「 gay piano noises 」

"Right on the spot? Hmmmmm… Ibuki thought of a celebratory song for your return! But have you got anything else in mind?"

"Maybe a song about our friendship. I think that's something you'd open with on an album."

"It shall be done ASSSSAP!!!!!" No time to waste. Gonna go on a fast trip to her house to pick her raddest guitar. Despair Angel Thesis is back, tell a friend.

"Right, right. So we'll have to compose a few songs now. I think we began one. Beyond that... any inspiration?"

"You mean the Despair Angel Thesis business is openin’ once again~?"

"Of course! We haven't even debuted yet. We've a lot of ground to cover. So let's hop to it. Bring out your guitar while I track down a piano."

>:O WH1CH D1STR1CT 4R3 YOU 1N??

"Zeta, it seems. I don't really think I'll be spending much time there. It seems safer to sleep in the park."

"Nah it wasn’t too much money, Ibuki’s got enough funds to give herself more than one gee-tah by now!" Ah… pause. She brings a finger to her chin. “Nope, nothing about the band yet. It all just stood still when you left…”

"I'm sorry you had to wait. If you're still interested, we can practice and perform for others. I think the people here could do with some good music."

"Noooo— Ibuki got himself some digusting zombie blood on her, but other than that she wasn’t bitten or anything! She can defend herself well! Got one of ‘em with their head smashed thanks to her guitar!" Flexes her arm proudly, but lowers it soon after. “… It broke, though. Rest in Pizzas, guitar…”

"Heh. Did you already replace your old one? I hope it wasn't too expensive. Speaking of which... Have you found people for your band?" It seemed presumptuous to still call it 'our band'.

"Right," she says with a shrug. It’s not that she wasn’t used to it, but even she can get tired of people babbling the same things over and over. “They made it sound like it was an accident… but coming from them, it’s hard to believe. Zombie games looked so much cheaper compared to the real horror, lemme tell ya!”

"I can only imagine. They're like warlocks. What they do is nothing less than magic. You didn't get hurt, did you? I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

"It hardly changes at all. People still talk about things and complain about people talking about things. The danger levels are still the same, too. You missed quite the chaos last month! What you’d call a zombie apocalypse except people kept calling them Pariah instead of zombies."

"I guess we just have to get used to it." He bit back a laugh even though he smiled, taking in her words with nuanced interest. "Zombies, huh? That sounds like something straight out of a video game. Only it was 'real', right? These scientists are fearsome people."

"That’s too bad…" Her smile dims a lot when she hears it. “He might return someday, though! Until then, you’ve got Ibuki! And Terezi is still here!”

"Terezi-san, too? It's like this place hasn't changed all that much." Aside from Shinji's absence at any rate. They must have just missed each other. Or at least, that was what Kaworu would tell himself. "I'm guessing it's still pretty dangerous, though."

"Shinji-chan?" Luckily, that makes her loosen her grip on him. “Uh… Ibuki hasn’t seen him around lately. You still got your cellphone, right? See if he’s still in your contacts!”

"I see. So he's not here. Maybe that's for the best." Either way, he could wait for the other boy like time and time again.

"Ibuki would never forget your face! Ibuki is doing fine! You topped her day just now with your presence~! You better not disappear again!"

"Yeah, well... I'll try not to. People like you make it worth staying. Speaking of which, would you happen to know if Shinji-kun is around?"

Tackle hug from Hell. Ye, she missed you a lot.

"Oh, what a relief. You can never tell whose memories are or aren't intact. How have you been?"

"Yes— um, thank you. I would appreciate that…"

It hadn't been an issue before, or even something that crossed his mind. Now that he was expected to live underground himself, however, Kaworu realized that others might have shared his fate.

Y-yeah…” He sighed, finally straightening and looking at the other with a confused expression upon his features. “But, um, thank you for helping me…” 

And that was all Kaworu could bring himself to do until he figured out the difference between what he was supposed to do and what he wanted to do.