2022-04-11: Heartlines

• Log: 2022-04-11: Heartlines
• Cast: Akane Shinjo's friend Ako Furuma, Kaworu Nagisa
• Where: Tsutsujidai High School
• OOC - IC Date: 0096-04-11
• Summary: It's the first day of school in Tsutsujidai. Kaworu Nagisa, alleged new student, gets a tour.

---

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

It's the first day of school in Tsutsujidai!

Well, really, it's the first day of school pretty much everywhere, but, that's neither here nor there. (Neither is Tsutsujidai here nor there, really.) The important thing is that: people are in school and it's time to get them accustomed to school.

Of course, some people need a little more 'accustoming' than others. The school, conveniently, is willing to help with such things; assigning recent moves a buddy is just good practice.

- Ako Furuma, to the faculty office. Ako Furuma, to the faculty office. -

Ako Furuma is, as always, her sunny self, with her stark blonde-dyed hair a loud contrast to Tsutsujidai's tendency toward the muted. She doesn't seem that *engaged* by this particular prompt, waiting outside the faculty office for someone to either come get her or come deposit whatever is about to get dumped into her lap into her lap.

After a moment, she shoves both of her hands into her pockets and begins whistling, glancing up at the ceiling. (Even if she's starting to shift her style... she's never been the type of person to be fully comfortable making the first move.)

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        "Hey."
        
        That would be the familiar voice of the young man who's been assigned to Ako for the first day of school here at Tsutsujidai High. A freshman, it looks like--or in other words, a high school first year. (And never mind that over in Tokyo-3 Municipal Middle School, he's a middle school third year. That's there, and this is here.) It's familiar because Ako has met this young man before once, in the Chinese restaurant Ryuutei, while she was with Marusa and he was with his own weird nosy friends.
        
        They're not with him now, at least. He's by himself, him and his silver-gray hair and red eyes and unruffled smile and his short-sleeved button-up shirt and his lavender undershirt and his black slacks and his overlong belt and his white sneakers. Like this, he really looks like a normal student. And even though it's his uniform over at T3M, it doesn't look out of place whatsoever here at Tsutsu High. One Sho Utsumi wears something very similar for his uniform, after all.
        
        "I'm Kaworu Nagisa. It's a pleasure to see you again," he adds by way of greeting. His gaze on her his quite keen--perhaps *appraising*--even as his general stance remains relaxed and easygoing. Perhaps it's because of what he says next: "I'm in your care."

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Oh, right... the guy who was talking about the kaiju. Well, one of them, anyway. Ako remembers *that*, if only because it's kaiju talk that wasn't even a little bit attached to an actual kaiju attack. (Not that those happen.)

There's something about Kaworu doing that immediately, though -- immediately, without pretense, without worry -- that seems to appease Ako. He's not hung up on this delinquent girl being the one to show him around (a thing that has happened to Ako before), he's not even really asking about her ridiculous jacket.

"... Sure," she says, the corners of those wide eyes turning up just a little with that closed-mouthed smile she finds herself wearing just a little more often, lately. She starts leading Kaworu around the school. She doesn't seem super invested in explaining a lot, but it's not out of general disengagement; schools are pretty much the same everywhere in Japan, after all.

Besides, she's more interested in Kaworu. "It's a little surprising you're wearing a nice uniform shirt," she reflects, after a little while. "A lot of boys buy the cheaper stuff... everyone's stuff is kind of raggedy. You must be someone who really takes care of his things," she reflects, after a little while. "Or you're growing, but that shirt doesn't look new..."

There's a long look, as Ako starts to try to figure something out. "... maybe you want to be easy to approach?" she offers, earnestly.

Ako thinks about questions of presentation a lot... but now she's willing to voice her assessments -- at least, apparently, to someone she thinks seems easy to approach and who didn't make much hassle about *her* style.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        He sure isn't. He's seen her before--twice before, really, but only once face-to-face--and even without that, the way she dresses doesn't bother him at all. On the converse, he respects the individuality she insists on with said jacket. But today isn't about fashion; it's about school. So he sees no reason to remark upon it, and certainly no reason to be bothered by it.
        
