Chapter 1: Exposition
The representative sent by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra had wasted a good ten minutes or so apologizing to Soren for his getting caught in the battle with Sachiel. It was here that Soren's reputed aloofness became something of a boon as the German could react in a somewhat disinterested manner to all the apologies and not appear to be insulting the poor man sent to meet him, or rather insult him any more than Soren seemingly insulted everyone else he interacted with. Right now however he just wanted out of the hospital seeing as there was absolutely nothing wrong with him. Toji was likely feeling equally restless, though his sister really did need to stay a bit longer. Pneumonia was not something to joke about for a child her age.
"-and of course we'll compensate you for any inconvenience caused by your needing to find a new place to live."
"That'll be fine," Soren said. "I believe my wife has made new arrangements already."
"Oh? That is most excellent. Um, now as for the rehearsal schedule, I'm afraid that they have been suspended for the time being. My apologies, but I'm sure you understand, what with the situation…"
The man trailed off, noticing the slightly raised eyebrow. It was the most reaction Soren had displayed thus far and the man swallowed nervously. As for the violinist himself, he was beginning to understand just how exasperating constantly being apologized to could be.
"I suppose it is ultimately their choice," Soren said. "Nevertheless, I understand that the next rehearsal is scheduled for this coming Sunday. I will be attending. I make no requirement that others do so, they are simply welcome to. I trust that is understood?"
The orchestra representative paled at those words but could only nod. This both men knew was a blatant lie. If Soren really did decide to show up, there was no way the other musicians could not if they did not want to lose face.
"Then I believe that concludes our business," Soren said. "I shall see you Sunday."
So dismissing the man, Soren finished adjusting his clothing and took his leave while the other man simply stood there dumbfounded.
Finally escaping his minder, Soren made his way to the hospital room next to his. Even now he could hear the cheerful bubbling of the little girl resting inside and allowed himself a satisfied smile as he knocked gently. The door opened a few moments later as a middle aged man answered. His eyes widened a bit but he immediately stepped back and offered Soren a respectful bow.
"Reimer-san, thank you once again for helping my children."
"It was no trouble," Soren said, returning the bow with a slight one of his own. "I trust they are recovering?"
"Yes, please enter."
Soren accepted the invitation and stepped in, glancing over at the bed where Sakura was sitting up in playing with her brother. When she saw him a big smile erupted and she waved cheerfully. Cute as a button, Soren decided. And her body was whole and soon to be healthy. Already one set of weights had been lifted from his shoulders. As he glanced over at the jock however, he was reminded of another one still there.
Toji stood immediately and bowed as well.
"Reimer-san."
The boy could actually be quite polite when he had a mind to it.
"Suzuhara-san. It is good to see you and your sister well."
"Thank you again," Toji said. "If you hadn't been there…"
"Do not dwell on the ifs," Soren said with a slight smile of his own. "What is important is you and your sister are safe. Worry about the future, not the past."
"Yes, I will. And thanks for making sure she's got one."
This was much better, Soren decided. If this was all he achieved, at least he was able to relieve the young man of this one pain.
"Dummkopf, na bitte!"
The moment was shattered when an annoyed female voice crashed into the room. Turning around Soren watched as his wife stormed in and glared at him.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded in German.
"Just saying goodbye to the Suzuharas," Soren replied nonchalantly.
Amanda glanced over at the very confused family and her face transformed from her scowl to prim and proper politeness instantaneously.
"Thank you for looking after my idiot of a husband," she switched to Japanese. "Sometimes I don't know how he gets by without me constantly holding his hand." A wink to Sakura. "Men are like that, no?"
The little girl clasped her hands over her mouth to stifle the giggle but some still leaked out. The elder Suzuhara simply chuckled and replied with a few pleasantries of his own. Toji seemed more guarded but eventually relaxed as Amanda took on a more cheerful tone. Then again, the steady reddening of his face suggested he was not really able to relax after all. Soren should not have forgotten that about the young man and it was obvious Amanda was fully aware of the reaction her mature and full form was having. After exchanging farewells the husband and wife made their exit, leaving the Suzuharas time amongst themselves.
"So," Amanda said out in the hallway and reverting back to her native German. "You were at ground zero."
"Not quite," Soren replied in the same language, "but close enough."
"NERV's going to want to debrief you again, and I can't exactly get you out of that without it looking like an abuse of my privileges."
"You already know what I'm going to say to them. I saw a bright light, closed my eyes, and next thing I know a bunch of NERV personnel were trying to pry Sakura out of my arms. What, are they expecting me to change my story since the last interview?"
