Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Neon Genesis Evangelion, nor any other aspects of it.
Opus Kouzo part #1
Fuyutsuki sat back in his chair after giving his clean-shaven chin a reflexive rub. "The first thing I remember, after Impact, is of course crawling out of the New Red Sea. The LCL made the sand sticky and abrasive, but I couldn't even think of the motivation that pulled me from the sea. It was like I'd just been born, again. To borrow a phrase."
"Of course, the recovery volunteers soon picked me up. I do remember being irritable enough that I actually grumbled about how they make Returnees walk up the shore alone, unaware that they aren't the only living beings on the planet. I suppose people need their rituals and beliefs, but dammnit that's how all this started."
He cleared his throat suddenly, and took a sip from his cup of green tea. "After a day or two in the recouperation ward, I started out volunteering in the Orphan's wing. Of course, I pretended to be one of the amnesiacs...I wonder how many out of the thirty or so percent of our New Tokyo-3 residents are actually lacking memories?"
"Gradually, I let myself believe that I could work at the University without arousing too much attention. I took a lot of odd-jobs on the way, but I never doubted that the risks were too high if I let the new government network sniff an old political dog like me."
"So that's where I am; laying low, consolidating my position in the fortress that once was academia. And now, here I am in a campus bakery-cafe. Drinking tea with an Ikari."