♞ tsurugi kyousuke (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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damned_lounge2012-10-31 10:56 pm
knightspirit) wrote in damned_lounge2012-10-31 10:56 pm
Entry tags:
Oktoberfest '12: untitled by aluria
Title: (untitled)
Author: aluria
Beta: NONE so it's probably riddled with lots of stupid typos, whoops
Word Count: 2848
Rating: S for Stupid
Character(s): Tsurugi Kyousuke, Murphy Pendleton (unnamed), a pair of unspecified assholes, extremely vague/unnamed appearance of Marc, a nurse, Martin Landel, and introducing Nishiki Ryouma. because I can.
Pairing(s): Nishiki/Japanese food.
Summary: One boy, and his passionate quest for delicious food. And another hating his life forever.
Notes: THIS IS REALLY DUMB AND SHOULD BE READ BY NOBODY. I also apologize to Faye for whatever hideous ways I messed up Murph by writing him canonblind.
The hardest part of being trapped in Landel's Institute wasn't the monsters, the bloodshed, the mind games, or any of the usual horrors that sprang to mind, but something much simpler: orienting yourself. People formed groups in their own way, and the responsibility of navigating through crowds of strangers and finding people to trust and team up with fell at the individual level. The fact was, there was no effective way to do anything on your own, so if you didn't make at least a minimal attempt at networking, you'd probably get left in the dust. Doing so was relatively simple, as there was always someone who wanted to lend a hand, but the fact remained that they were all strangers, from different times and lands and places, and no matter how well you got along with someone, you'd never work at the same capacity or comfort levels as you would back home.
... That was how it was for Tsurugi, at least. Maybe others had a better time of it. But he was from relatively peaceful world, and was now totally removed from both any familiar faces and his own age group. It got difficult to maneuver sometimes, but to tell the truth, it didn't bother him as much as it could have. A little loneliness was certainly preferable to dragging friends or family into this living hell. No desire to see them again could ever outweigh not wanting to see them get torn apart, or die, or even worse. That was what he thought.
Yet, while he was angry when Nishiki Ryouma first arrived as a patient, it wasn't long before he could only see it as a blessing. Like most of the members of Raimon, Nishiki could be kind of weird, but Tsurugi had always gotten along with him well enough. He was the kind of guy who was so laid-back he was difficult not to get along with, and if the two of them had one thing in common, it was that they preferred action to useless moping. So while neither was entirely sure how to go about things, it was easy for them to devote themselves to doing what little they could.
All considered, Nishiki settled in as well as could be expected. He never did fully adjust, but then, nobody ever did, not really. Confusion and frustration were the norm here, and only an idiot wouldn't be at least a little scared. Both avoided speaking of it, but they didn't really need to; those sorts of things were easier in company. After a few days, however, Nishiki began to seem like he was being dragged down, and it got worse with every meal. He never spoke of what had him so down in the dumps, so Tsurugi didn't press him about it. It was worrying, but for now, all he could do was watch.
... And the note came. Pinned to bulletin was a small scrap of paper, with bold black print reading, "Tsurugi! Could you meet me in the halls tonight? I need your help with something!"
"Sure, I don't mind," he wrote back. "What do you need?"
"We're making rice!"
...
...
...
...
...
... ... ...What?
For a long moment, Tsurugi simply stared. After many uncertain marks from his pen, he finally wrote back, "... Nishiki-senpai. Shouldn't we be focusing on something more important...?"
"My samurai spirit can't survive on all this Western food!" came the response. He'd seen it before, but now Tsurugi had to realize. This guy... was unbelievable.
He wanted to outright refuse, but there were a few things Tsurugi was certain of. The first was that even if he said no, the other boy would simply go on the errand without him. The second was that the only person capable of making Nishiki see sense was Midori-san, mostly because she was the only person who went out of their way to punch it into him. Third, this place was a thing straight from people's nightmares, and he didn't feel quite right ignoring a friend's request for something that would cheer them up, even if it was completely inane. ... In the end, he'd just have to tag along.
