2023-11-05: Stand. Bow.

• Log: 2023-11-05 Stand. Bow.
• Cast: Hikari Horaki, Misato Katsuragi. Mentioned: Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Kaworu Nagisa, Asuka Shikinami Langley, Tohji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida, PenPen
• Where: Tokyo-3
• OOC - IC Date: November 5, 0097 (2023)
• Summary: Days pass without word, and Tokyo-3 Municipal feels like it has gone back to business as usual. But someone cannot help but stare at the vacant seats.

OOC Note: With thanks to Kaworu Nagisa's player for editing help!

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Today she made extra lunch portions, just in case they come back.

Another day passes. The same seats remain vacant.

"Stand. Bow."

Another day. Overcast, the gloom casts a pall. Vacant again.

The food is handed off to Tohji and Kensuke, she measured incorrectly, made too much. An easy lie. She still gets teased. Somehow she manages a smile.

"Stand. Bow."

Another day. The curtains are open. The low sunlight only highlights how empty the room feels to her.

"Stand. Bow."

At the shoe lockers, she hears that another student council meeting has been cancelled.

She no longer thinks of making extra portions.

"Stand. Bow."

One girl asks if they should consider flowers for the desks while cleaning after school. She snapped at her.

A note from her little sister. Staying with friends. She won't be home tonight.

"Courteous of Nozomi... Now I won't make too much for dinner."

She went to bed early that night, her eyes stared absently at the ceiling for far too long.

"Stand. Bow."

"Stand. Bow."

"Stand. Bow."

Knock. Knock.

Hikari stood stock straight before the apartment door, a large stack of papers in hand.

Knock. Knock.

The sun had long since dipped under the horizon lending itself to the blackened night. She eventually leaned against the wall outside the apartment, the papers stacked on the floor and held in place by her book bag. Despite her jacket, she was rubbing her arms.

Her eyes lingered upon a blinking red beacon for far too long.

The sound of a car screeching as it pulled into the parking lot below interrupted her thoughts. She quickly picked up the papers.

Up the stairs, Misato limped, her arm healed but still favoring the other, which was both on the rail and holding a pair of heels. She mumbled to herself as she swayed upwards, "The place is too damned empty lately. Uggh, whateverrr! Pen-Pen's all the--all the company I need..."

Hikari tried not to wrinkle her nose at the smell of alcohol. "Katsuragi-san?"

Misato looked at her as if surprised, then squinted as she now swayed from side to side. "Iiii know you. You're... you're her friend. Been over a few times."

"Yes Ma'am. Hikari Horaki. I'm their class representative. Here to... bring over their makeup work."

Misato stared at her for a second or two longer before attempting a smile. Like her feet, it wobbled. "Oh... Just lay it anywhere," she said with a false lightness as she walked on past her, keys fumbling into the lock.

"Yes Ma'am. I was hoping that we could get an update on... when they'd be back."

She didn't respond at first; the key jammed hard in the lock. A moment's struggle later, she managed to get the door open. Hikari opened her mouth to speak again, thinking Misato had been too distracted to hear her, but Misato cut her off:

"That's NERV business."

The slur in her terse words was less pronounced now, with a tone that surprised Hikari, as she leaned on the frame.

"I understand, but if it wouldn't be an inconvenience, any update would be appreciated--"

"Shinji-kun moved out weeks ago. He's not going to come back to school here." A miserably fond note entered her tone as she added, not quite under her breath, "Heh. Still need to ship that kid his things. Just keep putting it off..."

"I... I see..." Hikari tried to take that in stride and failed before she blurted out, "But what about the others? Ayanami-san? Nagisa-kun? ... Asuka?"

Misato's eyes clouded over. "I'm too damn drunk to be having this conversation right now," she muttered.

A note of desperation and urgency entered into Hikari's previously placid voice, "Please-! Anything you can say! Just tell me something! Anything at-"

The door closed on her, the papers still in her hands.

"-all?

Hikari stood there a while longer. Long enough that she heard through the apartment door a muffled call of, 'Pen-Pen! Come here!'

A single paper fluttered out onto the ground as she threw them in the dumpster. Rather than pick it up, she slammed the lid shut.

And that's when the tears came for the first time, under a lonely Tokyo-3 sky.