"More like they just want to make sure you didn't see anything they don't want seen. They'll keep it quick and simple, they wouldn't want to look like they're wasting time and money on a closed issue."
"Now that you're here, you mean?"
Amanda's response was a playful jab of Soren's side with her free hand.
"The amount of collateral damage was surprisingly low," Amanda said, eyeing her husband. "A lot of the explosion was directed downward or away from where you were."
Did you do something, was the unspoken question.
"Perhaps Shinji has a more intuitive grasp as a pilot than anyone presumed," Soren said, cocking his head to the side just a tad.
No, was the answer.
Amanda considered the possibilities thoughtfully. By all rights the explosion should have flattened several blocks. That so many buildings were still standing, at least for now, was downright miraculous. Having been caught out in the open like that, Soren and the two kids should also have died from the shockwave if nothing else. They had survived however and the fact that they survived without direct intervention meant Shinji had to have done something different. The only question was whether that difference was good or bad.
"How do you think the stooge will react?" Amanda asked.
"A good question," Soren said. "We did not see the pilot get pulled out, so Toji is unlikely to recognize him at school. Then again knowing Shinji, he'll accidentally reveal the truth and that issue should resolve itself."
"Hmm, so punch or no punch?"
A shrug. "Sakura seems quite certain they're alive because the EVA defeated the Angel. Toji seems a bit ambivalent. Hopefully he does not overthink all this."
Amanda snorted. "I don't think that'll be a problem.
"So how did things go with Misato?" Soren asked, deciding now was a good time to switch topics.
"Oh, she still hasn't changed," Amanda said. "Still procrastinating on some things like her paperwork and housework, but otherwise she's doing a decent job. I told her I'd make Shinji go through therapy."
Soren frowned. "That seems a bit cruel."
"Oh hush you. And he won't be suffering alone, I'm going to make Misato sit in on the sessions as well."
"Can you do that?"
Amanda nodded. "While we're both captains, I could actually even order Commander Ikari around if those orders are demonstrably in accordance with my remit. So yes, Misato's going into therapy as well."
"Why did you never put Asuka through that while back in Germany? Or Mari for that matter."
"Lest you forget, I did put Asuka through therapy, I just made her talk to me. And Mari doesn't need it, she's basically as well adjusted as any 14 year old girl that pilot giant robots can be."
The slight shifting of Soren's arms told Amanda he did not quite agree with that assessment but he was not going to argue about it.
"So, do you already have a therapist lined up?"
Amanda nodded. "Dr. Hitomi Hayashima. She's been with NERV-Tokyo for a couple of years now and she knows what she's doing."
Or she damn well better, went the unspoken subtext. Not that there was any real reason to worry, both knew. After all, they knew Hayashima about as well as people could ever understand each other, even if they had yet to actually physically meet. This time around.
This was technically the second time Shinji was visiting the GeoFront as far as the boy knew and this time around Misato managed to not get them lost on the way to their appointment. The conference room that they entered also seemed to be in the upper levels, which probably was the main factor in that bit of good fortune. Waiting for Shinji and Misato was the foreign woman that had ridden in the car with them and gave Shinji the little pep talk before he was shoved into the entry plug. This time she was in a navy blue jacket with a high collar and inverted triangle badge on her left breast. Her skirt was also at least knee length, making it more demure than Misato's. Amanda smiled kindly at him and Shinji returned it with a small one of his own.
"Well, now that things are nice and peaceful, it's time we had some proper introductions," Misato said. "Shinji-kun, this is Captain Amanda Sommer-Reimer, UN Auditor-General to NERV. Basically she makes sure we're not laundering any of the trillions of yen the UN gives us." That last part was barely even a stage whisper as Misato delivered it with a wink. "Amanda, this is Ikari Shinji-kun, the Third Child and provisional pilot of EVA Unit 01."
"It's a pleasure to meet you under more mundane circumstances Herr Ikari," Amanda said, somehow fluidly mixing her Japanese with the German mode of address.
"Um, yes, you too," Shinji said nervously with a slight bow.
"Well, let's all have a seat," Amanda said. "No point being uncomfortable while we talk."
The trio did so though no one took the seat at the front of the table. Instead Amanda sat down directly across from Shinji with Misato to his immediate right.
"First thing's first," Amanda began. "I want you to understand, Herr Ikari, that if you remain with NERV it will be because you yourself choose to do so. We will not hold you against your will, no matter how much we do want you to stay. Is that clear?"
Shinji nodded.
"Good. Now, having said that, we really do need you here. I apologize that there was not enough time to give you a proper briefing before throwing you into the deep end. By all rights we should have had this little chat weeks ago before the appearance of the Angel and given you enough time to think it over before deciding whether you wanted to pilot or not. A mistake was made, one that I will see to will not happen again."
