A/N: Well, I gave myself an extra week before I started posting again, but here it is! Arc 3, starting off right where we left off. With my additional week, I tried to finalize some details in regards to what's going to be happening for this story arc. It's still a bit rough, but it's better than it was last time I posted, so all's well for now.
Arc 3: New Wounds, Old Wounds, It's All the Same to Me...
As one may expect, Bankei's sudden appearance in the cafeteria, bruised and beaten, caused a lot of stir. Less than a full minute after she hobbled into the room, she collapsed, and would have hit the floor hard if Mine wasn't nearby to catch her.
Almost immediately after this occurred, Mareo bellowed out a command to everyone in the room. "Quick! Get her to the medical room!"
He scrambled out of where he was sitting and began to pressure those nearby into doing the same. Bankei was kept off of her injured feet as a small group formed to keep her horizontal. It was quite a panicked rush, but in the end, Mine, Mareo, Takeshi, and Ishi were able to coordinate enough to carry her out of the room. Those that didn't do so followed close behind. Whatever was coming next, it couldn't just be ignored.
When Naoko got a good look inside the medical room, he could see that Bankei had already been laid upon one of the nearby beds, and was being looked over carefully by Mareo who, despite his methodical approach, looked rather shaken.
"Is she going to be okay?" Naoko asked.
"I don't know!" Mareo paused to snap at Naoko, only for him to look over at him apologetically. "I'm sorry. This is all very sudden. I don't know exactly what happened to her. Just give me some time."
"Oh, god, oh god," Mine said, frantically looking between Bankei's bruised form and the crowd that had just gathered around her. "What the hell's going on with her? Is she conscious? Is she breathing?"
"She's definitely breathing, but she's out of it," Mareo responded quickly. "Everyone, please, move back a bit. Give her space."
"Look, this all has gotten away from me," Eryu chimed in. "While Mareo looks over Bankei, I need some answers."
"From who?" Haru asked warily.
Eryu looked at him angrily. "From you, dammit! Did nobody else hear what she said before she collapsed?"
"No, I remember," Yori said. "She seemed to accuse Haru of having caused the injuries."
"Haru?!" Mine gasped. "You attacked her?!"
"Woah, woah! Let's save this little blame game for later!" Haru snapped back. "You really think that the best thing to do here is to take that bitch at her damn word?!"
"So you're saying that you didn't attack her?" Takeshi asked.
"I'm sayin' maybe we should wait for the damn smoke of this big 'ol bomb to clear before we go on a witch hunt, that's what I'm fuckin' sayin'!"
Mareo groaned in frustration. "Look, if you're going to yell at each other, could you please go outside? I need to work."
"He's right," Naoko agreed wholeheartedly. He had a bad feeling it would be a bad idea to shout at each other during a medical emergency in general. Doing so within close vicinity of the injured seemed even worse. "C'mon, let's talk in that square room down the hall."
"The big one that goes to the cafeteria?" Ishi asked.
Naoko nodded. "That one."
The remaining ten left the room and closed the door behind them, before pushing open the nearby double doors and filing themselves into the large nondescript room on the other side. With there only being ten of them, it wasn't as cramped as it was on their first day together, but there still wasn't as much wiggle room as was comfortable for everyone.
Mine took deep breaths to calm herself down. "Okay, okay, okay! Let's just...Let's just get this over with. The anticipation is killing me!"
"What kinda anticipation?" Haru asked grumpily.
"Duh! I wanna know why you attacked Bankei!" Mine replied. "How could you just attack someone like that? I told you, like, ten minutes ago that I didn't want to dislike you!"
"Okay, first of all," Haru barked, "it's not like what you said ten-ish minutes ago woulda stopped me from doing somethin' closer to twenty minutes ago! Second, what the hell do you mean I just attacked 'er? It's not like you were there!"
"So you're saying you did attack her, then," Eryu replied sharply.
"So what if I did?!"
That especially loud shout seemed like it was meant to shut Eryu up, but clearly, it didn't work. Instead, he fired back almost immediately.
"So what?! I appointed you to your position because I trusted that you could use your strength to stop people from attacking each other! You literally did the exact opposite of what you were supposed to!"