        So much the better for both of them. Ako acknowledges him and starts showing him around the school; Kaworu follows along, hands tucked in his pockets, politely listening to her half-hearted explanation. Indeed, the school isn't that different, fundamentally speaking, from T3M, and the class rep Hikari Horaki had shown him around not that long ago.
        
        "Oh?" he says when the topic turns to his uniform shirt. He laughs a little at the options she presents. "I don't have very many things, so I do my best to take care of what I have." He's certainly not going to grow much more than he has--not for a while, anyway.
        
        Easy to approach, though? He considers this. "I have no desire to discourage others from approaching me. But presenting myself as someone who is easy to approach is not my active goal, either," he concludes. "I simply am who I am. Some find that approachable. Some find it disquieting."
        
        Going strictly by appearances, it might be hard to think of him as someone others would find disquieting, but after hearing the clinical way he talks about it... Maybe that take's a little easier to understand now. Sometimes people are just weird.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

"Huh -- that makes a lot of sense, too..." It's not something Ako really thinks about. Tsutsujidai is bereft of a lot of things, but 'stuff' isn't one of them; people around here are comfortably affluent in a lot of senses, a sort of unobserved and barely-observable type of suburban middle-class energy that is uncommon in the Universal Century.

"Huh," Ako reflects, looking at Kaworu and tapping her chin a bit. On the one hand, it feels like she's misjudged him -- but maybe she's getting more out of the misjudgment? It's a strange feeling, but not a bad one. "You seem like an interesting person." She's not quite at 'let's be friends,' because that's not her style -- but it's a signal.

It's actually a very nuanced relational style -- even if Ako is cautious, she's a very curious person. It's that curiosity that drives her to her next question, after she shows Kaworu the first-year classrooms. "... Are you related to Akane? I don't know many people with eyes like yours except her, and she also moved here from out of town rather than living here most of her life." There's a few seconds, before she clarifies, "... Shinjo. She's in 2-E, with me."

... okay, maybe it's the combination of his weird relational style and his equally weird appearance that's cluing her in. But maybe it's something about the way he moves, the way he carries himself in this space -- something that's just... different. Ako notices little things, if only in her gut.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        It isn't even that Kaworu is poor, per se--he receives a reasonable income as both an administrator and an Evangelion pilot. But he's always been constrained to very small spaces in terms of his living quarters, and small spaces means few possessions. Not that he especially minds. Kaworu is not an especially material person... save when it comes to his hobbies, anyway. But that's another matter.
        
        For now, he chuckles at Ako's assessment. "I hear that often," he replies. "You seem like an interesting person, too." After all... compared to that first time they met... she seems like a much--*fuller* existence. Even moreso than when he'd spotted her on the mountainside, even. The implications are fascinating.
        
        "Shinjo-san and I aren't related, but we do come from similar stock," he replies. "Perhaps that's why." So clearly he *knows* her, even if apparently they aren't close enough for him to address her by her first name. He does look abruptly thoughtful at that moment, though. "Actually, it would be Shinjo-senpai now, wouldn't it? Haha, I wonder what she'll think of that?"
        
        Either way, he continues to smile at her. "I can tell," he says of them being in the same class. "I assume Yuta Hibiki, Rikka Takarada, and Sho Utsumi are as well? And the girl you were with that day we met?"
        
        Clearly he's been around town for a while, even if he's just starting school here. But then, that would make sense, wouldn't it? Ako first saw him around town ages ago. She's the one who connected him with Rikka in the first place, even, as reluctantly as she did so.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

'Similar stock'... Ako wonders if he means that they're from old samurai families or something. That'd be the kind of thing someone who would use that turn of phrase would concern themselves with, she thinks. She tries to picture Kaworu in a formal kimono and hakama.

She decides that, yeah, it vibes, and she'll keep that particular imagination for the moment. If she learns it's wrong, it's not like it's a big deal. If Kaworu had older, more traditional parents, a lot about him would make sense to her.