Amanda's eyes hardened ever so slightly at that last part and yet Shinji felt somewhat comforted by that instead of frightened. This woman was being remarkably blunt and was actually admitting to him that the way he was treated was wrong. It was an unusual experience and despite the discomfort and uncertainty it elicited, Shinji could not lie to himself and claim it was entirely unwelcome.
"The reason we needed and still need your help, Herr Ikari, is because the human race faces a very real threat of extinction. I assume you were taught the history of the Second Impact in school?"
"Yes," Shinji said.
"It's all a lie," Amanda stated.
It took Shinji a few seconds to fully process the statement but once he did his reaction was not at all surprising.
"Huh?"
To say the boy was confused would be redundant. His mind, while not completely locked up, was simply not sure what other reaction to make.
"The event commonly referred to as Second Impact was not a meteorite strike," Amanda continued. "It was in fact a massive release of energy triggered by Adam, the first Angel. The Angel that you fought and defeated three days ago was Sachiel, the third Angel." Amanda's voice fell flat. "And based on our present projections, there are at least fourteen additional Angels at large."
Shinji's eyes widened as the ramifications hit him. He knew from school that after Second Impact over a billion people died from the tsunamis, earthquakes, and other natural disasters that occurred in its wake. Another two billion perished in the interim chaos as the remnants of humanity fought one another for food and other resources. Humanity nearly finished what Second Impact had started when the threat of a global nuclear holocaust was ignited by the Indians and Pakistanis. Fortunately the other nuclear powers at the time had decided not to join in that particular mutual insanity, minus the lunatic that tossed a nuke at Old Tokyo.
"We believe that if left unchecked, another Angel could cause a Third Impact," Amanda said. "To prevent such an occurrence from happening is the sole purpose of NERV." Somehow she managed to say that with a completely straight face. "That is why the Evangelions were built and that is why you were brought here, Herr Shinji Ikari. I will not lie, we desperately need your help and there will be some parties of NERV that would try strong arming or manipulating you into piloting."
The memory of that pale, blue haired girl in bandages surfaced in Shinji's head again and he felt his fists tighten. Both Amanda and Misato seemed to notice it and exchanged quick glances.
"Nevertheless, you deciding to stay means nothing if you feel pressured or forced into it," Amanda said. "If you cannot believe in what you're doing, then sending you out there again amounts to little more than consigning you to an early death. Do you understand?"
"Umm, I think so," Shinji said.
The corner of Amanda's mouth quirked. "We'll work on that. What it boils down to, Herr Ikari, is that you need to be piloting for yourself out there. You may decide to pilot the EVA for others' sake, but you at least need to be able to pilot for yourself. If you can't do something for yourself, then you may very well find yourself unable to do something for anyone else. So, can you pilot EVA for your own sake?"
Shinji shifted uncomfortably. While he had only ever met Amanda briefly before, her words were hitting too close to home. It was as if she could peer into his soul and knew exactly what he did not want to talk about. Yet despite knowing so, she still dredged them up. Shinji was not sure whether he resented her for it or was relieved at finding someone who could give voice to his pain.
"I'll, try, umm, Reimer-san."
"Please, Amanda," the woman insisted. "If you really want to use Reimer-san on something, then do it to my stuffy old husband."
A bark of a laugh escaped Misato before she caught herself and Amanda grinned in concert.
"Anyway, welcome aboard, Herr Ikari." Amanda extended a hand across the table. "I hope we will not give you reason to think your efforts wasted or unappreciated."
Smiling shyly, Shinji took it. "Thank you. And, just Shinji is fine."
An hour later as the last piece of paper was finally signed, Shinji wondered if Amanda might have been lying about that last bit.
"Well, that takes care of all the red tape nonsense," Amanda said way more cheerfully than anyone who had spent that long going through paper after paper should be. "As of eleven hundred hours this day, July 10th 2015, you, Shinji Ikari, are formally the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01 under the auspicious of NERV."
"Congratulations Shinji-kun," Misato said proudly. "And thank you."
Shinji smiled weakly and nodded.
"Now, before the good captain whisks you away I thought we would go over at least one of the benefits packages you have," Amanda continued on in her cheery tone. It was almost unnerving how happy she seemed to be. "In addition to all of the usual things like healthcare and the like, you also will receive a stipend of one million yen a month for your services."
"WHAT!?"
The outburst came from not Shinji himself, who was simply sitting there with his mouth hanging agape, but from his recently designated guardian one Misato Katsuragi.
