Chapter 10: Allegretto
When Wednesday morning arrived Asuka was still absorbed in thought. The night before had seen her get little sleep and for once it was not because of the nightmares. Her father's words echoed in her head and she barely tasted the food that Shinji laid out. In fact it was only after the sixth time that Shinji circled around her that she directly noticed something odd when she saw Rei staring at the Third Child. When Asuka locked her gaze onto Shinji the boy froze. Her eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing?"
Shinji's expression flip-flopped between sheepish and fearful as the redhead caught him in the act. Finally deciding to face his fate like a man, he sighed.
"The wall of Jericho," he said.
Asuka's eyes narrowed. She remembered that reference with little delay.
"What about it?"
"Umm, it fell," Shinji mumbled.
The Second Child just stared at him in confusion for a few seconds. Then she recalled the legend associated with the defense and the way Shinji had been taking roundabout ways to reach the dining table every morning. Very rarely did Asuka Langley Shikinami's face turn scarlet but this morning it nearly matched her hair.
"Pervert! Creep! Idiot!"
The insults were entirely reflexive and Asuka immediately regretted screaming them out. Her chosen escape of slamming her head down onto the table was quickly determined to be an equally bad idea.
"Owwwww," the girl moaned.
"Umm, Asuka, are you okay?" Shinji asked.
Asuka raised a hand. "Give me a minute here."
Massaging her temples, Asuka ran through the current facts. Fact, she had accused Shinji, unfairly at that once one considered the First Child's habits, of being a pervert and demanded that he stay away from her by imposing a 'wall of Jericho' around herself. Fact, Shinji either looked up or somehow learned about the legend behind the historical wall and had for the last seven days been performing a simplified version of the ritual that caused the wall to fall. Fact, her own prejudices aside, the Third Child had not precipitated any incident that genuinely offended her womanhood. For that matter, their supposed guardian was a more blatant violator of social etiquette than Shinji. All of those combined would normally lead Asuka to conclude that Shinji had an actual interest in her and was trying to get close. That conclusion however faced one glaring flaw in the final fact, Shinji was apparently already getting closer to another girl named Mayumi Yamagishi.
"Baka Shinji," Asuka said, finally looking up. "For what reason would you want to bring down the wall?"
The flatness of the tone said it all. If Shinji wanted to live, his reply needed to not only answer the question but also satisfy Asuka's dignity and pride. Quite the tall order for someone as inarticulate as the boy.
"Umm, I just, wanted to clear things up with you," Shinji said. "I don't really want us to be at odds with each other. I'd rather we be friends, you know."
Asuka, despite her many claims to the contrary, was still a child. At 13 years old she was actually the youngest of the pilots stationed at NERV-Tokyo. As such her understanding of relationships between men and women was superficial or formed from her observation of those older than her. Her first impressions had come from the deteriorating marriage of her parents, which had nearly permanently soured her on the notion of marriage entirely if not male female relationships in general.
Her second impressions came from a much more stable pairing however, that of Soren Reimer and Amanda Sommer. The two were already married by the time they met Asuka and were still together even now. Everyone said that they were a loving couple and yet as far as the eight year old Asuka could tell they did not do anything special that made it obvious that they were in love. About the only thing that separated their interactions with each other from how they dealt with others was Amanda's perfect willingness to call her husband an idiot just like Asuka did…with…the girl's brain crashed, along with her forehead against the table again. Too many shocks would do that to a person.
"Uh, Asuka?" Shinji asked, now genuinely worried.
"Baka Shinji," Asuka said, head still down so the sound a bit muffled. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I said to papa last night. I need to think about this."
Shinji relaxed a bit. "Of course Asuka."
Having finished her meal, Rei calmly picked up her dishes and utensils and brought them over to the sink. For all the excitement around her, the First Child seemed as unperturbed as ever.
Shinji Ikari had a problem. Well, a couple of problems, but there was no need to worry about things not in the immediate present. Right now his problem was that he was standing in front of Mayumi's home but the girl was nowhere in sight. There was any number of reasonable explanations from Mayumi not having gotten home yet to her actually waiting for him inside. The problem however was despite the considerable firming of his backbone over the past few months, the thought of knocking on the door of a girl he might, sort of, possibly like, was still extremely daunting. Of course this really only was a problem because of his other problem, that he might, sort of, possibly like Mayumi. The boy was nothing if not confused.
Fortunately someone else appeared to solve his problem for him. The door to the house opened and a gentle looking woman with a warm smile stepped out.