"You catch on to a lot of stuff quick," she says, lips pouting just a tiny bit; it's not a look of disappointment, even if it'd be easy to read that way. Ako just has kind of pouty expressions and big puppy-dog eyes when she's not trying to hide them, and Kaworu is rapidly establishing himself as someone around whom she doesn't need to do much hiding. "Yeah, that's a big chunk of 2-E right there," she offers, lips turning up in a smile.

The topic of how Akane will deal with being 'senpai,' though... "Akane..." Well, he knows her, right? It's okay for them to talk a bit. "... I think Akane'll like that at first, but she gets weird if too many people get needy with her... she used to be friends with just about the whole class, but she started to pare down a little over the year. 'Senpai' is probably fine, but if you act like that means she owes you something... it's not that she'll blow up at you. But she does skip a lot, doesn't she...?"

Shaking her head, she says, "It's kind of rude of me to gossip. Sorry, Nagi-chi. I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know, if you know her, anyway."

She leads Kaworu past a set of faucets and drinking fountains. "Do you mind if we stop here for a second? My water bottle is empty, and I usually don't talk this much at school... I'm kind of thirsty."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Ako doesn't voice her suppositions, and so Kaworu doesn't need to deny or come up with a roundabout statement about them. It works out for both of them that way. Kaworu *does* have an air to him like he would be at home in traditional Japanese garb, though, doesn't he? Perhaps it's because his movements are so graceful, so sure. He would definitely be able to fold his hakama like a master.
        
        "I hear that one a lot too," he replies, amusement rising in his voice. "It simply felt appropriate, that's all." After all, Akane is the heart of this world. It makes sense that those beings within it that have gained selfhood, or are on the way to gaining selfhood, would be beings that are close to her.
        
        His smile fades into neutrality when they talk more about Akane and how she might react to being called 'senpai.' It's not necessarily that he didn't already know this, but... it's definitely a perspective he didn't have on her already. "True," he says, just as neutrally. It could mean anything.
        
        He pauses at the sudden nickname, though. She's the third person to give him a nickname in recent history--the first was the Second Child's 'Fifth String,' the second Mari's 'Tabby Cat.' The Second gave him that name to mock him, while Mari... well, Mari at least *says* that nicknames are a way to show that you want to be closer to someone. Ako... doesn't seem to be mocking him. Then, she wants to be closer to him...? Is this, too, an effect of her burgeoning personhood?
        
        They pass the water fountains. "Not at all," he replies, stopping for her. As Ako fills up her water bottle, he wonders, "Are you all right, by the way? After the incident on the mountainside..." Normally she probably wouldn't remember, but if she's been gaining a true 'self,' then perhaps...

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

It certainly seems like she wouldn't mind it. She's already moving about a quarter-step closer to Kaworu than she was when they started; it's a subtle effect, but a real and obvious one.

As the fountain squeaks back off, Ako asks, "What?" with a small blink, and then -- "Wait, never mind. I heard you. Sorry, I just needed a moment to sort out the sounds in my head..." 'The incident on the mountainside' --

"Oh, you mean the controlled burn. I was a little unhappy about it... I feel like I should have asked if they had anything going. I just assumed we'd have all day to mess around."

It's possible, of course, that she's repressed the memory; when NERV's giant took the hit for them -- indeed, fairly pointedly for *her*, far ahead of her classmates and by far the most likely to be endangered by Maga-Go'yavec's sudden movement -- she'd been... about how you'd expect for someone near ground zero of a gushing torrent of blood from a Vessel of Light-sized giant.

But she has a story about it. It's even a story that accords with the world at large. So no memory of the kaiju, at least.

"... it feels weird to want to be this open with you -- you're just a transfer student," Ako reflects. It's certainly more will to be honest than she'd had even a week ago. "But I was kind of grateful for it. I didn't actually want that trip to be a whole-class thing... having to cut it short made me think a little about what I was trying to do, and what I really wanted."

That's definitely a blush.

