Day 42: Bus 1

[rope_victim]

After the way night had ended (Miku wasn't sure if they'd ever get the smell of charnel out of her clothes), and morning had returned with its clockwork weirdness. She was hurried onto the bus in her dark red long coat and the dark, knee-length, slightly full dress beneath it. It was surprisingly warm, Miku noted, but that could've just been her

Comments

[remedying]

[free like a free thing; limit is idk whatever.]

All things considered, the previous night had been going fairly well; they bumped into a few faces along the way, got what they needed, and even had some time to relax for a little bit in the room. It was the end of it, however, that made Yukari awake with a jerk after blacking out, eyes darting back and forth before she realized the end of the night had saved them once again. An ironic thought, to think anything in this place would work in their favor, but it wouldn't have been the first time she was thankful the night ended when it did.

What was that? So much fog would have made sense outside (considering how much there was of it out there anyway), but indoors? Yukari decided she wasn't going to spend too much time thinking on it; it wouldn't have given her any answer that she wanted.

So the trip was today, huh? She was kind of looking forward to this, if only because it was better than doing nothing indoors all day; the chance to walk around and stretch her legs somewhere where it wasn't pitch black and dangerous was more than a welcoming one. Last week she didn't get the opportunity to see as much as she wanted to, so with only as much as she knew about the small town, Yukari tried to figure out what she wanted to do that day.

Now dressed up in pretty casual wear-- the simple jeans and a t-shirt getup was more than fine in comparison to the standard uniforms-- Yukari boarded the closest bus she was ushered to. It was still fairly empty, so she picked a seat at random.

[bewarethecute]

[Have a cute thing?]

Ururu was not at all happy when she woke up and discovered that a nap she'd only meant to last for a shift had gone on through the whole night. It meant she'd missed Ken-kun's test! The girl jumped out of bed quickly, finding Ken's spear in the closet where she'd hidden it, and worrying all the more. Hadn't he come to get it last night?

There was little the child could do, however, but fret until the nurse came in. And what was worse, she couldn't remember what name they called Ken, so she couldn't ask about him. The best Ururu could do was quickly change into her clothes for the day (a white ruffled skirt and pink shirt featuring a purple bear and the words "unbearably cute), then run to the bus, hoping to see Ken when she got there.

But she didn't, and Ururu sighed as she was led to a seat where an older girl was. Grasping the hem of her skirt, Ururu gave the older girl a little curtsy. "Um, excuse me. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

[remedying]

[yay, cute thing :3]

The small voice grabbed her attention from idly gazing out the window, and Yukari turned her attention towards the little girl who called her out. A little kid, she saw, and while she looked pretty adorable (and what kid curtsied these days?), Yukari was also surprised; just how old was she to wind up here?

An internal sigh later, Yukari decided not to dwell on it; no need to sit on the bad aspects of things when she was trying to focus on the good.

"Sure, go ahead," Yukari told her reassuringly, patting a hand on the empty space beside her. "I'm not waiting on anyone."

[bewarethecute]

"Thank you." Ururu slid into the seat easily, making sure to smooth her skirt as she settled in. She liked Saturdays when she got to wear something other than the uniform, especially a skirt. Even if it felt a little weird after it'd been so long since she'd worn one.

The girl had been looking out the window pretty intently, and Ururu wondered if she was looking for someone too. Even if she was though, Ururu could only search so much from the aisle. Still, she knew what it was like to worry about someone, and she wanted to help this person. She'd shared her seat, after all.

"My name's Ururu. If you're trying to find someone, I can help you look. If that's okay."

[remedying]

"Oh, no, no," Yukari insisted, both hands raised and all. "I wasn't looking for anyone." In particular, anyway; it would have been nice, however, to spot all the familiar faces, if only to see that they were okay. There were two so far, thankfully, and she regarded them both only briefly before turning back to the small girl. With a bit of an awkward chuckle, she added, "We're not even moving yet and I'm already staring out the window. Must be a habit.

"I'm Yukari, by the way," she finished, offering her name in return.

[bewarethecute]

"Oh, okay." Part of Ururu wanted to ask if she could take the seat by the window then, since she did have someone she wanted to see. But Yukari had been there first, so Ururu kept quiet about it. Instead, she tried to stretch her neck a little so she could peak around the older girl.

"If you want to keep looking, I can be quiet. But if you do, could I ask for a favor?" Ururu never had really stared out a window, but if it made Yukari happy, Ururu didn't mind just eating her breakfast. "There's someone I was supposed to see last night, but I fell asleep. His name is Ken-kun, and he's my age. But he's a lot taller than I am."

Ururu opened her bag, and after a moment, decided to tack on another offer. "Oh, and if you need me to, I can show you how to open your juicebox. It's okay if you don't know how." Just like the shinigami, or that lady from the week before. Ururu didn't want Yukari to feel dumb.

[remedying]

Yukari blinked at the girl in mild surprise; she was looking for Ken? Small world, she was beginning to gather, but a part of her was somewhat glad in a weird way that he was making friends with people his age. Regardless of his normally mature disposition, Yukari always wondered how awkward it must have been to be a kid living with a bunch of teenagers; this was probably one relief for him.

... But wait a minute, and it was beginning to dawn on Yukari-- if they were already acquainted, did this mean this was the little brat helping Ken with those, er, certain bulletin posts? If there wasn't any other kids then she had to be ... No, no, she couldn't think of her that way. Maybe Ururu was just along for the ride and didn't know any better-- that was hopefully the case. And besides ... all that was over and finished with now. Let bygones be bygones, and things like that.

"Oh, him?" Yukari responded, feigning some of the surprise after setting aside those thoughts. She glanced out the window again, in case he was out there, but she spotted nothing and turned back to Ururu, murmuring her reply as if she were only telling it to herself; "I don't see him, but he was with Senpai last night-" In between her words, Yukari took a moment to glance over her shoulder again at Mitsuru. "-so he should be okay..."

If her senior hadn't said anything yet when she could be so clearly spotted, then Yukari figured there wasn't anything to worry about right then.

And-- wait, juicebox? Absentmindedly, Yukari peeked into her bag, and yep, there it was, a juicebox of her very own. Oh brother, the offer was kind of embarrassing. "Um, no, don't worry. I've opened a lot of them before."

[bewarethecute]

Yukari knew Ken? Ururu looked up at the older girl, her surprise genuine at the coincidence. She wondered if Yukari could be the friend that Ken had been so worried about when they first met, but maybe she wasn't. Ken knew a lot of people there, after all. And Ururu didn't exactly want to ask, since people didn't seem happy when she started asking things about virgins and sex. Even if this was talking in person, and not over the bulletin, Ururu got the idea that it was better to just stay quiet about it for now.

She too looked over where Yukari did, seeing a young woman, along with a boy who looked to be close to Ichigo's age. She was tempted to go over to them to see how Ken really was, but Yukari seemed pretty sure he was okay. Besides, it wouldn't be nice to leave Yukari, or interrupt the others. Ururu would just have to be patient, and try and find Ken as soon as they got off the bus.

Still, even if she tried, Ururu couldn't help but worry a bit, peering into her bag. "I hope so. He seemed really scared when he was talking about his test." And Ururu never really had figured out what she should do about it. Either way, she hoped Ken wouldn't be mad at her for falling asleep.

The girl nodded when Yukari said she didn't need help; for Ururu, the offer wasn't embarrassing or strange. Some places just didn't have juice boxes, though Yukari's must have. Ururu used her straw to open her own box, making sure Yukari could see what she was doing just in case.

"Are you good friends with Ken-kun? He's really nice."