"You must be Ikari-san," she said and bowed.
"Oh! Uh, yes, I am," Shinji said, his own bow far more frantic. "Umm, I was supposed to meet Mayumi-san here after school, and, uh, is she back yet?"
The woman shook her head. "No, but I expect she will be shortly. Please, do come in, there's no need for you to be standing out here like this."
"Umm, thank you very much, um…"
"My name is Yamagishi Fuuka," the woman said, her shoulder length hair swaying gentle as she bowed again. "Thank you very much for being Mayumi's friend, Ikari-san."
"I, I'm really glad to be her friend," Shinji said.
Fuuka smiled at him again and gestured for him to enter. Taking a deep breath Shinji accepted the invitation.
The inside of the house was remarkably neat and clean, though a few toys were laying here and there. The sound of children could be heard down the hall, all full of life. They only grew louder as Fuuka led him into a large living room area. Quite a few children were sprawled about, engaged in one form of play or another. Off to the side however was a large piano, one that more fitting for a concert hall than this simple living room. Upon his entrance the children stopped their play, casting their gaze on this new stranger.
"Everyone, this is Ikari Shinji-san," Fuuka said. "Be nice and remember your manners."
A chorus of yesses came in response and quite a few of the kids actually bowed in greeting. Shinji quickly reciprocated. No need for him to be the impolite one here.
"Have a seat," Fuuka said. "Would you like some tea while you wait?"
"Oh I'm fine," Shinji said. "I wouldn't want to trouble you."
"It's no trouble," Fuuka assured him, pouring a cup from a pre-heated pot and presenting it to him.
"Thank you very much," Shinji said.
"I believe this is the first time we've actually met," Fuuka said. "Mayumi has told me quite a bit about you though, Ikari-san."
"Oh, she has?" Shinji said, blushing slightly. He quickly took a sip to try to hide it.
Fuuka nodded with a knowing look. "You made quite the impression upon her. Thank you for that."
That surprised the boy. "Huh? I'm, not sure I understand."
"Mayumi's very sensitive," Fuuka said. "Because of that she often has trouble letting people close. But you never pushed her and let her take her own pace. That's why Mayumi thinks you're very kind and why I agree."
"Oh." Shinji blushed. "I, I don't know if I really can be called kind."
Fuuka smiled gently. "That is ultimately something you have to decide for yourself. And I'm not here to put any pressure on you about Mayumi. That you're her friend is already something I am thankful for. I just hope that you can appreciate her friendship as much as she does yours."
"I do," Shinji said, his voice gaining strength with that admission. "I mean, I'm really glad to have met her."
"That's good enough," Fuuka said. "And that's why I thanked you, Ikari-san."
As Shinji pondered the meaning of those words the door opened and a composed, comforting voice sounded.
"I'm home."
Several of the kids leapt to their feet and scrambled towards the front.
"Yumi-nee!"
"Welcome back!"
"Nee-san!"
Fuuka chuckled as she watched the kids scamper by. Standing, she winked at Shinji.
"I think you better get going before Mayumi gets bogged down."
"Oh uh, of course. Thank you again, Yamagishi-san."
"Please, call me Fuuka. Otherwise we'll just end up wondering which Yamagishi you're referring to."
Shinji looked at the other orphans that were filtering back in with Mayumi in tow. That was certainly true enough. The girl in question blushed at seeing Shinji in the living room but smiled nonetheless. Shinji had no trouble returning it.
Getting out of the house took a good ten minutes or so as some of the children seemed rather reluctant to let Mayumi go. More than one cast suspicious glares at Shinji and the boy found himself almost amused at their obvious attachment to their big sister. More and more he was seeing what a loving family actually looked like. Once away however they made good time and arrived at the library with plenty of time to look around. The topics of their conversation quickly turned to the matter at hand.
Like the others, the Third Municipal Library was a very large building. It was also the only library in the city, perhaps all of Japan for that matter, that allowed patrons to directly browse for books to borrow instead of having them wait for library staff to find and retrieve requests. That made the place very popular with a large range of booklovers and the library saw a noticeably higher usage rate than the other libraries in the city, much to the chagrin of the more conservative and hidebound librarians that managed those.
Today the library was even more crowded than usual thanks to the book fair. Fortunately this being Japan the event was fairly well organized with a catalog provided to each patron that listed the various sellers present and the genres they had on offer as well as any special items of note. The library's own used books were separated into genres to begin with, making things even easier.
