Chapter 2

A/N: Beta-reader needed for flow check. Constructive criticism desired, and any ideas on how to allow this story to progress. Thank you. And thank you for reviewing Lizzy.

He needed that old fart to show him around.

Was he walking in circles this entire time? That plant was definitely there the last four times he passed it, and the sound of vomiting and cursing from one of the bathrooms was especially familiar. Despite his annoyance with the layout, he had to admit that this place was probably never going to get boring. Especially if more incidents broke out…like that teenager with the yellow scarf.

"What do you mean you can't find him? What am I paying you fo-" A raven-haired teenager wearing a yellow scarf in the middle of summer glared at a nurse who apparently wasn't faring too well.

"M-M-Mochizuki-sama. We told your brother that he was going t-t-to be here….so I guess h-h-he's playing h-h-hide a-a-and s-s-seek." The nurse's eyes shined with tears, and her body shivered in both fear and nervousness.

The oppressive atmosphere seemed to vanish with her answer. The black-haired teenager's visage of anger vanished to be replaced by a look of exasperation. A slow chuckle escaped his lips before saying in a cheerful voice, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He smiled, adding, "I guess you're going to help me find him."

That yellow-scarfed kid was probably in this place too since he looked like he was suffering…what was it again...bipolar from how he shifted from pissed to happy all in an instant. Who knows? Mochizuki might also be schizophrenic since it might be possible that this so-called brother didn't exist anyway. Probably violent too from how nervous the nurse was.

Slouching on the sofa he was on, Minato continued to watch and patiently waited in the central lobby. The room wasn't really much of a room, more of where all the psychiatric ward hallways met with seats centered in the space. He yawned as he leaned back down on the sofa.

The sofa was pretty comfortable after all, and he slowly felt being pulled away from reality and into dreams. The softness of the sofa…the drone of light conversation…all made it perfect for a nap. But apparently it was not meant to be because, for the second time today, his boat to unconsciousness was sunk by a light prod into his ribs.

He tried to ignore the prods, but…the pokes just kept becoming more frequent and more painful. Saving his ribs outweighed his need to sleep if only marginally. he opened up one eye, staring at the black-haired boy that looked at his face and poked him in the ribs…again.

The clothing that the kid wore looked like it belonged in those old prison-break movies; black and white stripes were just wrong on a kid. Blue eyes just stared at him curiously before the child himself burst into smile.

"Hey, are you new here?" the boy asked, blue eyes alit with curiosity.

Minato adjusted himself to a sitting position, nodding cautiously at the overly enthusiastic kid.

"Yay! A new person! I'll give you the tour around here!" said the kid.

Minato sat up as he incredulously stared at the hyperactive child who, at the moment, seemed to be humming with energy. "Err…that's o-"

He felt himself being wrenched from the couch as the kid suddenly pulled his arm forward towards one of the halls. Quickly regaining his balance and becoming less drowsy, he was able to appreciate both the figurative and literal pain in his backside and the yells that were slowly getting louder as they got closer and closer.

"SALVATION. ANNIHILATION IS SALVATION! NYX WILL FREE US ALL!"

"Powering these objects with Shadows will bring Kirijo Corparation to a new level of success! Hehehe."

"GOD DAMN IT. SHUT THE HELL UP. WHY THE HELL DID I GET STUCK WITH WEST WING DUTY?!" a feminine voice yelled.

Minato winced as he covered one of his ears from the sudden assault of sound, a futile effort as the yells came from both sides. It was why he was dreadfully unprepared when the kid turned and pulled him straight into a recycling bin, the kid letting go off his hand as he ran towards a door.

"Oh wait. Let's stop here for a second. I need to give Loud-san cookies."

"…"

From his sloth-like position on the container, Minato had the great view of Pharos opening up a slot on the door where 'Loud-san', the lunatic yelling out something about salvation, was in. Unsurprisingly, opening up the slot ended up making his yells louder, but he, at least, now had both hands to protect his poor ears.

