Night 50: M51-M60 Hallway
[M60]Honey's words from that afternoon still bothered Sai as he sat on the edge of his bed when the doors opened. Unlike the previous night, he'd changed back into his black ninja attire now, that damned kunai held loosely in one hand. He had a job to do, and though there was the danger of Okita attacking them again tonight, he couldn't just
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And just as planned both women seemed to fawn over Mitsukuni after his introduction. The blond was indeed Natalia and she definitely addressed everyone and carried herself like the aristocracy he and Mitsukuni were accustomed to when they were Hosting. She seemed particularly taken with Mitsukuni, too. Mori smiled slightly and then nodded to both women as they introduced themselves. Amaterasu was the one Mori was worried about the most. As a goddess brought to earth, there were bound to be things she wasn't used to and as humans faced with the Sun Goddess herself, Mori wasn't entirely certain how to properly...entertain her. If entertain was even the right word.
But with everyone here, Mori reached into his pocket and pulled out the two recipes he'd written down earlier during dinner - for chocolate cake and white cake with strawberry frosting. He knew the necessary ingredients were in the kitchens from the food the place put out, so there was no doubt that the group could make it. And it wasn't as hard as replicating the cheesecake they served here. With the papers in hand, he knelt to Mitsukuni's level and handed them to him with a questioning look, asking him to choose which one they'd make tonight.
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"Mm! Most people call Takashi by Mori. It's ok! You have such a long name! Oh- but it's really pretty! Are you a princess then? Is it okay if I call you Lia-chan? Or should it be Lia-hime? Ah- I forgot too! Usa-chan, I'm so sorry!" it was hard to choose between Nata-chan and Lia-chan, but both were cute. Hopefully she wouldn't mind. It was an awfully long name to try to call her by and he always preferred giving the people he liked fun and cute nicknames. He held up the pink rabbit so that both girls could see, patting him a few times in apology.
"This is Usa-chan, he's my very good friend too!"
He realized with a bit of guilt that he'd been neglecting the other girl. She was really pretty too, but in more of the classic Japanese beauty sort of way. Her movements seemed a little forced, but maybe that was just because she was nervous. He offered her a gentle, but encouraging smile as she bowed and nodded his head in return. But he nearly gave himself whiplash as he popped back up, hearing the girl's name.
Amaterasu? Like... like the Amaterasu?! Honey's mouth formed a perfect O in surprise and his big brown eyes widened. There was no way, right? It wasn't too big of a stretch... maybe the girl's parents were just eccentric, naming their children after deities, but...
He glanced to Takashi, confirming his suspicions. It made more sense then, didn't it? Why he'd arrived with the girl so carefully in tow.
"Ammy-sama?! Is it really Ammy-sama?!" he squeaked with excitement, reaching out to take the woman's hand and squeeze it gently with a sort of childlike awe.
Not wishing for either girl to feel neglected, he turned back to Natalia, smiling brightly. It wasn't until Takashi pulled the recipes from his pocket that he actually felt grounded again. Tonight was going to be a really special night. A princess(he'd already decided) and a goddess! They'd hosted a variety of girls at Ouran, but never like this!
"Ah... I want... Strawberry!" he decided, excited for a new recipe in addition to all the rest. How many more surprises could he handle? It was really unbelievable! "Is that ok? Lia-hime? Ammy-sama?"
[ooc: feel free to have the language change over the course of Honey's post? He tends to chatter so he probably wouldn't have heard much of the announcement if anyone had a radio on them.]
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Honey said an awful lot all of once that Natalia felt she should address; it became a little harder to focus on and organize each item, because he was so cute. He even introduced his rabbit! How old was he? She meant to thank him for calling her name pretty, to note that long names were quite common in her world, to express surprise that he had correctly guessed her position -- but all of that paled upon receiving a nickname.
Natalia had never had a nickname before, and receiving one kept the color strong on her cheeks.
"T-that's all right," she managed, though unsure what the difference between Lia-chan and Lia-hime was, "You may! No one's ever given me a nickname." Before she could test the sound of it on her own tongue, he held out the rabbit and she made to pat its ears in greeting. "It's very nice to meet Usa, too."
Oblivious to the significance of the name Amaterasu, Natalia meant to give the girl a smile and bow of her own, when the fonmachine under her arm began to make noise. Jumping, she nearly dropped it; she had not turned it on, how peculiar that a voice would be coming from it! She listened to the message, not completely understanding; for the second time that night rings were mentioned, only she had not found one among her things.
When the message ended, Natalia looked up quizzically, intending to ask the others if they had the rings in question. Before she could, overhead, the intercoms blared with that man's voice. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to keep calm and listen to his words. She winced at the piercing sound; when the intercoms fell silent, Natalia wondered--what language had the doctor spoken at the end?
