CRB 4407
By Jintsu Wednesday, November 15, 2006
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Disclaimer:
All characters, names, and what ever else are property of Gainax, Movic, TV Tokyo, NAS, ADV Films, Wedge Link, OB Planning, Pastel, Studio Gallop, Frontline, Avex, TOKYOPOP, AIC, Artmic, Youmex, or whomever else I am forgetting to name. Just so they all know they are getting credit for the characters. As much as it agonizes me to say this, I did not create any of these characters except for Sato Hitomi and Kurokawa Masahiro. Much to my disappointment, I also did not create the initial plot for this series. That credit goes to Hideaki Anno alone.
So the hoard of slavering lawyers can go lie down for a century or two. This was written for fun, not for profit. I'm only borrowing the characters for a little while. I promise I'll give them back!
A tip of the hat to DartzIRL for reading this and giving me inspiration to continue.
Also a BIG thank-you to Hamstadini for pre-reading and constructive criticism.
And to my reviewers: Thank you very much. You made my day by reading my fic and leaving reviews. That just makes it a little easier to keep going.
Photos for this fic are on a link on my profile page.
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CHAPTER ONE
Hateshinai Tabi--Hajimari no Toki
You can't take it with you,
No matter what you do.
You can't take it with you,
Not the place you're going to.
The Allan Parsons Project:
Can't Take It With You
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CANTON-AKRON AIRPORT:
MAY 11TH, 2007
5:30 A.M.
"Will the owner of a red Camaro, Ohio license plate number CRB 4407, please come to the information desk?"
"Oh, crap. What now?" I say as I butt out my cigarette and log off my laptop.
"Maybe you double-parked it when you came in?' a dishwater blonde haired woman smirked over her laptop, her blue eyes slightly hidden by her designer glasses.
The usual business type person, she was dressed conservatively in brown. Obviously one of the middle-management type drones, going to Japan as a surrogate sacrifice for her employers. As I passed by, I could see she had an HP laptop. Some kind of logo on the back: a circle with an inverted triangle, with two letter "A"s in the center. Noticing her key ring, I sarcastically replied, "Maybe they want me to move my car, so they can sweep-up the pieces of the Miata I crushed when I double-parked. It was blue, wasn't it?"
The incoherent noises and look on her face as I walked by and entered the causeway: priceless!
As I strolled over to the information desk, my laptop slung over my left shoulder, I could see why I had been paged. A brown-haired semi-close copy of me was standing at the info desk talking with the girl behind the counter. My best friend, IT guru, and sometimes employer, we had known each other for over seven years. Ken Robinson had helped me rebuild my life, my car, and my mind after my last disaster of a relationship. I helped him build his business, move into his new apartment, and set-up his bachelor party. Ken and Ginger are the family that I never had, and I would do anything for them.
"Ken, what are you doing here now? I thought you didn't have to work 'till later?" I inquired softly.
"Yah, that was the plan, but I thought I'd come by now and see you off. Besides, I know you don't like to leave "Iron Helix" in a parking lot," he replied jokingly.
I was really touched by his thoughtfulness; I don't like to leave my car anywhere, it took us four years to restore it from the rattletrap it once was.
"Hey, thanks. Thanks a lot," I muttered, my throat going dry.
He walked up to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. Then he locked eyes with me and stated in a caring voice, "You know, it's the least I could do after what you did for us for our wedding."
I looked down, breaking eye contact, and replied slightly embarrassed, "That's what a best man is supposed to do for the groom."
Before I could be discomposed any further, the PA system announced," Final call for United Airlines flight 6801, Kansai International via Chicago-O'Hare."
Looking up, with my trademark smirk, I stated, "I gotta go man, can't miss this flight."
Ken released my shoulders, and we firmly shook hands. As I turned and raced for the gate, I could hear him shout, "Take care, Roger, and we hope you find someone over there to share your vacation with."
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OVER THE DEVIL'S SEA
SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF JAPAN
As I wake, I sense something is wrong. I don't feel right. Everything smells sharper. I open my eyes and everything is in focus except for one thing; no glasses. I always look for my glasses on my face when I wake up. I move my hand up to check the top of my head when I notice my hand. I bring it closer to my face. There are NO wrinkles! NO AGE SPOTS! I start to wonder about this when I hear the passengers behind me. They are speaking in Nihongo but I understand it. I only know it from anime. How...?