"Just 'cause you want me to do somethin' doesn't mean I'm gonna," Haru retorted. "Y'all really think that it'd be proper to let that bitch get away scot free?"
"What do you mean by that?" Yori asked curiously.
"What, you don't know?" Haru asked back incredulously.
"I want you to tell us yourself, that's all," Yori explained.
"That would probably be best," Hoshi agreed. "But...I have a feeling that I already know what he's talking about."
"And that is?" Eryu asked impatiently.
Haru grumbled exasperatedly. "Hoshi was right, you guys! Fuck, I'd even say Kimi was right."
Kimi scrunched her face at this. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"Shut up," Haru shot back. "Just shut up, Kimi. For fuck's sake."
"Well, great, now you're telling me to shut up. Am I just you guys' personal punching bag now?" Kimi asked. To Naoko, it seemed a bit sarcastic, but definitely not completely.
"Yeah, well, speakin' a' punchin' bags," Haru rolled his eyes, "that little conclusion from yesterday? It just made too much sense, y'know? That letter had to be fake. Yasuo was tricked, and the idea didn't even stick with 'im enough to make a difference. Seriously, you guys, I can't be the only voice a' reason in this room, I just can't. Naoko, you agree with me, right?"
"Me?" Naoko asked back, confused from being put on the spot.
"Dude, you've shown us that you're smart. You've shown me that you know who's hidin' shit, and who's gettin' thrown under the bus. Please, for the love of all that's holy, tell me that you don't think Sasa wrote that love confession."
Naoko took time to think of a proper response. Haru was clear of what he was getting at, the accusation made by Hoshi just the day before fresh in people's minds. The idea that Bankei wrote the love letter that led to Yasuo murdering the woman he loved was grim, but from what they knew, it sounded like it made a good deal of sense.
"That love letter that Yasuo got," Naoko began. "It could've been written by Sasa herself, I suppose. Maybe Sasa had a darker side we didn't know about, or maybe the Lita-22 influenced her personality."
Haru gave Naoko a piercing glare that basically screamed "Be careful what you say next".
"But," Naoko continued, "I don't think that's the case. I know that Mariko didn't think so either, right?"
"Uh huh," Mariko confirmed. "I didn't notice anything about her that'd make it seem like she had a dark secret. Although...I guess I could be wrong." Mariko then looked to undergo an unpleasant train of thought. Whatever exactly she thought about, it ended with her wilting noticeably. "Oh man, what if I don't know what I'm talking about?"
"Even if you don't, I have trouble believing something like that," Hoshi replied. "The idea that Sasa was hiding something, I mean."
"I'd have to agree," Naoko added. "I think it's more likely someone else wrote that letter in order to cause some sort of emotional harm to either Yasuo or Sasa."
"And that someone is Bankei. Obviously," Haru said.
"Just because it seems obvious doesn't mean that it's true," Yori argued. "The way I see it, you ignored the assumption Yasuo himself made that Sasa, for whatever reason, would act cruelly towards him via a fake admission of love. However, you then assumed that it was Bankei who gave him the fake admission, and that if you did not resort to physical violence, there would be no consequences for her doing so."
"What, are you callin' me a hypocrite?" Haru asked, bemused.
"Hypocrisy shouldn't be the focus here," Eryu cut in. "The real problem here is that you acted completely out of line. You're supposed to help make sure people cooperate with each other, not beat people within an inch of their lives."
"Okay, first of all," Haru shot back, "what I did to Bankei wasn't that bad. If it were me that was beat up, I'd walk it off. Second, look who's fuckin' talkin', bro. I mean, I don't wanna disrespect ya, but you're the one who almost kicked the shit outta 'er not too long ago."
Pretty much at that point, the mood began to shift. It was bad enough that Haru was acting standoffish while trying to justify, or at least explain, his use of violence, but now he was making accusations of hypocrisy. And the thing was, all things considered, he kinda had a point. Naoko wasn't about to say it, but what Eryu did on their first day certainly was worrying. Quite a few of the others seemed to agree with this sentiment, as quite a few of the worried or simply unhappy looks began to shift off of Haru and onto Eryu.