Night fell, and Tsurugi made his way to their meeting spot with an increasing sense of dread. He couldn't believe he'd agreed to this... But it was too late to back out now, so he'd just have to bear with it. Of course, even if they had it planned, there was one very obvious flaw in the execution, so before they set off, Tsurugi made sure to get that out of the way.
"... By the way, how do you intend to cook it? There's no power at night," he pointed out reasonably. Supposing there was any rice to begin with, which he wasn't convinced of; the staff had never served any to them before.
"That's easy!" Nishiki respond brightly, grinning. "We'll go outside and start a fire!"
Tsurugi's already uncertain facial expression became even more dubious, at that. ..... In other words, they were risking their lives for comfort food.
The kitchen wasn't far from the patient blocks, so getting there didn't take much time. Bizarrely, it seemed that they weren't the only ones who had decided to go on a midnight food raid, as a couple cabinets were already open. They split up, and set out to to search for their prize. First they found a salt shaker, which would be useful for flavor. Next was a stoneware pot that would probably hold up in a fire. Tsurugi placed the salt, bowls, forks, some juice, and miscellaneous snacks in a bag, and while he was preoccupied with that, Nishiki managed to procure a large sack of white rice. So there was some here after all... Tsurugi wasn't sure how to feel about that, torn between the prospect of having to go out to prepare it, and the excited expression coloring his friend's face.
... He still couldn't believe this was even happening.
But since they had everything they needed, all that was left was get water to cook it with, so Tsurugi turned the tap. ... Except what came out wasn't water. The faucet sputtered, giving out erratic bursts of a thick, murky brown. He waited for a moment or two, but in the end, he had to turn it off. It was clear that this was never going to be suitable for consumption.
"What the heck is that!?" Nishiki exclaimed, holding his head in horror. "What are we supposed to do with that!?"
Well, that was the end of of that, Tsurugi supposed. Nishiki, on the other hand, wasn't prepared to give up just yet.
"...Oh, that's right! Tsurugi! You've been here a little while. Do you know any other places we could get water?"
Clean water, huh... There was the pond in the courtyard, but that didn't seem particularly sanitary. Which left... "... I hear there's a river outside the walls," he thought aloud. "I don't know where it is, though." That meant it was probably best left alone, since wandering aimlessly here wasn't safe. ... Or so he would have thought.
"That's great! We'll just have to ask someone, then. Come on, let's go!" Nishiki hefted the bag of rice onto his shoulder; Tsurugi placed the small bag of supplies into the pot and carried it by the handles, so bewildered and yet so completely unsurprised he couldn't even protest.
The Sun Room was devoid of people, since most patients avoided the room whenever possible after countless numbers of attacks there (or so people said). Thankfully, their trek back through it remained quiet and peaceful, almost politely so, given that they'd make easy targets with their arms full of supplies. Maybe the terrors of the night had decided a couple of fairly defenseless boys weren't worth the effort. The hall outside, on the other hand, was filled with beams of light painting decayed walls with strange shadows. Small groups were meeting up in hushed voices, while others were simply passing by to other areas. The person nearest to them was alone, a scruffy-looking man in his late thirties, whose weapon of choice seemed to be a desk chair.
Oh no... Not him.
"Excuse me, mister!" Nishiki called out. Tsurugi, meanwhile, immediately placed his flashlight into the pot with the supplies, attempting to hold it with one hand as he hurriedly pulled up the hood of his jacket with the other. "We're looking for the river! Do you know where it is?"
The man looked a little startled to be addressed, but recovered quickly. "Oh, uh... Yeah. Yeah, sure. Just climb the wall outside and keep going right."
"Sure, thanks!" Nishiki responded, and started off, despite not having the slightest clue which direction he was supposed to be going. ... It was the right one, at least.
"Wait! Are you guys going with all that?" the man questioned, eying the items they were carrying. "If you need an extra pair of hands or something—Look. It's dangerous. You guys shouldn't be going out like it's some kind of camping trip. If you let me hel—
—Hey! Listen to what I'm saying!" But Tsurugi had already hooked his own elbow with Nishiki's, and dragged his friend around the corner, out of sight. He felt a little bad since he actually agreed with what the man had been saying, but there were other problems, and this was much easier.
