Day 41: Courtyard (4th shift)

[guyslikegames]

Jiraiya had been right about the bulletin, at least. Yousuke guessed that meant he'd probably have to take some of the other things he'd said a bit more seriously as well. Like the monsters at night

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[the_clown_king]

Tamaki was still trying to recover from the day he'd had, even after lunch. His cheek was bruised, but the swelling had gone down and at least it wasn't permanent! He had enough scars. More than enough, really!

It was just this place. It got into people and it made them act differently. They lashed out and even Tamaki and his own friends weren't immune.

But he had things he needed to take care of. 1) Work out a Host Club meeting. 2) Figure out what to do about the clinic now that he had been moved to a new room. These were really the kinds of things Kyouya was best at. Tamaki wasn't a planner. But he tried his best. He always did.

Taking a seat on a bench in the courtyard - oh, how many things had happened to him here! - Tamaki pulled out his journal and opened it on his lap.

[Free!]

[numberonemonkey]

[From here.]

There seemed to be a lot young people around, all in identical pyjamas! It still made Chihaya feel a little better to see the bright yellow face.

However, there was one boy that suddenly caught his attention. he was quite beautiful and he had lovely blond hair.

After what Chihaya had done, he could really assume that the boy was an angel, but he looked friendly enough, though a little bruised and sad. At worst, Chihaya would simply be making a new friend.

He stood up and wiped the dirt from his hand before going to the bench and smiling.

"Hello, I'm Chihaya... Could I sit with you?"

[the_clown_king]

Tamaki looked up from his notebook - having gotten nothing done other than a handful of doodles - and smiled brightly as he was approached.

"Of course!" he said, beaming despite his freshly-bruised cheek. Oh, how lucky he was! A lovely...er...well, honestly, Tamaki wasn't entirely sure. Which happened a lot around here. "Please, sit down! It would be an honor and a pleasure to share your company!"

Well, either way, there was no reason to shirk his Hosting duties!

[numberonemonkey]

"Oh! R-really?" he asked, blushing a little. Nobody had ever been so enthusiastic about having Chihaya's company. Well, maybe Taki. But they were already friends.

He sat down, hands in his lap. He felt a little more conscious about the dirt under his nails now, so he tried to adjust his hands to hide it.

"What's your name?"

[the_clown_king]

"I am Suou Tamaki, Chiyaha-chan!" Tamaki stood and bowed with a flourish, as his first overtures of Hosting had been relatively well received. That was all he needed, really. He hadn't been able to adhere to his calling for days! And after what had happened, he needed a good Hosting session to calm his troubled mind.

"It is the greatest honor to meet you!" he went on. "Please, allow me to keep you entertained until we're herded away for dinner!"

[numberonemonkey]

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" he giggled. "Are you Japanese?" he asked.

He didn't look Japanese. Either way, he didn't recognise the names, so if the boy was an angel, he wasn't a nobleman. Shame, really. He looked the part. Although his eagerness to serve didn't quite fit with the idea.

Not to mention the fact that he bowed to Chihaya. Nobody had ever bowed to him before... Not even the maid! Chihaya quickly stood up and returned the bow.

He was definitely human.

"Entertained?" he smiled. "Maybe first....could you tell me something?"

[the_clown_king]

"My father's Japanese," Tamaki said, nodding, before sitting back down. "My mother's French." And he didn't need to go into any detail on that. He smoothed his institute pajamas and folded his hands, looking at Chihaya with eagerness and attention.

"Of course! What can I tell you?"

[numberonemonkey]

"Oh, that sounds wonderful! I spent a weekend in France when w- I was stationed in England. It was beautiful. And I went all the way to the top of the Eiffle Tower! Well, as far as we could humanly get. I wanted to climb to the very top, but there were too many people."

Chihaya pulled his legs up onto the bench and hugged them.

"People say I look Japanese," he admitted.

"Yes. Well. This might sound a little silly but... where are we?"