"Loud-saaaaaan! I have cookies. " the kid said as he took out several sugar cookies out of his pockets.

"NYX BLESS YOU, Pharos!" Almost immediately, a pair of teeth grabbed at the cookies, obscured by a mat of silverish-grey hair, before disappearing back in the room.

"Bye Loud-san, I'll try to bring more next time!" he said before closing the door, muffling the sounds of chewing.

Minato stared dumbfounded at Pharos before sliding off the receptacle like a slug. Without even a word, the kid started pulling on his arm again, dragging his limp body to what he now knew was a very well-waxed floor.

They stopped by another door labeled 'Break Room' which had a discontent female voice mumbling behind it, the same voice which yelled a loud complaint. Surrounded by several books on mathematics and literature, Minato squinted several times to get used to her apparel, pink..everything. Horrible blinding pink. The type of pink that made one ask what the hell the dresser was thinking.

"…Pharos-kun, I'm busy," the brunette said, not lifting her eyes off the book she had her nose in. She grumbled in the background, "Stupid Mitsuru… summer classes …can go shove it…"

The boy Pharos, unperturbed by her dismissal, only turned around to a slowly standing Minato, half-talking and half-yelling, "And this is Angry-san! She gets louder than Loud-san, and the nurses say it's because she's…PRS-ing?" Pharos looked confused, unaware of the suddenly large and imposing figure behind him.

"What did you say?" 'Angry-san' said which only prompted Pharos to reply.

"Oh, the nurses say you're PRS-ing…and…I'm going to go show our new guest around! Umm...byeee!" Pharos seemed to have gotten the message and, once again, tugged on Minato's arm hard which caused him to topple over back onto his arse. With him in tow, Pharos ran across the hall.

Feeling how effortlessly on how Pharos is pulling him along, Minato stared at the white floor under him. What in the world did they wax the floor with? Teflon?

"Pharos! Who sai- Eeeek!"

His suspicions were partially confirmed when the girl in pink joined him in the ground.

Thunk.

The girl was on the floor and rubbing her backside… though that wasn't what Minato caught a glimpse of. Her skirt managed to upturn itself during her fall, so Minato suddenly had a pink eyeful…The more rational part of his mind noted the heat on his own face… and the fact that the girl suddenly noticed her state of indecency when her own face reddened.

Before her face suddenly turned to look at him as Pharos pulled him towards the corner.

…Minato futilely covered one of his ears.

The resulting cry of 'pervert' could probably be heard throughout the hospital.

She was indeed louder than 'Loud-san.'

"And this is the S.E.E.S. wing," said Pharos as both got off the elevator with Minato in tow.

Tired from being led through the hospital, Minato stared at the well-decorated lobby. It was certainly more 'homey' than the other wings. It wasn't sterile white but a mixture of greys and dark reds, looking more of a hotel actually. A pull on his arm led Minato towards the front desk where a familiar face talked to a not-so-familiar one.

"And I think you're trying to get me killed! THIS…is the same as what you told me." the silver-haired male yelled out as Elizabeth was flipping pages through a rather large, worn-looking notebook.

"And like I told you before, those didn't fulfill the conditions of my request. So you can return them to whatever store you got them," Elizabeth replied as she flipped through another page.

"You know I can't steal them from Mitsuru! She'll execute me! Ex-E-Cute!" the silver-haired male stressed, his hands clenching the edge of the desk and face tilted forward. The purple-claded girl merely pinched the male's cheek before she gave a mischievous smile.

"Now, Akihiko-san. I remember you running over here and asking for something to help you out in the regionals. I procured that item, and you enthusiastically said… yes…. to my request. " Elizabeth continued smiling as she pulled Akihiko closer via his cheek. "Now, you could cancel your request…if you bring me back the unopened bottle of high-quality whey protein I gave you…"

Elizabeth grinned maliciously, "Now…do you have that unopened bottle?"

