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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[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.

"That's... a pretty drastic change," she finally said lamely, a worried look on her face, though cause of her expression was not what the girl would think. "It's probably what the doctor was talking about on the intercom, about some of us 'getting better'."

Smooth, Violet, said something in the back of her mind, a part that smirked in amusement at this farce. A part that lurked within the border between fantasy and reality. Violet ignored it, but she couldn't ignore the guilt she felt by continuing to lead the girl on, yet at the same time couldn't say it outright. So instead she remained ambiguous, not true but not lying. Just the way Yukari would.

[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.

Still, the conversation was rapidly heading in a direction Violet would prefer it didn't, but it seemed conflict was inevitable. Not unless she wanted to just outright lie.

Maybe she would.

The words, the delusions, the idea that the institute was out to get them... it resonated with Violet, or at least something inside her, but it was the part she knew wasn't right. Still, the fear in Sheena's voice... even if it was for the wrong reasons, it was very real. Violet just didn't know what to say.

"I wouldn't tease you about something like this," she reassured the girl, laying a hand on her leg gently for lack of other easily reached body parts. "That's something," Yukari would do, "only a truly inconsiderate person would do. It wouldn't do anyone any good to make light of something that has you so worked up."

Or maybe it would? But that kind of joking, that kind of assumption that everything would work out in the end, that escapism was exactly the kind of thinking that had let to a personality like Yukari. She couldn't indulge that, for her own sake if nothing else.

[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.

"Am I? I suppose I am feeling... different," she said uneasily, averting her eyes guiltily. Her gaze flicked back up to the ninja, an apologetic look on her face before she looked away again, flustered. "No, it's nothing you've done, it's just... well, I don't know." A lie. "It's hard to put into words." True, but not because she didn't know how to articulate what was wrong. She just couldn't bring herself to. Not with how badly Sheena had reacted to one of her other friends contradicting her fantasies. Violet could have dealt with angering the girl, that she would have endured since in the end, it was best for them both to recognize what was reality and what was illusion, but to hurt her? She found herself unable to come out and say it. So instead she just tried to dance around the issue still, though anyone could see she was failing miserably. How much easier this would have been for Yukari, who by lack of virtues had so many conversational options. To be so free, so irresponsible... No, she couldn't do that. She couldn't let go of the reality she'd finally managed to find again. But it seemed the clash of these two desires, to avoid conflict with Sheena but not to give in to her own delusions, would soon be coming to a head...

[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.

[mizuhomaiden]

Sheena didn't know which bothered her more, the youkai still refusing to look at her or the way she let go of the ninja's hand, as if she was ashamed of her actions.

"A dream," the ninja repeated. She was trying to figure out what all that meant when she noted Yukari wasn't ok. She corrected herself in the middle of talking, changing the customary way she spoke of things and she even stuttered a little. It was like she was floundering and that almost scared Sheena more than Raine's change. She hadn't realized how much she... needed, almost, Yukari to be the way she normally was until then.

Okay, so Yukari was 'a little mixed up'. Sheena was just going to have to help. Somehow.

Her thumb stroked the youkai's cheek. "Yukari... look at me. Please. I know I'm not the world's most comforting woman, but I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere. I can help. I don't know how I can help, but I can. You're," she paused a moment, "important to me. Let me help you find your way through the dreamscape if you feel lost there." She'd be like a lighthouse or something. Damn, her metaphors sucked.

"Please," she repeated, stroking her thumb across the youkai's cheek once more.

[mind_the_sukima]

Vulnerable as she was feeling right now, so confused, so conflicted, so not in control, so not like Yukari, Violet couldn't help but tremble a little at Sheena's touch, a small thing that called her back to sleep, to dream. The offer, both physical and vocalized, was so tempting, would be so easy to escape into again... the girl's sincere desire to help her made it worse. She knew she meant well, but a guide like that would only lead her deeper into fantasy, not towards reality, the place Violet really needed to go, no matter how harsh a destination that might be. No matter how difficult a journey that would be. And now she needed to take the first step.

"I'm... not sure if you can help." You're making it worse, but she couldn't bring herself to say it aloud. "The place I want to go... isn't the same as the place you want to lead me."

[mizuhomaiden]

That tremble really made Sheena worry. Something settled in the pit of her stomach, a foreboding feeling that spoke a warning to her, but the ninja paid it little attention. She shifted on the back of the couch, closer to Yukari now, as she hoped that maybe the contact would help.

Sheena just wanted her youkai to be happy - well, as happy as one can get in a ranch like this. Okay, that was a lie. She wanted her youkai to be happy and with her. There was more to the summoner's wish for the pact than a simple desire for power. Though, her resolve wavered a bit, that feeling in her stomach strengthening, when Yukari pretty much said she didn't want what Sheena wanted. Maybe she'd just interpreted that wrong.

"Then lead me, Yukari," Sheena replied with another soft caress. "I don't know what's wrong, but I'll go where I have to if it'll make things ok."

[mind_the_sukima]

Sheena had reacted better than she had hoped, though that didn't ease her worry any. It did make it a little easier for Violet to take the next step though.

At the stroke of the girl's thumb, Violet brought her hand up to Sheena's, holding it. For a moment, it seemed she just wanted the comfort. But then her fingers wrapped about the other's hand and she gently pulled it away from her cheek, down from her face as she turned about to more fully face her. She met Sheena's gaze with eyes undetermined, but just determined enough to say what she had to say.