Thoughts bombard me. I see myself as always: a forty-nine year old, six foot tall, brown-eyed, salt-and-pepper haired Caucasian. I now also see superimposed over this image, a fourteen year old, five feet something red-haired and green-eyed Asian.
My mind at this point is like a dog chasing its own tail: running in circles and confused as hell. I snap forward in my seat, looking at myself. I was dressed in Western wear when I boarded the aircraft: Stetson hat, Dan Post boots, Levi's jeans, red Western bib shirt, and a Filson duster. Now I'm dressed in New Balance trainers, some type of jean cargo pants, and a loud print shirt with a brown leather jacket over top of it.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!
A memory of school, but it seems like two lives. Training in Nevada...
WAITAMINIT! I NEVER TRAINED ON THE GROUND IN NEVADA!
Rumbling from beneath my seat. The flaps are coming down, landing gear next.
I feel TERRIFIED in this aircraft!
I'VE NEVER BEEN FRIGHTENED IN CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT!!!!
I see another set of memories, where "I" was in an aircraft accident in Nevada. An earthquake decimated the airport as "we" were landing. Fire, confusion, pain, passengers and chunks of aircraft everywhere. Smoke and burning bodies littering the runway, which was rippled and crushed.
WHO AM I?
WHERE AM I!!??
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"Now arriving at gate 23, Northwest Airlines flight 69 from Detroit-Metro."
This is not right. I'm walking along, stumbling, almost falling, because THIS IS NOT MY BODY!!! I'm still trying to assimilate what has happened, while the lines of passengers herd me forward like sheep to the slaughter. "Other" memories overwhelm my consciousness and body awareness, ruining my ability to walk and chew gum at the same time.
And I'm all outta gum.
THUMP!
I've smacked into the customs and immigration desk. I look up to see two police officers that frown at me.
"Your passport please, sir," the first one asks. My right hand reaches inside my jacket to find...nothing. I then reach with my left to check the other side. Mr. Policeman is not looking happy. No passport in my right pocket, either.
"Sir, I am afraid you must come with us," he announces loudly while flagging down airport security. I'm starting to sweat. I remember all the stories about security in Japan, and their methods of interrogation
I have no rights here, unlike in the United States.
As the two grab my arms to lead me away, a voice forcefully cries:
"He's with us!"
I'm shaking now; can't even think straight. I hear a mixture of languages; Nihongo then an echo in English.
The officers turn me around so I may see my rescuers. The first thing I see is an I.D. card. It has a half fig leaf design on it with the letters NERV emblazoned on it in red. With fear all but consuming me, I look up to see two women.
Information overload.
I pass out.
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The sound of rotor blades stropping the air awakens me. Now this is something I do fear. I hate helicopters with an unbridled passion. Goddam things have the flight physics of a bumblebee. They shouldn't even fly. Moreover, there's no way out in case of a catastrophic transmission failure.
As I'm grousing about my flap-doodle transportation, I crack an eye open and listen to the conversation going on around me.
"...Well I can understand why he has a fear of flying, but why did he just drop like a sack of rice in front of us?" one female voice questions.
A second voice tiredly replies, "It could be any number of reasons, Misato, I've run all the checks that I can for now. We'll just have to wait till we get back to Headquarters."
At hearing the name "Misato," I pop upright like I'd been hit with a cattle prod. In front of me are Akagi Ritsuko and Katsuragi Misato.
In the flesh.
In one bright flash of reason and logic, I understand what has happened.
My memories make sense now. I'm a forty-nine year old man in a fourteen-year-old body in an anime series that I watched on my computer! I'm screwed!!
"I'm in Hell, aren't I?" I ask them, as my eyes roll up in my skull, and I face plant into the helo's deck.
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IN LA-LA LAND:
I'm on the flight to Japan. My vision is strange: not sharp; like a thin silk scarf has been tied over my eyes. The passengers around me start disappearing from their seats. Kind of misty, like a cloud, then just gone! Eventually it is just me in my seat. I hear a voice behind me softly say:
"Do you not want to live?"