"What's with you? Hey, the more the merrier!" Nishiki protested as he was dragged along.
"... Just trust me on this one," Tsurugi returned.
"Well, sure, if you say so," the other boy responded, unperturbed. "Anyway, where's this wall we're supposed to be finding?"
"Just down the hall," Tsurugi informed, indicating a door in the distance. They pressed on, passing the occasional patient just making their way out of the patient blocks, but when they reached the door, Tsurugi paused. "... When you get outside, it's better to just run," he explained. "Sometimes, this area's protected. I got attacked, here, once."
"Sure, sure, leave it to me!" his companion grinned, and they pushed their way through door out onto the field.
Contrary to his advice, Tsurugi paused; he still intended to run, but he wanted to take in his surroundings first, just in case. Something about it seemed... strange? Or was that his imagination...? He frowned, and glanced to Nishiki.
"... Do you hear that?" he asked.
"Hm?" Nisihiki took a few step forward, straining his ears. "I don't hear anyth—WH-WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING!?"
There was a gust of wind as a black shadow dived past, and doubled back. A huge, bird-like creature spread its wings before them, its steel beak and talons covered in what looked to be dried blood. They stared, for a moment.
"RUN!" Tsurugi shouted. Instinctual teamwork kicked in, and the two boys bolted in opposite directions across the recreational field, weighed down awkwardly by the objects they were carrying.
The creature went for Nishiki first, swooping in to sink its metallic beak into him from behind, but he very narrowly avoided being ripped apart by diving forward at the very last second. It pierced and left an awkward hole in the back of his shirt, but he came out unscathed. ... His shirt probably would have been too, if he'd actually let go of the giant sack of rice he was carrying.
Its prey having escaped for the time being, it swooped back and made a similar lunge to Tsurugi's front. It seemed to make its arc expecting him to keep running, but instinctively, he did the exact opposite, skidding to a full stop. There was a sickening metallic sound as its claws scraped the metal pot he still had in his hands, and it gave an angry screech as it rebounded away.
("Who the hell are these two idiots trying to play Survivorman?" asked a patient who happened to wander onto the field in the middle of the mayhem.
"Dunno," his companion responded. "Who cares? Let's just let the kids play and get the heck out of here." The two scrambled over the activities shed and disappeared.)
Meanwhile, in the course of trying to evade a very angry, very murderous bird, Tsurugi and Nishiki had finally managed to toss everything they were carrying over the wall, and were now having a much better time dodging. Problem was, they couldn't get over the vines quite yet, because the slight delay would be enough for them to ripped to shreds.
"Hey! Birdman!" a voice rang out. Tsurugi took a chance looking back to find that there was now a third person on the field, a man who was currently angrily waving a chair like he was in a bullfight.
That idiot! This was exactly why hadn't wanted to stop and talk to him...! Yet, Tsurugi's anger was short-lived. ... It was hard to be mad a at guy risking their life to save you when the creature they were trying to distract completely ignored their existence. Even when he threw the chair at it, it simply jerked angrily like it had been bitten by mosquito, and lunged right back toward the two teenage boys as if the man wasn't even there. Tsurugi grit his teeth, rolling forward to barely avoid having his face ripped off.
"Tsurugi!" Nishiki hollered. He'd managed to make it to the portion of the wall partially covered in vines, and was slightly hunched down. He didn't say anything further, but what he was suggesting clicked immediately. Well... Here went nothing. He broke into a sprint and leaped onto Nishiki's outstretched hands, who used the momentum to throw him over the wall, Tsurugi landing on his butt with a thud. Nishiki had to deal with dodging the bird once more, but joined fairly quickly, taking a running start, jumping off the side of wall, latching onto the top, and tossing himself over the other side.
For some reason, the creature didn't follow them, so the boys spent a long moment of silence trying to regain their breath. ... Or at least, it was silent, until Nishiki suddenly burst out laughing.
"Ahahaha...! That was pretty rough!" he said, and just continued to laugh.
Tsurugi remembered a scene like this when they'd first met... Most of the upperclassmen had been silently groaning. Now, he felt like he could understand their feelings.
