Day 43: Chapel

[constellates]

And just like that, the disorienting feeling of blacking out just to wake up in an unfamiliar bed came again. Alkaid had wondered if it would - everything about last night had been different, all the way from the zombies to the eerie emptiness of the Institute to the strange broadcast at the end of the night. Had the Head Doctor been shot? Damn,

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[tostepforward]

More people were entering the room as she sat there, but clearly the chapel wasn't nearly as popular as the Sun Room downstairs. That was all right with Ayumu for the moment - normally she would have been busily working, watching and observing everything she could of the goings-on and interactions, especially since her main objective was downstairs at the moment (though talking to Yuffie, of all people) but after last night she'd needed a moment to think.

Of course, though, in a place like this there wasn't such a thing as a place to be truly alone, and she wasn't at all surprised to have someone join her. She glanced down at the young man and smiled cheerfully enough, with no indication at all of annoyance at being disturbed. "Oh, good morning, Honey-han. And Usa-chan," she added, with a nod toward the bunny.

He'd given her some interesting information the last time they spoke, enough that she'd been able to use it to pry a little bit more out of Okita later on. She still wasn't certain, though, if it would be a good idea to try to find out more, no matter what her curiosity. Most of what she'd wanted to know had already been confirmed, assuming that Okita hadn't been leaving anything out, and she suspected the rest.

"I'm glad to see you're all right," she said, as she turned slightly on the bench toward him. "Especially after a night like last night."

[host_club_honey]

Honey smiled, even if it wasn't his brightest or best. He was glad to see his friend was alright. After something like a zombie invasion, it was easy to believe that a lot of the patients might not have survived. That something terrible might've happened to them. Seeing that his friends were doing fine was a great relief.

"I'm glad you're okay too Sen-nee," Honey said sincerely. He patted her hand with his small, childish one. "You must've been really brave. Even I was scared!"

[tostepforward]

It felt somewhat odd speaking to Honey, with the discrepancy between his real and apparent age, almost like dealing with Tetsunosuke. Well, only with less yelling and hitting things, at least. And she was fairly certain Tetsu would never have carried a stuffed pink bunny around unless it involved a prank played by Okita or one of the trio.

"Oh, no. I'm not brave at all," she insisted, with a shake of her head. "I was just fortunate enough to be with helpful people when night came, and they kept me safe." Relatively speaking, of course, what with Robin's driving stunts in that car. "It was...not something I want to do again. Ever."

[host_club_honey]

For all her insistence, Honey still thought highly of her, being able to be so calm and collected after what had to be a traumatic experience. Especially if she didn't have any way to fight off the zombies, that would be the scariest of all.

"Me too. It was really icky. And dangerous." Honey gave a slow sigh, hugging Usa-chan and almost burying his face into the toy's soft back. "I'm worried that maybe Cake Club just isn't enough. I want to help everyone be safe."

[tostepforward]

"Everyone wants to make sure their friends are safe, I think." Ayumu smiled gently, almost unconsciously cradling her journal against her chest. "Especially in a place like this, where there's so much danger everywhere. It's hard, isn't it?"

She hesitated for a moment, looking thoughtful before she continued, "What does the 'Cake Club' do? I mean...I've heard of it before, but. Do you, I don't know, go cook things at night?"

[host_club_honey]

"Yeah," Honey nodded, kicking his feet back and forth beneath the pew. "Really hard." Sometimes just finding all of his friends on a given day could be a difficult task. And this place wasn't even half the size of Ouran. How was that possible?

"Mm... well... me and Takashi are the only ones who are very good at fighting. My other friends are good at lots of things, but not that. I wanted them to feel safe and... and not take things so seriously. It was fun, getting to know new people and helping them achieve something, even something as small as baking a cake." Maybe it was a dumb idea, but it'd kept people safe and sane for at least a little while.

"I thought we'd be home by now."

