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]

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.

Most of the night before had been clouded in a red haze, but he recalled the victims clearly. This was the boy he'd tried to kill, the one that woman had lost her life protecting. That he'd be approached by him now... The ninja wasn't sure how to react. Staring for a few moments longer appeared to be the best option at first, but he eventually managed to kick his brain into gear enough to manage a slow shake of his head.

Should he stand? Apologize? Get on his knees and beg forgiveness? He'd never been in a situation like this and thus didn't have anything to compare it with. In all his missions, he'd never once killed someone without meaning to - without a reason. It wouldn't surprise him if this boy tried to stab him once his guard was down, but he made no attempt to keep his guard raised in case he did.

[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.

"I was half lying when I ran into you," he admitted for starters. "It's true that my roommate is a member of the cake club, and it was possible that he was in the kitchen, but it had never been my goal to check on him. He has his own friends and doesn't require my protection. I was only interested in your friend, who had dropped a stealthy, ninja-esque persona before meeting with you."

He shook his head. "I was curious, and I shouldn't have been. I only wanted to follow the two of you." And he forced his head up now, in order to try and look more sincere. "I'd never planned on killing her."

And he was sorry for that. Sai was sure that was one of many unfamiliar feelings assaulting him now. "After we went into the room... I'm not really sure what happened. I'm still not very good with identifying emotions, but I think there was just... a lot of anger." Something he'd never felt that strongly before - if at all.

[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.

That took most of his attention until Okita was practically on top of him. Okita - why was Okita attacking him? He'd done nothing to the man recently, hadn't even seen him much over the past few days. What reason could he possibly have to...

The woman. Everything came back to that woman, obviously a skilled fighter. It was possible that they had known each other - that they worked together. If he'd killed a friend of a friend, then perhaps it would be best if he stopped fighting back. The man had a right to his retribution, after all. This might have been what the thing in the sun room had intended from the very beginning. Who knew how much information about the patients it was privy to.

He prepared no other countermeasure.

[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 attacker wasn't relenting though, and they were fast and--

"OKITA STOP!" Heiji shouted, throwing himself forward in an attempt to just get himself between Okita and Sai. No time to face Okita or extend his arms or anything--just an attempt to get in the way of the attack. Heiji knew from personal experience that his speed didn't match Okita's in the slightest, but if he didn't do something, someone was going to end up dead. And he'd had enough death for one day.

[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.

No, Homura resorted to something far more chaotic. He couldn't let Okita kill the unnamed boy, even if that boy himself willed it. The damage to Okita's psyche once he knew the truth would be too great if he wasn't stopped now. Hattori tried, but Okita likely remained too blinded by his sorrow to even hesitate, and injury to his puppy would only wound Okita as well.

So at that last moment, when there was finally a gap he could cross, Homura threw himself at Okita, counting on his greater mass to throw the swordsman off. There wouldn't be any helping where they could land; this wasn't a delicate maneuver by any means. Homura's goals were simple at that point: eliminate the precision needed for Okita's weapon of choice, and get them out of there before the nurses managed to sedate them. Not simple, given the momentum of both men would leave the four in a tangle of bodies. But Hattori and the other would have to free themselves; Homura would have a difficult enough time keeping Okita contained in the mess.

[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.

Just as he stopped to twist around Heiji, however, something heavy hit him from behind, pushing him haphazardly forward. The force of the blow sent him toppling off balance and the pen flew from his fingers, skittering away on the wooden floor. In his mind he prepared to reach for the next one, hidden in his left sleeve, but his body wasn't ready to move that fast yet. Instead, it was being carried forward, smashing into Heiji and then stumbling forward crashing into the table and into Sai. Someone had him pinned and Okita began to struggle, trying to get his hands free.

"Let go of me! LET GO!"

[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. Not when he was fighting, not when someone else's life was at risk, not when he was angry. It was as loud as his voice would go, unchecked by any concern for people around them, and denoted how far gone Heiji was. It was a desperate, pleading, frustrated, scared, and cathartic yell that left him breathless as he scooted back to protect Sai should Homura's hold fail.

"He didn' do it..." he repeated, arms shaking, voice a hoarse whisper. "He didn' do it, it wasn' 'is fault, he didn' do it..." Heiji repeated, wishing he was somewhere other than on the floor of this goddamn bar.

[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."

Hattori could tend to himself and the other boy, or so the initial thinking went. But when the detective started to scream, he earned a sharp glare from Homura, so very different from the patience that the demi-god had shown earlier. He sympathized with how terrible the ordeal had been, but Hattori could not fall apart now. Not when he was one of the only things keeping Okita from making a mistake.

"Get yourself together, Hattori!" Homura was working his way to his feet, Okita still in his grasp, though it was no easy task. His physical power was the only thing keeping Okita in check, and Homura had to move with his captive to maintain the restraint. "The nurses are going to be here any second, and you don't need to get sedated again. Make sure he's all right, and you--" Now to the apparent murderer. "Don't throw your life away so easily."

Because that wouldn't solve anything; it wouldn't end Okita's grief, and it wouldn't be true justice. So Homura wouldn't allow it to happen, for the sake of the man struggling in his arms.

At last he stood, and Homura pulled Okita towards the door. It wouldn't be an easy thing to escape now, when patrons had no doubt left to find their caretakers. "We need to leave here now, Okita. You won't be able to do anything for her if you're sedated, and you know it."

[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 why wasn't he fighting back? Why hadn't the ninja fought back? And why would Heiji of all people defend him?

Still struggling, Okita was pulled out the front doors and onto the main street into the rain.

[And back out to here]

[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."

[tsunagari]

Sai was already half-way standing, but he accepted the offer of help anyway. The hit to the head hadn't been as bad as he'd thought, and it was doubtful he'd suffer anything like a concussion from it. There'd just be some lingering pain for a while. "Thank you."

His question had gone ignored, despite the fact that Heiji had been about to ask more just before Okita had snapped on them. Perhaps the situation was such that going straight back into that conversation would be awkward, in which case the ninja was willing to wait. The information might be difficult for him to give, anyway.

It looked like the other man had gotten Okita to stay away from them for the time being, though he hoped he hadn't hurt him further. The last thing Sai wanted was to put him through further pain. He was at a complete loss, and it remained such a strange, empty feeling.

[osakapwnzu]

Heiji nodded at Sai's thanks and righted Sai's chair before returning to his own and righting it as well. His shoulders slumped slightly--the detective looked tired though, instead of wilting under all of the sour looks the two of them were getting now. If they hadn't looked too thrilled to see the patients before, now... well, Heiji was surprised they hadn't been thrown out.

He sat down heavily, wishing he could have a drink now. He really felt like he could use one, after that adrenaline spike and crash.

"Okay... what w's I sayin'...?" Heiji muttered to himself as he waited for Sai to sit down.