"So?" he pressed sourly, crossing his arms. "What do you intend to do now?"
"We've come this far, so we might as well see it through!" Nishiki responded, unfazed by anything that had just happened. Well... It was hard to argue with. They had almost gotten killed for this. Tsurugi resisted the urge to sigh, and instead began gathering up their fallen items.
In a stroke of luck, the river was actually fairly close, or maybe it only seemed close after all the time they'd spent running in the recreation field. They set up camp, which consisted of a small fire pit composed of stones and small branches, and two larger stones to sit on. Nishiki was off drawing water, while Tsurugi idly turned a stick to get a fire going. This wasn't so bad, he guessed... It was a bit like camping in God Eden; ruins and uncultivated forest. He was finally beginning to relax... Until he glanced up to find himself surrounded by glowing yellow eyes.
"... Nishiki-senpai," came his alarmed voice.
--
For perhaps the first time since he came here, Tsurugi Kyousuke woke up in a good mood. He couldn't explain it... everything just seemed brighter. Maybe there was just something about doing something incredibly, incredibly stupid that had that kind of effect. It wasn't something he'd indulge in normally, but some good seemed to come from it; they'd been saved by a man in the woods who claimed he hadn't access to real food in a very, very long time. He, at least, had been glad of their idiocy. Nishiki, despite claims it couldn't compete with his Sifu's, was somehow even happier. And wasn't that good enough? Small bits happiness could go a long way here.
Even his nurse was affected; she seemed to brighten a bit, noticing one of her patients wasn't quite as sour as normal. As a sort of reward, she came to get him a little before the intercom sounded, so he could be one of the first to eat. They were about halfway to the cafeteria, when the intercom suddenly chimed.
"Good afternoon, patients!" Martin Landel's fake cheer rang out. "Today, we've decided to mix things up and change the menu! We have a buffet of teriyaki fried shrimp, beef, chicken, and vegetables, with your choice of either fried or steamed rice! Mmm!"
"...." Tsurugi froze in place. Then he spun on his heel and began walking in the opposite direction.
"Mr. Taylor, where are you going!?" the nurse called out.
".... I'm going back to bed," the boy muttered wearily.
He hated this place so much.
Author: aluria
Beta: NONE so it's probably riddled with lots of stupid typos, whoops
Word Count: 2848
Rating: S for Stupid
Character(s): Tsurugi Kyousuke, Murphy Pendleton (unnamed), a pair of unspecified assholes, extremely vague/unnamed appearance of Marc, a nurse, Martin Landel, and introducing Nishiki Ryouma. because I can.
Pairing(s): Nishiki/Japanese food.
Summary: One boy, and his passionate quest for delicious food. And another hating his life forever.
Notes: THIS IS REALLY DUMB AND SHOULD BE READ BY NOBODY. I also apologize to Faye for whatever hideous ways I messed up Murph by writing him canonblind.
The hardest part of being trapped in Landel's Institute wasn't the monsters, the bloodshed, the mind games, or any of the usual horrors that sprang to mind, but something much simpler: orienting yourself. People formed groups in their own way, and the responsibility of navigating through crowds of strangers and finding people to trust and team up with fell at the individual level. The fact was, there was no effective way to do anything on your own, so if you didn't make at least a minimal attempt at networking, you'd probably get left in the dust. Doing so was relatively simple, as there was always someone who wanted to lend a hand, but the fact remained that they were all strangers, from different times and lands and places, and no matter how well you got along with someone, you'd never work at the same capacity or comfort levels as you would back home.
... That was how it was for Tsurugi, at least. Maybe others had a better time of it. But he was from relatively peaceful world, and was now totally removed from both any familiar faces and his own age group. It got difficult to maneuver sometimes, but to tell the truth, it didn't bother him as much as it could have. A little loneliness was certainly preferable to dragging friends or family into this living hell. No desire to see them again could ever outweigh not wanting to see them get torn apart, or die, or even worse. That was what he thought.