She thinks for a moment about how he'd have known that -- but of course he'd know. Akane must have told him, right? "Ramo felt the same way, apparently," she adds. "We squeezed in a couple make-up days." That'd be Ramo Marusa -- the girl everyone else seems to refer to as Marusan, and a scattered few simply as Marusa. "I was kind of surprised she was willing... I texted her to apologize, but she said she just wanted to hang out more." Okay, now she's just pink.

She takes a long drink. It has... mixed results in hiding her expression, at best.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        A quarter-step closer... Akane had moved about that much closer to him that day in the electronics store. Of course, that had been before she'd fled... but the point is that it's a similar sort of movement. Did Akane fashion her that way...?
        
        The 'controlled burn.' Kaworu doesn't correct her, but doesn't tell her she's right, either. He simply regards her and listens patiently. It *would* be understandable if she'd simply repressed the memory--Evangelions tend to be horrifying to Lilim, though it might be a stretch to call Ako a Lilim, per se--but... it seems as though her memory has been reset after all. Then, she's still being affected because she's not *quite* fully formed...?
        
        "What was it you really wanted?" he prompts, noting her blush--noting that it deepens as she brings up 'Ramo.' The other girl from that time? Then... "What you wanted was to be with her?" His expression softens a bit. "I understand that feeling. There's someone I want to be closer to, too. ...I hope your wish comes true."
        
        He doesn't comment on her finding it strange that she wants to be open with him. It's, as ever, up to the individual what sort of relationship they want to have with another. It is nice to hear, though.
        
        But that's thoroughly beside the point. As Akane spends more and more time with this world, the people around her gain dimension... But why some people but not others? Yuta, Rikka, and Sho could potentially be explained by their contact with Gridman. Ako doesn't appear to be similarly affected, though. What makes her special?
        
        ...is Ramo special in the same way?
        
        "Is it all right if we stop by your classroom?" he wonders then. He could claim that he wants to see if Akane and the others are around--but since that isn't really why he asks, he doesn't make that claim. Rather, his interest is in Marusan. If she's in a similar state as Ako, then...

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

Well, if nothing else, she's been caught. "... Yeah. She offhandedly suggested inviting Akane along, because she'd seemed lonely, and I kind of... went overboard," Ako answers, with a small laugh at herself. It's not a particularly good-humored one; Ako actually thinks she was a little pathetic, here -- even if things worked out. "It's... we've been getting closer. Thank you."

Kaworu suggests they divert to 2-E, and Ako thinks about that for a moment. "I think I'm supposed to take you out to the athletic field next... but that seems kind of boring to me. No one's even playing yet... so, okay. We can swing by." It's not exactly a mega-long walk, anyway.

Ako takes another drink of water. "It's about lunchtime, isn't it...? I don't think we'll see everyone, but that's okay." As they approach the classroom, Kaworu can already feel it. (Akane and the Gridman Alliance aren't there -- no doubt they're taking lunch on the roof, or at the school store, or any of the other myriad places they *could* be at lunch that aren't the classroom.)

Marusan is there, though, and...

... the vibe is normal. In this space -- a space Kaworu was introduced to as an extension of a lonely girl's heart -- 2-E feels like anywhere else in the world. Oh, sure, there are hotter and cooler points of light -- the Big Bang birthed stars ranging from O0 to M9, after all.

Marusan is among the brighter, hotter stars in this classroom, even if she'd be a vague curiosity anywhere else; the heartlines between her and Ako are obvious, and not just from the way Ako peeks through the window in the classroom door at her and gives a little wave.

There are two other girls at similar pitch, albeit less infuriatingly blushy. One of them (a spunky-looking short-haired girl in just a tiny bit of makeup) is ribbing the other (a tired-looking girl in a facemask with longer hair than her counterpart) about whether she's going to start the year off with another round of procrastination. ("Hey, I finish on time..." "Only because you begged me to call Rikka for you and get her to let us copy." "You weren't finished either, that time!")

But it's a natural sort of ebb and flow of the human stream.

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        Kaworu simply smiles, warm and silent, when Ako thanks him for his support. At the same time, though, he does note what she says--that Marusa had suggested inviting Akane along because she'd seemed lonely. He understands that feeling, too... Has she grown tired of a silent, empty world? Is that why these changes are beginning to take place? Or would they have happened anyway?
        
