Night 50: M101-M110 Hallway

[idontregret]

Weapons in hand, Heat was out in the hall the moment the doors opened. There had to be something, a scent in the air that might alert him to the presence of one of Landel's creations. His hunger wouldn't be denied for another night. Though he was still without his flashlight, that didn't really matter. His other senses should be enough to find

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Re: M??

[bravados]

He stood by the hook of the old warehouse crane a little longer, drenched and staring at the characters some triumphant young fool must have spray-painted there months ago: The Blue Dynasty is dead. The sky has fallen. There was no right answer to which color he'd label the dead by... and this time, he wouldn't make bets on blue, yellow or whatever color represented no-color-at-all. He even vaguely entertained knowing better than that.

But it was useless hoping to keep the others calm, not after the Dullahan and the Slasher appeared before them like that. Masaomi's faith in the Yellow Scarves went only as far as to trust that if a fight was brought to them, they would fight back. So he said little else and went home, rain doing nothing to speed him there. He thought he wouldn't be able to sleep that night. He wanted to go see Saki, but visiting hours were over. A smaller, weaker part of him wanted to call Mikado, wanted to tell him to stay close, or maybe to stay away... majestic and masterful though Masaomi knew himself to be, he was back to being up to no good lately....

....And he must have drifted off - must have shut his eyes and dreamed - must have kept dreaming - because the next moment he opened his eyes, he was not in his room. It was dark but he could tell, in the way someone who's used to places keeping still could tell: his desk wasn't where his desk was supposed to be. His table wasn't where his table was supposed to be. And his bed - which also wasn't where it was supposed to be - had no business dumping him in a foreign one, much less when its occupant wasn't looking. More importantly, he could hear someone else in the room, breathing and moving.

Masaomi laid sedately and blinked slowly for what felt like a long, long while. Not the longest of his life, no, but pretty close. He'd heard of lucid dreaming, where a person could control what they saw in their sleep, after all. So he imagined himself on a bright beach - Tateyama's beach, two hours from Ikebukuro by train. Saki (and not any weird... kidnapper) beside him, smiling, wearing a cute bikini and straw hat or something like that. Nothing changed.

There was a loud, wooden noise - the other person knocking about. Masaomi ignored it and raised both hands to pinch his own cheeks. Nothing... changed.

He bit his tongue and poked himself in the eye before giving up. He might as well accept that he was stuck in a two-thumbs down version of a Hanejima Yuuhei movie for now. Maybe the Dullahan did something, maybe there was something in the myth he didn't know. Maybe this was a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. Maybe he'd gone mad. Maybe he was dead. Did the dead get stuck in two-thumbs down versions of Hanejima Yuuhei movies?

A light being clicked on and pointed right at his eyes derailed him from the thought, and Masaomi shielded his face with one arm as he pushed himself upright with the other. "Hey, hey, those stage lights are waaay too bright! What's with that?" He laughed as suddenly as he started calculating the chances he'd get killed, especially if he wasn't dead yet... and felt around for something he could fight with, just in case. "Ahh, I don't have a contract, you know, but I'm first in line to sign up if you've got a Juliet, asking wherefore art thou, Romeo~!"

Re: M??

[repelling]

About his age, dyed hair (Kurosaki's may have been natural, but though Uryuu's expertise laid more with fabrics, he knew at once), and those initial details were all he managed before the boy began to move and speak. (Those details not blurry because despite a failure to detail it before, upon waking, one of the first things performed was an instinctive search for and donning of his glasses). It took Uryuu a moment to understand; though they spoke the same language, he was talking nonsense. Stage lights? Romeo and Juliet?

Obliging at least this far, Uryuu dropped the light from the guy's face, catching a grey shirt with a yellow smiley face symbol. Having taken stock of his own unfamiliar clothing, he knew they matched. Prisoners? The smell indicated that, if so, they were in a hospital.

"What?" he hissed, whispering on instinct - despite the fact that he'd just made more than enough noise with his graceful propulsion into the desk. Then, the frank if irritable query: "Are you insane? That would explain..." no, not an awful lot, as Uryuu knew, knew that he was not mad, that it had not been a dream, his fingers twitched, "...a little."

Again struck by two divergent impulses: to take a seat in chair or on his bed, overcome by all of it, sort out his thoughts, or to busy himself with some shape of effective action. He shook his head, turning back to the desk, aiming the light as he pulled open the drawer. Without looking back, Uryuu added dryly, "If you aren't, then consider that this may not be the right time for Shakespeare."

Re: M??

[bravados]

Masaomi dropped his arm slightly once the light was lowered, peering over his forearm to see what he could of the other person. A kid around his age (an irritated one at that), pale and sporting a smiley shirt. It contrasted with the guy's tone, even if it matched the oddness of the situation. Had he also been kidnapped?