Yet, while he was angry when Nishiki Ryouma first arrived as a patient, it wasn't long before he could only see it as a blessing. Like most of the members of Raimon, Nishiki could be kind of weird, but Tsurugi had always gotten along with him well enough. He was the kind of guy who was so laid-back he was difficult not to get along with, and if the two of them had one thing in common, it was that they preferred action to useless moping. So while neither was entirely sure how to go about things, it was easy for them to devote themselves to doing what little they could.
All considered, Nishiki settled in as well as could be expected. He never did fully adjust, but then, nobody ever did, not really. Confusion and frustration were the norm here, and only an idiot wouldn't be at least a little scared. Both avoided speaking of it, but they didn't really need to; those sorts of things were easier in company. After a few days, however, Nishiki began to seem like he was being dragged down, and it got worse with every meal. He never spoke of what had him so down in the dumps, so Tsurugi didn't press him about it. It was worrying, but for now, all he could do was watch.
... And the note came. Pinned to bulletin was a small scrap of paper, with bold black print reading, "Tsurugi! Could you meet me in the halls tonight? I need your help with something!"
"Sure, I don't mind," he wrote back. "What do you need?"
"We're making rice!"
...
...
...
...
...
... ... ...What?
For a long moment, Tsurugi simply stared. After many uncertain marks from his pen, he finally wrote back, "... Nishiki-senpai. Shouldn't we be focusing on something more important...?"
"My samurai spirit can't survive on all this Western food!" came the response. He'd seen it before, but now Tsurugi had to realize. This guy... was unbelievable.
He wanted to outright refuse, but there were a few things Tsurugi was certain of. The first was that even if he said no, the other boy would simply go on the errand without him. The second was that the only person capable of making Nishiki see sense was Midori-san, mostly because she was the only person who went out of their way to punch it into him. Third, this place was a thing straight from people's nightmares, and he didn't feel quite right ignoring a friend's request for something that would cheer them up, even if it was completely inane. ... In the end, he'd just have to tag along.
Night fell, and Tsurugi made his way to their meeting spot with an increasing sense of dread. He couldn't believe he'd agreed to this... But it was too late to back out now, so he'd just have to bear with it. Of course, even if they had it planned, there was one very obvious flaw in the execution, so before they set off, Tsurugi made sure to get that out of the way.
"... By the way, how do you intend to cook it? There's no power at night," he pointed out reasonably. Supposing there was any rice to begin with, which he wasn't convinced of; the staff had never served any to them before.
"That's easy!" Nishiki respond brightly, grinning. "We'll go outside and start a fire!"
Tsurugi's already uncertain facial expression became even more dubious, at that. ..... In other words, they were risking their lives for comfort food.
The kitchen wasn't far from the patient blocks, so getting there didn't take much time. Bizarrely, it seemed that they weren't the only ones who had decided to go on a midnight food raid, as a couple cabinets were already open. They split up, and set out to to search for their prize. First they found a salt shaker, which would be useful for flavor. Next was a stoneware pot that would probably hold up in a fire. Tsurugi placed the salt, bowls, forks, some juice, and miscellaneous snacks in a bag, and while he was preoccupied with that, Nishiki managed to procure a large sack of white rice. So there was some here after all... Tsurugi wasn't sure how to feel about that, torn between the prospect of having to go out to prepare it, and the excited expression coloring his friend's face.
... He still couldn't believe this was even happening.
But since they had everything they needed, all that was left was get water to cook it with, so Tsurugi turned the tap. ... Except what came out wasn't water. The faucet sputtered, giving out erratic bursts of a thick, murky brown. He waited for a moment or two, but in the end, he had to turn it off. It was clear that this was never going to be suitable for consumption.
"What the heck is that!?" Nishiki exclaimed, holding his head in horror. "What are we supposed to do with that!?"
Well, that was the end of of that, Tsurugi supposed. Nishiki, on the other hand, wasn't prepared to give up just yet.
"...Oh, that's right! Tsurugi! You've been here a little while. Do you know any other places we could get water?"
Clean water, huh... There was the pond in the courtyard, but that didn't seem particularly sanitary. Which left... "... I hear there's a river outside the walls," he thought aloud. "I don't know where it is, though." That meant it was probably best left alone, since wandering aimlessly here wasn't safe. ... Or so he would have thought.
