New Perspective Evangelion
Chapter 7: Out of the frying pan...
Quick update this time... If you're out there, if anybody's reading, hello?
I don't own NGE, somebody else does
Stuff might be mentioned that's copyright
I don't own it either
It's just a bit of fun anyway.
I...I
..Just then, the crane slowly began to topple sidewards, and collapsed down into the crater.
I watched the twisted wreckage plunge into the crater, coolant and power cables whipping and snarling over each other as they fell. Hydraulic fluid fountained off like blood. The whole lot crashed into the lava lake in an explosion of red fire and brimstone. The winch, still firmly anchored to the ground, was whirling itself up into a furious steel tornado as metres of cable spooled off uncontrollably. Smoke billowed from the bearings as emergency braking mechanisms rapidly overheated and failed. Severe-duty anchor bolts began to strip their threads, over a hundred metric tonnes of iron and steel slowly pulling itself free of it's grounding.
The significance of all this was lost on me for a moment, while I wondered just when this had happened in the episode. I didn't remember there being anything as significant as the whole crane collapsing. Maybe that bit had been cut out because the episode ran long? Why did the animatics and background on the DvD have to be for episode nine instead of ten?
"They're falling," an urgent voice announced across the radio. "Depth, fifteen hundred meters and increasing rapidly."
Katsuragi; "What are you waiting for? Grab that cable!" barked Misato. "Catch it before they fall to their deaths."
I blinked at the purple haired image staring at me.
Sorhyu; "You idiot!" Asuka screeched.
There came a second scream.
They were falling.
Slowly, the curtain lifted, and I realised just what had been going on. Right then, I wasn't so much terrified, or even concerned any more. It was more a sense of foggy bewilderment that handcuffed my response.
"Roger," I said.
Okay...grab the cable.
It took only a few moments more to grab the whipping cable, wrapping it around Unit 03's arm like a tug-o-war rope. A slight heat flared under my own arm as the cable burned it's way forward. Not painful, more like somebody had held a small lightbulb to my bare skin for the briefest of seconds.
It gripped tight.
Panic struck as the cable wrenched all seven thousand tonnes of my machine forward. Sheer bloody terror invaded my thoughts, a rush of adrenaline burning through my veins as Unit 03 skidded, lost it's footing, and began to topple forward.
I cried out, seeing my own fiery death loom large before me. My heart raced as I scrambled to balance my EVA, to keep myself from going over the edge. The horrifying realisation struck that, if I fell, it wouldn't just mean the end to my life, but Asuka and Shinji's too.
Not some fake, long holiday far away death, but real, immediate and permanent. And most likely agonisingly drawn out. All three of us, either slowly crushed to death or boiled alive in LCL, take your pick. The first time I'd come face to face with my mortality, it had been wearing black armour, now, it was a blood red lake of molten rock.
"Stop it.. STOP IT!" I screeched, driving my heels hard into the rock. There came a scream of tortured steel resonating up through the structure, mingled with the crunch of pulverised rock as I stamped desperately for some solid ground
"Stop, please stop!," I begged my machine, tears of fear welling up.
My heels dug in...hard and for a second, I felt I'd finally stopped. It was a false relief though, as the weight slowly tipped Unit 03 forwards. A bolt of fear shot through me as I struggled at the controls, trying to use my own weight in some way to keep upright. Unit 03 creaked and groaned, and it occurred to me briefly that maybe, it would be best to just drop the cable.
Better two die than three right?
Could I face Misato, or anybody else after doing that?
Shame on me for even thinking such a thing!
I shook it off and gritted my teeth.
Akagi; "Lean backwards, use your own weight to support them both," the Doctor advised.
"Got it!" I yelped.
But how in the name of God was I supposed to do that without sliding feet first into flaming death? Just hold on for dear life!
I began to panic, my heart racing as visions of my own burning face flashed before my eyes. My eyes screwed shut and I braced myself for the short rush of the fall, and the searing pain of the volcano. It would take a while to die down there. Plenty of time to suffer anyway. Burning and falling, knowing there was no hope of any rescue, knowing that it was my fault all three of us had been killed.