"Then what?" Masaomi asked, after a moment, ignoring the jab at his sanity. Mikado often commented on it too. "You're not a stalker, are you? If that's the tragic case, forgive me, I've promised my heart to someone else...." And he found he couldn't even joke about sharing his body, especially not when he didn't know where he was.

His searching hand found a metallic object by his knee, and after a little deliberation, he brought it out from under the covers to glance at. A flashlight for him too? Since the other kid didn't seem like he'd be flipping out on him anytime soon, Masaomi snapped the flashlight on and shined it around the room. It really looked like a hospital....

There were shoes which weren't his beside the bed, though he decided he'd wear them anyway. Finally tugging at his covers, he noticed he the clothes he was wearing weren't the ones he'd had on before either. Total surprise. His shirt had the silly smiley too, even if Masaomi would never buy anything like it.

There was no avoiding the question, it seemed. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

Re: M??

[repelling]

A stalker. It did not cross Uryuu's mind that there were some who might accuse him of it. He ignored the question, in part because of its ridiculous finish, and in part because no, of course not. A cursory understanding of the situation (or, no, there was no understanding, thus of the observable facts) ought to have shown that they were in the same position. Not that Uryuu could rule out a possibility of a plant. A dramatic suspicion, but considering everything, why not?

A flashlight for the other guy, too. Uryuu paused in taking stock of the room and his ostensible possessions (given that one side mirrored the other, it seemed reasonable that little would differ), to try the light switch beside the door. Flipped up, flipped down. Either on automatic control, and this period served as lights out, or a power-outage. Either way, if he was a prisoner (and he must be), it seemed strange to provide a flashlight. Especially one per bed.

In the closet: shirts, sweatshirts, coat, shoes. Pens, keyring, and batteries in the desk drawer, a journal and radio on top of the desk. Uryuu moved to the single dressed and pulled open each draw, sifting through undergarments and sweat pants, searching for anything else. At one point, he held up a pair of smiley-face patterned boxers, his expression twisted into clear distaste. As a last measure, he took a pair of underwear, an undershirt, and a pair of sweat pants, scrutinizing each item (cheap, but without labels detailing fabric and brand) before folding them on his bed.

"I don't know," he answered, finally, walking back around to his desk, which he bent over as he turned on the radio. Static. Uryuu fiddled with the knobs, trying other frequencies. "I don't recognize the logo."

Not that he knew every logo in the world. Perhaps, he ventured mentally, something occurred in Karakura. Something with Aizen, something that shook through all worlds, something that had displaced him, but into this? He needed to find Inoue-san. That was vital; he couldn't sense her, but he wasn't completely confident in that. Not with such bizarrely low concentrations, not with the odd presences he could sense.

"It smells like a hospital. It doesn't feel..." no, leave spirits out of this, "Nothing" on the radio. Switching it off, he marched over the door, not very surprised that it opened. Uryuu swung the light along the hall, then up over the room number, then let the door close as he retraced his steps to the desk. A moment as he surveyed the items again. Turning to his bed, he took hold of the pillow and pulled off its case. In went the folded items, more to follow. Pivoting again, to set the case down on his desk. A pause as he pushed at his glasses, and looked over his shoulder. For once, dramatic speech outside of battle sounded near appropriate (well, it always did to his ears).

"The power is out, or it's lights out, indicating a prison. I've never heard of any prison or hospital that provided flashlights to each patient... though, I'm not an expert. If this were a medical hospital, then there would be machines, we ought to have been monitored. It smells like it, however, suggesting a psychiatric hospital. If so, the doors should have been bolted. Even if the power failed, a back-up generator, and if that had failed, orderlies. I've already made plenty of noise." As if he'd done it on purpose. "In sum, not a bit about this makes sense, never mind other technicalities. I assume that as you asked where we are, that you don't know this place, and thus I assume that you also have no memory of arriving, or even of being abducted."

Uryuu stopped, focusing again on his desk. He shook his head, and crossed to his closet. "Whoever they are, they want us disoriented and they want us to leave this room. I've little intention to stay, though the trap seems obvious."

Re: M??

[bravados]

Contrary to being reassured that he was with, for all intents and purposes, what sounded like a pretty logical guy, Masaomi found himself a little put off by the prognosis. This guy was calm for an abductee too. Did he have experience with this sort of occurrence? If so, maybe it was just a lame reality show set in a hospital-prison. Stranger things had happened in Ikebukuro. Probably.

Putting the shoes on and stretching as he got up, he ruffled his hair and wasn't shocked that it was completely dry, though it'd been damp when he laid down. "I see, I see. There's no point in staying. It must've been a few hours since I got here too."

Either that or a timewarp, which didn't sound so strange, the longer he thought about how he could've gotten here in the first place. He didn't feel sluggish - wouldn't he, if he'd been drugged? Or magic? Could it be? What kind of evil witch did this, and where was his fairy godmother? Taking his flashlight with him, Masaomi walked over to the door and opened it again, taking a look for himself.