"What books do you tend to read, Shinji-kun?" Mayumi asked.
"Umm, mostly slice of life style stories," Shinji said. "To me they always seemed like a kind of fantasy, even if for other people it seemed mundane."
Mayumi nodded, having learned a bit about Shinji's family circumstances during a brief private moment at the marine preserve.
"Mundane can be good though," the girl offered. "An exciting life often comes with many trials and hardships. I don't think I'd like that very much."
That was true enough. Shinji could recall well all his suffering before arriving in Tokyo-3. Then there were the things that happened after his arrival. Yet through it all he had emerged with friends, a sort of family, and now perhaps even someone he liked. More than liked maybe.
"Some hardships are worth it though," Shinji said thoughtfully, "if they help you get closer to other people."
"That's true," Mayumi acknowledged before flashing Shinji a shy smile. "But once you do get closer, it'd be nice to spend simpler days together."
"Yeah," Shinji agreed.
Making their way up the stairs, they drifted into the appropriate section. Not surprisingly the female patrons easily outnumbered the male ones but with Mayumi here Shinji felt slightly less self-conscious and actually felt relaxed enough to browse a bit.
"Was there a section you wanted to check out?" Shinji asked.
"Umm, I wanted to see if I could find something by Murakami Ryu-sensei," Mayumi said. "One of my teachers recommended his book Ai to Gensou no Fascism but I've never gotten around to reading it."
"I've never heard of him," Shinji admitted.
"He's, an acquired taste," Mayumi said, blushing for some reason. "I've only read one or two of his short stories. He can write very well, but his topics, umm, well, they're pretty open? I guess."
"It almost sounds like you're not a fan," Shinji said.
"Well, he does write very well. And his works are often very psychological. Maybe even a little philosophical. It's, hard to explain."
"Hmm, maybe I should try one of them," Shinji mused.
Mayumi actually coughed at that. Her blush deepened. "Ah, I think you'd like something else more. Umm, maybe something by Mishima Yukio-sensei?"
"Oh, I think we had one of his books in our literature course at school."
"Really?" Mayumi said, brightening a bit. "Do you remember which one?"
Despite his best efforts Shinji shook his head. "I'm sorry, it was for before I transferred in."
After a moment of thought Mayumi nodded. "Umm, could you come with me for a sec Shinji-kun?"
"Of course."
The two walked through the library once more and reached one of the vendors. The person there seemed to know Mayumi and greeted her happily before giving Shinji a curious look. The boy bowed and introduced himself, causing the look to become bemused. Mayumi however was already busy in her search and quickly found what she was looking for. She presented it to Shinji.
"Shiosai," she said with a slight blush. "I think you'd enjoy it."
"Oh? Thank you Mayumi-san," Shinji said and turned to pay the vendor.
The two wandered about a bit more, Mayumi indeed finding the book she wanted. As dinner time approached the two left the library, each with their respective bounty.
"Thank you for today, Shinji-kun," Mayumi said. "I had a wonderful time."
"Me too," Shinji said. "Umm, I'll walk you home."
Mayumi blushed and as she fell in line next to him gingerly reached out a hand. To his credit Shinji did not jump at the sudden touch, instead slowly letting their fingers intertwine. It was much harder than he thought possible to let her go when they reached the orphanage.
"Good night Shinji-kun," Mayumi said. "I'll see you soon."
The boy nodded and stood there dumbly for a few moments after Mayumi disappeared into the house. And then he smiled, content with the time he had just spent with Mayumi and knowing that he would have much more time to share with her in the future. Of that he was certain.
"I'm back," Shinji announced.
Rei looked up from her book and nodded. "Welcome back."
"Good evening Ayanami," Shinji said.
"Pilot Shikinami requested to speak with you," Rei said.
"Oh? Is Asuka in her apartment?"
"No she is not," a voice called out and Asuka emerged from the bathroom.
"Oh, Asuka," Shinji said. "Umm, are you okay?"
The redhead looked at Shinji and then tilted her head towards the table. "Sit."
The boy obeyed and took a seat on the other side from Rei. Asuka settled down directly opposite from him and rested her chin on her folded hands. Shinji stared, taken aback slightly at the pose. It was too reminiscent of his father.
"How much do you care about that girl, Yamagishi?"
Shinji blinked. That was not the question he had been expecting.
"Umm, what?"
The redhead glared at him. "Answer. The question."
The boy blinked again.