More importantly, Honey seemed to be speaking, and only two words made any sense at all: Lia-hime and Ammy-sama.
"My apologies," she said slowly, shaking her head, "would you mind repeating that? I think I must have stopped paying attention, what with those announcements. Marc certainly seemed sincere, though I'm afraid his kindness doesn't help me, as I am without a ring."
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Like Takashi, he was in awe at the mention of her name. But that was not what had caught her attention.
Ammy.
He called her by her nickname. The same nickname that Issun had given her back in Nippon.
Amaterasu's jaw slackened and she stared at the small boy as he squeezed her hand. She was filled with a mixture of emotions, but could not seem to bring herself to speak. Her fingers tightened around his hand for a few seconds, but she let it go as soon as he turned his attention towards Takashi's list of recipes.
A burst of noise from Natalia's direction startled the goddess, but before she could investigate what it was, a voice came from above. It was the same voice that had roused her from her bed as night began; the cruel man's voice. A growl rumbled deep within Ammy's throat and her muscles stiffened defensively as she listened to his words.
But the last bit of speech he said was foreign to her. Was that another language?
The goddess glanced towards the other three to see if they had noticed it, too. Honey had just finished deciding what kind of cake they would make (she was glad he had chosen strawberry because she hadn't the faintest idea as to what a 'chocolate' was), but Natalia, looking puzzled, spoke up.
Her words were a jumble of alien words and incoherent sentences. Amaterasu tilted her head to the side and blinked back at the blonde girl in curiosity.
". . . What?"
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Two announcements and then, suddenly a screech of static loud enough to hurt his ears and send his mind reeling. What was that?! The Head Doctor was still speaking, but Mori could only catch parts of what he said now. He had studied enough foreign languages (and been abroad enough times) to recognize and pick out certain languages, but he hadn't expected the Doctor to just....change like that.
Shaking his head to rid himself of the uncomfortable feeling left over in his ears, Mori picked up the recipe that Mitsukuni wanted to make and nodded, folding the chocolate cake one up and putting it in his pocket for later. He then turned to look at the others and realized something else. Whatever Natalia was saying? Mori couldn't understand a word of it. It wasn't in a language he understood or one he'd ever even heard before and he cocked his head to the side, watching her lips curiously to see if he could at least figure out something. Even...Amaterasu's words were odd now. He could understand them, certainly, but it was like listening to someone speaking straight out of a Classical Japanese textbook.
".....?" What in the world just happened? Looking back to Mitsukuni for a second, Mori then cast his eyes back to Natalia. "Repeat that?"
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He caught the look from Takashi, nodding, and decided to try it out, just to be safe. "I can't understand Lia-hime anymore," he pouted, looking a little forlornly in her direction. "Did something happen? Mmm... it's not because Lia-hime doesn't like strawberry cake, is it? If it makes you feel better, we can do chocolate instead, ok?"
Honey pattered a few steps closer, looking worriedly up at Natalia, then glancing back to the others. "Ammy-sama and Takashi still understand though, right?"
It would be bad enough if they couldn't talk with one person, but how would they get anywhere if they couldn't talk to each other? Takashi didn't need words so much and he know he'd understand if Honey needed anything, but not everyone had that kind of bond. At least he'd understood Takashi just fine when he'd spoken last, so that was ok, right?
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When Honey joined in, Natalia recognized that he and Mori spoke the same language, and it did sound similar to Amaterasu's. Even noting that much made her head ache. The sounds, syllables and inflections and tones, nothing at all like words, made absolutely no sense to her. She pressed her hand to her forehead, and in doing so, remembered the weight of the radio.
That sound that man had played; before it, she had understood everything. Natalia remembered, connecting ends with a speed not entirely like her, that she had wondered at her ability to read books that were apparently from the planet Earth, that she could speak to patients from different worlds. On Auldrant, though everyone spoke and wrote with the fonic alphabet, it had not always been so, and even then, certain regions had local languages and dialects. It made no sense that those from different worlds would have no communication barriers (never mind that they looked the same, as science fiction of the extraterrestrial kind didn't properly exist on Auldrant).
Opening her mouth to share her forming theory, Natalia realized that as she had understood nothing of what Honey just said, he wouldn't understand her, either. Pursing her lips, Natalia struggled to reign in her frustration. How clever of Dr. Landel, and how obnoxious as well.
She gestured to the radio, then to her ears, cringing a little as if to say, that sound!, and finally, motioned to her mouth. Allowing that man to make this his victory was not an acceptable option, Natalia would simply communicate however she could.
Even if she couldn't read the recipe, she could at least watch! If pointed out which measuring utensils to use and what material to add, she surely could take part. Curious as to whether or not she would be able to read the recipe, she tried to motion to the card without pointing (as pointing, of course, was rude).
