DAY 45: Sun Room (Second Shift)

[violent_varmint]

There was something fishy going on in the Institute today. All over the bulletin board, people were talking about having "woken up", having been "cured"... and it seemed as though ZEX was one of them. Tanaka wouldn't have recognized the note at all if it hadn't been signed - his wording, his handwriting, even his name had changed - and a part of

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[mizuhomaiden]

[closed to 'Violet']

Sheena left the cafeteria in a hurry. She didn't understand what was going on with Raine and was way too upset to deal with anything. She quickly ducked into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face, wincing a bit at the stinging sensation that accompanied it thanks to the slashes on her face. At least when she blotted the wetness away, she didn't really look like she'd been crying. Her eyes were still a tinge red and someone really perceptive might pick up on that, but she looked better. More composed. At least she was keeping the freakout internal for the moment. Something terrible had happened to Raine and Sheena didn't know what to do about it.

Leaving the bathroom, the ninja decided to avoid the library as clearly Raine would head there, even as Jeanne. Besides, Sheena needed to put things in motion to keep her friend safe tonight when the doors unlocked if that didn't knock Raine back into being herself. With the new restrictions, it took a bit, but then ninja posted a note for Harley,

[mind_the_sukima]

Had she been aware of this wish and had she been Yukari, she might have found the mixed blessing she would be presenting to be amusing. But seeing as she was neither, Violet simply wandered out into the Sun Room feeling ambivalent. On the one hand, she was glad that she was feeling better today, but it was the same clarity she had gained that presented her with the ability to evaluate her past actions, both since arriving her and before that. It was... a little embarrassing. She knew she was irresponsible sometimes and fully believed in having fun, but given the situation, it was a little much.

At least talking with David, she knew she wasn't the only one regretting their actions. It had been good to hear it from someone in a similar situation. Now though, she just wanted to sit down and sort things out in her mind. Going over to one of the couches, she flopped down on it and leaned on one of the arms, chin in her hand as she stared at nothing in particular. This was quite the mess she was in...

[mizuhomaiden]

There she was.

Sheena caught sight of Yukari as the youkai plopped herself down in a couch. Without hesitation, the ninja crossed the room and hopped up onto the back of the couch. Sure, the staff might get ticked at her, but she didn't care.

Sitting on the back of the couch, one leg on either side of the youkai, Sheena started to gather Yukari's hair into her hands, drawing it back from her face so she could work the tangles out. The ninja didn't say anything, instead focusing on the hair in her hands and taking comfort in the youkai's body heat.

[mind_the_sukima]

Violet sat up with a jolt as someone jumped on the couch behind her, their legs sliding down on either side. When she felt her hair being gathered up, she tilted her head back, already having a pretty good idea who it was. Her hunch confirmed, she gave the girl a little smile and settled down again, content to let her play with her hair and more than happy not to say anything. Saying anything would mean starting a conversation and at that moment... Violet needed to sort things out before she talked to anyone. Especially this girl.

For now, she was fine with just enjoying her presence and pretending for just a little longer that things could remain this way, the way they had been... even if it had been someone else, not her. Not Violet.

[mizuhomaiden]

Sheena gave a forced smile back when Yukari's eyes found her. No, the ninja wasn't okay and wasn't doing a good job at pretended she was, no matter how much she thought she was. The repetitive motions of combing her fingers through the long blonde locks was calming and eventually she gathered the hair up into a ponytail before she gently pulled strands free to hang down on either side of the youkai's face.

Now she was taxed with the dilemma of wanting to see what it looked like, but she didn't have anything to use to tie it. With a bit of a sigh, and an idle thought that the youkai was being oddly quiet, Sheena pulled the ribbon from her own hair and secured the mass of blonde with it.

"I'm just temporarily letting you borrow it," the ninja muttered before resting her forearms on the youkai's shoulders. She then blew her own now free hair out of her face.

[mind_the_sukima]

Violet wasn't exactly thinking about what was happening at the moment, or more accurately, was doing her best not to actively think about what was happening. So it was slightly surprising to her when the ninj- girl spoke up, bringing her attention back to the present.

"Hmm? Oh, okay," she said, barely keeping the nervousness out of her voice. "I'll be sure to return it to you tomorrow then."

Calm down. There was no reason to become flustered over this. Just play it cool, the way Yukari- no, she shouldn't act like that. Besides, that was just ignoring the problem. Glossing over it. But why rock the boat when she didn't have to? She was glad Sheena, or whatever her real name was, was behind her and couldn't see the pensive frown that she couldn't keep off her face. Even if the circumstances under which they'd met weren't ideal, she still cared for the girl - or were these the lingering feelings of Yukari? No matter, she was still fond of her even now and didn't want to worry her.

[mizuhomaiden]

That was an odd response. Even with the whole borrowing statement, Yukari normally would have made an insinuation of something Sheena would have to do to get the ribbon back. In a way, Sheena was almost... disappointed that the youkai didn't say anything to that affect. She wondered what was on Yukari's mind...

Shifting her head to the side to get a profile look at the youkai, Sheena's lips turned up a bit before she settled back. "You look good with your hair back," she pointed out. "I like it."

Idly, Sheena began twirling the segment of hair hanging down on Yukari's right about her finger. "Something's wrong..." She paused, not sure how to phrase her thoughts on this morning. "...with Raine. I just had breakfast with her and she..." A heavy sigh. "Something's wrong."

[mind_the_sukima]

Violet had managed to get enough of a hold on her feelings that she didn't react with surprise when Sheena spoke up again. Instead she just leaned against the girl's leg and smiled.