"I, I care about her a lot," he finally said. "She's, very important to me."
The glare turned into a thoughtful gaze and Asuka silently regarded him for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she set down her hands.
"You'll stay with her and never betray her."
A question would have carried with it more uncertainty whereas a greater will would have stood behind an order. Despite not knowing exactly which Asuka's statement fell under Shinji nodded.
"Yes."
Asuka returned the nod. "Alright then. It's a promise. And a man that keeps promises is someone that I can respect."
As the meaning of Asuka's words sank in a genuine smile formed on Shinji's face. The one that Asuka returned was equally bright as she smiled with Shinji instead of merely at him.
Dinner went as usual though Asuka offered her complements that night and so Shinji's mood was relaxed as he prepared to do his homework. It was then that he recalled the book Mayumi had recommended for him. He decided to take a look before starting his homework. The next morning he was scrambling to get said homework done before classes started. No chance of him doing it before getting to school, what with Asuka demanding breakfast and lunch.
The Geofront was actually a very scenic place. It possessed both a small forest and a pristine lake that was perfect for a nice hike. Said lake was also perfect for scuba diving, a fact that had not escaped Asuka's attention. There was even a destroyer of all things sitting in the lake that could act as a platform to dive off of. How exactly NERV got said destroyer down into the Geofront was one of the organization's many mysteries. It took an admirable amount of restraint on the redhead's part to not ask.
Getting permission to do such scuba diving had taken a bit of doing however with her first going to Misato and then nagging Amanda. Both kicked it upstairs to the commander and vice-commander for slightly different reasons. Misato honestly did not know if she should let her charge take a dip in the lake whereas Amanda knew it was perfectly safe and simply wanted to irritate the people nominally in charge. Plus having them say no would simply allow her to redirect the younger girl's anger at them.
Gendo had ultimately not even deigned to notice the request. Fuyutsuki was however too diligent a man and after adding quite a few qualifiers and conditions gave his approval. As such when the weekend came around Asuka found herself with not one but two guardians, one of whom was busy reminding herself that someone as familiar with bureaucratic infighting as the vice-commander should not be underestimated.
"Well, if I'm here I might as well enjoy it too," Amanda said as she finished changing.
Perhaps due to experience Amanda was the first of the women present to get ready. Asuka and Rei were not far behind however. On the other hand when they emerged Kaji and Shinji were already waiting, the Third Child looking just a tad sullen. Him perking up at the sight of the girls was fortunately something Asuka was not going to hold against him too much. He was a boy after all and hey, was he staring at Rei? Asuka's tolerance began evaporating quickly.
"Well don't all of you look lovely," Kaji said, interrupting Asuka before she could exact vengeance on Shinji's unforgivable slight against her feminine pride.
"Flattery will only get you shot by my husband," Amanda said, though she was smiling.
"All too true," Kaji said. "Anyway, I have the tanks ready to go. And the floats for Shinji-kun here."
That the Third Child could not swim was one of the dumber things about the boy in Asuka's considered opinion. Swimming was a basic survival skill and the girl found it utterly incomprehensible, almost insulting, that there were people who seemed to actively fear the act of acquiring the skill. Fortunately Amanda seemed to agree with that line of thought even if she was not quite so forthright about it and after receiving permission to use the lake for some scuba diving the older woman had combined it with a crash course to teach Shinji how to swim. In the middle of the lake where it was deep enough for the destroyer to sit anchored. Shinji would of course have some flotation devices to help him. The girls were not quite that cruel.
"Thank you Ryoji," Amanda said and proceeded to strap on the tank and other equipment. "Rei, have you ever done this before?"
The girl shook her head.
"Alright, hang tight, I'll help you once I'm geared up."
"Yeah like that's going to be easy," Asuka said. "I'll help the First into her stuff before I put on mine."
"My, how thoughtful of you."
Asuka stuck out her tongue. "It's called paying attention."
A few minutes later and preparations were completed. Amanda then ran through a basic safety check, every second of which slowly wore away at the Second Child's patience.
"Alright you two, follow my lead and don't wonder off," Amanda said. "Don't do anything stupid unless you want this to be the last time you get to scuba dive here."
"Yes, yes," Asuka said.
Rei simply nodded.
"Well then, here we go!"
The woman took off with a giant's entry, the deck they were on being just a bit too high to perform a back roll into the water. Rei followed suit, her movements a bit less smooth at the unfamiliar posture while Asuka mimicked it perfectly.