[tostepforward]

Ayumu listened in thoughtful silence, only nodding slightly to show that she was still paying attention to what Honey was saying. She could understand the sentiment, and thought it was rather nice of him to be so thoughtful in taking care of his friends, especially if they were unable to fight and needed protecting.

It was also somewhat of a relief to know that her helpless "Sen" persona wasn't entirely out of place, even if it did seem to be unusual to be a non-fighter here. It made her wonder even more about Landel's reasons for choosing the people that he had - though that wasn't really the issue here.

"I'd hoped to return home quickly, too," she replied, sounding sympathetic and a little wistful. "It's difficult to make plans here, because everyone hopes they won't need them. But still, I think what you're doing makes a difference, especially if it let you make new friends and help them out."

She sighed and set the journal back down in her lap again, folding her hands on the cover. "If you don't mind me asking, Honey-han, how old are you?"

[mukuchi]

[Sliding in?]

Mori had woken with a start, unsure of what had happened to bring him back to the Institute, but safe in the knowledge that the smells from the previous night were gone. He made quick work of putting the mop handle under his bed and then realized that his arm was back in a sling, and in a great deal more pain than before. Eventually he was going to need this thing healed. Or else he was going to need to stop using it so often. One or the other.

Following his nurse out, he refused to be left in the Sun Room and instead started upstairs because he knew that was where Mitsukuni would be. The board had confirmed what his senses were telling him and as he entered the chapel, nurse in tow, he spotted his cousin sitting with a young woman. Just like yesterday, really, but it wasn't unexpected. Taking a few steps toward the pair, he realized that Mitsukuni seemed...upset. He knew that sneaking up wouldn't work, but maybe if he edged closer, he could hear without being spotted? Or maybe he shouldn't eavesdrop, no matter how tempting it was. Hanging back at the edge of Mitsukuni's vision, he waited for a sign to show him whether it was time to join or if he should go and let his cousin have this moment to himself.

[host_club_honey]

When he heard Sen start feeling sad too, he had to mentally berate himself. He was supposed to be strong and help others, not dump his problems on them. But Sen was being nice and listening and once in a while, that was okay too. He nodded, smile beginning to return.

"Mm, I hope so," he agreed, offering a slightly more enthusiastic smile. "Thank you Sen-nee. Don't worry, we'll all get home, I'm sure we will." It would take longer than he'd hoped, but he wasn't going to give up.

"I'm eighteen," he answered, tilting his head up at her curiously. He sure got asked that question a lot. "The nurses tried to tell me I'm not, but I know I remember that much right." From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his cousin, who'd been polite enough to let him have a few moments with Sen. He turned his head and smiled, an open invitation, cheeks pinked slightly at having shown such weakness, but this was Takashi, not his father. He didn't mind.

[tostepforward]

"Of course we will." She wasn't just saying it to reassure him, either; Ayumu was firmly convinced that she was going to return home, and as soon as possible. Every day she was here delayed what she needed to do back in Kyoto, and she had to get back. She would get back. There was no alternative, for she wouldn't accept failure.

And...eighteen? Hm. She'd been sure he was older than he appeared, but he was only a couple of years younger than she. And was apparently a fighter of some kind, or thought he was enough of one to protect his friends. That was interesting. "Mm, well, I'm pretty sure you'd know how old you are. And it's not as though they like to tell us the entire truth anyway."

She'd pretended to be entirely oblivious to the other's arrival up until now, and when Honey turned to look at the rather tall young man Ayumu gave a startled-looking blink and likewise looked over his direction. "Oh...hello," she offered, lowering her eyes again as though suddenly shy.

[mukuchi]

Hanging out in the background wasn't something unusual for Mori. He used to do it a lot when he was waiting for Mitsukuni to get out of class, or for the girls to finish fawning over him so they could go to their respective club activities. But here, there were no walls to lean against, only pews that were notably much shorter and far less effective at hiding him from sight.

