<@Ciara> [Friday, February 13th.] <@Ciara> [It's the middle of the afternoon, and Wataru is likely in his apartment.] <@Ciara> [His phone rings!] * Wataru is listening to the soundtrack of the Buffy musical episode to help fight the pre-Valentine dateless blues, and cleaning up his apartment! And then the phone rings! And --- holy shit, *Satoshi*? He turns off the music and answers. "Heyy, wow, it's late for you, huh? Happy Valentine's Day!" ^^ * Satoshi sounds tired and kind of upset. "Wataru, I wish that was why I was calling. But. Katie's missing. Something attacked her at her and Kyon's apartment." * Wataru has a sharp intake of air. "What?" he says, slowly sitting down. "What happened." I don't know. Kyon just called me. He says she's gone and it looked like something attacked her. "God," he exhales. "All right. Shit. Is there anything I can do?" * Satoshi swallows. "Yes. We need to find her as soon as possible. You... you can do that, right?" "... I can definitely try," he says, voice firm. "You want me to call you back after I do a reading?" * Satoshi shakes his head, not that Wataru can see it. "No, Wataru. You can *find* people, right?" "I --- shit, I'm getting another call. Can you hold just one second?" Yeah. It might be one of the others. * Wataru puts Satoshi on hold! * Satoshi drums his fingers on the table. * Wataru returns! "-toshi? You still there?" Yeah, I'm still here. Was it about what's going on? "It was Haruko. She also asked me about doing a reading." He takes a breath. "But.. I know what you meant by *finding her*. I'll do whatever I can. Okay?" * Satoshi sounds upset and desperate. "Please, Wataru... if this is anything like..." His voice drops off. "We need to find her as quickly as possible." "Anything I can," Wataru repeats. He swallows. "I'll call Haruko when I have results, and you immediately afterwards. Okay?" He thinks for a moment. "... Katie's not alone. She's got us mobilized. But now I'm going to go, because the sooner I get started the better. All right?" Yeah. Thank you, Wataru. * Satoshi sounds extremely grateful. "Thank me later," Wataru says, but there's the smallest sliver of a smile in his voice. "--I'll call you in a bit." Good luck. "Thanks." * Wataru hangs up! And has a looong breath. * Satoshi looks at his phone, then walks back to his room to grab his laptop and his coffee tumbler. It's going to be a long night, and he's not going to be sleeping. <@Ciara> [So, Wataru. What now?] * Wataru stands up. He goes and pours himself a big glass of water, and splashes some on his face, too. Gotta have a clear head... He goes over to his bedroom, where he sets down his glass and straightens things up for about 30 seconds before going into the closet and fetching the sketch Katie drew, once, of birds circling the Waseda clock tower... * Wataru draws the blinds, but keeps the window slightly open for fresh air. It's quiet enough. Then he sits on the floor, cross-legged, holding the napkin on his lap, and he closes his eyes. * Wataru thinks about her. Katie Andrews... Her vulnerability re: Satoshi... Her paint-spattered clothing... Her love of peanut butter... Her connection with Kyon. He thinks about her drawing birds in a cafe on Waseda campus, long before he really knew her. He clutches the napkin, and lets his mind wander. <@Ciara> [Wataru sees the drawing, the sketch of the clock tower filling his entire field of vision. His gaze is pulled to the very topmost part... the highest part. It zooms in, and suddenly it's as if he's gone through the walls. And there's a small huddled figure sitting there.] <@Ciara> [Wataru opens his eyes and he can feel it... a tug in his mind. It may very well be in the direction of Waseda.] * Wataru drinks the water. He feels the pull, tugging at him, pushing adrenaline into his veins. He flips open his cell phone and calls Haruko. * Satoshi has, in the meantime, made himself some coffee and is trying to work on his next essay. It's only going so well. He keeps looking over at his phone every two minutes. * Satoshi did, however, see the text from Wataru, which made him smile before he got all worried again. * Satoshi grabs for the phone when it rings! "Wataru! Did it work?" "Yes," Wataru says. Warmly! "I'm pretty sure she's climbed the clocktower at Waseda campus. I'm in a cab right now, and Haruko's headed there too." * Satoshi lets out a breath. "Oh, thank god. You are the *best*, Wataru." * Wataru gets wibbly inside. And kind of doesn't know what to say. "You, uh, you want me to call you back when we have news?" he finally gets out. Yeah. Please. * Satoshi sighs. Wataru? "Yeah?" There's a softness there, that hint of a smile again. I'm supposed to go to Boston this weekend. For games. Do you think I should go? * Wataru thinks about this for a moment. "Think you can be that guy on the ice, even if you don't have a clear answer about Katie?" "Can you make that happen?" You don't think it'll seem like I'm running away? "I think that... I mean, this is just my opinion, but... If you think you can't play proplerly because you're too cut up by this, then call in sick or something. If you think you can put your game face on no matter what, then I'd say go for it. You're chasing your dream, and we're here, and we'll keep you in the loop. If it ends up being less dramatic than we're assuming, well... I'm pretty sure she'll be glad you stayed the course and played the games." * Satoshi is quiet for a bit. "I'll see how I feel in the morning. Hopefully you'll be finding her in the near future, and... you'll keep me posted. If all goes well, I can sleep on the bus or something. I probably shouldn't be making major decisions now." * Wataru nods. "I promise to text you regular updates, and call if anything big happens. Okay? You're a part of this." He thinks for a moment, then has a small smile. "Hell, not to brag, but, you know. You called me, and I - as far as I can tell - managed to find her. So you made it happen." * Satoshi laughs softly. "You give me way too much credit, Wataru. Anyhow. I'm gonna camp out in the lounge here and try to write my essay." "Go for it. We'll keep you in the loop." Wataru rubs at his face. Thanks. * Wataru wraps it up, then. He closes his eyes, and sighs. Well. He's had worse Valentine's Days. [End!]