Night 46: F1-F10 Hallway

[thatdamnedninja]

Dinner-cake included-sat untouched on the desk, surrounded by her growing collection of colorful origami animals and guarded by her notebook. Her three knives were lined up on the bed in order of size alongside her old outfit, with the wakizashi next to them; the Four Point was propped up carefully on the side of the bed

Comments

F2

[mizuhomaiden]

Absently, Sheena took the long red ribbon from where she'd left it all dinner and tied it about her left wrist. She stared at the trailing ends for a long moment, not in any hurry to rush out of her room. It was common for her to rush out, and she didn't feel like doing anything she normally would have.

Tucking the ends of the ribbon underneath her arm guard so they wouldn't fray or loosen, she sighed. Hopefully, 'Violet' was sleeping at the moment and would stay sleeping. Sheena felt a pang of shame that she was willingly leaving the youkai in a vulnerable state, but she just couldn't put herself through all that again. She couldn't look into those violet eyes and not see her youkai. Not this night.

Sighing, Sheena sat down on her bed and sighed. Gods, she was pathetic. For Martel's sake, she was supposed to be stronger than this. She'd lived over a decade as a pariah, not wanted by anyone really. Why was this so much harder than that? The ninja examined the newest cards she made in an attempt to hide the source of her thoughts from her roommate. Surely, the girl would assume it was because something was off concerning the cards, not the ninja's heart. Surely.

Re: F2

[mind_the_sukima]

After lunch with Luxord, Yukari had predictably fallen asleep on a couch in the Sun Room once again. This whole awake all night and day thing was just so tiring. Dinner had been uneventful and Yukari had taken another quick nap after eating and putting on her purple dress and ribbons - all but one that was missing.

Well rested, the youkai woke up when the intercom went off. Uncharacteristically, she was out of bed quite quickly, no grogginess or yawning. She let the girl avoid her all day so far, but it was time to go find her and set things straight.

Quickly heading down the hall, Yukari burst in the room mere seconds after the head doctor finished talking, not bothering to knock. Hopefully the ninja hadn't been even faster.

"Good evening!" she announced brightly with a smile, standing in the doorway. "I'm here for one sulky girl who's been avoiding me all day!"

Re: F2

[mizuhomaiden]

As the door burst open, Sheena instantly got to her feet and drew her hand back, ready to unleash her cards at the intruder. It was a good thing she caught sight of the purple dress and recognized the voice (her lit flashlight resting on the bed) in time to stop her throwing motion.

"I am not sulking! And that's a real good way to get exploded," she snapped back. "Do you even understand the concept of knocking? I could have been getting changed or something."

And then her brain caught up to her mouth, causing her to immediately turn away from Yukari. The dress... the words... was it really her youkai? She'd turned away so the brief moment of hope that had flickered across her face hadn't been seen. As things stood, she wasn't sure if she even wanted to look and see if it really was her youkai. The last thing she needed right then was to get her hopes up only to find out 'Violet' was pretending to be Yukari again.

"Go back to your room. I'm not babysitting you tonight," she said in a quiet, extremely controlled voice.

Re: F2

[mind_the_sukima]

Yukari only laughed the girl's protests off; whether she trusted the girl's skills or her own, or perhaps just didn't bother thinking that far ahead, the threat of being accidentally exploded didn't seem to faze her. As far as knocking was concerned?

"Walking in while you're changing is half the point!" she said with a big grin as she stepped inside. Despite what she was here for, she gave no indication of noticing Sheena's unease or knowing the cause of it.

"And I don't need babysitting; am I not allowed to bother my favorite ninja?" she asked, coming up behind the girl and lightly laying her hands on her shoulders. Seeing as how Sheena was the only ninja Yukari knew at this time - certain play-acting ghosts aside - it wasn't a lie.

Re: F2

[mizuhomaiden]

Tensing a bit at the contact, Sheena tilted her head down to let her bangs conceal her eyes. It certainly sounded like Yukari was back to herself.

"...oh, so I'm a ninja again? I thought I was supposed to be some mentally disturbed woman that just thought she was one."

Re: F2

[mind_the_sukima]

"Oh, would you prefer that?" asked Yukari, still smiling. "Violet couldn't quite pull off Yukari, but I'm sure Yukari could pull off Violet if you'd like to continue that little charade."

Should she have been taking this more seriously? Possibly. Was she going to? Not a chance.

"I prefer ninja though; those at least might end up in Gensokyo. Crazy's a currency still in circulation in the Outside World still."

Re: F2

[mizuhomaiden]

"No," Sheena replied a little too quickly. She did not want 'Violet'.

