Day 28; Bus 3

[fyeonly]

There was, Naomi decided, some sort of cosmic irony in all of this. Not that she was trapped in a deranged and possibly other-worldly asylum with a man she'd idolized for years and a boy who was being investigated for - among other things - the murder of her fiance. No, at this point, those were perfectly normal occurrences. Rather it was the

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[blood_and_pocky]

There was no such thing as an early-morning vampire (except for freaks like Ichijou), but there was so much to do. Aidou had no time for personal reflection when the sun rose; Akatsuki was here, and the tattoo was still present, and there was a ‘fieldtrip’ outside of the building, and he’d killed his own doppelganger last night…

Blood scent had a way of lingering, and normally that was pleasant. Not so now. He couldn’t stand his own scent everywhere, absolutely everywhere.

He took the proffered clothes without verbal complaint, although it was hard to mistake his expression for anything but utmost loathing. It was near thing that his upper lip hadn’t curled and revealed his fangs at the nearest victim. Cheap things were one thing… but he looked like a grungy teenaged boy. Teenaged vampire he was, but he was also one of the elite, and ridiculous Western band t-shirts (AC/DC, of an 80s variety) and blue jeans and sneakers were the height of poor fashion. It was despicable. So far removed from his usual image. But that was nothing

[broken_exorcist]

He didn't even have the heart to glance up out the window at the scenery and the town that was slowly coming into view. The bus rumbled along, reminding him of a bumpier version of a locomotive. He probably should speak with Rinali. She was upset with him... he wasn't sure of the specifics, but maybe a generic apology would be nice. He'd failed in more ways than he could count lately, he didn't know if he had it in him to apologize for each and every shortcoming.

Just as he let out a sigh, he felt something take hold of his arm and a familiar voice whispering in his ear. He jerked away immediately, edging as far from her as he could without physically jumping out the bus window. "Rh-rhode! Just leave me alone, can't you?" Apparently Ravi and Kanda had either had no luck with her, or had abandoned the assignment completely. He was supposed to talk to Renji and Rukia about her... today? He wasn't sure... he didn't really care to think much about last night.

[sugarsweetblood]

There was the reaction she liked. So cute and jumpy; it was just Allen that could make her so happy from simply starting at her presence. "Whyyyy, I haven't seen you since..." she paused mid-sentence, wondering exactly just when last it was she had seen him. Yesterday's events had been a complete mess because of that ghost woman having touched her, but Rhode knew she had been waiting for him last night.

That's right. Allen hadn't showed last night!

"Why didn't you come last night, Allen?" she pouted. Her words were playful, but there was actually just a bit of sadness in her tone right alongside the playing. Had he really intended to stand her up like that? To leave her all alone like she didn't even exist? She wouldn't be happy if she heard that he had been with his friends over her.

Allen Walker wasn't supposed to leave her alone like that.

[broken_exorcist]

What was wrong with the nurses here? Didn't they know better than to let her sit near him? Allen looked helplessly at the nearest one, but it didn't seem to do him any good. They only shouted at him to sit down which he did, though the look on his face was enough to tell that he didn't enjoy it.

"What... are you talking about?" Allen's face looked puzzled at the young girl. Did she know that Ravi and Kanda were supposed to have tailed her? Had something happened to them? Worry crossed his face for a moment, though he tried to dismiss it.

[sugarsweetblood]

"Don't pretend. I waited aaaaaaall night in front of the Sun Room for you, and you didn't come!" she scolded.

Half of that was a lie. She'd waited half of the night for him, then spent the rest dancing in the bloody showers and bathroom, and she had enjoyed every minute of that later half. Still, the fact that Allen hadn't shown up when she had been there irked her. He may very well have gotten there after she had left in search of the blood scent, but that was no excuse! Not in her mind.

When he sat back down, she grabbed and held to his arm again. He was supposed to be hers and no one else's whenever she wanted. When she waited for him - when she had the patience to do that instead of go look for him herself - he was supposed to come! That's how it worked. This time Rhode hadn't taken any hostages or forced him into the Ark for her games though. She couldn't understand that missing things like hostages or time limits meant that Allen wouldn't go looking for her. Wasn't he trained by now? Perhaps not. He would have to be trained

[broken_exorcist]

While Allen tried to wrap his mind around what she was saying, she managed to latch onto his arm once again. Allen squirmed, but didn't pitch the same fit he had originally. That would be all he needed was someone like that blonde boy to come along and see him like this. Or Rinali. That might be even worse.

He had said he'd play with her, though he couldn't remember giving her something so specific as the Sun Room during night time. But if she really had waited... that seemed odd in and of itself.

"I'm not going to come and fetch you every night. I had important things to do."

[sugarsweetblood]

"What's more important than me?!" she protested immediately, clinging tighter at his arm. There was yet another things Rhode couldn't understand. If Allen was her plaything, then there should be nothing more important to him than being there for her to play with! The vain Noah girl had never been taught to think of anything as more important than her. Well, aside from family, but that only applied to the Noah.