With a strangulated cry of fear, Unit 03 lurched forward, and finally:
Ikari; "We've stopped falling," Shinji said.
Sorhyu; "The winch must've reached the end of its cable," Asuka told him.
They were calm, calmer than myself anyway. I was shivering, gripping so tight to the throttles I'd probably bruised my own hands. It took a few precious moments for me to realise that I wasn't moving, and that warmth pooling around my waist wasn't lava burning up my legs.
Uh...how embarrassing.
Slowly, my eyes cracked open to see a cloudy blue sky, and the contrails of three bombers soaring above. Offering a quiet prayer for my safety, I looked down to see the feet of Unit 03 scant inches from the crater rim.
Okay, it must've been at least twenty feet, but it felt like inches to me.
Gut wrenchingly close to certain death.
It was almost funny.
I'd nearly died on my first mission! I'd nearly taken everyone with me too!
Relief!
"I got it," I said, chest heaving. I had to catch my breath. "I got cable,"
My muscles strained as I pulled hard back on the throttles, just trying to hold it upright. I could feel the whole weight of the both Eva's pulling on my arms. My elbows were slipping from their sockets, like somebody had decided to hang to decent sized fridges from my arms.
It might just've been myself straining against my own muscles, or some other psychosomatic thing like that. You never could tell with Eva involved, but I wasn't about to risk it by relaxing either.
Katsuragi; "Good work Noriko. We'll start the cable winch again, we just need you to pass the line through and keep it tight."
I nodded, the strain of holding the two EVA's beginning to tell.
Akagi; "Don't shock the line," the Doctor warned. "If you shock the line, you might shake them loose, or break the winch."
Was it just my imagination, or did she never have anything good to say?
"I understand," I nervously answered.
Both their lives were in my hands. No hyperbole, no bullshit, that was it. If I screwed up, that would be it. And this wasn't even in the show...or at least it wasn't mentioned. Why would something not be mentioned that was as deadly as this?
If this could happen, did that mean I could actually fail, and Asuka and Shinji would die?
Oh crap... Oh crap, Oh crap... Fuck... Why did I want to do this again?
Remember your breathing exercises, and just focus on letting the EVA do the task in hand. See how you want to manoeuvre the machine, then tell her how to do it.
Katsuragi; "Commence winching."
The cable went tight under my arms, pulling back and easing the load. Okay, I just had to loosen my grip ever so slightly to let it pass through, but not so much that it drops. That wasn't to hard, not really... I could do this.
Just ease it gently.
My heart stopped as I felt the cable begin to move. Slowly at first, before slowly building in speed. It tugged at my armour as it passed, a few meters at a time.
I began to settle into it, about the same time Misato began to explain how Japanese baths worked. I don't know how anybody could be so calm to discuss bathing, when certain death was only one mistake away. All I could see was that cable dropping from my grasp, the shock of the fall jilting the winch loose from it's mounts, and the whole lot go screaming past into the bowels of the Earth and certain doom
The nightmare replaying a hundred times for my benefit right until Misato decided it was high time she remind Asuka about of of the most important parts of Japanese bathing. That scream of fury nearly sent her plummeting back down again.
It took an hour almost to get them to the lip of the crater, an hour of fear and focus, the consequences of failure never far for my mind.
My arms ached, my head hurt, the butterflies were still biting away quite happily in my belly. I was starving hungry, yet ready to throw up at the exact same time. I just wanted to get them out of there and get to that hotsprings.
I didn't care about being naked in the same place as two other women, as long as I could have a nice hot meal, and a nice long, luxuriating soak in a mineral spa.
When the scorched form of Unit 01 finally crested the crater, I knew I was nearly done. The battered remains of Unit 02 followed a few moments afterwards, collapsing onto the fractured ground ahead of me.
Katsuragi; "Good work everyone," Misato said. "Operation complete."
A sudden warmth came over me, building into a giddy excitement. My first mission was over. That was one hell of a nasty shock, but things had worked out. Nobody was dead, the Angel was defeated, I'd saved Shinji and Asuka's lives.
