.

[Ken-kun!]

[rectifies]

He had fallen asleep. Asleep, when the child had a list of items to procure and a teammate to help. His mistake cost an entire night and half the day, and if Ken wasn't feeling horrible from the grogginess, he might have pulsed his lips in fury.

As it stood, however, he fell into indifference, allowing his irritation to crop up only when his head spun. He cursed at himself crawling out of bed, more so when he tripped going out into the hallway. Ken somehow managed to be civil toward the nurse who escorted him to the Sun Room, though, mostly because she gave him the chance for relief. The water she provided him helped clear most of the nausea away.

This was likely a good thing as the first person the boy ran across was a friend. Ken paused at the sight of Ururu among the crowd and with a slightly bemused expression, waved a hand in her direction.

[bewarethecute]

Ururu almost didn't see Ken at first, but then the boy waved and got her attention. One of the three people she'd been trying to find, and for the third time that day, Ururu was moving before she could really stop herself. She jumped off the couch, and ran at Ken as hard as he could, as if he might disappear before she could reach him. If she'd been thinking, she probably wouldn't have ran at him so fast, or jumped at him like she did. But Ururu was so happy to see Ken too, that she couldn't stop herself.

"Ken-kun!" It had been a very long day for Ururu, but she still managed to wrap her arms tightly around her friend as she barreled into him. "Are you okay?! I didn't see you all day, and I was worried you had disappeared too!"

[rectifies]

Oh, crap. A girl as small as Ururu running at that speed with that frantic look in her eyes did not bode well for a boy such as Ken. In an effort to compensate for the inevitable crushing force on his front side, he braced himself.

The resulting crash was indeed mighty. If Ken did not feel as though his back would snap at any second, he might have commented on her strength. Instead, the child struggled. "Ah-- F-Fine!" He winced in pain. "U-Ururu-san, I'm fine! I just fell asleep!"

[bewarethecute]

"I'm so glad!" So very much so, that Ururu didn't realize Ken was struggling at first. When she did, however, the little girl was quick to pull away, her eyes opening even wider as she thought she might have hurt her friend. That wouldn't be good at all, especially after she made Kurogane so mad!

"I'm sorry!" It was easy to kneel on the floor as she scrambled away, and now when she apologized, Ururu bowed down deeply in front of the boy. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Ken-kun. Please don't be mad." Ururu hoped he wasn't mad. It was bad enough when she thought he might have disappeared, but making her friends so upset that they didn't even want to be friends anymore would've been worse. The little girl began to shake as she started to cry, hoping with everything she could that Ken would forgive her. "I promise I didn't. I was just so scared before, when I couldn't find you, or anyone."

[rectifies]

No harm had been committed in the hug, and the child was determined to keep it that way, especially when Ururu began to look upset. Ken hadn't meant to come off a little panicked; he simply had never been hugged so tightly since kindergarten. Such a reaction meant something was horribly wrong.

The confirmation came in an instant, and his expression immediately turned apologetic. "Oh, no. You didn't do anything wrong, Ururu-san. I was just surprised..." He trailed off as another thought crept into his mind, one more terrible than the last. "But what do you mean you couldn't find anyone? How long have I been asleep?"

[bewarethecute]

It was hard to believe that she really hadn't done anything wrong, but Ururu tried to. She sat up and wiped her eyes with a hand, though that did little to actually stop the tears. "I don't know. But last night, when I went to find my friends, I couldn't. I still haven't seen Orihime-san or Shiki-san." But it was okay, because they probably were just sick. Just like Fai-san had said.

And Ururu tried really hard to believe it.

"Kurogane-san got taken upstairs, and Fai-san went to get him. But I didn't know that." She hadn't known where anyone was, or how to find them. How was she supposed to help anyone if she couldn't even find where her friends were. "A lot of the people I know already vanished, and I was scared they had too. And you, Ken-kun. Because I didn't see you today."

[rectifies]

Ken paid strict attention to his friend's account, mulling over several distinct emotions in its course. "You haven't seen them?" he repeated, the words feeling foreign to his lips. Never before had someone he knew went missing until now; starting on a Landel's night without any of her friends must have been horrible.

No, he amended. It had to have been terrifying.

The child bowed his head, the nausea once again entering into his system. It doubled at the mention of being "taken" upstairs, though he did everything in his power to appear unaffected. "I'm... I'm sorry, Ururu-san." He bit back the urge to stammer. "I'm really sorry. I should have helped you look." I should have been awake.

[bewarethecute]

Ururu had to swallow hard before she could answer Ken. "I found Fai-san and Kurogane-san at lunch. But not Orihime-san or Shiki-san." Or Kisuke-san or Renji or Rukia or Hitsugaya: there were so many people Ururu knew, strong people who were just gone now. "That's why we're Lost and Found. Because we're supposed to find people. But we haven't found anyone."

Not one single person who'd gone missing for any of them.