"Is there a problem, Captain?" Amanda asked sweetly.
"But-but-but that's more than I get paid!"
"Well if you could pilot an eighty meter tall robot that fights massive unidentified terrestrial organisms, then I'm sure we can see about adjusting your pay grade as well."
All this delivered with a most beatific smile that Misato knew Amanda had been waiting for just this moment to use. Sinking down back into her seat, Misato flashed a rueful smile back at her old friend.
"Alright, you win this round, but just wait until next time."
"I await with abject terror," Amanda said.
"Well Shinji-kun, looks like you're a rich man now," Misato said, shifting her target over to her young charge.
Shinji laughed nervously. "Well, I'm not sure what I'd use all that money for."
"Oh I'm sure you'll think of something," Amanda said. "Now, technically you haven't been here for the full month but after your excellent performance defeating Sachiel I think we can just count those extra days. Payday is the second business day of every month for the last month and it'll be directly deposited into your account. Do you have your permanent ID card yet?"
"Umm, no, not yet."
"Alright, once you do get it it'll also serve as a debit card linked to your account."
"Say Amanda," Misato said. "Since when did the pilots get that high a stipend anyway? I don't remember it being that much back in Germany."
"It's always been there," Amanda said, "but only for pilots that are going onto active combat duty. Seeing as how Shinji's the first one to do so, it's natural that he's the first that gets the bump. I'm also putting Rei on that grade as well seeing as that sorry excuse of a man tried to send her out against Sachiel in that condition."
Shinji needed no other hints to figure out whom Amanda was referring to. "Um, the other pilot, her name is Rei?"
"Ayanami Rei," Misato answered. "She's the First Child identified as a potential EVA pilot."
"I see," Shinji said.
"It'd be good if you got to know her better," Amanda said, though there was a slight hint of tension that Misato barely caught and wondered about. "You two will be working together after all."
"Oh, right," Shinji said as his mind recalled Ayanami's bandaged form and the white outfit closely hugging her form. His face reddened uncontrollably at the thought.
Misato snickered but a quick clearing of the throat by Amanda preempted any teasing on the part of the captain. Instead she simply smiled and glanced back at the auditor.
"So, this would mean Asuka and Mari aren't on that paygrade yet?"
Amanda shook her head. "They will be if they get transferred here." She then looked over at Shinji. "I might need to sign you up for some self-defense classes too in retrospect."
"Huh? Why?"
Misato chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure they'll get along fine. But, better safe than sorry."
Worry now mixed in with his confusion as Shinji looked back and forth between the two women but neither seemed ready to let him in on whatever unspoken secret they were sharing and so he resigned himself to finding out the hard, and potentially painful way, sometime in the future. Hopefully the far future.
"If that's all?" Misato said.
Amanda nodded. "Have fun with Ritsuko. Oh, we still on for cards this Sunday?"
"You betcha," Misato confirmed with good cheer and slapped Shinji on the shoulder.
The two departed the conference room leaving Amanda to shuffle through all the papers that had been signed and headed deeper into the Geofront.
"Now let's see," Misato said, pulling out a map. "We need to get down to the second simulation room to meet with Ritsuko and get you suited up for your first synchro test."
"A what test?"
"Well, you'd have to ask Ritsuko for the technical details," Misato said as they walked, "but to control the EVA's movements you have to synchronize your thoughts to it. Remember when I told you to imagine walking?"
Shinji nodded.
"Synchronization basically makes the EVA like an extension of yourself. The higher the sync ratio, the better you can control the EVA. And, conversely, the more you feel what the EVA feels."
That was not terribly difficult to understand. "Like the EVA's pain."
Misato nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry Shinji-kun, but if there was another way to fight the Angels we wouldn't be asking you to endure this."
"It's, alright Misato-san," Shinji replied. "I think, I think I know why I'm here. I think I know why I'll pilot the EVA."
"Good," Misato said. "But you know, if you ever feel the need to talk, you can always come to me. I am your guardian after all."
To this Shinji gave her another smile, this one feeling more genuine than so many of the others she had seen on him before. In return, Misato offered one of her own. Maybe Amanda was on to something when she said that Misato needed to be more than just a guardian to the young man, that she needed to be his family. Seeing how his real family had treated him, Misato could well imagine his sense of confusion and pain. Well, Shinji had made a courageous decision to fight for her and the rest of humanity in the EVA. The least she could do was be there and keep his heart from bleeding anymore.
"Umm, excuse me?"
The freckled brunette looked over at Shinji. "Ikari-kun, was it?"
"Yes," the boy said shyly.