"Well now that the girls are in the water, we should probably join them," Kaji said.
Shinji looked unconvinced and eyed the rolling waves uneasily. The older man chuckled at the boy's obvious reluctance. As Shinji peered at the water from the ship's edge Kaji gave him the tiniest of pushes. A splash sounded.
"K-Kaji-san! Help!"
"You have floaters attached Shinji-kun," Kaji called back. "Just relax!"
It took some effort but Shinji finally forced himself to stop flaying about. Despite his fears he remained afloat and after being assured that he would not being drowning any time soon shot the older man an aggrieved look.
"That wasn't very nice Kaji-san."
"Sorry kiddo, but sometimes a little push is what's needed," Kaji said with a smile. He then jumped in himself. "Now seeing as I've been handed the task of teaching you the basics of swimming, we might as well get started. Who knows, if you improve fast enough we might be able to join the girls diving tomorrow."
"No thank you," Shinji said. "If man was meant to submerge himself in water he would have been given gills."
Kaji chuckled. "Not a big fan of water, are you?"
"I spend enough time in LCL," Shinji muttered.
"Ah, yes, I suppose that would put a dampener on things, especially if you didn't know how to swim before," Kaji conceded. "Still, Asuka is right about one thing. Swimming is a useful survival skill that you should at least get the basics of."
"I suppose," Shinji admitted grudgingly.
It was somewhat strange to see the Third Child actually reluctant to do something so mundane. Most things he was asked to do the boy would just go along with it and only rarely was he even half-hearted about it. Well, no one could be perfect and it cheered Kaji slightly that deep down Shinji was still a boy that had concerns. There may yet be hope for him after all.
"Well think of it this way, if you do go scuba diving with the girls you'll get to ogle them in their swimsuits," Kaji teased.
"I already had plenty of that on Monday," Shinji muttered.
Kaji blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"Asuka took me and Rei with her when she went swimsuit shopping," the boy said. "Remember? She tried to invite you but you said you were busy."
Kaji did remember that but he had apparently been too far away to hear Asuka after he declined. A smile was quickly plastered over his face though.
"Well, well," he said. "Asuka really must have taken a shine to you if she wanted you along."
"Still not too sure about that," Shinji muttered.
Kaji chuckled. "I assume you're still a tad confused as to what Asuka is thinking?"
"She's, hard to understand," Shinji stated. "I don't think she's a bad person, but sometimes she does and says things that aren't really clear."
"Both of you are still young," Kaji said. "As you grow more comfortable around each other you'll find it easier to understand one another. Each person is different so it's not surprising some are harder to get to know than others. But I wouldn't worry too much about it, if you can learn to tread water this faster learning how to deal with Asuka should be no sweat."
To his considerable surprise Shinji found that he really was staying above water with less and less help from the floaters. While deep in thought apparently his body had reflexively taken over and moved his arms and legs in an automatic fashion. Maybe being in water was not so unnatural for a human after all. After about an hour or so Shinji had gotten the basics of staying afloat and the front stroke down and the two were climbing back onto the boat when the radio crackled.
"Captain Sommer, Inspector Kaji, please respond."
"This is Kaji," the man replied.
"Please return the pilots to HQ immediately, a situation has arisen."
Kaji's eyes narrowed. There were no sirens going off so an Angel attack was not likely imminent. The other possibility however was Misato's little trip actually turning up something."
"Understood," Kaji said.
With the girls under water normally they would have had little choice but to wait for them to surface. On the other hand one of the additional conditions for the little trip was the girls taking a recall beacon with them underwater. Kaji activated it and sure enough within a minute or so three heads broke the surface of the water, albeit some distance away. It ultimately took another couple of minutes for them to actually return to the destroyer.
"I'm not hearing any sirens," Amanda commented as she climbed back onboard.
"I received a recall order from command," Kaji stated. "Whatever it is it's obviously not that time sensitive, but they still want the pilots back."
"Oh come on! We just got here!" Asuka protested.
"Sorry Asuka, but duty never rests," Amanda said. "But you know, now that you've gotten permission to go diving once, what's to stop you from just taking a dip whenever you want?"
"So you and Kaji will be on call for me?" the girl said mischievously.
"That's not, exactly what I meant."
Asuka chuckled. "I know. But I will keep the offer in mind. Oooh, maybe we could go night diving!"
Amanda sighed. "Whatever am I going to do with you."
"That would be an interesting experience," Rei said, taking the others by surprise.