I could've screamed, if I hadn't have been so damned tired. Slowly calming down while I dragged the abandoned mech's away to safety, I was struck by how little it seemed to bother anyone that Asuka and Shinji had come moments from death.
While I'd been bricking it, they were discussing bathing arrangements.
I sighed to myself and decided that maybe they were just used to it.
I...I
The resort was run by a woman named Ms. Fubuki. It was a traditional looking place all right, wooden built in a century's old style. Almost as old in fact as Ms. Fubuki herself. I'll never forget the surprised look on that her face when the four of us appeared at her door.
Behind Misato, myself and the two children where still wearing our drying plugsuits. The LCL had long since caked to our body's, giving off a disgusting smell that wasn't much different from a bad harbour at low tide. My hair had turned into a solid lump of plastic.
Fubuki was practically holding her nose as she showed us in, past that little raised platform where we were supposed to pay. Inside, the onsen was pretty sparsely decorated, matching the dignified age of the buildings exterior. Varnished wood panelling served to make it appear much darker inside, than it probably was.
Nobody had thought to bring much in the way of clothes, so a set of warm towels and some evening wear were provided for a 'fair' price. I suppose it seemed fair to Ms Fubuki, what with supply and demand and all that.
I kept my mouth shut all the while, quietly pretending I was a native just so I didn't have to go through the introduction to Japanese bathing Asuka was forced into. Gloating quietly to myself as I passed into the women's side, I was taken aside by Misato. She was wearing that same sinister grin as she had that morning and I began to realise it may just have been best to stay with Asuka after all.
"How are you feeling," My guardian asked with a false kindness.
"Fine," I mumbled, hoping beyond silent hope that she would just give me quiet congratulations for my battlefield performance.
"That's good," she responded as she stripped her bra off. "Oh, this scar? I got it during the Second Impact, it's no big deal," she swatted playfully.
It wasn't exactly her herringbone scar I was looking at.
"Anyway," Misato continued. "If those cramps are still bothering you, I know an excellent way for you to feel better. It works for me all the time."
Still, she grinned.
"You do?" I questioned, with only the slightest inkling of what she was on about.
Her grin widened.
"Mmm-Hmmm. Want me to tell you?"
I looked past the curtain, where Asuka's silhouette was being introduced to the concept of washing before bathing...for the second time. I wanted to be out there, as far away from Misato as possible. Of course, I twigged just what she might have been on about.
"Of course,"
There had to be a reason beyond alcoholism that she drank so much. Okay, I wasn't that naïve, but I could sure as hell hope. And frankly, almost anything would be better than having my stomach tear itself apart every few minutes.
"Well, come closer," she whispered. "This is a secret only for official members of the proud sisterhood of adult women,"
"Sisterhood?" I blinked, as she dragged me close to her.
Her skin was so warm! Sweaty and slick with the humidity, but still, I thought of a fair few things she could do for me that would make me feel better right away. Her arm fell heavy on my shoulder, her buxom breast pressing against mine. A ticklish thrill ran through my body as her lips approached my ear, and I found it hard to fight down the devil-grin that was spreading across my lips.
The pair of us, semi-naked in a steaming washroom, body-to body, with Misato's lips about to caress my ear with the gentlest of womanly touches.
"This is what you can do," she whispered, each sibilant tone like a serpent hissing in my ear. I grinned, a giddy, girlish grin, ready to embrace my wildest dreams at a moments notice. "You know where it hurts?"
I nodded,
"Well..." she leaned over and whispered something in my ear...
That little old wives tale sent me running with a squeak of embarrassment, red faced. That was followed by the cackling of witches laughter as Misato left me alone to wash herself at the other end of the room.
I sat back one of those stools that they had scattered round, and rested against the cold wood pannelled divider. With hindsight, I probably half knew what she was going to suggest. But, these cramps were driving me nuts.
The idea took root.
It prospered and grew while I washed myself, lathering myself up with soap with my own hands. I didn't dare let Misato wash my back in case she put in to practice what she preached. Besides, I enjoyed bathing myself. It was...soothing.