Hikari offered a reassuring smile. "Welcome to the class. Did you need some help with the school's systems?"
"Umm, yes please," Shinji said sheepishly. "My old school didn't use terminals like this."
"No problem," Hikari assured him. "Now, you've logged in already, and there's only a few things you need to really know about. The classwork for the current class is here, and homework assignments are stored here. When you're done, make sure to remember to submit them otherwise the teacher's won't see them for grading and you'll get docked points if they're late."
"Okay," Shinji acknowledged with a nod.
"Now, there is an internal chat network that students can use, but remember that during class you're supposed to be paying attention to lecture," Hikari warned gently.
"Alright," Shinji said. "I'll try to behave."
For that he received a smile and Hikari proceeded to explain the other bits and pieces he might find useful in the system. By the time break was over Shinji felt he had the basics down and thanked the class rep. She politely returned the courtesy and proceeded to her own desk to wait for the teacher to arrive. Lunch eventually came and Shinji slumped into his desk.
School would not really be that hard, if the history lecture that had just ended was anything to go by. It almost seemed as if the teacher was relating his own life story instead of trying to teach them about the world pre-Second Impact. Perhaps that was why Hikari had not really pressed the point about staying out of the chat rooms during class, even if the class rep herself seemed to be following the rules.
"Hey, Toji!"
"Suzuhara-kun!?"
The two cries caused Shinji to look up as another boy wearing the school's athletic jumpsuit entered. A bespectacled boy that sat to Shinji's rear by the windows had joined the Hikari in greeting the newcomer.
"Man, where've you been the last week?" the male student asked. "We were worried, you know."
"My lil sis' in the hospital," the boy identified as Toji explained. "My pa and grandpa are busy with work, so I've keeping her company."
"Your sister? Is she hurt?" Hikari asked.
"Nah, well not really. She was sick for a bit and well, there was that fight last week."
"Oh, the robot battle!" the other boy said excitedly. "Wait, were you there!?"
"Is Sakura okay?" Hikari followed up.
"Yeah, she's fine," Toji assured them. "And yeah, we was there. We got out in time though, some new guy that just moved into our building helped get us out 'fore things got bad."
Hikari sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."
"Oh man, you have to tell me what happened!"
"Aida!" Hikari chided.
"Hey, what, he said they got out fine right?"
"Well I suppose," Hikari grumbled.
"Nah, ts okay class rep," Toji said. "Kensuke's always been like that. Anyway, not like I can tell much. By the time we got outside it was almost over. That, robot thingy? It was pounding away at that monster. Next thing I know, there's this splosion and I'm flat on my ass. Our neighbor's holding onto Sakura, keeping her away from the blast. But, well, when we could see again we were all a-ok."
"Man," Kensuke said with a sigh. "What I wouldn't have given to have been there."
"Aida!" This time Hikari did not even bother trying to moderate her voice.
"Ow, alright, alright already class rep," Kensuke conceded. "Well, glad to have you back with us buddy."
"Yeah, good ta be back," Toji said with a smile, though it quickly faded. "Few missing bodies though."
"Huh? Oh yeah, a few kids got pulled by their families cause of the battle. But hey listen, we got a transfer student!"
"A transfer student?" Toji said, glancing over at the new kid. Shinji tried to pretend he had not been eavesdropping.
"Yeah, isn't it suspicious?" Kensuke said. "I mean, just as everyone else is leaving he shows up! You think he's got something to do with the giant robot?"
"Oh lay off Aida," Hikari admonished. "You heard him say he was here for his father's work."
"Well yeah but…"
"Stop trying to make everything a conspiracy theory and maybe start applying some of your brain to the classwork. Or am I perhaps being too lenient letting you hang out in the chatrooms during class?"
"Ah nope! No, you are the epitome of generosity and understanding, class rep! I assure you that you will be given no cause to regret it!"
Toji chuckled at his friend's discomfort but his eyes stayed fixed on the new student. The boy twitched as if aware of the attention and Toji resolved to have a little talk with him after school.
Classes resumed after lunch and Shinji began ruing his earlier assessment of the school's difficulty. Sure the morning humanities classes had turned out to be something of a joke, but the science and math lectures were actually hard. Having joined in the middle of the term he was already looking at a lot of catchup work and it was obvious Tokyo-3's schools were well ahead of his provincial junior high. As he stared in frustration at the problem sets, Shinji wondered if he could get NERV to spring for a private tutor or something. It was likely due to his mental exhaustion that Shinji did not notice the jock walking up to his desk.
"Yo, transfer student."
Shinji nearly jumped and looked up. "Huh? Yes?"