Allen Walker didn't have that out; she knew his only family had been that Akuma who cursed him. There were no Akuma here, and ever if there were, that one wouldn't be amoung them. Allen had killed his beloved father, the man who had left him cursed.

His defense of having not shown up at all nearly made her sick. She picked through every inference she could find in his words and whittled them down to a basic sentence: "You weren't important enough." That's really what he'd said, wasn't it? Or what he had meantShe wasn't important enough to him

[broken_exorcist]

He winced as her voice rose. He felt like a child being scolded for a wrong he hadn't even committed! Why she chose to cling so tightly not just physically, but emotionally as well was beyond him. He tried to pull away with a little more force, but her grip was stronger than she looked.

"Let go Rhode!" he said in a hissed whisper. "I had other things to do, there were people in trouble! It would be a lot better if you'd just stay in your room and sleep at night like a good girl." Did the nurses really expect him to babysit her like this?

[sugarsweetblood]

"No!" She had him right now, and wasn't going to let go or let up on her hold one little bit. Though she had met others here, Allen was still the only person she really knew and liked as an added plus. He was the only person she honestly could cling to, even if he didn't like it.

"That's even worse. My roommate's a boring human, you know." Rhode could barely stand being around something so weak as that. Allen should at least be happy that she'd yet to kill the red-haired girl she was forced to share a room with, but nooooo, he wanted her to stay in that room with her! Surely he could see just how bad an idea it was telling a Noah to deal with such annoyance.

If Rhode did end up killing her because Allen had wanted her to "stay put", then she'd be sure to make Allen deal with that guilt. Oh, now there was an idea!

[broken_exorcist]

Oh right, the roommates. Allen couldn't say he envied the girl who had to share a room with Rhode. He just hoped she'd be alright. The nurses would make sure nothing happened during the day, wouldn't they?

Allen fidgeted, still trying to extricate himself from her grasp. He was not about to spend the entire day walking around with Rhode like he was her babysitter... or worse, like some kind of horrible date. "What is it you want from me?"

[sugarsweetblood]

What she wanted from him? She'd already told him that back at the Rewinding Town! He was the kind little exorcist that had been cursed by his father-turned-Akuma. The Earl had told her aaaaaaaaaaall about Allen Walker, so far as he knew, of course. She even remembered her exact words to Allen that night!

"So I decided, if I was going to get involved with anyone, it would be you."

Word for word what she had said to him. She remembered his expression afterwards too. How his confusion had quickly turned to shock once she'd ordered that Level Two's self-destruction. How he'd jumped head first into an explosion to try and save that pathetic human's soul. How that Rinali girl had slapped him for it. And how she'd laughed. Such delightful memories of their first encounter. Yes, Rhode knew exactly why she had chosen Allen Walker and what she wanted from him for that decision

[broken_exorcist]

She seemed to be considering her response for a bit, and inwardly Allen wasn't sure what to think. Sometimes she did seem like a perfectly normal little human girl, but others... he knew all too well what she was capable of and he'd best make his intentions clear before this got out of hand.

"I refuse to make a promise I would never keep," Allen said calmly, returning her gaze. He might be kind enough to keep from killing another human, but that in no way meant he had to listen to her every whim and desire.

[sugarsweetblood]

She wanted to say that breaking promises was why promises were made, but he'd probably get mad over that. Instead, she opted for a much more tactful approach to shunning that problem of promises. "I didn't ask for you to 'promise', I just want you to say it. So, I can scold you if I'm with you and you leave me."

As much as she would have liked for a concrete promise from Allen that he wouldn't leave her alone - he'd never break such a promise for his kindness - she knew getting one was an impossibility. Even back in their own world keeping such a promise would have been nearly impossible. Here, wherever "here" was, things were worse than that. They were herded like sheep during the day. The showers kept her from him and the rooms when they were forced to their rooms at morning and evening. The nighttime was hard too because of having to first find people before you could be together

[broken_exorcist]

Giving his word was the same as making a promise in Allen's mind. Saying he'd do something when he didn't intend to at all was a lie, no matter how he justified it. Then again... he'd spun his share of lies over the past couple days. To Rukia, Renji, and worst of all to his friend Rinali.

"And if I refuse?" Allen asked, his usually bright face was serious and his mouth was set in a firm line. Not killing the Noah was one thing, but to go this far, surely he'd fall into Fault, his Innocence would reject him, wouldn't it? He'd be punished by God for such action.

[sugarsweetblood]

"Why would you?" she blinked, cocking her head just a little in confusion. He should have been satisfied with the fact that she was pretty much compromising. There was no real reason for him to refuse at all; she was (in her mind), being altogether fair. She was being fair!

Fair for her and not for him, but still fairer than she could have been.

[broken_exorcist]

"Because we're on opposing sides!" he said with just as much shock and amazement as she seemed to be showing. "You've hurt me and my friends, killed other people and exorcists like... like it's all just a game! You just can't... do all of that and expect me to act like I'm your friend!"

He felt guilty being so blunt, but it was the truth! Maybe she was trying to be better, he didn't know. But good table manners couldn't possibly make up for the deaths of so many! That was just absurd!