"And if someone was going to hurt us, they would've come in and done it by now." He didn't believe that enough to be convincing - he wasn't inclined to paranoia, but that was, probably, what this ominous "they" wanted them to think. A mental hospital was starting to seem like the most likely situation. Masaomi didn't think he was the sort of person who'd be useful for collecting a ransom, at least.

Turning halfway to face the other boy, he pointed down the hallway. "We might even find someone who actually knows what's going on." Left or right, right or left... might as well turn right. "Don't worry! I, Kida Masaomi, will take it upon myself to lead the way~!"

M??

[repelling]

At "his" closet, Uryuu removed a sweatshirt and t-shirt from their hangers, draped them over his arm, then bent, putting on the boots and picking up the sneakers. He folded the shirt and sweatshirt, tucked them into his pillow case, followed by the sneakers, then the keyring, ten of thirty pens, the journal, a set of batteries, and the radio. It was an irritation, not having his standard belongings, that would include a portable first aid kit as well as a sewing kit. At the very least, he would make to be prepared with what he had. Satisfied, he bunched one end of the case and twisted it around his hand.

How the other guy had come to the conclusion that it had been a few hours, Uryuu wasn't sure, but the specifics of that didn't seem to matter. Standing back, he observed the guy at the door. It wasn't a bad observation, though; that they had been easy targets, lying in bed. It only made the outside more ominous. Despite recent advances in the field of teamwork, instinct still left Uryuu disinclined to work with someone else; especially a stranger. The vapid vigor displayed could very well be an act, along with the ignorance.

Yet, he could deduce no clear advantage to either going it alone or going with his "roommate". When the guy turned back to him, introducing himself along with an obnoxious declaration of leadership (his eyes narrowed), Uryuu stepped forward, switched off his flashlight, and pocketed it.

"We'll only need one." Let Kida-san use his batteries, as the leader. Stating the obvious, but: "Someone, information, a way out... there's bound to be more out there. Then I, Ishida Uryuu, will follow you, Kida-san. I recommend refraining from speaking from here on out, and if we must, then whispering."

By following, he could watch Kida-san. Anyway, as an archer, it made better sense to hang behind.

Re: M??

[bravados]

Hearing the other (Ishida-san, now) follow, Masaomi waved a hand forward, quieting, creeped out enough to think it a good idea. These halls were bare, white and empty, though there were doors to what he assumed were other rooms lining one side. But no windows. Was it a big place? Did people actually live here? Even Raira General wasn't like this. He couldn't imagine leaving Saki alone there so long if it had been, even though they'd broken up.

He angled the flashlight so it pointed at the floor, just enough to light their way and not be so noticeable to anyone who might be lurking around the corner. Once they got to one, he paused to listen for any other noises. Less numb to the fact that he was here in the first place, the anxiety in Masaomi's gut reared and made itself home as he cautiously lifted the flashlight to illuminate the next corridor.

There wasn't anything that popped out at him, nothing he could see in either direction. Just another empty hall. A couple more doors, though, spread out further from each other than the rest had been. That merited checking out, right?

So he headed toward the closest and pulled the door open, slowly, glad it didn't creak. Sound effects were the last thing they needed. Aside from a slight echo, when no noise yielded from there either, he put one foot past the door frame and looked about with the flashlight. A restroom. Also empty.

He turned around, minding his volume. "Nothing to see here, Ishida-san, unless you need the restroom."

Re: M??

[repelling]

A row of doors and empty hallways. Did the numbers on the doors suggest that there were at least one hundred rooms, or did these function as those on the first floor of a hotel, 100s for the first floor? If there were over one hundred, were there that many prisoners, at least two hundred? Uyruu filed away the questions; without a way to answer them, they were only distractions.

As Kida-san moved to examine the near door, Uryuu shifted his stance. Already tense as they crept through the hall, he made ready to shoot if needed, to drop his sack and gather spirit energy into a bow. He did not feel silly when told it was a restroom; perhaps a little let down.

Something aggravated by his esteemed leader's commentary. His lips thinned, until Uryuu found himself thinking about it. It wouldn't have been a surprise if he'd needed to, it had been a long time in Hueco Mundo, and who knew how long here. Fortunately, he did not "need the restroom", but it struck him that a cursory once over with the flashlight may not be enough. Without answering, Uryuu pulled free his flashlight (switched on) and walked closer, dropping the pillowcase before entering.

[brbing to here ... annnd back!]

Switching off the flashlight and again pocketing it, Uryuu stepped past Kida-san with an arc of his eyebrows. With a tone that suggested he believed the guy could probably use one, "Showers as well, if you're so inclined."

Not that he believed Kida-san would be. Uryuu redirected his attention to the new hallway.

[which is over here! SORRY FOR 100 EDITS.]