Day 49: Late Afternoon - Crossroader's Bar and Casino

[unheroed]

From what Harvey could tell, he'd gotten through that little encounter with Lana without raising any suspicions. Or if he'd caused her to raise a mental eyebrow, it probably hadn't been in any serious way. She truthfully wasn't so bad to spend time with, but the fact that she was a female attorney who knew her way around and didn't scare easy meant

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[tsunagari]

A bar and casino was an interesting place to be led into by a nurse, but it had been the closest location, and the woman was apparently not satisfied with him standing outside in the rain and staring vacantly down the road. Sai was sopping wet, even in the coat he'd been given, and the owner was clearly displeased with him dripping his way across the establishment's floor. With the rain falling in heavy sheets outside, the nurses didn't seem to believe there was any other option. Otherwise he would have returned to the street without complaint.

The building smelled faintly of alcohol and damp wood, the latter likely because of the current weather. He found an empty seat against the back wall and made his way there, content to wait out the storm without bothering any of the customers. None of the glares effected him anyway. They held a general hostility that he wasn't responsible for, and how they felt about him hardly mattered in the long run. After all - they, like the staff were just another extension of the Institute.

[for

[osakapwnzu]

After assuring Shinichi and Kaito that he didn't need a babysitter (and that it'd be better if he took a walk by himself for an hour or so), he hunched his shoulders against the rain and moved away from the Tasty Burger.

The rain started to come down harder though, and Heiji could only motivate himself enough to stay mostly out of it, hopping from overhang to overhang. Until the nurses began to order patients inside, whereupon Heiji began looking for someplace he could take refuge in and not be bothered.

Peering down the street, he saw someone familiar (painfully familiar) enter one of the buildings. Ignoring the shouts of a nurse to get inside immediately, Heiji's shoes pounded the wet cement as he ran for the door Sai had gone into. Why he was running towards his attacker and the instrument of Sen's death, he didn't know. Maybe he just wanted to know it was gone. Maybe he wanted to know why. Maybe he needed to get Sai's perspective

[tsunagari]

Sai heard the boy approaching, but he didn't turn to face him until he realized he was being addressed. Lifting his head slowly, his expression changed from an absent blankness to a stunned stare with a bit of delay as the teen's features registered

[osakapwnzu]

"Thanks," Heiji said, sitting down across from Sai and folding his hands on the table. He really couldn't bring himself to look Sai in the eye yet, but he knew he'd have to at some point. If he didn't, he'd always be afraid to face Sai and remember what had happened. It was better if he did it now, when he was already so beaten and bruised.

"I just... wanted t'know what happen'd. On your end," he began, continuing to look at his hands. "I know... it wasn' y'r fault. Somethin' got t'ya, I jus' wanna know what y'remember."

He looked up at Sai, a mix of pain and embarrassment on his face. Maybe he shouldn't have come--he hadn't really thought of how Sai was taking this. For all Heiji knew, Sai was worse off than he was. Maybe that was why he looked so surprised to see Heiji asking to sit with him...?

"I know 's... prob'ly hard t'relive 'n all. It's hard f'r me t'process too. So if y'don' wanna talk about it righ' away... s'fine." Though Heiji desperately wanted some sort of answer, he wasn't going to push Sai for it.

[tsunagari]

The boy had been able to tell that he'd been controlled by something? In hindsight, he supposed it might have been obvious. Heiji didn't know him, though. As far as he was concerned, that could have all been normal behavior for Sai. The ninja was having an equally difficult time meeting the other's eyes

[notachick]

[from here preceded by a flying bar chair]

Immediately after throwing the bar chair in Sai's direction, Okita flicked his wrist and pulled his pen from its hiding place. Sai was the target, not Heiji. Never Heiji. Poor boy had to get away, sure, but right now, all of Okita's anger, his betrayal and rage and grief was tunneled into one single objective - killing Sai.

Sai had taken Ayumu from him. Had tried to hurt Heiji and even if they were speaking calmly now, there was no way Okita could let Sai get angry enough to kill again. If his anger was that uncontrollable, then he had to be put down before he hurt someone else Okita cared for. As much as he hated to do it, he attacked his friend to kill.

Okita held the pen in an overhand grip, bringing it up as he swung it at Sai's neck, trying to aim for the artery that provided blood to the brain. The swordsman's mind was on autopilot now, taken over by the singular goal of killing his opponent.

[tsunagari]

The ninja might not have been in the most self-preserving of moods just then, but certain instincts kicked in automatically. There was a large object headed in his direction. Identified - chair. Weight and speed were enough to cause serious damage. Batting the object aside wasn't an option - too large. Grabbing it was the best option, using the forward momentum it already carried but diverting it so that it instead hit the wall behind him

[osakapwnzu]

Well, Heiji had discerned that much. He figured that Sai wouldn't have taken Sen and Heiji to an explicitly public place to kill her. He would have suggested they take a back route, or go back to a patient room, or send Heiji ahead to look for something. As far as Heiji was concerned, the location they were in was the key factor in working out this particular mystery. The Sun Room had always been a dangerous location. It was just a matter of figuring out who or what had been controlling Sai.

"This is prob'ly gonna be real hard then, 'cause I need t'know exactly--" Heiji looked up at Sai and caught something out of the corner of his eye. Someone was lifting something. Throwing something large.

