Chapter Twelve

Revealed

            Hasuki Hijiiri stood up and started to towel her naked body. She dropped the towel on the shower bench and turned to retrieve her clothes when she saw Rose McNash wide-eyed.

            "Y-y-y… T-t-t…" she couldn't find the words. Hasuki swished her tail as Blink-182 played on the oldies station. Her cat ears twitched up.

            "Ears, too?"

            The fluorescent light glistened off the arms and shoulders of the most recent pilot. She blinked twice and giggled.

            "I knew I couldn't hide it for long," she pulled her panties on as she said this, tucking her tail into a hole cut out the back. "I suppose you're wondering how I've hidden it for this long, non?"

            Rose nodded.

            "Like this—" she tucked the extension into the groove made by the muscles on her back. "But that doesn't control the little convulsions." She took out a worn-down roll of duct tape and wrapped a piece around her stomach just about her navel and circumferencing her well-shaped breasts.

            "That lets me get away with not wearing a bra, too. The ears I lay down flat and brush my hair over." The young French girl demonstrated this with deft motions of her pink and white brush.

* * *

            Sarah Ryu watched the counter with its bright yellow LED digital numbers click down, now: 09 days: 06 hours: 23 minutes. That's how long it was until the Angel resurfaced. A red semi-circle ran on the in- and outside of a coffee cup—Red Magma Number Sixteen lipstick. Every few seconds a recurring "damn!" rang out.

            "Why haven't they found it yet? Something that big couldn't be too difficult to find!" She rested her head in one hand. Fingers, the nails bright red tinted, squeezed her shoulder and she spun around to the blonde figure motioning her through the doorway of her small office.

* * *

            08:21:16

            Again Suzahara woke in a terror-sweat. Again, the image of his mother reaching out for him stuck in his head. But, unlike before, he woke up to the sleeping Rose McNash, her steady breathing like a lullaby. Fifteen minutes later, he was lulled back to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

            One week to zero hour.

            "The tests show great improvement for both Suzah and Hasuki. They've both gone up five points," Dr. Akagi handed the printouts to her commander. The woman in charge glanced approvingly at the red, blue, and green lines that danced progressively upward.

            "Good. Very good." To the children, "Ok, kids. We're all done. You can go now." The four kids ran off in the direction of the locker rooms, happy for it to have finally finished.

            In the locker room, a great bustle among the Evangelion pilots was at hand.

            "Hey, Miss Isolation," Rose McNash addressed Missy Katsuragi. "Would you like to come with Suzah, Hasuki and I to the ice cream parlor? I think it'd be good for you to get out. You're looking a bit pale."

            "Sure." Everyone looked at her with more than a little bit of surprise on their faces. She had grown into an introvert over the time they had all gotten to know each other. "Mom keeps nagging me to get out more, too."

            So to the ice cream parlor they went; Suzahara and Rose holding hands followed closely by Hasuki and Missy.

* * *

            06:16:02

            Ritsuko Akagi held Sarah Ryu in her arms as they sat watching their favorite soap opera. The black-haired computer technician was sobbing into a crumpled tissue.

            "I can't believe Jimmy was having an affair on Racheal! I mean… they were the perfect couple!"

            The blonde kissed the young woman's forehead, "Don't worry, Sweetie. Things look rocky between him and Jenny, anyway. I give it a month before he goes crawling back to Racheal." The Ph.D. kissed the raven-headed and they fell onto the couch, the television show forgotten.