Ultimate Amiss XIII

"We were pulled into the devil's lair."

Because of Mukuro he had to wake up early and get rid of the dried blood on his neck, and find something adequate to hide the scars that wouldn't raise any suspicions when Yasuke came in to do to a check up. It was unfortunate that he wasn't coming in a few days later, when the scars would have had time to heal.

That girl really had bad timing, but he expected her to be here earlier tonight so he could make a good dent in those letters. And possibly not wake him up in some life-threatening manner if she happened to be late. He doubted she would waste much time after he more-or-less promised to not 'stalk' Junko, as she had put it before leaving just this morning. Much earlier this morning.

Izuru held back a sigh as Yasuke entered his room moments after he had put on what he would be wearing for today. He was early... but, he had covered the scars in time, so it didn't matter.

Yasuke seemed equally surprised to see him awake. "You're not planning to sleep through the examination this time?"

Personally he thought this particular joke to be getting old, but just shook his head. He might as well tell a partial truth in this instance. Maybe this recent obsession of sorts had come over him because of some medical reason. If it had his neurologist should be able to figure it out. "Couldn't sleep."

Yasuke's demeanor almost instantly changed to a professional one. "Why not?" he asked, as he opened one of the drawers in the room, getting out the equipment he would need for the examination.

"My mind has been... busy." It seemed the most appropriate way to explain his situation without giving anything away. If he could get help so he wasn't continuously thinking about where he had seen Junko in the first place he wouldn't even need those letters. But since neither option was assured to give him a desirable outcome it was best to get as many options as he could. If this went on for another month he really wouldn't be able to sleep because of her.

He sat up on the bed before Yasuke even turned around, so when he did Yasuke seemed to regard him for a moment. "Are you feeling stressful from studies? The mid-terms are coming up."

If that was his problem they wouldn't even be talking about it right now; he never got stressful over studies. More than once his teachers had compared him to a sponge, just soaking up all the knowledge they ever threw at him. He found each piece of it fascinating and if he wasn't thinking about Junko he would be turning those very pieces in his head right now, figuring out every aspect of it, how it could be applied to situations his teachers couldn't even think up.

"No. Something else has been on my mind."

Yasuke appeared to wait, but when Izuru didn't offer up a more elaborate answer the teen just sighed. "Right. Arm." Izuru held up his right arm, if just to annoy Yasuke as every other time they had done the left first.

He went silent the moment Yasuke began the examination in earnest. And of course his thoughts wandered to Junko. He hoped the letters would actually help him in finding if he knew her or not. It was tiring thinking of all the possibilities in his mind and not knowing which one was correct or if he had missed one; if the theories he had even made sense with what he knew. Which was nothing, at the very least since the letters had been written by Junko he might figure out how her mind works, or find something he could use to get the answers he wanted from her.

Perhaps even Mukuro would have more to tell him once he went through the letters. She had made it sound like she would be looking into other things when she had left. Of course, those other things could just be checking up on Junko, but at the same time he hoped she had thought of another possibility where to possibility find the answers. Especially since Junko herself now seemed curious about him as well.

He wished he knew what it was he had said that made her even consider looking through old photos for him. If he was in one of those photos - if it was years ago - there was still a chance she wouldn't recognize him. It's not like a single person in the world had gone through life with the exact same haircut, styles of clothing, or anything really. Plenty of people went through phases whether it had to do with the current fashion or something more obscure. He couldn't exactly wait around for her to pick out a photo that vaguely resembled him.

His leg jerked when Yasuke hit his knee cap with one of those little metal hammers, and his mind snapped back to the present, knowing the examination was now over with that action.

"Well," Yasuke began as he went to put the equipment back in the drawer. "You're fine physically, everything is working like it should. I want to run an EEG though, after you're done with your classes for today. Everything will be ready to go when you come back into the room."

Izuru only gave a nod of his head in reply. Mukuro had slipped into his room even with those security cameras. He could ask her tonight to go and get a copy of the results from the EEG so he didn't have to ask Yasuke himself. It would look suspicious if he suddenly took an interest in them now, especially after telling Yasuke those things; as vague as they had been he didn't want the professors to know that he thought something might be wrong with him mentally. Yasuke would definitely report it if he asked for those results.

And they already seemed concerned about him. Not just because he had slipped out of the building twice recently, but-

"Hey." Izuru focused on Yasuke when he spoke, "I heard you snuck out again just yesterday. You went to the infirmary as Mahiru put it, to check up on Junko Enoshima. Is that right?"