"Got a sec? Wanna have a little chat."
"Uh, sure," Shinji said nervously.
Not sure why he agreed but also not sure if he could have said no, Shinji followed the other student out the room. Kensuke was right behind the two and Shinji thought he saw the class rep cast them a worried look. The trio ended up in one of the causeways connecting the school's different buildings before coming to a stop.
"So, lay it to me straight," Toji said. "You the guy driving that big robot?"
Shinji blinked. "Huh?"
Toji scowled. "Don't play dumb. Just gimme a straight yes or no."
Shinji frowned, a tiny flicker of anger rising in his heart. But he suppressed it, recalling the mention of Toji's sister and how she had nearly gotten hurt in the battle.
"Yes," Shinji said firmly. "I'm the pilot of EVA Unit 01."
It was the first time Shinji had ever made that declaration, yet it somehow felt right. It felt so right in fact that he almost did not notice Toji taking a step toward him.
"Hit me."
Both Kensuke and Shinji just stared at their classmate.
A deadpan "What" was all Shinji managed.
"I said hit me! C'mon don't hold back, sock me a good one!"
Now both boys were looking at Toji as if he was completely insane. They exchanged helpless glances at each other but all Kensuke had for Shinji was a shake of his head. No, he had no idea what his best friend was trying to get at either.
"Uh, are you sure about this?"
"Of course I'm sure!" Toji nearly exploded. "Now hit me already ya wuss!"
The anger perked up again but died just as quickly. Still, it was enough of a push for Shinji to momentarily forget the ludicrousness of the situation.
"Alright, you asked me for it."
Rearing back, Shinji primed himself and suddenly drove his fist into Toji's stomach with all his might. The jock's eyes flew open and he made a gurgling sound, yet he somehow remained standing. As Shinji pulled back, he looked down worriedly at the other student but a cry from behind quickly wretched his attention away.
"What are you three idiots doing!?"
The shrill voice of the class rep caused Kensuke and Shinji to freeze in panic. Toji would have joined them except he was still trying to fight back the urge to clutch his poor stomach.
"This isn't what it looks like!" Shinji cried out in desperation.
"What else would it look like!?" Hikari demanded as she marched up to them.
"Nn-no, class rep," Toji wheezed. "He's telling ta truth."
Hikari's anger gave way to confusion but quickly reverted back. "Alright Suzuhara, then what's YOUR explanation for this!?"
Shinji had to admit, the class rep had a serious set of lungs when she had a mind to use them. And poor Toji being subjected to them after taking a hit to the stomach like that. If he had been fine before, he certainly was not now.
Finally catching his breath, Toji straightened. "You'll see." He turned to face Shinji. "Alright, ya owe me one."
Shinji's jaw dropped open and Kensuke and Hikari were not much better.
"What?"
"I said ya owe me one," Toji said, completely serious. "You said you were the pilot for that Eva-whachamacall it?"
Shinji nodded dumbly.
"Well, me and my sis nearly got hurt in that battle. I want to think that's not what you want to happen, but it damn near did happen. So if you promise to do yer best, ta make sure shit like that don't happen, then we'll call it even. Fair?"
Shinji's jaw had yet to return to its normal position and his efforts to find a response simply saw it rising and following without making a sound. Finally it snapped shut and he looked Toji in the eye. The other boy really was serious about all this. And why not, he was right about what could have happened. If he was willing to take a punch to the stomach to get Shinji to recognize that, Shinji could respect that.
"Fair," Shinji said, extending his hand.
A broad grin crossed Toji's face as he grabbed the offered hand. "The name's Suzuhara Toji."
"Ikari Shinji," Shinji smiled back.
"I'm Aida Kensuke!" The other boy immediately jumped in. "So, that machine's called EVA, right!? What does it run on? How does it walk!?"
"Aida!"
"Aw c'mon class rep!"
Shinji could not help it, the sheer insanity around him was too much. At first it was a mere gurgle, then a full on laugh escaped him and he clutched his sides as it went on and on. Toji joined him quickly and even Hikari and Kensuke were soon caught up in it. As Shinji let it all out of his system, he reflected that maybe, just maybe, coming to Tokyo-3 had been a good thing after all. And none of it had a thing to do with his father.
The doorbell to the Katsuragi residence rang impatiently until Misato finally opened the door. Standing outside were Amanda and Soren, laden down with supplies for the evening.
"You know, it's generally polite to give people time to answer the door before ringing again," Misato said dryly.
"Didn't know if you were awake or not," Amanda said with a grin. "For all we knew you decided to start early with the festivities."
"Har har, you'll pay for that tonight. You still can't bluff worth a damn."