Eryu seemed especially sensitive about that point, but nonetheless attempted to respond firmly. "Look, I get it. I know that in the heat of the moment, I let her provoke me. What she was saying was really upsetting me, and it attacked me in a way I'm really not comfortable with. It was...Okay! It was a lapse in judgement. That doesn't mean that actual violence is okay. I don't condone violence, alright? Especially not the sort of violence you carried out. I just want us to cooperate, and what you did doesn't help. If we resort to violence like you did, we're not being cooperative. We're just running around and beating the crap out of each other because we think we're in the right to do so."
"You might say that you don't want us to use violence, sure," Haru responded, "but that doesn't change the fact that you had to be fuckin' restrained, dude. The way I see it, just 'cause you didn't end up hurtin' 'er doesn't mean it was any better than what I did."
"And how are we supposed to respect your opinion?" Eryu snarled. "You're the one who went out of his way to attack her. Doing something spur-of-the-moment isn't even close to doing something deliberately."
"Way to make assumptions, bro!" Haru replied, sounding flat-out offended. "You think that's what happened?! Because it's fuckin' not!"
"Then tell us what did!" Eryu shouted.
"Fine!" Haru shouted even louder. "I'll tell ya, okay?"
"Yeah, do that, and stuff," Ishi said, groaning a bit. "Lay off, like, the shouting while you're at it, man. It's giving me a headache."
"Yours truly is also very much unhappy with this shouting match you two got going on," Kimi agreed. "Can't you guys just fuck and get this shit over with?"
That little comment earned Kimi a very unhappy glare from a few of the room's other occupants, including Eryu and Haru themselves.
"Seriously?" Kimi squinted. "Jeez, tough crowd."
"Look," Haru interjected, "what I did was I got outta bed just before the daily wakeup call. I knocked on 'er door, and made my way inside 'er room so we could talk. Once I actually started attackin' 'er, it was way after the announcement, so most of y'all shoulda been long gone by then."
"But why did you attack her?" Mine asked anxiously. "We're not even talking about that, and I can't stand waiting for the answer!"
Haru sighed. "I attacked 'er because she was bein' a bitch, alright?"
"That's it?" Hoshi asked.
Haru shrugged. "Well, yeah. What the hell else were you guys expectin'? Have you met 'er?"
"You're saying she provoked you, then?" Naoko asked.
"Hell yeah, she did," Haru replied.
"How? What'd she say?" Takeshi asked.
"She said a lotta things," Haru responded simply. "If you want me t' get down to the nitty gritty, it'd prolly take a while to go over it."
"Just tell us the basics, please," Mine requested, almost sounding desperate.
"Fine," Haru said grumpily. "She said that she didn't do it, and that everythin' was my fault. That was the main thing."
"Wait, what was the main thing exactly?" Mariko asked. "Was it one of the two or both?"
"The thing about it bein' my fault, I guess. I'd say that's the point she ended up drivin' home most of all," Haru explained. "Aside from that, she also...Ugh…"
"Sorry, what? What'd she say?" Mine inquired.
"She started tellin' me that I…" Whatever Haru was trying to say, he looked like he had a hard time spitting it out. Not because he was embarrassed, or afraid, or anything of the sort. Instead, it seemed more like just thinking about it made him furious.
"Grrah!"
Haru growled like a lion and turned to punch the nearest wall. Doing so didn't seem to cause structural damage, fortunately, or else Naoko doubted IMONO would let it slide, but it looked like he hit it hard enough to cause himself physical damage. If it did, though, he didn't seem to register it.
"Fuckin' bitch! Where does she get off talkin' the way she does?!"
"Seriously, dude? What the hell?" Ishi swore confusedly.
"Okay, if you're going to be like this, we're going to have to talk later," Eryu said. "For now...we can't have you walking around here acting like this, you know."
"So what?" Haru asked bitterly.
"You're staying in your room for the time being," Eryu said.
"My room?" Haru responded incredulously. "What are you, my mom? You think groundin' me's gonna keep me in line or somethin'?"
"What do you expect?" Eryu asked rhetorically. "You're clearly too aggressive for us to be around you. We can give you your meals, and whatever else you'll need, but you're staying in there until I say you can leave."
Haru paused, as if actually thinking it over. "You know what? Fine," he said with a resigned grimace. "Really, I wasn't expectin' a reward, and it could be worse, I guess. I'd also have to guess that you're havin' me stay in my room 'cause we don't have a jail, or a brig, or whatever the fuck."