He had really expected someone to ask about that incident sooner rather than later. "I heard someone get hurt on the field outside and went to see how the infirmary operates. I admit to being curious if it was actually serious or not, but I wasn't aware who either of those girls were. Besides, it wasn't exactly a good idea to go and observe that day since the school nurse wasn't even in, and I appear to have missed you. That and it was just a sprained ankle, nothing too exciting." His teachers had gone over some medical procedures a couple months ago, so this excuse he had fabricated should stop any further questions as to just what he had been going in the infirmary.

"You're interested in seeing some more complicated medical procedures at work?" With Yasuke's chosen line of questioning and his excuse he just gave a nod of his head. In ordinary circumstances he would like to see a bunch of things firsthand that his teachers only ever talked about. The images in books could only tell someone so much. "I'll check to see if Mikan has anything appropriate on her schedule and ask if it would be okay for you to observe then. I'm still curious though; how did you get out of this building without anyone seeing you?"

Ah, that's right. It must have been obvious that the first time he had slipped out that he had put some serious thought into it. Izuru had actually had to plan around their schedules and try and figure out Junko's schedule based on when he saw her outside, and what he heard from fellow students. But the second time... he hadn't put a single thought into it. He had just moved, and somehow everything had worked out long enough for him to check if Junko was okay. "Luck."

Yasuke's hand stilled for a moment on the door knob he had just grasped. "Luck?" A moment later a chuckle escaped from him. "I see. Be ready for that EEG when you get back from classes." Yasuke opened the door and left the room, leaving Izuru with a small frown etched onto his face.

What was so funny about that? It was weird, considering the security on the floor of this building that he inhabited. Even before they added the cameras it had been top notch. He shouldn't have been able to just slip out of the building on such short notice.

Was that what was funny? He was pretty sure he was missing something here, but Yasuke was gone now so he couldn't ask. If he would have even answered. He might have just brushed him off with a side comment about it. Something that wouldn't have made any sense. Yasuke liked to make obscure references, and Izuru was pretty sure it was just to mess with those around him.

Fortunately his teachers kept all questions to the subjects they taught. So Yasuke was probably suppose to tell them about his conversation with Izuru later that day. For all he knew they were talking about it right now. Another teacher or two would be with Yasuke in his room now, getting the equipment ready for the EEG.

He was actually a little anxious to get to it, for his classes just to end. Unfortunately they seemed to drag on today and he had to stop himself from tapping his foot on the floor. It wasn't something he usually did so it would have earned a weird look from his teachers; but he was curious if anything would come up on the test. If it did then he was hoping he could just throw all of these thoughts away.

So when his classes were finally over he had to force himself to walk back to his room, sit down on the hard metal chair, and just close his eyes. There was no reason for him to be awake during the procedure and Yasuke might have asked him to go to sleep anyways; if it wasn't the first thing he did upon getting into the chair. So he didn't feel Yasuke stick those electro pads on his head or hear the little machine start buzzing once everything was set up. The odd little writing utensil recording the activity of his brain.

When he did wake up it was dark, and there was only one other person in the room. Judging by the sound of the door closing behind her Mukuro had just got here. Perfect. He could just look through the letters without worrying about being tired tomorrow, then.

"Do you actually have a mental illness?" Mukuro asked, setting a box on the counter. "Have you even considered that that's why you think you know Junko?"

His lips tugged down into a frown at her words. Junko must have told her the excuse his teacher had made when they found him in the infirmary. "Are those the letters?" He didn't care to play games with her when he could get right to his search.

"Yes." Mukuro seemed focused on the chair he was sitting in.

Right. There was one other thing he needed from her. Izuru sat up, resting his arms on his knees. "If you really wish to know if I have a mental illness then why don't you go and take a look at the EEG results from the test that was done today?"

Mukuro frowned, looking as if she was about to snap at him for throwing her words back at her; but he really did want those results. He didn't need her to not take him seriously, but at the same time he didn't care for the way she was treating this agreement of theirs. She clearly didn't believe that the letters would get him anywhere. Well, he would be the judge of that.

"If you wouldn't mind that is. I would like a copy of the results to go over them myself."

This seemed to throw her off guard and he could see that professional mercenary mask of hers crack. "Eh? What, you don't believe you know Junko either?"

"That is what I'm trying to find out. You don't seem to have a hard time getting around here. Would it be a problem for you?"

"N-no. It wouldn't, but-"

"Then I'll start looking at the letters. You can come back again when you're able. Just fold the results and slip them under the tile beneath the examination table. You should be able to access it by just removing the metal plate on the north side. I'll make sure it's loose."

Mukuro glanced to the examination table before giving a nod. "Okay." At least she wasn't trying to argue why it wasn't any of her business or something like that. Like he had first suspected she might say.

She left through the door again as he got up, moving over to the box so he could finally start looking through those letters.