"I'm glad," she said honestly. "It's not how I usually wear it, but it's nice sometimes."

The new topic was a little worrying, but at least it took the focus off of herself. She'd heard the name Raine mentioned before, but Violet didn't think she'd ever met her. The image of a silver-haired woman came to mind, but... maybe she'd seen them talking at some point.

"What do you mean?" she asked in a concerned tone, turning a bit so she could look up at the girl.

[mizuhomaiden]

Sheena had twirled the hair around her finger so much that when Yukari turned more toward her, the hair pulled.

"Oh crap! Sorry," Sheena exclaimed, flushing a bit as she tried to unwind the hair to its freedom. Once that was taken care of, the ninja looked up to meet the youkai's gaze, sporting several fresh cuts were on Sheena's face - two on her cheek, one across the bridge of her nose and a bandage above her eye indicating yet another.

"It's like... she's another person altogether," Sheena explained. "I mean, she insisted on calling me Sarah and... She denied who she is. She was convinced that magic was something she stupidly believed in because of something she read in a book. I asked her about Iselia, her home village, and she said that was just a fantasy she made up, that there was no such a place."

Sheena's lips trembled a little. "Yukari, I've been to Iselia. Many times. With her."

[mind_the_sukima]

When Violet turned, she winced, having not noticed Sheena winding her hair about and pulling it a little. It wasn't that bad though and she just laughed it off.

"It's fine, it's fine," she assured the girl. Unlike, say the girl herself who looked liked she'd gotten in a fight since they last talked. She frowned in concern at the cuts. "You're looking a little worse for the wear."

Another person? That was... exactly the situation Violet found herself in. She had been another person, believed she was a "youkai" and not a human being. But from Sheena's point of view, who had only met Yukari... it would be her that was another person. Which meant the topic had unfortunately come back to her.

Think fast, Violet, use that wit that could invent a fantastic world and illusionary story on an insane whim and figure out how to step around this.Nothing was forthcoming. Not with that look on Sheena's face

[mizuhomaiden]

"I'm fine," Sheena brushed the concern away, " just misjudged a monster's reach last night, that's all."

Of course, what happened to Raine was a pretty drastic change. Why the hell was Yukari pointing that out? She had a ton more experience in weird crap than Sheena did. She had to have something better than that. The youkai's words did make her think about the doctor's comments. Gods, Sheena hated this ranch. It did something to Raine.

"Getting better, my ass," Sheena replied. "It's like they replaced Raine with a Pod Person named Jeanne that knows me, but doesn't know me. Maybe they somehow made her crazy like they made me evil that one night, you know? That would explain it. I think."

She turned her wrist and a single playing card appeared in it, the ninja starting to twirl it as she thought. "At first, I thought maybe Reinforce did something to her, but now I don't think so. I'm..."

She met the youkai's gaze. "I'm scared." A pause. "And I really don't need you to tease me about that, okay?"

[mind_the_sukima]

Monsters. She was talking about those dreams, no doubt influenced by the rumors that used to go up on the bulletin board. It was a wonder the nurses hadn't cracked down on that earlier. Violet decided not to comment on it though; it wasn't like she needed to hear how the girl injured herself or, worse yet, some other crazed patient had done to her

[mizuhomaiden]

Sheena's hand came down on top of Yukari's shortly after the youkai placed it upon her leg. She didn't register that she was doing it, much less that she was seeking to lace her fingers with the youkai's. She just... didn't want to be scared anymore.

"Thanks, I was worried you'd--"

Sheena suddenly stopped and stared at Yukari. What did that damn youkai just say? Making light of something the ninja was worked up about was exactly what Yukari would do, if only to try and get Sheena's mind off the matter. There was a fine border between that and dismissing it as something trivial. Yukari danced that border all the time, but she was always there - never away from it.

"...okay, what's going on? You're acting weird. What'd I do?"

[mind_the_sukima]

Violet smiled a little more and relaxed at the girl's hand, even if there was a mild twinge of guilt as their fingers intertwined. One that became a sharp stab when Sheena called her out on her behavior, causing her to tense up, something that would not go missed with their holding hands

[mizuhomaiden]

Instantly, Sheena's eyes narrowed when she felt Yukari tense. What was going on here?

It was good that apparently the ninja hadn't done anything to make the youkai act all weird, but with this thing with Raine that just happened, Sheena had cause to be wary. She had a feeling she really didn't want to know, but she had to ask. She had to know. This was her youkai, damnit. If there was something going on, she needed to know.

"Is that so?" Yukari was avoiding her eyes. She'd never done that before. Sheena brought her other hand up to the youkai's cheek, urging her to look at her. "How about you try..."

[mind_the_sukima]

Violet didn't resist her face being turned towards the ninja, but her eyes remained firmly looking away from the girl. She found her hand alternately squeezing Sheena's for comfort then guiltily letting go, her fingers spreading out but unable to bring herself to take her hand away. What should she do? What should she say?

"It... it's like waking from a dream," she started. "When you know you're awake but you're not quite awake. When you're on the border of... that is, when you're just between dreaming and waking and the dream still feels so real and you can't quite yet sort out what really happened yesterday or what you dreamed about. It's an odd feeling. It's how I'm feeling." Only now I'm facing another dreamer and not sure if I should wake them. All I know is that I shouldn't to fall asleep again. I want to, but... "I'm a little mixed up today." As opposed to being very mixed up like she had been every day for the past month or more.