"We could throw you in the laundry room, and call it the brig," Kimi suggested amusedly.
"Are you really okay with this arrangement?" Yori asked Haru. "You and Eryu-"
"Yeah, I held my ground against 'im," Haru cut her off. "I can't let 'im just steamroll me, 'specially if he's gonna be a damn hypocrite."
"It doesn't matter whether or not I'm a hypocrite!" Eryu insisted. "What's important is what you did."
"And if I didn't argue back, you woulda blown what I did way outta proportion!" Haru said. "I ain't gonna stand that shit. Not for one goddamn second."
Haru stomped out of the room and towards the dorms. It seemed he was cooperating at last, but not after making things very heated. After his exchange with Eryu, things still felt very tense in the room. Probably because Haru wasn't the only one that was upset.
"Would it help if I, um, check in with Mareo?" Naoko asked aloud. "Maybe Bankei is starting to get better." Maybe it was a bit strange to bring up at the moment, but he felt like it could, possibly, help change the topic, and they really needed a topic change before things got worse.
"Maybe," Yori replied. "Then again, I can only imagine what Haru could've done to her after making him so furious. Recovery could take a long time."
"I guess that's true," Naoko admitted concernedly. "Fingers crossed Haru didn't hurt her too badly."
Naoko meant it, too. Bankei didn't seem blameless, by any means. Haru could potentially have been right to think that Hoshi was right earlier, and that she really did write that letter, and therefore prompted Sasa's murder. The thing was, though, them resorting to violence themselves just didn't seem right. Not to Naoko, anyway. There was also the minor fact that, technically speaking, when it came to the previously-mentioned possibility, there was no concrete proof. She hadn't admitted it yet, that was for sure. Perhaps if he could speak to her, he'd be able to get an answer out of her in that regard. Unfortunately, that would likely have to wait.
Naoko stepped out of the room and into the hallway towards the medical room. While he was walking, he could swear he heard Kimi saying what sounded like "What were you thinking, having a prick like Haru around as security?" That sounded like the start to an ugly conversation. He hoped it wouldn't go awry.
He stepped into the medical room to see that things looked a lot better than when he left. Mareo was noticeably calmer, and currently looked to be in the middle of applying bandaging to Bankei's left arm. Bankei herself was looking largely inactive, laying down flat on the bed and barely moving. It didn't help that a few small bandages were visible across her body, as well as the fact that Mareo looked to have brought over an ice pack. That was probably to help with her bruises. All in all, she was definitely alive, but she definitely wasn't in good shape.
"Hey there," Mareo greeted Naoko, not yet looking his way.
"Hey," Naoko replied. "How is she now?"
"She could be better, that's for sure," Mareo admitted. "If her injuries are serious, I'm worried I won't be able to do anything about them. We don't have the tools, and I don't have the experience. Still, I'm doing the best I can."
"What have you done so far?" Naoko asked.
"Oh, I've mainly just applied some simple bandaging," Mareo explained. "I noticed she had a few lacerations that needed to be covered up, and I think her left arm might have been fractured, so I'm attempting to apply a cast."
"Well, that's good," Naoko said.
"I suppose it is," Mareo replied. "Still, she's yet to recover, and I'm looking out for any worrying symptoms."
"Really? Did you, uh, notice what she did earlier in the cafeteria?" Naoko asked cautiously. "It looked like she coughed up a little blood."
"Yes, yes she did," Mareo said bluntly. "Probably internal bleeding. Hopefully it's not too serious, otherwise I can't provide adequate care."
"That's quite a worrisome possibility," Bankei said softly. "We can only pray Haru's assault did not cause permanent damage, at the very least."
"That's fair," Naoko commented.
"Hm?" She glanced over at him. "So, I take it you're as worried about my wellbeing as Mareo here."
"It's not like we want you to die," Mareo commented.
"Eh-heheh-ooh." Bankei attempted to chuckle, but stopped abruptly. She seemed to have caused herself quite a bit of pain. "Oh my. Well, I can't help but shake this feeling of mine."
"What's that?" Naoko asked.
"Aside from your concern for me," Bankei responded, "I must assume you came here with something in mind...Would you like me to share important information with you, perhaps?"