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Even stranger was Natalia. The girl had fallen silent, struggling to comprehend what they had said to her. But as her eyes flickered towards the box she held, her expression was filled with a realization unknown to the goddess.
Ammy blinked, watching as the blonde gestured from the box to her ears, then to her mouth. Had that loud sound damaged her hearing? No, no, that wasn't it. Perhaps Natalia was speaking in some sort of code? No . . .
Or maybe she was referring to the voice from a few moments ago? Things hadn't changed until after that man had spoken. Was it possible that he had changed the way people spoke? Absurd! Even the Gods themselves couldn't control their human children in such a way!
Amaterasu was suddenly concerned for the blonde girl. She reached out and grabbed for her hand, then turned to look at the boys.
"Can't . . . understand?"
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Then she did a curious thing. She began motioning to the radio, to her ears, and-- Ah, this was something he knew well. Nonverbal communication was something he used often and as he watched Natalia mime out her theory, he found himself agreeing with her. The sound had to be the source of it. The ache was mostly gone by now, but he'd been able to understand everyone until the screech happened. He watched carefully, then looked to the others. Amaterasu seemed very concerned and took Natalia's hand, looking at him and Mitsukuni as if pleading with them to help Natalia somehow.
Mori had no idea how, but now he knew - he couldn't leave them. Not like this. Closing his eyes for a moment, Mori nodded then looked over to Natalia, nodding slightly. He pointed to the nearby intercom and the radio, made a gesture with his hands to indicate the volume of the noise they all heard, then crossed his arms and finally pointed at his ears, tilting his head to side like he did earlier when asking her a question. Whatever that sound was, it had eliminated their ability to talk with each other. He took out the paper he had in his pocket and drew a picture of a cake and another of a strawberry, then showed it to her to let her know what they'd be making tonight.
Even without words, communication was entirely possible after all. Smiling at Natalia reassuringly, he turned then to Mitsukuni and slipped the paper into his pocket. He was certain Mitsukuni would understand that they'd be relying a lot more heavily on Mori's usual way of speaking and he hoped things would be okay. Then he pointed down the hall and inclined his head to inquire whether or not they all wanted to start toward the kitchens.
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Amaterasu had the right idea though. It wouldn't be fair to make her feel so left out! Honey watched as Takashi drew up a picture of a cake and strawberry and Honey was sure to nod at the image, reaching up to offer his hand to Natalia as well. Even if they couldn't talk, it was okay. They'd still get through this! Especially with Takashi, the master of talking without speaking. He and Honey had communicated without words lots and lots before and Honey never had trouble understanding. So this time it was his cousin's expertise they'd be deferring to.
He offered an encouraging smile to both of the girls and gave Natalia's hand a light squeeze and a tug, as if to ask if she was ready to follow.
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Mori and Honey too left her impressed. With his quick understanding (she responded to his nod with one of her own), and subsequent drawing (cake, she deduced, as that was the club's name, and that fruit must be a strawberry) and smile, Natalia felt immensely grateful for Mori. Her smile could hardly have been wider -- then Honey, too, offered his hand. It was difficult to manage with her radio, so first with a questioning look (May I?), Natalia bent to lay down the fonmachine just inside Honey's room. That settled, her fingers closed around the boy's.
Though they were barely more than strangers, though these were not the friends with whom she had traveled oceans and all the land, to the center of the planet and back, though they no longer spoke the same language, though they stood in the dark halls of a dangerous prison, Natalia felt warm, safe, and completely at ease. They didn't know she was a princess--and even if they had, she wasn't their princess, yet such kindness.
"Thank you, all of you." Giving each hand a squeeze of her own, Natalia bowed, to Honey, to Mori, and to Amaterasu, hoping the gesture would lend meaning to her words. Straightening, she looked brightly ahead, and nodded. Let them bake cake!
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The goddess's troubles were put to ease in an instant and she nodded enthusiastically to Honey's words.
Her feelings now differed greatly to the ones she had felt earlier in the day. She did not feel scared or hesitant. There was no more worry or hopelessness. Instead, she was filled with encouragement, confidence and affection for these people she barely knew.
Nippon was far away, no doubt. Yet, no matter how far she was from her home, Amaterasu was still the Sun Goddess and it was her celestial duty to take care of the earth's children and fill them with happiness. Until she could find a way to get home, she would do all she could to protect her new companions and all the other strangers in the institute.
But it wouldn't hurt to have a big bite of cake first.
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With Natalia guarded on both sides by Mitsukuni and Amaterasu, Mori knew it would be safe to lead the way. They'd make it tonight and even if he'd have to prostrate himself later for missing his meeting with his unknown teacher, this took precedence right now. Nodding to the other three, Mori turned and started down the hall.
[going here]
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