Sisterhood of adult women huh?
I'd certainly never given much thought to what was actually down there, or inside me. I wasn't so stupidly naïve as not to know either, it just never got in the way of my daily life. At least, not until that morning anyway. I'd decided that if it wasn't going to bother me, I wasn't going to bother it.
But now?
Misato had long left for the baths, yet her idea still lingered like a bad smell. You didn't like it, but you couldn't ignore it. I grunted, I wasn't a pervert like that woman. I would keep myself clean.
I framed that thought with a cold water rinse...that I didn't know was going to be a cold water rinse.
The shock of it sent me running for a rad-warmed towel before my body froze. The steaming spring beckoned outside, Misato slowly slipping herself down into it, up to her neck and beyond.
I could wait, maybe make sure I'd gotten the last few dregs of dried Angel blood out of my hair. Asuka entered, grumbling to herself about 'institutionalised racism that would have a European business closed'.
"When in Rome," I answered, my thoughts elsewhere.
"Who are you to say, When in Rome?" Sohryu huffed, throwing her plugsuit into a heap with mine. "The only thing that makes you Japanese is your genes. You can't even speak the language as well as me yet,"
I giggled. It was kind of funny that way.
"I know, but I can blend in,"
"That's stupid," Asuka bit, "If you try to blend in, the nobody will know you're any different to anyone else. Nobody will ever notice you,"
I shrugged,
"I don't really want to be noticed," I said, thinking of that first time with the stooges. "It's too much trouble,"
"You are weird, you know that, you really are sometimes,"
"I know," I smiled back at her, before pausing to think. "I guess, I like being weird,"
It was that same answer I'd given for years every time somebody told me I was weird, strange, or an outright oddball.. Asuka snorted.
"Each to her own. I must be the only normal person in NERV then," she remarked, before dropping onto a stool opposite me, her unsupported breasts bouncing.
I gave a half hearted laugh, while she began to lather her body up, massaging the soap gently into her own chest, then down along to her waistline and beyond. My eyes dropped to the sink, and my own hands. A shadow of a bruise had begun to creep across my palms alright. It gave a dull ache as I clenched my fist. I could really have died.
I could have killed everyone.
"How do you do it, Asuka?" I said.
"Do what? Wash myself? What are you stupid or something?" she blustered back. Something was obviously bothering her too.
"No.. I meant, during the mission today." I took a breath. "You nearly died, and you weren't afraid at all. Even Shinji was able to jump in and rescue you,"
Asuka scowled... I'd hit the sore spot alright. Stupid me.
"But," I said, looking at my own bruised hands. "I was so terrified of falling in that, well..." I didn't want to say I wet myself... "If I did, we'd all have died."
She caught me with a hard edged glare for a moment, her eyes cutting to my soul. I wasn't sure what was more terrifying, an annoyed Asuka, or a volcano? She thought about it, and I got the chilling feeling that I was about to be caught and ground zero of a pressure cooker explosion.
"I'm not afraid," she said flatly, fixing me with a deadly stare. " Because I don't think about it. If you only think about what can go wrong, you'll never be able to Pilot near as good as me. It's too distracting. Of course," the flavour returned to her voice, " that idiot Shinji is just too stupid to know he's in any danger until after the fact,"
"What about me?" drifted across the divider in Japanese.
A pair of steel eyes crept over the top of the barrier, curiously looking down. Asuka had her back to them, but I could see him clearly.
"Nothing," I called over.
Asuka looked up, then back over her shoulder for the source of the voice.
"Do you have spare body shampoo please?" the owner of the eyes asked nervously, " If it's not too inconvenient. There's none over here,"
"Sure... I finished," I answered back, standing up to throw the bottle to him. He wasn't paying too much attention to me anyway.
Asuka's eyes golfballed.
"You pervert!" she squealed, covering her chest with her arms. "Get your eyes back to your own side,"
"Sorry!" he yelped.
The eyes dropped suddenly, shortly followed by a wet slap of soft skin against wood and the clatter of a plastic stool being launched across the room.