A chair entering his line of vision, heading towards Sai, caused Heiji to get to his feet. He knew he couldn't stop it, much less get there in time to shield Sai, but his legs reacted anyway. Apparently this was a good thing too, since someone was making a beeline for Sai, even after Sai had thrown the chair against the wall. The

[screwthegods]

Damn! Homura couldn't react quickly enough to keep the chair from flying, but he knew what would come next. He had started forward at the same moment as Okita, but the man had always had an advantage when it came to speed. Beyond that, the layout of the tavern kept something between them for most of the way, tables or chairs, or even other people. There simply wasn't enough distance between them and Okita's target for a clean countermeasure

[notachick]

The chair banged against the wall and Okita adjusted his aim for where Sai would likely be now. Something was wrong though - Sai wasn't fighting back. He wasn't moving to protect himself nor was he trying to attack or even counter Okita's--

"OKITA STOP!A new body in the frame and Okita had to twist to avoid hitting Heiji. Why would he try to stop justice from being exacted? Was this how justice went in the future? Men who killed were killed in return and Okita wasn't about to let anyone interfere. Heiji wasn't fast enough to catch him, even if him throwing himself into the battle meant Okita had to be careful. Hurting the boy was not the objective here - killing Sai was

[tsunagari]

That wasn't anticipated. Sai's eyes widened as Homura threw himself at Okita, effectively knocking all four of them down. Heiji fell back into him, and he was knocked to the ground, his head hitting the wall behind him rather painfully and leaving him momentarily stunned.

Someone was holding Okita down - the same man that was responsible for this pile in the first place. This would have been a good opportunity for him to get back to his feet, perhaps help Heiji up as well, but he was still stunned. So he just remained where he was, holding his head with one hand and scooting back just enough to allow the other boy room to move.

He had no more desire to fight the swordsman now that he was on the floor than he had when the attack had first come at him, thus he had no reason to help restrain him either. He'd make better decisions, perhaps, once he was less dizzy.

[osakapwnzu]

Heiji had been momentarily surprised by the lack of impact when he threw himself between Okita and Sai, but then he had to deal with the shock of impact when he was wondering where Okita had gone. He figured that one out pretty quick, as the three (four?) of them went toppling to the ground, Heiji's back landing square on Sai.

Chaos ensued for a moment, Heiji wondering who was on top of him and who was on Okita and who was trying to get out from under him. The chair had been bad enough, but now being knocked to the floor had just disoriented Heiji even more than he had been.

He shoved himself up onto his hands and took stock of what was going on. Homura had tackled Okita to the floor and pulled him off of Heiji. Sai was behind him, looking as though he'd hit his head. Okita was screaming to be let go so he could kill Sai. The chaos, the fighting, the injury... it was all sending Heiji into overload again. He couldn't help it, he snapped.

"HE DIDN'T DO IT," Heiji shouted, in a tone that he'd almost never heard himself use.

[screwthegods]

Whatever position he landed in, whoever fell along with him, the only thing that mattered to Homura was keeping his hold on Okita. So when his friend struggled, Homura only tightened his fingers, digging them into flesh to the point of bruising. "I am not letting go of you, Okita. Not until we are out of this building

[notachick]

Homura had him to the point where his arms hurt, fingers digging into his skin and bruising if not cutting into the skin with the force that Okita threw into his every movement in an attempt to get away. Although he heard Homura and Heiji talking, their words hardly registered. If Sai hadn't done it, he would be fighting back to protect himself. His lack of motion and defense spoke of guilt and a desire to repent for his actions through his own death. Heiji screamed that Sai wasn't to blame, but he had admitted it himself and nothing would stop Okita save for the fact that no matter how hard he tried to break away, Homura wasn't letting him go.

"You killed her! He killed her!" The accusations shot out of his mouth before he could think of it, both at Sai for having taken his only family here and at Heiji and Homura for stopping his hand. Okita strained against Homura's stronger grip as he was pulled toward the door, his eyes focused singularly on Sai as he was moved against his will. "I won't let you get away with this!" But

[tsunagari]

The reprimand from Homura left Sai staring after him. It also served to clear his mind a little. The man sounded like someone he'd heard before, but he couldn't place it at the moment. He'd saved his life for now, and for that he'd get himself into gear. The ninja began pushing himself upright, using the wall behind him.

"I'm sorry." He apologized to Heiji again, still holding a hand to the back of his head. "I... didn't know she was familiar with Okita-san. That makes it worse." No blood, but there might be a slight lump soon. Hopefully he wouldn't end up with a concussion, though that was an odd thing to think when he'd been about ready to give his life up minutes before. "We were on good terms with each other."

His eyes strayed toward the door, and he ignored the stares from other customers, glad that none had bothered to offer assistance. When he was certain that no one would be coming back in, he leaned against the wall tiredly. "Now... what else did you want to know?"

[osakapwnzu]

Heiji stayed on the floor until Okita and Homura had left, both struck by Okita's furious words, and hoping to protect Sai if Okita broke free and attacked Sai again. Once he was sure that Okita wasn't coming through the door with another pen, Heiji got to his feet unsteadily.

"It would make it worse if it w's somethin' you'd done voluntarily," Heiji said, wincing at a bruise he'd not doubt have on his back in the morning. He offered a hand to Sai.

"Let's get you up, b'fore a nurse comes in 'n thinks we started it."