I can't move. The voice is behind me, walking closer to my seat. I know this voice, and she scares the shit out of me.
Don't be her.
Don't be her.
Don't look.
WAKEUP
She comes into my line-of-sight, and it is who I most dread to see at this point, because I know now without a shadow of a doubt: I'm dead.
A thin slip of a girl, fourteen years old, of Japanese descent, but an albino with pale milk-white skin.
A skin-tight white suit with black trim; 00 stenciled above her breasts.
The goddess as death.
The avatar of man.
Blood red eyes.
Light electric blue hair.
The death of humanity.
Rei Ayanami.
"You are now deceased on your original plane of existence," she says in a flat, unemotional voice.
"All passengers of this aircraft were immolated in the fireball which ensued from a high speed impact with the water off the coast of Japan in the Devil's Triangle. Your aircraft flew through a large bubble of gas that was emitted from the ocean floor. This caused a catastrophic loss of lift and thrust, ensuing in the impact which extinguished all life aboard said aircraft."
She continues in that same robotic monotone with her cerulean eyes burning through the back of my skull:
"Your fellow passengers have chosen to live out their lives on other planes of existence. I have been tasked to lead you to your next incarnation. Do you wish to live?"
The voices in my head are screaming for release. Both in English and Japanese. I know what happens in Evangelion, my life is forfeit as a pilot. I see "his" memories of being the pilot of Unit Four.
UNIT FOUR!??
HOW CAN THIS BE??
UNIT FOUR WAS DESTROYED IN THE SERIES BEFORE IT GOT TO JAPAN!!!
The blue-haired Shiva tilts her head, looks at me, and quietly whispers,"All is not written in stone, or the Dead Sea Scrolls. Calm your mind. You will have a pivotal part in this existence; this war. But only a part. You have written about this world, have you not? Embrace this new existence, and help me eradicate the madness which is SEELE and Ikari Gendo."
I feel a great wave of calm wash over me, like the fog rolling in from Lake Superior in Marquette on a cool October morning. I want to do this. I want to help them all: Shinji, Asuka, Toji, Hikari, Kensuke, Misato, Ritsuko, and even Rei. However, I know it is a death wish. Also, there is nothing like the feeling you get when you fuck-up someone's scenario, look him in the eye and say: "Yes, I did it!"
What the hell, I'm dead anyway.
I just hope I remember everything in the story.
With a fatalistic sigh, I reply,"I accept your proposition, so now what happens?"
I feel something like imaginary fingers riffling through my memories; my thoughts. She turns towards me and smiles saying:
"You must not think of me like that. I am destined for another. I will help you when I can, but I can not make any direct physical interventions. You will be on your own, with a little help."
She now turns away from me for the first time since she started speaking to me. As she makes her way back down the isle past me, her voice deepens, and sounds like its coming from a deep grotto:
"You will awaken at NERV in the hospital. All your belongings will be there, and your memories, both yours and his, will be integrated into one whole. In time, your past life may fade, but you now have a new full life to live."
"Fare well Masahiro Kurokawa, we may meet again."
The aircraft cabin is starting to fade from my sight, as I begin to feel lighter. Like I'm becoming insubstantial.
"Wait, Rei!" I explode, with a sense of dread building in my guts. She turns to look at me and for the first time I feel the power encased in that slim form.
Her eyes change from cerulean to aureate fire as she gazes upon me.
"Not Rei she states calmly,I am Lillith."
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BACK IN THE REAL WORLD:
I slowly wake up, smelling fresh sheets and disinfectant. A semi-hard bed supports my body. I roll onto my back, open my eyes, and see white ceiling tiles.
WONDERFUL, my first day in Japan, and I'm in a hospital.
I look around the room, seeing the normal fitments for a hospital cubical for a person who has not been in a life-threatening experience.
"Damn, my head hurts," I grumble, looking towards the window. Then I get an echo of what I said in English.
Oh great, thinking in stereo.
"Do you always talk to yourself?" asks a voice from the doorway.