"That's great! We'll just have to ask someone, then. Come on, let's go!" Nishiki hefted the bag of rice onto his shoulder; Tsurugi placed the small bag of supplies into the pot and carried it by the handles, so bewildered and yet so completely unsurprised he couldn't even protest.
The Sun Room was devoid of people, since most patients avoided the room whenever possible after countless numbers of attacks there (or so people said). Thankfully, their trek back through it remained quiet and peaceful, almost politely so, given that they'd make easy targets with their arms full of supplies. Maybe the terrors of the night had decided a couple of fairly defenseless boys weren't worth the effort. The hall outside, on the other hand, was filled with beams of light painting decayed walls with strange shadows. Small groups were meeting up in hushed voices, while others were simply passing by to other areas. The person nearest to them was alone, a scruffy-looking man in his late thirties, whose weapon of choice seemed to be a desk chair.
Oh no... Not him.
"Excuse me, mister!" Nishiki called out. Tsurugi, meanwhile, immediately placed his flashlight into the pot with the supplies, attempting to hold it with one hand as he hurriedly pulled up the hood of his jacket with the other. "We're looking for the river! Do you know where it is?"
The man looked a little startled to be addressed, but recovered quickly. "Oh, uh... Yeah. Yeah, sure. Just climb the wall outside and keep going right."
"Sure, thanks!" Nishiki responded, and started off, despite not having the slightest clue which direction he was supposed to be going. ... It was the right one, at least.
"Wait! Are you guys going with all that?" the man questioned, eying the items they were carrying. "If you need an extra pair of hands or something—Look. It's dangerous. You guys shouldn't be going out like it's some kind of camping trip. If you let me hel—
—Hey! Listen to what I'm saying!" But Tsurugi had already hooked his own elbow with Nishiki's, and dragged his friend around the corner, out of sight. He felt a little bad since he actually agreed with what the man had been saying, but there were other problems, and this was much easier.
"What's with you? Hey, the more the merrier!" Nishiki protested as he was dragged along.
"... Just trust me on this one," Tsurugi returned.
"Well, sure, if you say so," the other boy responded, unperturbed. "Anyway, where's this wall we're supposed to be finding?"
"Just down the hall," Tsurugi informed, indicating a door in the distance. They pressed on, passing the occasional patient just making their way out of the patient blocks, but when they reached the door, Tsurugi paused. "... When you get outside, it's better to just run," he explained. "Sometimes, this area's protected. I got attacked, here, once."
"Sure, sure, leave it to me!" his companion grinned, and they pushed their way through door out onto the field.
Contrary to his advice, Tsurugi paused; he still intended to run, but he wanted to take in his surroundings first, just in case. Something about it seemed... strange? Or was that his imagination...? He frowned, and glanced to Nishiki.
"... Do you hear that?" he asked.
"Hm?" Nisihiki took a few step forward, straining his ears. "I don't hear anyth—WH-WHAT THE HECK IS THAT THING!?"
There was a gust of wind as a black shadow dived past, and doubled back. A huge, bird-like creature spread its wings before them, its steel beak and talons covered in what looked to be dried blood. They stared, for a moment.
"RUN!" Tsurugi shouted. Instinctual teamwork kicked in, and the two boys bolted in opposite directions across the recreational field, weighed down awkwardly by the objects they were carrying.
The creature went for Nishiki first, swooping in to sink its metallic beak into him from behind, but he very narrowly avoided being ripped apart by diving forward at the very last second. It pierced and left an awkward hole in the back of his shirt, but he came out unscathed. ... His shirt probably would have been too, if he'd actually let go of the giant sack of rice he was carrying.
Its prey having escaped for the time being, it swooped back and made a similar lunge to Tsurugi's front. It seemed to make its arc expecting him to keep running, but instinctively, he did the exact opposite, skidding to a full stop. There was a sickening metallic sound as its claws scraped the metal pot he still had in his hands, and it gave an angry screech as it rebounded away.
("Who the hell are these two idiots trying to play Survivorman?" asked a patient who happened to wander onto the field in the middle of the mayhem.
