NIGHTSHIFT 52: M31-M40 Hallway

[guardiancomplex]

[Currently M36]Touya had thought that the last vestiges of his exhaustion due to the drain of his power had all but vanished, but apparently it had made one last stand. Touya awoke briefly when his nurse had brought in dinner, the last thing he remembered being talking with Yue in the hall

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M36

[winged_moon]

[from here]

As usual it took little time to make the short trip from his room to Touya's, and this time there was no sign of the young man in the hallway along the way. It was no matter, really; Yue had come to pick him up enough times that it was hardly unusual. Still, something seemed a little off about tonight, though it was likely just a combination of every night he'd been trapped in this place thus far. One ominous intercom announcement was much like another, after all.

Or so he told himself as he moved along the dark hallway, careful to avoid anyone else along the way and not quite hurrying before he paused outside of M36. A brisk tap on the door received no answer, though, and Yue frowned. Had Touya perhaps left early, and they'd simply missed each other in the hallway?

After a moment the guardian finally just entered, hesitating to listen -- and heard the faint sounds of two people breathing, the soft and slow breaths of someone deeply asleep. That Touya's roommate would be sleeping there wasn't out of the ordinary, but Touya? Had he perhaps relapsed to the state he'd been in when he first arrived? Surely not. How could that have happened? Yue certainly felt no stronger than he had the night before.

He moved forward, cautious in the darkness, and lowered himself to rest on one knee beside the bed before reaching out to rest a cool hand against Touya's forehead. No sign of a fever, at least, so he was unlikely to be ill. But... had they both slept the day through?

[guardiancomplex]

The laundry needed to be hung, now that Yuki was taking care of the dishes. His pancakes had always been delicious, but Touya didn't expect anything else from someone who not only cooked for themselves all the time, but ate enough for a whole family.

The sky was bluer than he'd seen in quite a while. As blue as he had hoped it would be when he and Yuki had confessed to one another. Well, a sunset had worked just as well.

He grabbed a shirt from the basket and slipped it onto a hanger. Before he could hang it, he felt arms around his middle. Touya smiled. He didn't have to look to know who it was.

"Touya."

"Yeah?"

"Touya," Yuki repeated. Touya kept smiling, though his eyebrow came up slightly.

"I heard you the first time, what is it?" There was something cold on his forehead. He looked forward, startled to find Yue in front of him, fingertips on his brow.

"Touya."

Eyes blinking open and wide, Touya's disorientation only increased when he found himself in the dark instead of out in the sunlight. It was cold instead of warm, and Yuki's arms weren't around his waist.

Right. He wasn't at home. He was still here. The dream may have been vivid, but it was a dream.

Touya took a moment to register that there was a hand on his forehead, and for a brief moment he wondered if it was his mother again. That was impossible, even if the figure kneeling beside his bed had soft hands and wings. It wasn't...

"Yue...?"

[winged_moon]

It was almost like the first night Touya had been in this place -- at that time he'd still been recovering from the fatigue caused by the loss of his magic, so drowsiness had been normal. Or as normal as such a situation could be, of course. This, however, seemed to have been caused by something to do with the Institute itself, which meant it was far more alarming than in the past. Not that Yue cared to express such a sentiment, of course, choosing instead to simply make a mental note to keep watch on the situation. Whatever was going on seemed to have affected him as well, after all.

Unlike the night nearly two weeks previous, though, Yue didn't start back when Touya awoke as though he'd been doing something wrong. Instead, the guardian simply rose to his feet and folded his arms across his chest in a smooth gesture, giving the young man a small frown. If the two of them were sleeping an unnatural amount, then what about Sakura? Did it mean something was wrong? Had Landel done something?

"You don't seem to be sick," he observed after a moment's consideration. He could very well be overreacting. What if Touya had simply decided to take a nap after dinner? A dinner that he... didn't seem to have touched, however. "Did something happen?"

[guardiancomplex]

"Ah, right--" Touya finally managed to put together why he was feeling as though an explanation was necessary. He had slept all day and Yue was probably cross that he hadn't so much as left a note.