Of course, it would be Misato. With her trademark skirt and red jacket on conspicuous display, she leans on the door jamb. Legs crossed and head cocked to the right, arms crossed under her breasts, she has a mischievous look on her face.
"Well, your clothes are in the closet over there, and it would be a good idea to get dressed. Don't want to keep the Commander waiting," she says with a playful tone in her voice.
OH SHIT! NOT NOW! LET SLEEPING BASTARD DOGS LIE! I DO NOT NEED TO SEE HIM YET!
"Uh... do I have to go see him now?" I fearfully ask as I wrap the blanket around my upper body tighter, trying to ward off the instant chill from thinking about meeting the Commander.
"Yes, he has been asking about you since your little"incident" on the chopper. We aren't that gruesome looking to you, are we? That comment of being in hell didn't help your case at all," she says as she walks into the room and leans across the bed, staring into my eyes with a smirk on her beautiful face.
She is giving me a WONDERFUL view down her blouse, probably trying to get me to have a nosebleed, or pass-out.
Think fast; think fast...ok, his memories from the Nevada earthquake three years ago.
"No... I had a flashback of my accident. You two... Kind of reminded me of two of the victims from the earthquake and crash."
"Oh, I remember reading about that in your file." she quietly and regretfully remarks, unlocking eyes with me, and leaning back away from the bed. She looks a little wistful, like she didn't get the reaction she was looking for.
"I'll just be outside the door, so you can change."
She turns away from me, and wiggles her way to the doorway, pausing to look back and wink at me before she exits the room.
DUH!!! She wanted to see me blush, nosebleed all over the place, or drop my jaw on the bed! Oh well, I'm not that easy.
When I crawl out of bed, I notice that I'm not as disoriented as I was earlier. Walking to the wardrobe, I begin to change into HIS clothes. As I finish dressing, I look down to see my A-3 bag, my LowePro Magnum AW bag, his suitcase and my Targus laptop bag stacked neatly in the corner.
With careful reverence, I open the Targus; lo and behold, my Compaq is here!
"Yeah, what's with the old laptop? Ritsuko said it was filled with gibberish." Misato asks as she pokes her head around the door jamb to check on me.
I sigh in relief, as I zip the bag closed, "Just something to practice on."
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Commander's Office:
Be calm, this is real, he can have you killed with a word.
Ikari Gendo, Supreme Commander of NERV, is sitting behind his desk; hands folded in front of him. His glasses are reflecting the dim, red light of this cavernous room.
At least he isn't using his stupid pose behind his hands.
"I trust there will be no more incidents like that upon your transportation to NERV?" Ikari grates out.
"No, sir." I reply, doing my best military parade-ground impression of an immobile object. But my traitorous knees are starting to shake.
"I have no time for pilots who become hysterical at the least provocation." he sneers at me. "The nature of your job dictates that you WILL be exposed to many unknown situations."
Hysterical my ass!! Let's see you die and get thrown into a new dimension! I'd just love to see how well you would do, you rat-bastard prick! Have your precious little Rei-Lillith tell you you're dead with no way back to your home! Probably whine like Shinji, when you found out you couldn't have Yui with you!
Now, if I can just get out of here without getting eliminated...
"Unit-04 will be shipped here within two weeks; you have this time to prepare for your training. Do not make me regret acquiring the three of you sooner than I had wanted."
The only thing you'll regret is pushing me too hard, when I put a Colt .45ACP to your head, dumnbfuck! Wait, THREE OF US? WHAT THREE? WHO? Quit playing with my mind, Rokobungi
He is much more intimidating in real life. All I want to do is GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!
Green eyes locking with blue ones, we fight for dominance. It is me who looks away first. With a slight smirk replacing the cold mask he rumbles:
"Your housing will be taken care of by Operations Director Katsuragi."
"You are dismissed."
Thank you GOD for small favors.
I do an about-face, and very shakily exit the wolf's lair.
Next time think about him as being naked with Elton John glasses on his face, and Mickey Mouse ears on his head! Heh heh!
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After hassling with the housing authorities that want to place me in Rei's apartment complex, Misato sets me up next door to her apartment.
"Why don't you drop off your stuff and meet your fellow Pilots?" she asks.