Asuka recovered quickly. "You bet! It's amazing how quiet and calm things are when the lights are out. Okay, now we definitely have to do it!"
Rei glanced at Shinji. "Do you believe you will have sufficiently improved to join us for such an excursion, Ikari-kun?"
"Huh? Oh uh, I, don't know?" Shinji said sheepishly. "I mean, I guess it depends on when you'd go."
"Hey, why is it that when I invited you to this you moaned and groaned but when the First invites you you just fold," Asuka demanded.
"I, do I do that?"
Asuka's glare intensified.
"I mean, I don't recall complaining," Shinji said quickly.
The beady look did not subside.
Shinji sighed. "I really don't complain, Asuka. You just take me by surprise a lot. I guess, I just don't ever really expect to get invited out by a girl as, well, umm, willful, as you."
Asuka considered the boy's words trying to figure out whether he was complimenting her or not and so did not notice the amused looks from the two adults.
"C'mon Asuka," Amanda said after a few moments. "We need to get back to HQ. You can figure out if you've been successful with your flirting there."
"I AM NOT FLIRTING!" the girl screeched.
"Sure, sure, just remember to invite us for the wedding."
Asuka stared in horror at her mentor and looked like she was going to tear someone's head off. Shinji quickly made a tactical retreat into the men's changing room while Amanda laughed merrily as she headed for the women's. Letting out a cry of frustration Asuka stalked after her. Rei followed, feeling more than a bit confused at the interaction. Despite her denial the First Child could detect a slight hesitation in the other girl, suggesting a not entirely honest rejection of Amanda's tease. That elicited some even more confusing emotions in Rei, including a slight tightening of her chest. The First resolved to think things over a bit and speak with someone who might be more experienced in such matters. Captain Katsuragi seemed a good candidate. Her past experience from being in a relationship with Inspector Kaji would likely provide sufficient background to allow her to answer Rei's questions.
By the time the pilots reached the specified conference room the focus of Asuka's irritation had shifted from the UN auditor to the source of the recall order.
"This better be good," Asuka muttered. "First they don't let me go on vacation and now they interrupt my playtime. I swear, heads will roll if they're wasting my time."
"Oh don't worry about that Asuka," Misato said as she entered the briefing room. "In fact you're about to get a wish fulfilled?"
Asuka regarded the woman warily. "Am I now?"
Misato nodded with a smile. "You know how you wanted us to go on the offensive?"
The girl's eyes widened. So did Shinji's for that matter. Only Rei remained impassive.
"You mean you've found where the Angels come from!?" Asuka asked.
"Not quite," Ritsuko said as she followed her friend in. "We have however found one Angel that appears to still be maturing."
Asuka sat back down and waited for the other adults to find their seats. Clearing her throat, Ritsuko plugged her laptop into the projector and brought up an image.
"This image was taken by a probe inside Mount Asama," Ritsuko said before glancing at Misato, "shortly before its destruction."
The captain pretended not to notice.
"It managed to gather enough data however to confirm a pattern blue signature," Ritsuko continued, "and with further enhancement we were able to come up with this."
The blurred image shifted and was replaced with a much crisper oval-shaped capsule. The truly remarkable thing however was the outline of the thing inside the capsule.
"Is that, an embryo?" Asuka said in amazement.
"That is the hypothesis," Ritsuko said. "Seeing as we have no actual understanding of an Angel's lifecycle however, we cannot make any definitive conclusions, at least not until we retrieve it."
The three pilots stared at the adults.
"This find is unprecedented," Ritsuko said, "and if we can capture and examine the Angel we gain a real chance of understanding just what these creatures are. Furthermore after examination we may be able to neutralize the Angel without a massive battle. That by itself is worth the risk."
"But, isn't it inside a volcano?" Shinji asked. "How are we supposed to get to it?"
"With an EVA of course," Misato said. "The technical department is already making modifications to Unit 02 to help it withstand the heat and pressure."
"Wait, what are you doing to my EVA!?"
"Oh, I thought you'd leap at the chance to take the fight to the Angels," Misato said with a sly smile.
"Well yeah, but that isn't answering the question!"
"Even with its AT-field an EVA would be hard pressed to survive in that kind of environment," Ritsuko said. "The technical department however has a set of prototype D-type equipment that was designed for extreme conditions. We are equipping Unit 02 with them, since its design allows for the easiest addition of modules."