"Dunno," his companion responded. "Who cares? Let's just let the kids play and get the heck out of here." The two scrambled over the activities shed and disappeared.)
Meanwhile, in the course of trying to evade a very angry, very murderous bird, Tsurugi and Nishiki had finally managed to toss everything they were carrying over the wall, and were now having a much better time dodging. Problem was, they couldn't get over the vines quite yet, because the slight delay would be enough for them to ripped to shreds.
"Hey! Birdman!" a voice rang out. Tsurugi took a chance looking back to find that there was now a third person on the field, a man who was currently angrily waving a chair like he was in a bullfight.
That idiot! This was exactly why hadn't wanted to stop and talk to him...! Yet, Tsurugi's anger was short-lived. ... It was hard to be mad a at guy risking their life to save you when the creature they were trying to distract completely ignored their existence. Even when he threw the chair at it, it simply jerked angrily like it had been bitten by mosquito, and lunged right back toward the two teenage boys as if the man wasn't even there. Tsurugi grit his teeth, rolling forward to barely avoid having his face ripped off.
"Tsurugi!" Nishiki hollered. He'd managed to make it to the portion of the wall partially covered in vines, and was slightly hunched down. He didn't say anything further, but what he was suggesting clicked immediately. Well... Here went nothing. He broke into a sprint and leaped onto Nishiki's outstretched hands, who used the momentum to throw him over the wall, Tsurugi landing on his butt with a thud. Nishiki had to deal with dodging the bird once more, but joined fairly quickly, taking a running start, jumping off the side of wall, latching onto the top, and tossing himself over the other side.
For some reason, the creature didn't follow them, so the boys spent a long moment of silence trying to regain their breath. ... Or at least, it was silent, until Nishiki suddenly burst out laughing.
"Ahahaha...! That was pretty rough!" he said, and just continued to laugh.
Tsurugi remembered a scene like this when they'd first met... Most of the upperclassmen had been silently groaning. Now, he felt like he could understand their feelings.
"So?" he pressed sourly, crossing his arms. "What do you intend to do now?"
"We've come this far, so we might as well see it through!" Nishiki responded, unfazed by anything that had just happened. Well... It was hard to argue with. They had almost gotten killed for this. Tsurugi resisted the urge to sigh, and instead began gathering up their fallen items.
In a stroke of luck, the river was actually fairly close, or maybe it only seemed close after all the time they'd spent running in the recreation field. They set up camp, which consisted of a small fire pit composed of stones and small branches, and two larger stones to sit on. Nishiki was off drawing water, while Tsurugi idly turned a stick to get a fire going. This wasn't so bad, he guessed... It was a bit like camping in God Eden; ruins and uncultivated forest. He was finally beginning to relax... Until he glanced up to find himself surrounded by glowing yellow eyes.
"... Nishiki-senpai," came his alarmed voice.
--
For perhaps the first time since he came here, Tsurugi Kyousuke woke up in a good mood. He couldn't explain it... everything just seemed brighter. Maybe there was just something about doing something incredibly, incredibly stupid that had that kind of effect. It wasn't something he'd indulge in normally, but some good seemed to come from it; they'd been saved by a man in the woods who claimed he hadn't access to real food in a very, very long time. He, at least, had been glad of their idiocy. Nishiki, despite claims it couldn't compete with his Sifu's, was somehow even happier. And wasn't that good enough? Small bits happiness could go a long way here.
Even his nurse was affected; she seemed to brighten a bit, noticing one of her patients wasn't quite as sour as normal. As a sort of reward, she came to get him a little before the intercom sounded, so he could be one of the first to eat. They were about halfway to the cafeteria, when the intercom suddenly chimed.
"Good afternoon, patients!" Martin Landel's fake cheer rang out. "Today, we've decided to mix things up and change the menu! We have a buffet of teriyaki fried shrimp, beef, chicken, and vegetables, with your choice of either fried or steamed rice! Mmm!"
"...." Tsurugi froze in place. Then he spun on his heel and began walking in the opposite direction.
"Mr. Taylor, where are you going!?" the nurse called out.
".... I'm going back to bed," the boy muttered wearily.
He hated this place so much.
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