Akihiko nervously shook his head, hindered from the fingers pulling his cheek.

"Now, you could always NOT do my request that you promised to do, but…" Elizabeth's eyes somehow just glowed with a less-than-benevolent light. "you might find yourself having to give sponge-baths to some very elderly and…incontinent patients…for as long as I feel like."

The silver-haired male paled which was a stark contrast from his slowly bruising cheek.

"Now…I wonder. Will Mashiba-sama's buttocks be as wrinkly as his face? Or will Yoshida-dono's breasts become even more pruney-looking from the water? You know she's fond of yo-" the girl said whimsically.

"Okay, enough, enough! I get it. I get it!" Akihiko pulled his face away from Elizabeth's fingers.

"Get what? I don't think you remembered last time." She lifted the item on the desk into Minato's line of view: a red, somewhat frilly, pair of panties.

"…I'll get a pair of…" Akihiko glanced left and right as he whispered, "of Mitsuru's panties…"

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow.

"that look like the one I brought…by the end of the week, " Akihiko added exasperated. The girl smiled as she waved Akihiko off.

"I'm glad we understand each other….now I have to mark in our new…guest."

Akihiko's eyes widened as he finally looked directly behind him. The expression he had on would've been hysterical if it hadn't immediately turned into a threatening glare. Pharos, however, was unaware of the silent message being sent and simply went to Elizabeth, saying with a smile, "I brought Sleepy-san and fed Loud-san, Liz-san."

"Excellent. Here ya go, Pharos-chan." Elizabeth smiled as she brought out several chocolate chip cookies in a plastic bag. "Don't eat them all at once…" Akihiko simply cringed as the kid accepted the bag of cookies, a frown clearly on his face before he walked rather swiftly towards the stairwell.

Pharos, unaware of the sudden evil that appeared in Elizabeth's smile, munched on a cookie while Elizabeth put away the old brown notebook.

"Oh, maybe Akihiko would like to play with you when you finish those cookies," Elizabeth said casually.

The child nodded like a bobble-head on a washing machine, running straight for the stairwell, yelling, "Zoooooooooooooooooooooooom!"

The girl watched amusingly before setting her gaze upon Minato.

"And so we meet again, Minato-san. I've been waiting on you for quite some time." She looked over at the closing stairwell door before looking back to Minato, saying "Now…you were running quite late…so I had to enlist Pharos-chan's help in getting you up here. Told him to wake up and drag any person who's sleeping outside of a room here."

A sweatdrop appeared in the back of Minato's head at the explanation before he asked, "What do you want me here for?"

"Oh, you need to sign this document stating that you will suf-…accept any consequences resulting from your actions….You know.." Elizabeth smirked, "the usual stuff."

S.E.E.S. Wing Contract

By signing this contract, you accept all consequences resulting from your own actions.

The contract looked simple enough, too simple actually. Minato turned his head towards Elizabeth who had that enigmatic smile plastered on her face. He held his pen nervously over the contract, hesitating.

"You know…the faster you sign this, the faster you can go on a nice warm bed," Elizabeth smirked.

Oh no, there was something definitely wrong here. Before she insisted that he stay awake…and now she was offering sleep? Something was definitely wrong…and yet he didn't care. He just wanted to go into a bed and get to sleep...undisturbed.

'Minato Arisato,' he wrote in legible script before glaring in annoyance at the lady who suddenly pulled the contract right under his hands.

Elizabeth smiled, saying, "Welcome to Tatsumi Memorial Hospital." She bowed her head down, slow enough to reveal the maniacal gleam in her eyes, "We hope you enjoy your stay. Your room is 402." A pair of keys was placed into his shirt pocket.

He was tired. A crescent moon was already high in the sky, almost taunting in its appearance.

His bed wasn't too comfortable, but he learned how to sleep anytime and anywhere. Eyes stared at a white ceiling as he lied down. He yawned and closed his eyes, thinking no more.