But now something Ururu hadn't wanted to happen was, and she shook her head quickly, feeling even worse because now Ken felt guilty. "No, it's not your fault." The little girl quickly scooted closer to her friend, the need to make sure he wasn't as upset urgent. "You were tired. Yesterday too. It's okay that you were sleeping, because you weren't missing or hurt." Ken was okay, and that was what mattered most to Ururu. She didn't want any of her friends to be sad or lonely, or hurt. She just wanted everyone to be okay.

"Don't feel bad, Ken-kun. It's not your fault."

[rectifies]

He fell into silence at the encouragement, before he nodded. No use to mulling over this, was there?

Supposed to find people... Ken was not officially part of the group, but maybe he could offer some assistance in the matter. It was the least the child could do, especially having done nothing the night before. "Then, um, how about we look for them?" he suggested. "We don't have to actually go to their rooms, but... There's the bulletin."

His eyes moved over to the board. The mess of notes available was overwhelming. "We can also ask the nurses, though I'm not sure how helpful they'd be."

[bewarethecute]

Ururu looked down when Ken offered his suggestion. "But people can only tell us if they're missing on the bulletin. Not where they went. Fai-san and everyone else tried to look in a window on the third floor once, but that didn't work very well." Especially not after all the birds had come out. Then they couldn't look at all; instead, they had to fight off the monsters.

"It's not hard to tell when a person goes missing. But we want to find them after that. After they're lost." And undo whatever had been done that made them go away. "That's the really important thing, but we haven't found anyone..."

[rectifies]

What Ururu pointed out was a series of unfortunate facts surrounding Landel's. There was no guarantee they would receive an answer. In addition, "missing" could mean just about anything. Some returned as visitors, according to a few rumors, but the rest couldn't have all been thrown back into whatever cog this world ran on. Creatures like Yukari's attacker couldn't possible be allowed back there.

So where could they all be?

Frustration crept into his face. "What do you think we should do, then?" he asked, mostly to himself.

[bewarethecute]

"I don't know." Ururu wished she did, but the truth was, she didn't have any idea of where they might be. And there was something else too, something that made it worse. "And no one works like a team, even though we're supposed to be friends. Kurogane-san goes off by himself a lot, even if he didn't last night. And Fai-san...I don't know if he always tells the truth like he should." Orihime hadn't seem to think he did, but she didn't know how to tell. "And Yukito-san is nice, but Yue-san is grumpy. And a lot of them think I shouldn't fight, because I'm little." At least Kurt-san didn't think that, but he didn't work with them much at all

[rectifies]

It wasn't the most promising situation to hear, but Ken couldn't bring himself to feel remotely surprised. Most people--especially the adults--could not be trusted to handle situations where something like this occurred. He hated thinking it, but from his experience, the thought was truth. "That's no good," he muttered. The temptation to ask his senpai for help suddenly came to mind, only to be shot down in the next instance. Now was probably too late to request assistance; they probably already had plans.

Great.

Ken blinked at the transition in subjects, before he shook his head. "I meant to do some more research last night, but it didn't happen." He tried not to bring a palm to his forehead. "And not yet." Which could change the moment he met with the seniors. "Was puberty pretty confusing, too?"

[bewarethecute]

Ururu shook her head in quick agreement with Ken, because it wasn't good. But Ururu didn't know what she could do to change it, since no one really listened to her. And now it was even harder because she'd been wrong.

Being able to offer something to Ken was good though, and Ururu spoke up immediately. "I'll go with you if you want. I can't read very well, but I can fight if any monsters show up." That was something at least? And that way, she could make sure Ken stayed safe. "But I need to check on my friends first, in F3. I want to be sure that they're okay." And that they were still there.

When Ken asked about puberty, Ururu thought about it carefully before she answered. "Sort of. People wrote long replies with hard words I didn't know. But it's supposed to be how boys and girls change when they're old enough to have sex. I think." She didn't want to be wrong about it. That would be bad. "Maybe we can research that too."

[rectifies]

"Are you sure?" Company would not be a problem on Ken's end (especially since Mitsuru requested he stay with someone during nightly excursions), but he kind of felt bad. Ururu had already helped him a good deal. "I'd hate for you to fight on account of me."

If she insisted on accompanying him, though, Ken wasn't going to stop her. "Why don't we meet up at F3, then?" he suggested. "My room isn't far from the female block so getting there shouldn't be a problem. Oh." The expression on his face suddenly shifted to sobriety. "If you have to find me at night, my room is M85. If I'm not there, try F35." Of all rooms available, Mitsuru's seemed most probable for a S.E.E.S. gathering. This should help in the event of an emergency, such as last night.

He figured Ururu would receive some pretty complex answers regarding puberty, if their earlier notes were of any indication. "Hmm, do you remember any of the words? If so, we can look for a dictionary..." But where? Ken mulled it over.

Something finally struck. Oh, yeah. That room with the