"I want for us to be able to leave this place," she said, a hint of desperation touching her voice. "I want to be able to walk out the front door and leave it behind us. I'll lead if you'll follow." She breathed out a little, tensing, faltering, gripping the hand she held a little tighter before she could find the strength to carry on. "I want me to be Violet," she continued, recalling the name she said "Raine" had called her, "and you to be Sara. Then we can finally get out of here."

[mizuhomaiden]

The ninja's fingers curled around Yukari's when the youkai took it from her face. She didn't like how almost weak those eyes looked when they met hers, Sheena decided as she waited for Yukari to tell her what was on her mind.

The first half of what the youkai said, she understood. She, too, wanted to leave the ranch and get back home. She had a couple words to save, after all, and a giant tree to stop. Taking the mention of the front door as something symbolic instead of literal, Sheena was willing to follow Yukari if the youkai had a plan to get them out. She even nodded at that point, still concerned why Yukari was acting so weird as if she'd lost her self-confidence, squeezing the hand back in encouragement for her to continue. And then she said it, about Violet and Sara, and it didn't make any sense.

The encouraging smile that had been on the ninja's face disappeared and she searched the violet eyes before her. Was this some kind of ploy the youkai was playing with?

"...but we aren't them," Sheena finally replied, confusion in her eyes. "You want us to live a lie just to take the easy way out? I don't understand..."

[mind_the_sukima]

Violet almost looked away again as the smile fell from Sheena - no, Sara's face and she made that denial. For a moment, her eyes did flick away, but the woman steeled her resolve and brought them back to bear on the girl. Another step.

"But don't you see? There's nothing easy about this," she pleaded. "Easy is pretending we're someone else, that its this place's fault and not our own. Letting go of that and accepting who we really are is the hard part. I want to be Violet. I am Violet. As fun as it was to be Yukari, I just can't afford to dream any longer."

It was so much easier being Yukari. But as long as she pretended she was the youkai, she would never see her family again. And that wasn't something she was willing to give up on just because it would be hard.

[mizuhomaiden]

Sheena blinked slowly. This wasn't... It didn't make sense. Even with what had happened to Raine, the ninja did not see the parallel between the two instances. As it was, she completely forgot about the morning with Raine, focusing solely on the youkai.

Yukari was right about one thing; this wasn't easy. Sheena was starting to feel like she'd swallowed one of Colette's chakrams with the way that feeling in her stomach seemed to begin to slowly shred her insides.

"I know who I really am. I know who you are," Sheena said. "What is it that's waiting for you that you want so bad you'd give up your identity to get back?"

[mind_the_sukima]

For every bit of hurt confusion she could see on the girl's face, Violet hurt even more inside. She needed to be strong. No matter how good Sheena's intentions, she couldn't waver, both for her own sake and for Sara's. That was the right thing to do, wasn't it?

"What's waiting for me? My life. My company. My friends. My family," she listed sadly, her eyes dropping down. "My daughter. She visited just a couple days ago, you know? She misses her mommy and all she had to talk to was someone who barely even recognized her. Can you imagine that?" She found herself gripping Sara's hand tightly, wanting to let go of this painful bond but unable to. When she spoke again, it was very quietly. "You have people waiting for you as well, don't you? Your grandfather and that boy you call 'Corrine'... he came to visit you, didn't he? Don't you want to see them?"

Maybe if she could just get Sara to remember, then she would understand what Violet was saying. That would be better for both of them if she could. It would be easier on both of them if she could.

But life's never easy if it's interesting, murmured the voice in the darkness of her mind. Violet ignored it again. She didn't want interesting. She wanted just to have her life back.

[mizuhomaiden]

My daughter.

With those two words, Sheena went still, her mouth hanging partially open. Yukari had never mentioned being visited by someone. She never mentioned that there was a real or made up daughter. She... Gods, did she just--

Where did that place Sheena? Daughters had fathers. What did this mean in regards to this thing her and Yukari had? Was there ever really anything there, or was it as she'd initially thought - that the ninja was nothing more than a toy to play with and pass the time to stave off boredom. What did she think saying such a thing would do to Sheena? As if the ninja could bare to be some... 'other woman' like she was some kind of whore.

She couldn't nail any of her train of thought down with how it was spiraling, her own hand tightening as she tried to make her mouth work.

'I'd prefer to keep my ninja in one piece.'

"I... I'm not part of that life, am I?" Her words, when they finally came out, were quiet and fragile. "I don't have anyone outside of here. My grandfather is in a coma that I caused. Corrine... he's gone. I... I don't belong anywhere."

'Besides, there are plenty of benefits to being mine.'

Words once spoken to her tumbled amid the ninja's thoughts.

'The pros would be that I'd be invading your privacy because I want to know more about you, following you around because I enjoy being with you and never leaving you alone because I'd hate for you to be lonely.'

Were those all lies?

"S-stop it. Just... stop," Sheena replied, her voice shaking a little as she dropped her eyes. "If this is some kind of cruel ga--" She cut herself off as she felt her insides twist. She knew Yukari was going to end up hurting her, she was positive of it, but this was not how she expected it to happen. Family. Daughter. Daughter.