"I guess so," I tiredly mumble. I slide my keycard through the reader, and the door quietly retracts into the wall. I walk in to find a mirror image of Misato's apartment. I set down all four bags in the Genkan, turn, and leave my apartment. I then follow Misato next door.
All I wanted was to try to relax and unwind from my encounter with the Commander. But now I have to go play "meet the neighbors".
As Misato's door slides open, I hear the voices of two children in an argument.
And one of them has German-accented Japanese.
Just what I need now, I have to deal with an irate Bavarian named Asuka.
Remembering that only savages, barbarians, and the French wear their shoes inside the house, I slip mine off, and point them at the exit.
Misato introduces us, and I get a good look at my fellow inmates of this funny farm.
Shinji is just about what I remember from the series, but he has lines at the corners of his eyes. He has an air of dejection around him, and doesn't look like he has been getting enough sleep.
Asuka, on the other hand, is in her snotty prime. She really looks good, in her shorts and T-shirt. Too bad she's in for an unpleasant surprise later in her existence.
Asuka starts in on me about American biomechanical manufacturing, my sync ratio, and her fighting prowess. I'm tired, pissed, and don't want to hear this shit. I'm not about to listen to someone who never made an Angel kill completely on her own. Besides, you never argue with a teenager; a third party listening to both can't tell who is more immature. As I turn to leave I tell Misato thank you for the apartment, tell Shinji 'bye, and ignore Asuka. I just make it to the kitchen when I'm grabbed by my arm.
"Just a minute, Fourth! I'm not done with you yet!" Asuka hisses as she stops my headlong flight from the inevitable confrontation.
YOU DO NOT GRAB ME. I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE. YOU DO NOT LAY HANDS UPON ME!
I remove my hand from her grasp, and stare her down.
"Now red-headed goddess, I am going home. I will not put up with your shit. I knew someone quite a bit like you and she came to a bad end."
Run through with false lances, and eaten alive.
"Hit me, you get hit back. Insult me, you get the same," I growl in German.
"Oh, by the way, don't start cursing in German. I know that language, plus English and Russian." I say in Japanese, and then walk out, not listening to her screams of rage.
As I walk by Misato, she is opening her first Yebisu of the afternoon. She pointedly asks me: "How do you know German and Russian? Your file states you only know Japanese and English. Something is rotten in Denmark, and it's not just the cheese, Masahiro."
As I walk to the Genkan, I reply: "People learn and change throughout their lives, Misato. If you don't change, you may as well be dead."
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I trudge back to my apartment. I am so tired with all that has happened today, that I don't want to do anything but find the bed and crash.
I walk into the bedroom and find...a rolled up futon?
Oh well, I did want to get one on this trip. Just not the way that I'm getting this one. It cost me too much.
As I set up the futon, I'm thinking about Asuka. I just probably killed any chance of friendship with that little escapade. And Shinji had eyeballs the size of softballs when I back-talked Asuka.
Oh, to hell with it, I need sleep.
During my dreams, Rei/Lillith appears in front of me.
"You must be careful what you do or say in this world so as to not create suspicion for yourself. You will need their co-operation, not their hostility. Sleep well Masahiro, I will guide help to you."
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NEXT DAY:
My alarm starts screaming for attention. I slap the noisy Big Ben clanger and roll out of my futon. I wrap myself in his yukata and make my way to the kitchen. The coffee maker has automatically brewed my morning Colombian sunshine. The rice cooker holds perfectly made rice, ready to be eaten. I heat up some Miso soup from the stockpot that was left in the fridge. At least Misato made sure that I had a minimum of kitchen utensils. And I must thank her for the groceries.
Wait, Misato doesn't know how to grocery shop. All she buys is instant stuff. Moreover, she couldn't make Miso soup to save her life.
As I think about it, I hear voices from next door. With a smile on my face, I think:
Thank you, Shinji. You are more thoughtful than the two slave drivers you are living with.
After finishing my breakfast, I change out of his yukata, and into his school uniform. Misato had already registered me with the school before I got here. And she told me yesterday, before we left NERV, that today would be my first day of school. With my lunch, all ready packed, and his backpack on, I leave before Shinji and "Der Redhead."