Even were Asuka more self-centered it was unlikely that kind of praise would have been enough to placate her. It was easy enough for the doctor to misinterpret Asuka's sudden silence as acceptance of the indirect compliment but Misato had known the girl longer and saw the more thoughtful mood.
"Don't worry," Misato said. "In addition to Unit 02, we'll also be taking Unit 01 along. It'll remain outside the volcano to provide support."
Asuka snorted. "Fat lot Shinji'd do outside if that thing wakes up while I'm still inside the volcano. What is he supposed to do then, shoot into the volcano with that peashooter?"
That was not something the two women could not deny but before they could come up with a response Shinji did it for them.
"Don't worry Asuka, I'll do whatever it takes to back you up if that happens."
The girl glanced over at Shinji with a raised eyebrow but to the surprise of the adults actually smiled.
"I have no doubt of that Baka Shinji," she said. "Just don't show off too much."
Backhanded compliment that may be, for the redhead that was actually a genuine mark of respect. Shinji was slowly figuring that out and getting acclimated and so he smiled in response as well.
"And what of Unit 00?" Rei suddenly asked, reminding everyone that she was also present.
"Unit 00 will remain back at HQ just in case," Misato said. "Sorry Rei, Commander's orders."
The girl nodded, her face almost as unreadable as ever. Shinji however thought he noticed the barest sign of discontent. He might well have been imagining it though.
"Anyway, we have a lot of work if we're going to make our deployment deadline," Misato said. "Let's get to it!"
"Ikari is a goddamn prick," Amanda said.
Soren gave his wife a bemused look from the passenger seat. "Is that a general statement or has the commander done something specific to irritate you this time?"
Amanda snorted, somehow able to divide her attention upon multiple tasks in a way mere men could never quite achieve. "He's a walking embarrassment to mankind just by existing. But as for my last remark, it's his blatant disregard for human life."
"That still does not quite narrow it down," Soren pointed out.
"True," Amanda agreed. "Let's see, first there is his selection of Unit 02 for the capture operation. We both know the real reason he did that, it's because he can't risk Unit 01 due to its importance. And he won't risk Rei because of a really twisted sentimentality. So of course he goes with Unit 02 and gets Ritsuko to come up with some excuse about its better support for modules."
Soren shrugged as much as the seat belt would let him. "Technically that excuse is valid."
"Yeah, right, next you're going to tell me you actually believe it was the driving force behind his actual decision."
"Of course not. But do at least give the devil his due. He tends to be at least somewhat attentive to the details."
"Alright, fine. Anyway, where was I? Oh right, so first is choosing Asuka. Second is his ordering of the N2 warhead to bomb the volcano in case the Angel wakes up. Not only does that put Asuka and now even Shinji at even more risk, he's liable to kill the support staff on site as well. And seeing as that staff includes one Maya Ibuki, who happens to probably be the second most valuable member of Project E at NERV-Tokyo even if she is not privy to the actual purpose of Instrumentality."
"That does seem remarkably careless for Ikari," Soren agreed. "While her devotion does not quite mirror that of the younger woman, Ritsuko does care about Maya and losing her would severely impact her efficiency."
"I think Ikari's just trying to use this as a way to unsettle the committee," Amanda said. "Their scenario never called for finding an Angel still undergoing development. The more Ikari can cause events to deviate, the more flexibility he gains in supposedly responding to these deviations."
"It would fit the usual pattern," Soren said. "The real question now is how much will these events deviate from our scenario."
Amanda grimaced and Soren began wondering if it really was such a good idea to be distracting his wife while she was driving. Then Amanda merged over and back again to get ahead of the plodding car ahead of them and reminded Soren again of that wonderful skill women possessed called multitasking.
"Assuming things go according to plan Shinji will save Asuka. That was part of the original scenario so I'm not terribly worried about it. Though maybe we should drop a random comment about thermal expansion."
"Random?"
"You know, tease them about their homework."
"If you feel that to be necessary," Soren said.
"Shinji seemed remarkably caught up with his schoolwork," Amanda explained.
"Ah. Well, I leave that bit to your discretion. Worst case we fudge the score a bit and intervene to at least guarantee the defeat of the Angel."
Amanda frowned. "You know we're supposed to only do that as a last resort."
"I think keeping an Angel from winning a battle warrants it," Soren said dryly.
Only a few seconds passed from when he rang the bell before the door opened.
"Ah, Ikari-san," Fuuka greeted with a smile. "How are you?"
"Well Fuuka-san," Shinji said.