"You should be!" Asuka yelled after him, before launching into a rather nasty tirade of 'colourful' german. "And it's your fault too, you know that?" Sohryu turned to face me, her gale blustering into a storm.
I winced, stepping back.
"Showing yourself off to him like that. He could see everything!"
Everything? I gulped, and looked down my body, through the valley of my breasts, along my stomach and down between my legs to my feet.
"It was just the shampoo, he wasn't even looking at me," I tried to bat it off, a lump of embarrassment slowly creeping it's way up my throat. My toes had begun to crinkle with the thoughts of Shinji actually eyeing me.
"All boys are liars and cheats who'll do anything for peek of pink, didn't I tell you?"
"Yes," I mumbled, searching for some random excuse. "But I've only been a girl for three weeks. I don't know how to be one."
Silence.
Idiot! my mind's voice screamed. Now you've gone and done it. Of course, she's only going to ask how, and then where will you be for an answer? Locked in an interrogation room, that's where.
"What are you, stupid?" Asuka blasted, reaching full cry. "How could you have only been a girl for three weeks? That's the silliest thing I've ever heard of."
She was pissed.
I was on the verge of tears.
I had to tell her now. Dear God she's just going to think I'm a loon. She stood there, somehow towering over me, with her legs far apart and her arms crossed over her chest
"I woke in hospital three weeks ago," I said, snivelling. "I only... before that...I..."
"It's your memory isn't it?" Sorhyu's tone softened. "You really don't remember anything,"
I looked up at her, her posture relaxed and neutral.
"No," I whimpered, "Nothing before the hospital,"
Silence.
"Well I'm not going to stand around here and feel sorry for you Fourth Child." Asuka said sharply. "You can either cry about it like some pathetic child, or deal with it like an adult."
I hiccuped, and blinked, trying to catch my breath.
"I'll be in the bath," she said.
Her feet padded softly on the wooden floor as she left, receding towards the pool. I slumped onto the stool with a thud, quietly sobbing.
Well, there' goes my friendship with Asuka then. And over what? Because I asked a question? Because I didn't think that Shinji might be looking at me? Probably just because she got fed up with me is all. It always happens.
Suddenly, that bath didn't seem like such an inviting place after all. Those two were out there. I could hear them chatting between themselves. I held my breath for a few moments, and rubbed my eyes as best I could, a few half stifled sobs escaping. Hiccup.
Of course, it would have to happen today, of all days. I wake up in the morning, and find it's my 'special time'. And Angel attacks, and I nearly kill everyone, and finally, I bollock my friendship with Asuka up over nothing.
Literally!
Why was she so fucking pissed off, huh? And where did she get off being angry at me? I never did anything to her. It's not my fault anyway. I've only been one for three weeks, how am I supposed to know how to be a girl?
I can't exactly ask someone now, can I?
I sighed, rubbing my stinging eyes. My brain was swimming in a sea of hormone fuelled emotions, my mind a little dinghy caught in a hurricane A quiver ran up my back as I fought to regain my mental balance. Another sniff, and a swallowed lump crawling down the back of my throat. Slowly, a cool calm came over me. I stood up, and caught sight of my still naked reflection in the mirror.
Noriko Nagato... that was me. And it wasn't going to change any time soon.
"Are you okay in there Noriko?" Misato's voice called in.
"Um...yeah," I shouted out. "Just feeling...little shy,"
A bit of a lie. Another shiver ran up my spine.
"Don't be," the answer came back. "The water's lovely and warm,"
There was a splash, and a girlish giggle from outside. Well, it would be better to work this out in a hot spring than in a chilly washroom, wouldn't it
The night air was cold, but the spring was warm in the way a simple bath couldn't be. A bath was already going cold from the moment you turned the taps off, but this spring was an infinite well of pure thermal pleasure.
It was like bathing in heat.
It soaked straight to the core of my body, boiling away any biological discomforts. After a long day, it was a perfect way to forget about everything. I slipped down up to my neck in the mineral water, and blew bubbles.
Misato sat between myself and Asuka, both half asleep.