While the elevator makes its downward progression to street level, I start thinking about some new clothes.
His taste isn't too bad, but I want some clothes of my own. These are almost like...no, I don't wanna go there. I need to find the shopping district soon. I miss my own clothes.
I start looking around me as I leave the apartment complex, searching for kids on the way to school.
AH HAH! There's a pack of the little buggers! I'll just follow them!
After about two klicks, I see Rei on the other side of the street. She stops, turns, and stares at me. I stare back, green eyes meeting red.
Seems like I should be hearing the theme from "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly". Or maybe "The Twilight Zone".
It feels like almost two minutes have passed; she then turns and resumes her course to school.
Someone needs to put a big R or L on that girl's blouse so I can tell whom I'm dealing with.
I follow Rei at a two-block distance.
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AT SCHOOL:
I can hear Hikari with her stand, bow, and sit routine from behind the classroom door. Sensei walks to the door, opens it, and tells me to enter and write my name on the blackboard. As I'm writing I hear murmurs of: big, cute, red hair, green eyes, date, girlfriend, what a stud.
Sensei then directs me to a seat in the back of the class by Kensuke. As I start down the isle, my eyes behold the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life. Gorgeous waist length jet-black hair, jade green eyes, porcelain skin...
I feel like I've been pole axed.
WHACK!!
An eraser bounces off my head.
PLEASE TAKE YOUR SEAT!!
I'm as red as a chili pepper and about as hot from embarrassment. As I look at her we both smile at each other, and I take my seat.
Kensuke introduces himself, and then rags on me for staring at Hitomi.
"Who?" I ask.
"Sato Hitomi," he says. A feeling like electric current runs up my spine then explodes in my head. When I recover, I whip my head around to stare at Rei.
She stares at me for a long moment, and then gives a minute nod of her head and a razor thin smile. Then she goes back to staring out the window.
WHAT THE HELL!?? IS THIS REI? LILLITH? HOW CAN THIS BE LILLITH!?? SHE'S NAILED ON THAT CROSS IN TERMINAL DOGMA!! Maybe she talks to Rei?
Kensuke looks at me, then Rei, then Hitomi, and whispers, "What's going on? First Hitomi, now Rei? Do you know them?"
My mind is still doing cartwheels, I can't even think straight enough to give Kensuke an answer.
Toji butts in with, "First case of love stupidness I've seen."
"Yeah, how about you and the Class Rep!" I growl out with venom in my voice.
DUH! STUPID! Think before you talk! It's your first day here. How are you supposed to know about Hikari and Toji? Slips like that can get you killed!
"NO... IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" he loudly stammers with a red face.
MISTER SUSAHARA! Roars Sensei.
I smirk at his misfortune, and start thinking of comebacks for his inevitable reply.
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I try to talk to Hitomi at lunch, but I keep getting sidetracked. The girls in class keep asking me about America, where I lived, and other personal questions. When I can finally break-away from the pack of giggling females, I see Asuka talking to Hitomi as they go into the girl's restroom. I have VERY BAD vibes over that.
Walking up the stairs to the roof of the school, I see the Three Stooges starting in on their lunches. Kensuke invites me over to eat with them. As I'm unpacking my lunch, I ask them what they know about Hitomi.
Shinji tells me that Hitomi is from Osaka-2, and both her parents work at NERV. Misato kidded him at the Parent-Teacher meeting because he looked at her for an extended period. She explained to him where they were working, and where their daughter was going to school.
Toji adds that she is on the swimming team. Once the guys saw her in her swimsuit, she had all kinds of offers for dates. However, when they found out she was also on the Kendo team, they kind of shied off. They were all afraid of the possibility of a woman being able to kick their asses. As he makes that last comment, he has a look on his face that says he would be happy if that happened to me.
Kensuke stated that her parents were in the upper fringes of NERV, so they were well off. They had their own home, instead of an apartment because of the combined salaries of both parents. He thought that they each made about as much as Captain Katsuragi, or maybe a bit more.
AH HAH!!! CAPTAIN Katsuragi!! That helps on the time-line!
I could see from her tailor-made uniform, cut to fit her and crafted from finer materials, that her parents had yen to burn.