"Ah, but what am I doing keeping you standing here, you're here to see Mayumi am I right?"
Shinji smiled sheepishly.
"Well, come in. Mayumi is practicing in the living room."
"Practicing?" Shinji said before the gentle cadence of a piano reached him.
The piece was slowly paced, each note having time to fully sound before a new one eclipsed it. Together they weaved a poignant melody that Shinji found himself drawn into. It took much effort to pull his mind back to the present and his errand this day. He stepped inside and followed the sounds to the living room. They grew stronger until he saw Mayumi at the piano, carefully and thoughtfully pressing each key. Each pure note seemed to fill his heart.
Mayumi finished the piece and took a deep breath. That turned into a squeak when she looked up and saw Shinji.
"Shi-Shinji-kun!?"
"Ah, Mayumi-san, I hope I'm not disturbing you?" Shinji said a bit sheepishly.
Despite the intense reddening of her face Mayumi shook her head. "Not at all! Umm, don't worry, you could never disturb me. I just, didn't know you were listening…"
Shinji smiled. "That was beautiful."
The blush on Mayumi's face somehow deepened. "Th-thank you."
"Umm, I came by because I wanted to let you know I'll be out of town for a few days for work," Shinji said, getting to the point of his visit. "I should be back sometime next week at the latest though."
"Oh, okay. Thank you for telling me, but umm, you didn't need to come all the way out here just for that, Shinji-kun."
"I didn't want a repeat of last time when I disappeared for a week without telling you," Shinji said as he moved over to the piano. "I didn't have your number or know where you lived back then otherwise I would have told you about training I was going through."
"Don't worry about it," Mayumi assured him. "You're telling me now and that's what's important."
Shinji's smile deepened as he thought of how far they had come. He glanced down at the keys.
"Have you been playing for a while?"
Mayumi nodded. "For a few years. I'm, still not very good yet. Not like Mother is."
"I think you're plenty good," Shinji said earnestly. "You're certainly better than me."
The girl blinked. "Do you play too, Shinji-kun?"
"Well, not the piano, but I know how to play the cello," Shinji said.
"Really?" Mayumi clasped her hands together as if in prayer. "I'd like to hear that someday."
Thinking it over, Shinji made his decision. "Mayumi-san, I should be back by next Wednesday, are you free the following Saturday?"
The question seemed to catch the girl off guard but she recovered quickly. "Huh? Uh, yes I don't have anything planned for that day."
"Then, I was wondering if you would like to, have lunch with me Saturday?"
This time a long silence dragged out and Shinji could hear his own heart pounding. He told himself that Mayumi's silence did not mean she would decline, that she was simply gathering her thoughts. It was sudden of him after all to make this kind of invitation.
"I-I would love to," Mayumi finally said and Shinji felt his own heart soar.
"Great! Umm, what's a good time for me to come and pick you up?"
"Let me see, will we be going far?"
"Oh, I think a little way by train, but it won't be a long ride."
"Okay, then 11 should be fine?"
Shinji nodded to himself. "Alright, 11 works. I'll bring my cello too and after we get back I'll play a little something for you."
Mayumi's smile grew deeper. "That sounds wonderful. And I know I won't be the only one that would appreciate it."
Shinji nodded. "Then, until next week, Mayumi-san. Take care."
"You too Shinji-kun, and, come back to me, okay?"
Shinji's heart started beating faster again. "I will. It's a promise."
End of Chapter 10
A lot of planning has going into the Mayumi arc. And I mean a lot. Despite her rushed introduction I've now spent a significant percentage of the story developing her. Even so the official pairing of this fic remains Asuka and Shinji. I think it's pretty obvious why that is the case. If it isn't, just know that the climax of the Mayumi arc is chapter 11 and the resolution is chapter 12.
I have a passing interest in Japanese literature and the books I've selected to mention in this chapter are for a reason. Ryu Murakami's work is more of just an injoke of sorts but Yukio Mishima's work I chose for a very specific reason. The English translation is titled The Sound of Waves for those of you interested in looking it up. Thematically there is a reason Shinji stays up to read it.
I suppose if I really wanted to I could have padded this chapter with more interaction between Asuka, Rei, and Shinji. I'm not inclined to do so because we'll be getting plenty of that in the post-chapter 12 content. As it is we're maybe a third of the way through my master outline and so there is plenty of time for additional character development. And plenty of time for even more characters to be reintroduced.
I will be traveling for quite a bit during the month of April so expect to see updates much less frequently.