"Oh, then am I to understand you don't want to partake in the sweet nectar I brought with me from Germany?" Amanda said as she held up a cartoon of Doppelbock dark beer.
Misato's eyes went wide. "Gimme!"
"Ah ah ah, what's the magic word?"
The captain clasped her hands together. "Pleeease?"
Amanda laughed and presented her friend with a bottle. With a cheer Misato charged back into the apartment for a bottle opener as the husband and wife took off their shoes.
"Yahoo! Ah this is the life," Misato cheered contentedly after a snip.
"That it is," Amanda agreed as she joined the captain on the couch.
Soren for his part made for the kitchen area where Shinji was working. The boy was carefully pealing some vegetables just as a load of groceries was dumped on the counter.
"Oh, Reimer-san."
"Shinji," Soren greeted. "I presume we are to be responsible for this evening's fare?"
Shinji smiled slightly. "Seems so, unless you want to subsist on more takeout or microwave food."
"There's nothing wrong with that!" Misato insisted. "And it's not subsisting at all!"
"I see Misato has not changed much since leaving Germany," Soren said, still deadpan.
Shinji nodded, a bit unsure how much humor was intended but deciding that agreeing with the undisputed facts of that statement was safe enough.
"So you know how to cook, Reimer-san?"
"Well enough," Soren said. "I was thinking about some meatloaf tonight."
"Oh, uh, I hope our oven's up to that."
"It should suffice. Have you ever made it before?"
Shinji shook his head. "I've never really cooked much."
"Ah. Well, there is a first time for everything. And learning now should help you considerably in cohabitating with the good captain."
Shinji chuckled. "Probably. How can I help?"
"Well a good, proper Falscher Hase must have boiled eggs in it. Would you mind shelling the ones I brought?"
"No problem."
As the two men went to work, their respective lady friends lounged about in the living room.
"So Soren's still doing most of the cooking?" Misato teased.
"He usually gets home before me," Amanda replied. "Whoever gets back first is on the hook for dinner."
"What if you arrive at the same time?"
"Then we both pitch in," Amanda said. "Besides, I'll take cooking dinner over dealing with bureaucratic nonsense any day."
"Aren't you a bureaucrat yourself?"
"In name only," Amanda replied between sips. "I do after all hold a commission of Captain in the UN Armed Forces."
"Simulated rank," Misato retorted.
"Like NERV's a proper military hierarchy?"
"Well, no," Misato conceded. "Still, I suppose rank does have its privileges. I heard you've finished moving into your new place?"
Amanda grunted. Even if having their old apartment trashed during the first battle was planned, making sure others did not suspect anything meant she had to wait until after the trashing happened before securing a new place. Thankfully between her pull and Soren's fame they had found a nice out of the way place that they could be fairly certain would avoid becoming collateral damage during the next few months.
"Rent in Japan is still insane," Amanda grumbled.
Misato laughed. "Don't you get a housing stipend? And for that matter, doesn't Soren make like a couple times what you do?"
"I suppose."
"So how is his job anyway? I'm surprised he even had a rehearsal today."
"Oh, he pretty much twisted the arms of the other musicians and dared them to not show up when he did," Amanda said. "Of course he then bribed the lot of them with lunch and each a glass of genuine Chateau Mouton Rothschild and now all of them are singing praises about his generosity and dedication to the arts."
Misato let out a low whistle. "How many bottles did that take?"
"He won't tell me. I'm pretty sure he's afraid I'll toss him onto the couch if I find out."
That elicited another bout of laughter from Misato.
"Well I suppose that'll put paid to the rumors of the orchestra moving back to Tokyo-2."
"That was his goal," Amanda agreed with a nod. "You know, Soren might be a virtuoso musician and a hell of a cook, but when you come down to it he's just plain lazy. The real reason why he decided to splurge like that and basically buy off the entire orchestra was so he wouldn't have to commute between Tokyo-3 and Tokyo-2."
"Aww, but doesn't keeping him here mean he can spend more time with you?"
"I guess," Amanda said, taking another sip of her beer.
Misato quickly recalled that while her friend could hold her alcohol, she still tended to get moodier the more she drank. That did not necessarily make her a bad drinking buddy per se, just that she needed to be careful what type of drink they shared if she wanted a specific type of companionship for the evening. Dark beer, was probably not the best idea for a relaxing game of cards after dinner. Speaking of which, the smells from the kitchen were growing more and more tempting. If Misato had to wait much longer her stomach might start consuming itself out of desperation.
"Dinner's ready!"