Which was fairly evident when Mitsukuni turned and flushed a bit before smiling at him. He supposed their private conversation was over, but he hoped he hadn't interrupted anything vital. Taking a step forward, he bowed to the young woman, noting her behavior. Another non-combatant in this place? He hoped she had someone to watch over her here; she must since she survived the night and it hadn't sounded like she was new here. What had Mitsukuni said her name was? Sen? Straightening, he looked to his cousin and then back to Sen, tilting his head slightly to the side as if to ask just how they knew each other.

[totallytheseme]

[jumping in with Tia's permission. If you don't want him, though, feel free to send me angry e-mails and I'll delete. XD]

Apparently, Hikaru had slept through the zombie apocalypse.

He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that. Sure, he could be a heavy sleeper at times, but...seriously? The rest of the Institute had been in Doyleton of the Dead and he'd been snoozing away, perfectly comfortable in a bed he was grudgingly coming to regard as his own?

That was sort of anti-climactic, wasn't it?

After a cursory glance around the Sun Room revealed that his brother and his friends were nowhere to be found, Hikaru decided to allow "the help" to conduct him to the Chapel. Honey and Mori were kind of hard to miss; Mori was so tall that you could practically see him from space, and Usa-chan was anything but inconspicuous.

Hikaru gave the woman they were with a cheerful grin and plunked down next to his friends, uninvited. "Hosting so soon after your Thriller Night?" he asked. "Good thing Kyouya's not here. He'd probably make her pay in cheeseburger vouchers."

[host_club_honey]

Sen didn't seem surprised or make a big deal when he told her how old he was, which was a plus in his book. She was sweet and encouraging and it make him feel a bit more confident in his decision.

"Ah! This is my best friend Takashi!" Honey started to introduce his rather tall friend now that he was near enough to join their conversation. He would've said more, but yet another host popped in. Hikaru, looking no worse for the wear in spite of last night, sat down with all of them, joking and laughing as usual. Worrisome as last night had been, he was glad that Hikaru was alright and even more important, that he was well enough to be joking around.

"And this is Hika-chan!" he continued, sending the boy a bright smile. "This is my friend, Sen-nee. We met a few days ago. So it doesn't count as hosting if we're friends, right?"

[tostepforward]

So now she was with a fighter who looked younger than he was, a dark-haired fighter who seemed a man of very few words, and they'd just been joined by a loud redhead. It was almost like being home again, except for the fact that they weren't pleading to be fed.

Ayumu had no time to spare to miss her familiar surroundings, though, and thus dismissed the comparisons with a shy smile and nod to the two newcomers. "It's nice to meet both of you," she offered, before her expression turned to a mildly puzzled frown. "'Hosting'...?"

Honey had mentioned something of the sort, when he'd talked about how he and his friends liked to dress up as members of the Shinsengumi. Were these two of those friends, then?

[mukuchi]

A familiar scent - missing it's pair. Mori shifted his weight slightly back when he caught wind of his friend, but didn't look back over his shoulder to confirm. Soon enough he would come over, Mori was certain of it. It was a relief to see Hikaru alive and well because if he was okay, that meant Kaoru survived the night, too. Mori was curious as to where the boys had gone, but considering he, Tsubaki and Mitsukuni hadn't been able to get much beyond the toy store, he was glad the twins hadn't been in town. There was no way he could have gotten to them in time to protect them from the horrors that had been sprung upon them.

Thankfully, he seemed alright, since he wasn't speeding up to them with any urgency.

Mitsukuni introduced him and Mori bowed, keeping his position at the end of the pew even as Hikaru came over and plopped down. He seemed to be in high spirits despite the night. Tilting his head back, Mori imagined Kyouya - all stern and businesslike - asking Sen for cheeseburger vouchers in payment for early morning hosting. Somehow...he didn't think Kyouya would do that. There was no profit margin in commoner hamburgers. Looking down at his friends just as Mitsukuni asked his question, Mori shook his head and let the conversation flow along. Sen seemed confused about Hosting, but he was sure one of the other boys could explain it.