It was quiet. It was a heavenly end to the day. I looked to Asuka, wondering what was going through her head, before deciding not to bother. Maybe if I just gave her some space, she'd cool off.
I...I
"Reise! Reise!" A woman's voice invaded my morning's sleep.
Asuka?
Well, whoever they were, they were giving orders in German.
"Schnell!" my bedsheets where whisked away by the hands of a cold breeze.
No, it wasn't Asuka, she was on the bed beside mine, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"I don't speak German," I slurred to my pillow.
Where did those covers go?
My arm reached out in a desperate attempt to find them, padding the floor, my bedroll, my leg. It found nothing but my own soft butt.
"Hawwy up!" the order came again in accented English.
Asuka was sitting up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
She muttered something in her native tongue. Something about 'Morgen'.
A malevolant shadow passed over me. My eyes followed the shadow to it's feet, up along it's shaven legs, passed the hem of a black skirt and a shaded white flash of underwear, up to a red jacket over a purple tank top, around a few stray strands of raven-purple hair, to the grinning face of my demon guardian.
"Morning Misato," I said.
Ritual appeasement, a prayer to the Gods of sleep to encourage her to leave. la la Noriko fthagn. Go away Misato and let me sleep. I'd em... been to sleep late.
"And how are you feeling this morning Noriko?" she asked.
She was too cheerful, like Elmo after a shot of lithium. Too tired to fully translate an answer, I rolled over in my bed and turned my butt to her.
"It's the second day of your cycle, isn't it?"
Bah...don't remind me. An even better reason to stay in bed. A pang of a morning cramp enforced the point.
"So, did you give my advice a whirl?" she probed,
My body curled up around itself, an echo of sensation running up my spine from a very private place.
"...Yes," I muttered, feeling my body flush with embarrassment.
"And..."
I whimpered,
"What 'advice'?" Asuka cut in.
"Don't tell her!" I whined, forgetting my Japanese.
"Just a little self medication technique for dealing with period cramps." answered Misato dismissively.
A short squee escaped from my lips, a desperate longing for a dark sheet to hide under. All I had was a basic nightshirt and my own bare skin to save me from the embarrassment of my...err,,,indiscretion.
"Oh...I prefer rocky road ice-cream myself. That sort of thing never worked for me," said Asuka, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world.
What?...No scream of 'pervert'? No violence? No blood or hatred?
I pushed myself upright, my nightshirt hanging loosely from my frame. A little bewildered, and a little dirty downstairs, I brushed a a few dark strands of my face and sighed.
"Well, it works for me," said Misato, "And I think it might have worked for our young Noriko here too?"
That vulpine grin of hers was answered only by a nervous laugh and a quick nod. I looked to Asuka for a moment, to see what her reaction would be. All she did was yawn like this was no big deal.
Or she was tired.
An old saying came to mind-If you say you don't you're a liar, and a fool if you say that you do. Damned if it wasn't too late to just keep quiet, Katsuragi'd already chosen my path by telling all.
"It was... it worked," I whispered shyly.
It worked well...
"Each to her own, I suppose," commented Asuka, with an unbothered shrug of her shoulders. "Just don't wake me up when you do it," she warned.
What?
She should've been screaming, or ripping the life out of me with cruel taunts and jibes. Guys didn't talk about things like this, not so openly anyway. To do so would invite death by a thousand mocking laughs.
And these two were talking about it as if it was no big deal.
"Anyway, more importantly," Misato continued. "Since we didn't bring any clothes, I've ordered a set of uniforms couriered in from headquarters,"
Asuka scowled.
"I'm not wearing my school uniform on a Sunday,"
"You'll have to," Our guardians foot came down. "Unless you want to wear a used, dry, plugsuit out in public?"
"Alright," Sohryu relented with a roll of her eyes.
I didn't have a school uniform, did that mean I had to go naked?
"What about me?"
"I'll have your uniform too Noriko, don't worry." she smiled.
"But...I don't go to school," I said.
"Oh...I knew there was something I forget to tell you," she slapped her forehead. "You start tomorrow morning Noriko, I'm sorry, it must've slipped my mind."