"I am not crazy." A pause. "Well, no more than I'd have to be to get involved with you,' she grumbled. Leaving her left arm to hang down at her side, Sheena brought her right up to barely touch the youkai's hand.

"...who am I? Tell me. And be completely honest for once."

Re: F2

[mind_the_sukima]

The youkai chuckled and intertwined her fingers with Sheena's.

"That's quite a deep question," she said facetiously, pretending to think it over. "Is the summoner Sheena? Is the ninja Sheena? Are the exploding cards Sheena? Then, perhaps, all these things put together are Sheena? If not, then who is this that I'm talking to?" she mused aloud, "for surely there's no Sheena to be found!"

The dramatic air lasted for about a second before Yukari broke off into giggles. As much as one might refuse to be dragged into the youkai's pace when conversing with her, she too resisted being caught up in the serious tone Sheena was presenting. She'd already wasted enough time moping about; she wasn't going to do more.

Re: F2

[mizuhomaiden]

Yes, this really was her youkai; no one else could irritate Sheena this much. Oddly enough, the tension in her shoulders lessened and she leaned back just the slightest.

Giving an irritated sigh, she raised her head though did not look back at Yukari. And then, a chuckle came from her. "Maybe you're right. Maybe you're wrong. Maybe I am all of that. And then, maybe I am not. I am Sheena, yet I am not." Sheena wasn't her true name, after all.

Re: F2

[mind_the_sukima]

Hands where they were, it was easy to feel the ninja relax. Yukari smiled and wrapped her free arm around the ninja's shoulder, pulling her close with a smile.

"Hmhmhm, well, whoever you are, know that I'm back now," she said, giving Sheena a squeeze. "Well? Are you relieved? Happy? Finally going to stop sulking about and running away from me? Don't think I didn't notice that today."

Re: F2

[mizuhomaiden]

In response, Sheena did the only thing she could think of. She turned around, finally made eye contact, then wrapped her arms about the youkai. Pulling Yukari into a warm hug, she rest her head on the youkai's shoulder.

"Yeah... I am," she said after a long moment, her eyes closed. "Think you can keep from being shoved into a mental box again?"

Re: F2

[mind_the_sukima]

Yukari smiled and patted the girl's head, affectionately ruffling her hair.

"I make no promises," she warned, though her tone was benevolent, "since shoving people in mental boxes seems to be a specialty here." Well, at least she hadn't been brainwashed to attack Sheena; Yukari wondered if that would have been better or worse for the ninja. Probably not as bad on the mental front, especially considering the girl's reaction this morning.

"And sorry about this morning," she added in a tone that surprisingly sounded something like a real apology. "I was still... dreaming a little. Waking up, half-caught in the illusion."

Re: F2

[mizuhomaiden]

Sheena had been wondering when Yukari had become herself again, the morning lingering in her mind, but she'd been afraid to ask. Since the youkai supplied the information for her, giving her the closest thing she'd ever heard to an actual apology, she loosened her hold enough to look at her.

"...you're forgiven," she finally said. "That's why I ran, you know. I just... couldn't pretend I was handling things, like I pretended last night." Her eyes closed. "I really must hate myself for having put myself through all that last night."

Re: F2

[mind_the_sukima]

"It just proves you can't keep away from me~" Yukari teased. "You belong to me now~"

She laughed, though a part of her mind reminded her that she had said the exact opposite just yesterday. Well, Violet had. One of the major reasons Yukari was rather irritated with the temporary guest inside her head. Well, Violet had her own circumstances, circumstances with Yukari did not. Though Ran might shake her head, there was no one in Gensokyo who could stop the Youkai of Boundaries from spririting away whoever she wanted.

Re: F2

[mizuhomaiden]

Sheena gave a bit of a snort. "Thinking a bit too highly of yourself, aren't you? I managed quite well to avoid you when I actually tried." She was not about to admit that the belonging comment made her feel better. Still...

The ninja dropped her gaze then and a little color came to her cheeks. "Umm... Yukari. You... uh... dumped me yesterday." A pause and then she looked up. "Undump me."

Yes, it was a technicality since really, Yukari hadn't done it, but this was Sheena. Some things she just needed to hear.

Re: F2

[mind_the_sukima]

It seemed the same thoughts had been on Sheena's mind - and how could they not? Her evasion all day had probably revolved around them. It would be so easy to just say the words she wanted to hear and make everything all better... but since when was easy any fun?

"Hmm? What was that last part? I couldn't quite hear it," she said with a grin that said she clearly had.