"Sorry, I just... I don't know," he said, sitting up. "I remember meeting you in the hallway, and then I woke up and my nurse was bringing in that," he pointed to his tray. "I must have slept all day. I'm fine though." He hoped. He hadn't slept this much since he had first arrived and could barely see straight even after a full night's rest. Looking down at his knee and frowning, he brushed the spot where he swore he could still feel Yue's hand on his forehead.

"Why did you think I was sick?"

[winged_moon]

It was difficult to say if that was encouraging or not -- Touya didn't remember anything, but neither did he, which still left them with no explanation for why they'd apparently somehow missed a day. Yue turned that thought over and over as though expecting to find some sudden realization, then finally shook his head, his wings lifting in a wordless shrug of sorts. "It was a possible explanation."

After a moment more of silence the guardian's frown deepened, his gaze shifting toward the deeper darkness to the side rather than at Touya. "I only woke a few moments ago myself." And if neither of them was sick, then their options were far fewer. The signs seemed to indicate the Institute was at fault, but he couldn't allow both of them to vanish and leave Sakura behind. That simply wasn't an option.

[guardiancomplex]

"You slept through today too?" Touya sounded surprised and worried for a moment. Of course, if something had happened to Sakura, Yue wouldn't be sitting around here right now talking about fevers. So this was just some kind of fluke... right?

"We can't be vanishing," Touya said firmly, getting out of bed to make his point. "I told you I wasn't going to disappear on you and I meant it. If I have to... poke myself to stay awake I'll do it."

His eyebrows came together as the thought sank in. Disappearing. Leaving Yuki and Sakura alone. "Sakura needs us both anyway. We can't leave her."

[winged_moon]

"We can't." Yue was quite firm as he echoed Touya's words, even going so far as to glance back and meet his eyes. They were in agreement on that point, at least; neither of them wished to leave someone in a place like this, much less someone they cared about.

(For half a second Yue thought he felt something from Yukito in response to that thought, but it was gone quickly and he dismissed it from his mind as unimportant.)

"She is still in her room," he added after a brief pause to be certain the situation hadn't changed, turning toward the door with a soft rustle of feathers. "We should go." Especially since they hadn't managed to make it to her the night before, a fact that was making the guardian distinctly unhappy.

[guardiancomplex]

"We should go," Touya confirmed. Under normal circumstances Touya might have wanted to linger to talk to Yue about how he was doing after seeing Clow, but given that they had both slept through the day and Sakura possibly couldn't sense them both, it would be best to make contact with her as soon as possible.

He picked up his flashlight and opened his desk drawer to fetch the weird ring he'd found the day after they had ended up at home. He showed it to Yue briefly before slipping it into his pocket. No doubt the guardian was already aware of what it was, after all.

Items collected, Touya took two strides towards the door and stopped. He turned, eyebrows pulled together ever so slightly.

"How are you?"

[winged_moon]

With the agreement Yue's thoughts had turned entirely toward Sakura, considering how quickly they could make it to her room, what hazards they might encounter along the way, and whether he really did sense the presence of her magic in that direction. Hopefully she hadn't been worried enough to leave the room on her own and come looking for them -- she hadn't yet, not even on that night when Yukito and Touya had been... delayed, but there was always that chance. The thought of her alone and defenseless (or was she? There was that odd aura of one of the cards that he hadn't been able to investigate yet...) made him want to fly there as quickly as he could.

He'd made note that Touya was bringing the ring along with him with only a flicker of acknowledgment, then started to move on... only to pause when the young man abruptly halted and looked back at him. Was that concern? Whatever for?

"Fine," Yue replied, though with a hint of confusion rather than any sign of hostility. Was Touya really expecting any other answer? He was uninjured, and the other day's disturbing events had been... dealt with. "Why do you ask?"

[guardiancomplex]

"Just making sure, I guess," Touya said. Maybe it was a little random and completely out of nowhere, given that he hadn't asked about it last night. However last night came and went so quickly, he hadn't had much of a chance to do anything except assure Yue that he wasn't uncomfortable or nervous about being around Yue after their discussion the night previous.

"Things around here... have a habit of not going away so easily. I didn't know if it was still on your mind or not." Clearly Sakura was at the forefront of everyone's mind, though. Typical for Yue, so Touya wasn't so very concerned.

"Anyway. Let's go to her before she decides to come to us."

( To here.)