She smiled apologetically.
All I could do was groan, and bury my face in my hands. A pot of anger simmered in my belly, rising up the back of my throat.
"Thank you for telling me," I growled.
I...I
I managed to avoid Asuka for the rest of the day. She seemed her normal self, but after yesterday, no chances were being taken. The last thing I wanted was to annoy her further. Instead, I enjoyed what Misato called a 'Pyjama day', lazing out on the couch in my nightwear, eating junkfood and watching western television.
It gave me plenty of time to reflect on what Asuka had actually said. Deal with it like an adult? Alright, so she was only talking about my memory loss, there was no way she'd know about my gender issues...at least, not the true extent. But, it was sound advice.
Sound advice that I had no idea how to take.
I barely new the first thing about being a girl, I was barely able to deal with it. Things that would be utterly normal to Asuka say, were throwing me half through a loop. I could barely deal with a stupid little tampon for God's sake, it made me sick.
It would've been so much easier if I'd just been able to remember more of Noriko's life than the last five minutes of it...or that weird train thing. I could call up on her experiences to help, to guide me and tell me how to do things, but no, I had to do this all by myself.
And now that I had school coming up, with people who were supposedly my own age?
I remembered my last time through school alright. Anybody who happened to be strange, who didn't fit the norm, was singled out, isolated and ground down. The swot, the fat kid, the loner, the teacher's pet, the socially inept, anyone who stood out in the slightest way. What was it they said in Japan? The nail that sticks out gets hammered.
I knew what that felt like.
There was only one thing for it then, I'd have to find a way to fit in. I'd have to fill Noriko's shoes and at least act like a normal girl.
A bit bloody difficult when I'd no idea how though. It'd be like asking an Amish man to work in tech-support for Microsoft.
So then, if I couldn't use Noriko's experiences as a guide, I'd have to use someone else's. Misato was too old, and a bit more...'womanly' than I could ever happily be. No, there was only one person who could help me now.
But would she?
Well, I guess I just had to bite the bullet and ask her.
Easier said than done.
It was only later that night that the courage came. After how annoyed she'd been the night before, there was no way of knowing how to react.
"Hey Asuka," I nudged, rolling in my bed to face her.
A tired "What?" answered
A lump grew in the back of my throat as my words crashed together into some almighty pile up. Something had panic-braked at my tongue, and the rest just ploughed on into the back of them. The road between brain and mouth was closed for the cleanup.
I tried to talk, to find a way to say it, but nothing could get passed the tangled verbal wreckage. Fragments of sentences flashed about through my mind.
Will you?...You know when?...I don't know...
Dammit!
Just take a detour. See if she's willing to talk about it first. A nervous flutter entered my breath as I tried to speak, my words coloured by the fear that I might finally ruin our friendship.
"Um...About last night,"
"Don't worry about it," she swatted, ruffling her sheets. "It was only your period talking, you couldn't help it."
I don't think I had anything to be sorry for, it was her that started getting angry. Bah!...It's not important now.
"Thanks, but that's not it." I said. "It was...em..." the lump bulged, shifting along the back of my gullet. "When I told you, I didn't know how to be a girl,"
"Not that again," the girl groaned.
I winced.
"It's just that..well... will you show me how?"
Silence.
The calm before the storm.
"Sure," Asuka answered groggily. "Now stop bothering me and go to sleep."
A strange, giddy excitement filled my frame for a second, before settling. I suddenly became aware that I might just have willingly joined the enemy. If I actually went ahead with this, there might be no going back.
Was it worth giving my very self up, just for the sake of fitting in?
I'd made my bed...Now I had to sleep in it.
I...I
That's it right there. Any comments, ideas suggestions appreciated at the usual address.
Next Time, on New Perspective Evangelion: Noriko joins the Japanese education system, but will she fit in. How will the male population of Tokyo-3 Junior high react to the newest EVA Pilot. Never mind them, how will the girls react to Noriko?
Find out next chapter: Behind the Wall.
And, Service, Service, Service...
