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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[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.

[tsunagari]

"I think you were about to ask more regarding the experience I went through last night." Sai's response was rather calm, given what had just happened. He sat across from the other teen, clasping his hands together on the table and looking as if he hadn't just been attacked by a crazed member of the Shinsengumi and was fully prepared to have a serious, perhaps even friendly, conversation. "Would you still like to continue?"

Stares from anyone else in the room went ignored. They'd be left alone soon enough if all they planned on doing was sitting here and talking. The townspeople didn't seem all that interested in interacting with them any more than was necessary. If they hadn't been asked to leave yet then they were probably fine.