Honoka stared at the desk in front of her, littered with papers and unusually untidy. It'd been like this for a while, actually. Honoka didn't completely comprehend her drastic change ever since her best friend and love interest had left. How long had it been? Six months? Honoka was slowly beginning to think that the group of people from Armestris was never going to come back. Heck, the redheaded young woman didn't even know if they were alive still—and though those thoughts were unnecessarily negative, Honoka couldn't deny the fact that could be buried within them. Sighing to herself quietly and tapping her pen on her desk, she stared down at the jumbled heap of papers on her desk. She wasn't even sure which papers were which. Some of them were absentee notes. Some of them were other papers. And some of them were just notes or doodles she drew or wrote in her free time, when she had absolutely nothing else to do. Honoka had to admit: she was lonely without seeing Roy every day, and without having Riza to forcibly drag around to buy clothes. And even though it was (most of the time) by force, it was still fun. Honoka enjoyed the company of the sniper, and missed teasing her about Arthur. Honoka had noticed a change in the artist, too. He seemed lonely, as well. Honoka supposed they only had each other now. And even the students changed. Rui wasn't smiling as much as she used to, and it was obvious by the bags under her eyes she was losing sleep and worrying too much. Saijo went back into his quiet state, but that wasn't really a shock to anyone—but it did worry Honoka, after seeing the other side of him she hadn't known even existed. Even Akira showed mild discomfort in not having the Elrics around. Nami constantly asked Honoka when Al was coming back, and if Den was coming back, with them. Nami wouldn't stop jabbering about how Melody told her she was going to sit on Ed's foot when he got back, finally. Honoka listened, but didn't listen, at the same time. She was trying her hardest to keep thoughts of the Armestrians out of her mind. But it became increasingly difficult. It's hard to forget people you care so much about. And also because everybody else loved that quirky bunch, too. Rui had been stopping by the nurse's office more often, too. Rui had never once come to see Honoka. It was like Rui was the only girl in the entire world without problems. But Honoka found herself signing early dismissal papers for Rui Yamase much more often recently, advising the young blonde-haired girl to get some rest.
The other teachers were also beginning to wonder about where they had gone, too. Yui was complaining about the lack of active officers at the police station – but Honoka had a feeling Yui had somewhat enjoyed the company of the Armestrians, even if she had bossed Roy around and been snide at times. After Mako Ando's death, Yui had changed, though. She became a much more pleasant person, but she seemed to be getting closer and closer to falling back into the old Yui. Even after Mako's death, Yui had still gotten drunk nearly every night, and with the officers gone for the time being, Honoka wouldn't be surprised if she was drinking more heavily now. Perhaps that was part of the reason Rui was losing so much sleep. The poor girl did everything for her older sister to keep her in line when she was drunk, even if that meant chasing her around the house in the early hours, trying to get Yui to sleep, or drink some water, or eat something before she went to work. Honoka admired Rui's determination to help her sister whenever she was in those lowly states. It just showed how much Rui cared about her older sister – even if it cost her. Rui had had days when she'd come to school and been unusually tired after a long night of trying to keep a drunk Yui out of trouble, but now it was hard to tell if she was awake worrying, or awake watching over Yui. Rubbing her temples, Honoka glanced up at the clock. In less than half an hour, she'd have a session with Takuya, who seemed to be the only one (besides Naruse) not affected emotionally by the absence of Ed, Al, and the others. Honoka sifted through a few papers, plopping the pen in a pen holder to her left, and glanced up at the fish tank. In them were a few fish that Hibiki had given her. Honoka realized now that Hibiki was the closest thing she had to family right now, with Roy and Riza gone. Shaking her head with affection, Honoka grabbed a heap of papers and got up, taking them over to the filing cabinet and beginning to sort through them. There were many more papers than she remembered there being, but she supposed after six months of having papers accumulate on her desk, she should be more surprised that there weren't more papers. Groaning quietly, Honoka internally punched herself for being so untidy. She couldn't say she was depressed, could she? Or perhaps she was, and it was affecting her work. Honoka had still been arriving to school on time and working through all her hours. She was even staying later on days where she had noon leave. Maybe it was depression—she was simply trying to cramp her schedule with things to do to take her mind off of the loneliness. Honoka sighed and grabbed another stack of papers and took them to the filing cabinet and began to sort them.
Just as she'd finished putting away the last of the papers she had in her hands, she heard a small bell ring, signaling the entering of another person. Honoka glanced up at the clock. Still ten minutes until Takuya was supposed to come in. Maybe he was just early. Taking a deep breath and forcing a smile on her face, Honoka turned to face Takuya. However, who she was completely different than who she was expecting to see. Honoka's smile faltered, her expression changing from one of false positivity to one of complete and utter surprise – but it wasn't all bad. Honoka blinked a few times, trying to process if he was really standing there or not. Suddenly Honoka squealed and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him closely.
"God, I thought you were dead!" Honoka said, standing back for a moment to look over Roy. He looked almost exactly the same as he had when he'd left, that solemn afternoon. Almost. Ignoring physical differences, Honoka hugged him close again. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again, you hear me?" Honoka sighed and rested her cheek on his shoulder, smiling contently to herself. "Never again." Honoka felt happy for the first time in a very, very long time – now her soldier was home. And, even if he did have a few more bruises and scars, he was still in one piece.
He's home, and that's all that matters.