And not a moment too soon as far as Misato was concerned. Jumping up she made her way to the table and plopped down with an expectant smile. Amanda was right behind, sullen or not the other woman's stomach had also started making its displeasure known. The two men carried over the bounties of the day, Soren a large plate of meatloaf and Shinji what looked to be a bowl of simmering soup. A few side dishes followed and Misato smiled happily at the fare spread before her.
"Thank you for the food!" she said cheerfully.
"I know you may not be used to a European style meal," Amanda said to Shinji, "but I hope you'll still find something you enjoy."
"Oh, I'm fine," Shinji said. "This all looks, delicious."
"And it is!" Misato said as she bit into a slice of the meatloaf. "Ah, it's so soft and tasty, I think I'm in heaven!"
"The road to a woman's heart is through her stomach," Soren muttered.
Shinji's chopsticks froze as he heard what had to have been a joke from the stoic German. Throughout their entire time cooking the older man had been serious and focused on the task at hand. Even now his face remained composed with not a hint of a smile. In some ways that composure reminded Shinji of his father, yet when he gazed into Soren's eyes there was a gentleness to the man's calm.
"Oh? And what makes you so sure about that?" Amanda said.
"I seem to recall that was how I first got your attention," Soren replied.
The brunette flushed slightly but made no retort. Soren on the other hand reached into another of the bags they had brought along and placed a bottle on the table. Amanda's eyes went wide.
"Is that a Chateau Lafite Rothschild!?"
Misato's eyes also went wide, almost giddy with anticipation.
"This seemed a fitting occasion," Soren said. "To celebrate a reunion of old friends and the making of new ones."
This time the older man did smile and even directed it at Shinji. The boy returned it, feeling a sense of warmth he found hard to describe. When he first moved in with Misato, she had claimed that it often felt nice to eat with others. Now Shinji finally felt like he understood what she meant.
"Wark."
The assembled humans all looked down at the penguin that had waddled over to Soren.
"Wark."
Without missing a beat Soren popped the cork and poured the first glass of the night and handed it to the penguin. With an approving wark he accepted and waved a fin at Soren before making for his fridge. Soren then placed four glasses on the table including one before Shinji. As he filled it Shinji felt another sort of warmth starting to color his face, all without a drop of alcohol entering his body yet.
End Chapter 1
So what were your favorite moments in this chapter? I'm especially proud of PenPen's introduction. Ahem.
Anyway, chapters 2 through 3 have actually already been written, but I'm spacing them out to a) buy me time to actually write more chapters and b) umm, I guess string my readers along a bit. Wouldn't want to overdose my readers too much.
So, general notes. Toji is somewhat tricky to write for because in Japanese he speaks with a distinct dialect. I think the dub tried to give him an accent and some other writers have tried various methods of getting that across. The really irritating ones involve absolutely butchering the spelling to make his speech more phonetic but damn near impossible to read. I've elected to just try to make his speech as informal and casual as possible.
Over the course of this story, the tricky part is going to be balancing appearances. The entire point of this narrative is of course to tell a story about the EVA characters. And while it is not yet completely obvious, I could make the argument that every scene does involve those characters. I could even claim that the scenes are almost solely centered around characters from the EVA canon/near-canon. However, because the story is also about a certain amount of what-ifs and the effects of certain changes, I need to provide grounding for those changes and show their consequences. As such I am not going to do any sort of scene by scene reprisal of the EVA series, instead picking and choosing to show the impact of my changes where I can. While this is an AU, this is intended to be a kind of back-handed subtle style of an AU. Shinji does not go into this having a (visible) spine after all and while things have been in the works behind the scenes for a long time before the start of the story proper, the immediate effect on Shinji only starts after his arrival in Tokyo-3. Don't worry, what's actually happening will become clearer as the story progresses and I'll be dropping more and more, blatant hints as it progresses. And a reminder of one other hint, as of right now I have only introduced one character that is extra-canon and that character is a bit player at this point. Everyone else is from the source material. I'll let all of you try to wrap your heads around how I'm doing this.
At this point I have a general plan for the story. I know who the antagonist beyond SEELE and Gendo will be and I think I have a really cool showdown planned for near endgame that all of you will like. The AT-fields will be flying, quite literally, in that one. I should perhaps stop teasing though.
Anyway, leave a review to let me know what you think of my little return to the EVA fandom. I'd like to think that after a couple of years refining my writing skills, this is a vast improvement on my previous works. Looking back, those tended to get really, really sloppy.
Sidenote: Words cannot describe the temptation I had to go back and rename Midori Kayabuki as Midori Kirigaya after I noticed the coincidence. I shall however resist, for the time being.
Z98