[the_clown_king]

"I grew up in France!" Tamaki said, excitedly. "Oh, in the countryside, not the city, but I've been to Paris! It really is a beautiful city!"

He honestly would have thought Chihaya was Japanese himself. But maybe that was wrong? Of course, Tamaki's face fell some at the question. Oh.

"You're new?" he asked gently, a look of concern and worry now coming over his face. He hated to be the one to explain what was going on, hated to be the bearer of bad news. And Chihaya seemed so nice!

[numberonemonkey]

"Wow! That must have been exciting. I think sometimes I prefer the countryside. But then...the city has a lot of people... I like them both," he said, happily settled on that answer.

Chihaya's face fell too. Did Chihaya seem crazy?

"Yes. But...you see... I had an accident and I blacked out, so that's probably why I don't remember anything. I just... I feel much better now and I'd like my friend to come and get me. But the nurse said something a little strange about that... It's not important. Oh! Um. Are you okay?" Chihaya asked. They were in a hospital and Tamaki was injured. "Will you be going home soon?"

[the_clown_king]

Tamaki shook his head.

"Chihaya..." He wet his lips and sighed, struggling to find the words. "I'm sorry. They lied to you. They lie to us all. This isn't a normal hospital. I know it seems like one, and during the day it pretends to be, but at night it's terrible!" He didn't want to scare his new friend, but he wanted Chihyaya warned.

"You've been kidnapped. We all have. This..." he pointed to the fresh scar on his cheek, cutting below his eye. "This happened here, at night. So did this." He lifted the edge of his shirt to display the ragged scars from claws that had raked across his abdomen.

[numberonemonkey]

Chihaya wore that sort of smile you get when somebody tells you good news and it turns out that what's good for them is utterly terrible for you. It was the 'gotta keep smiling like it's natural' look. He wasn't very good at it.

He was about to try and calm Tamaki down and tell him that maybe it was just a nightmare, but Tamaki showed him more wounds. The fake smile vanished.

"Oh...Tamaki..." He grabbed the boy's hand. "We have to go and tell somebody. Who did this? Another patient." He stood up, ready to drag Tamaki along.

He'd been bullied a lot too, but it had never been this bad so he was able to put up with it. Besides, in their own way, they all had some sort of right to do what they did. Chihaya was too different and they hadn't understood that.

[the_clown_king]

Tamaki shook his head again, pulling away. "I've told them. They lie and say that I did it to myself, or it was an accident. But it wasn't. And it wasn't another patient, either. There are monsters that come at night, Chihaya-chan. I know it sounds like I'm crazy, but I'm not. None of us are."

At least for the reasons that the nurses said, anyway. Tamaki had met some crazy people here, but a completely different sort of crazy.

"Please, sit back down...."

[numberonemonkey]

A look of sincere worry for Tamaki's sanity crossed Chihaya's expression before being overwhelmed by sympathy.

Chihaya rarely doubted people. Without Kagetsuya here, there was a moment when he wondered how true it was, if maybe Tamaki was just...unwell in other ways. But it was only a moment.

Chihaya believed him. He sat down. There was no 'why would Elvira send me here?' because he knew she wouldn't. They must have been stopped. By Eden or Earth...

"I have to find my friends. This...must be punishment." For what though. The escape or...what he and Kagetsuya had done. Was he here?

"Tamaki... is there anywhere safe you can stay?" he asked. He seemed (and felt) older now. He didn't deny maturity, he just favoured happiness and smiles.

[the_clown_king]

"Your friends might not be here," Tamaki said. "A lot of people are all alone here. And they'll try and tell you that your friends put you here, and you're crazy, and your life is different than what you remember. They tell me that my name is Jason Cole, and that I'm an American, and that I'm mentally insane. But it's all a lie. And I do have friends here, and they know it's all a lie."

He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair.

"The rooms are safe at night. I run a clinic out of one of them, to help people who get hurt at night."

[numberonemonkey]

"Oh, but you're speaking Japanese. And fluently at that