        It's intriguing. He's not entirely sure he'll learn all the answers. But it's clear to him that Tsutsujidai is much more than meets the eye. Especially when they approach and then enter the classroom. There are so many lives here that are approaching *true* life, not merely the facsimile of it. He observes thoughtfully, gaze going from Marusan to Ako and back again, and then over to the two unfamiliar girls who nonetheless are discussing a familiar person.
        
        Compared to the outside world, it's still a quiet place, to be sure. But compared to how it was only three months ago, there's far more of a commotion. A big bang, indeed. Has Akane noticed these changes? Has Alexis? ...Did Alexis *intend* on this...?
        
        One thing's for certain: it was wise of him to show up here and enroll himself in Tsutsu High. Even if he's still also attending T3MMH, this is something that bears keeping a close eye on, even closer than he already has been.
        
        So for now:
        
        "Thank you," he tells Ako. "Your tour has been fascinating." He considers for a heartbeat or two, then adds, "Is there anything that *you'd* consider worth seeing or doing?"

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The question puts Ako on the spot, a bit; she's never really thought about what she'd tell an out-of-towner about what's good or interesting to do -- at school? In town? It's a pretty open question, now that she thinks about it.

Her wide eyes tilt up just slightly, looking toward the ceiling as she thinks. "Maybe you should check out the school store? The food's pretty good... I don't know how it stacks up to any other schools or anything, but I like it." There's not actually a lot going on in Tsutsujidai in general, she realizes, now. It's not a bad thing -- this is kinda her speed -- but...

"If you just mean out in town, though, there's Fumo-Fumo Land... but I think they're closed for repairs right now." She muses, "I got a little lucky... they only reopened a week or two after I had the idea to go with Ramo, and they only stayed open for another couple weeks."

It's at this point that she realizes she's giving a useless answer, and finishes instead, "There's not a ton to do in town. Usually if I'm out with Ramo and Akane we just go to Sevendarake or she treats us to lunch or something."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        It *is a pretty open question, isn't it?
        
        Kaworu watches her in polite interest as Ako gives her answers, both in and outside of school. He doesn't react at the talk of Fumo Fumo Land--he was quite present for that incident, and Ako spending her time with Ramo is hardly new--but he does become thoughtful when she talks about Akane treating them to lunch. Thinking back, she'd tried to treat him to a meal too, which lasted as long as him admitting he doesn't care to eat unnecessarily. For someone who doesn't eat--who seems to actively dislike eating--why does she focus so much on food?
        
        ...ha, it barely needs asking. Even Kaworu has noticed how much of Lilim bonding revolves around food, even before this time around. This time has simply made it a very mild source of frustration for a short while. Shinji is so focused on it now, after all. That's beside the point, though. The point is that, for all that Akane says she wants to be alone, in her heart of hearts, she really wants a bond with someone else...
        
        "Thank you. I appreciate your opinion," he replies. "Tell Shinjo-san I said hello, will you please?" He turns half a step away and begins to walk off. His pace is slow enough that Ako could easily stop him if she wanted to, though. It *was* pretty abrupt of him, after all.

<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.

The abruptness... isn't bad. Ako can be a kind of abrupt person, too; she gets it -- after all, she *did* give Kaworu a nickname on their second meeting. And on the other end, she can withdraw from other people pretty abruptly if she feels like they're invading her space. As such, when he starts to retreat, she gives him a nod and a, "Sure."

She still has the tail end of lunch; she doesn't think she can finish a whole meal in the time she has left, but she can probably make it to the school store, snag something quick, and get it into her face within the first couple minutes of class.

For now, though: Ako pulls out her phone and snaps off a quick text to Akane:

> The first-year transfer student wanted me to say hi to you... Nagisa?
> I don't really get it, but I kinda get the feeling he's worried about you... how do you two know each other?

Somewhere else, Akane finishes up a thermos full of miso soup, excusing herself to go to the bathroom and check her phone before class starts up again.