So, by the time I left school and was walking home, I had found:
1: A girl I liked.
2: She's athletic and smart.
3: Asuka has told her as many lies as she can about me.
4: Her parents are rich.
5: She's out of my league.
DAMMIT! I've found someone who I could spend quality time with, and she's untouchable. I've never felt this way about ANYONE before! Why does this have to be so difficult?
As I'm partaking of my negativity a low, almost non-existent voice whispers: "You will never know until you try. Think only of the positive, for you have much to do before this war is over. Find your happiness now, for it may never come again."
"Lillith?" I ask as I stop short and listen for more comments.
A sound like wind chimes and the voice is gone. I look around me, but see only the normal coming and going of a busy city, with no one I recognize.
ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
Trudging down the hallway to my room, I feel as though I'm wrapped in a shroud of pessimism and doom. How can I think of the positive? I'm in Neon Genesis Evangelion! I'm probably going to die here! I just got to school for the first time, and I've met someone who could be a good friend if I could talk to her. And Asuka has been feeding her lies. And I'm going to have to synchronize with a biomechanical monster that wants to eat my soul.
Why must everything be so problematic!!??
Why can't I just have a decent chance at happiness for once?
I'm FIFTEEN AGAIN!!
MY HORMONES ARE AT AN ALL TIME HIGH!
I'm in Japan with the most beautiful women in the world!
I'm fifteen again.
The Angels are trying to kill humanity while I'm feeling like a horny goat.
Unit 04 is a total unknown.
I don't even know if I can synchronize with ANY of the Evangelions.
If shit doesn't work out, everyone is dead.
I'm afraid of Rei.
Alternatively, maybe it's Lillith?
On the other hand, both?
This is NOT like the series that I watched on my computer.
Have the changes that have happened been BECAUSE I have been injected into this reality??
All I want, are some friends that I can relate to, and maybe to be able to talk to Hitomi.
Or maybe do this and that with Hitomi?
DAMN HORMONES!
It feels like I've met her before.
Never been HERE before.
SHIT! THIS IS A PARALLEL UNIVERSE, HOW WOULD I HAVE MET HER BEFORE!!????
This is enough to give the Pope an intense headache!
I want my "Moon on the Water" sake.
I NEED to get hammered!
Masahiro Kurokawa died to give me another chance at life. I can still see the memories of his life. His dreams, fears, hopes and aspirations. All of that crushed and destroyed when I said yes. In addition, back at home, they have already buried "Roger." Or what was left of me. If they found anything at all.
I guillotine my key card through the reader, and the door disappears into the wall. Kicking off my shoes, I flip on the light as I walk into the living room. I go strait to the couch and flop down on my back, staring at the ceiling.
I know no one here. My only two friends are gone in this world. And I killed HIM when I took this body. He even had a girlfriend in Nevada. How the hell do I deal with this?
I haven't been involved with or trusted the opposite sex in ten years. At least HE had someone before I obliterated him. And I can't even talk to anyone about this. Why the hell does my smegging life suck so bad?
As I roll over on the couch, the tears begin to run down my cheeks.
A heavy feeling settles into my chest, my temples ache and my hands clench into fists.
I start to sob uncontrollably, my stomach feeling like it will clench up forever.
As my body is wracked by shudders I look to the ceiling with blurred vision and ask in a frightened, hurt voice:
Why me, God?
What did I do wrong?
Why must I always be alone?
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A/N:
Formatting and spelling/grammar revision. This story follows the EVA time line, but revolves around Masahiro and Hitomi. Expect larger roles for some of the other characters. I always felt that Hikari, Kensuke, and Toji never got enough development in the series. And I always thought that Fuyutsuki was pulling a W.W.II Imperial General's act: i.e. - "I was only following orders, so anything I did was condoned by higher authorities."
Using Google Earth, I have placed the approximate positions of Misato's apartment, Rei's apartment, Hitomi's house, and Tokyo-3 Junior High School. You can find the maps and photos at a link on my profile page.
Next chapter: Masahiro's first time in a plug, his second meeting with Hitomi, and a couple of people from a different reality. It's up next in: CRB 4407 Chapter Two: Noah no Hakobune.
Please read and review.