"Good morning. My name is Uriel Dolheb Sohryu. I am the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02 and also the brother of Miss Sohryu, who is sitting next to my fellow pilot Mr. Ikari. It will be a pleasure to work with you all."
Forcing a smile that shows too many teeth, Uri walks from the desk into the classroom and finds an empty chair next to Mana, who grins.
"How'd you manage this?" she asks with a chuckle.
"If you put it in terms of Eva, Mother will agree to anything."
He nods to Asuka as she waves to him, turning back to the board as the teacher begins the lesson.
At the head of the class, studiously taking notes, Hikari Horaki looks at the corner of the screen as the chat box opens and sees that it is, indeed, a message from Rei.
TEHREI: Heee~ey. How's Phase 2?
She sighs, switching between notes and the chat with deft precision so not to attract the teacher's attention.
MagicalGirlHikari: Phase 2?
TEHREI: You knowwww, getting Shinji to ask Asuka to the dance. What's your plan?
Hikari furrows her brow and then raises her eyebrows and sighs.
MagicalGirlHikari: I was thinking have Asuka anonymously sent some flowers, lead her back to Shinji and put him on the spot.
TEHREI: Okay. My plan was like that. But it involved C4 and the base elevator system.
MagicalGirlHikari: Wait. How, praytell, does that help?
TEHREI: Oh, I was just gonna have them locked in the elevator for a day. They're alone, they confess their feelings. You know. ROMANCE!
The teacher leaves the room, muttering something about a prostate and water pills. The students begin talking, Touji and Kensuke talking about plans for that afternoon loudly in the back of the room and Rei loudly chomping on a rice ball.
By the windows, Shinji turns to his neighbor.
"Say, Asuka?" he asks.
She looks up from her computer program, lines of code taking up the entire screen.
"Mm?"
"Are you doing anything Saturday?"
She thinks for a moment. She takes out her PDA, clicking open the calendar and shakes her head.
"Great," he says, "Um…Well, I was going to go with the other guys to that dance they're holding in the gymnasium. Do you want to come along?"
She smiles, nodding.
"Th-that would be great," she says, and turns back to the computer.
Rei stops in mid chew. Hikari stares at them and turns back to her computer.
MagicalGirlHikari: Well, I have to see if I can return those flowers.
TEHREI: And I got to see if I can smuggle those explosives back into the stock room.
-
-
Chapter 20: The Courtship of Uriel Sohryu
-
-
Neither he nor Mother are all that good at cooking. In fact, out of the three of them the only one who could really create anything edible was Asuka, so when she moved in to Katsuragi's apartment they managed to get by on NERV issue food and take out.
To that effect, he realizes the cafeteria food is actually an improvement.
He thinks it is rice and chicken somehow mixed and formed into a solid block. If it is, then it is a solid, if not entirely sane substitute which approximates the same effect. Mari has saddled up next to him at the lunch table, a boxed lunch in front of her. On his other side, Mana has sat down with a brown bag that she is emptying the contents of.
"Is this fruit?" he asks, stabbing a red mass on the tray with a fork, "I don't know what it is."
"I've got extra," Mari says, placing an apple on his tray.
Mana snorts and puts a pear on the other side, glaring at Mari as the glasses wearing girl narrows her eyes.
"Yes?" he asks, "Has anyone noticed we seem to have more room than we should at this table?"
The bench on either side of the girls and Uri are empty, people wisely keeping their distance upon realizing the situation. One does not get between girls and their prey, after all, even if the prey does not realize the existence of the Hunt.
"And we have here the conclusion of a successful mating ritual. Observe how the male is almost oblivious to the needs of the females, instead eating his kill while the females size each other up in preparation for their competition, which may take the form of a wet t-shirt contest or knife fight."
"Ken."
Turning his gaze from the camera screen, Kensuke Aida turns to Touji and Shinji as they stand with him in the corner of the cafeteria, in direct line of sight to Uri and the two girls.
"What are you doing?" Shinji asks.
"Seeing where this will go," Ken responds, "The habits and ritual of the human female have now become a point of fascination to me, following my recent awakening."
The two stare at Ken. Shinji palms his face, sighing.
"What did Rei do to you?" Touji asks.
"I am never telling," Kensuke responds, turning back to his film, "But it was marvelous."
*
*
"I feel kind of guilty," Rei says, "No one told Kensuke about the others."
"Other…Reis?" Hikari asks, standing next to Rei underneath the tree outside the lunch room, "You mean the ones that showed up two days ago, right?"
Rei nods. She leans in and whispers something in Hikari's ear, and the pigtailed girl's eyes go wide before she pales.
"They…did they do that to Kensuke? Is that even possible?"
"They made it fit," Rei shrugs, "Sooooooo now that we got Shinji and Asuka, what about…"
"Uri?" Hikari asks, and strokes her chin, "Mm…tough one. I'll admit, he's easy on the eyes. But it looks like he already has two girls chasing him. And two pilots, too."
Rei nods.
"Well," she says, "Which one do you like?"
Hikari sighs, shrugs, and leans against the tree.
"Mari seems to have a good head on her shoulders," she says, "And she gave me some nice fashion tips."
Rei nods. Turning on her heel, she walks towards the crowd of students at recess. She begins cracking her knuckles, students wisely moving out of the way. The sight of Rei Ayanami is disturbing enough. The sight of her cracking her knuckles is a cause for terror.
Mana is talking with Asuka, talking with her about the upcoming dance as well as tech tips for Jet Alone. It is only when Rei is right in front of them that they notice her, as Rei rolls her shoulders and grins.
"Hey, Ayanami," Mana says, "Need something?"
"Wanted to try something," Rei says with a grin, "Duck."
Her fist swings out. The air ripples in responds and a layer of dust blasts off the wall, the entire student body staring in dumbstruck, mute horror at the idea, which is not truly alien, of Rei Ayanami randomly deciding to clock someone. There is also another aspect of the scene which is cause for alarm.
Mana's arm had come up, catching Rei's forearm. The red eyed girl's eyes go wide as Mana glares at her, before the red haired girl ducks out of the way and darts to the side.
"What the Hell?" she demands, "Ayanami, have you gone nuts?!"
"Not yet," Rei says, and grins, her smile going wider, "Oooooo…I've never seen someone block me, before!"
"Never seen someone with eight years JSSDF and EDF training, then," Mana says, "Okay, then. This is a test?"
Rei nods, as Mana backs away, wheeling back as the students quickly part, not even the Seniors wanting a piece of this action.
"Fine," Mana says, "Alright."
She grins, cracking her knuckles, rolling her arms back as she tosses aside her school jacket and tosses Asuka her watch.
"I think I was probably going to do this after the dance, but it's been years since I could have a good scrap. Let's dance, Ayanami. I'll lead."
*
*
When she needs to beat people over the head psychologically and make them do whatever she wants, Dr. Yui Ikari, head of Project E, uses her husband's office. Despite popular belief, it was Yui who finalized the design of the massive, darkened mausoleum to fit the intimidating nature of the tasks at hand. The target of her current affections are the former couple sitting in front of her.
Kozou is planning on retiring. Hence, Pieter Sohryu has taken more and more of Fuyutsuki's tasks, and the bags are already forming under the red haired man's eyes, more and more gray creeping along the short cropped head. He is in a crisp, professional dark gray NERV uniform and sitting at attention.
Kyoko, on the other hand, is sitting with one leg crossed over the other, arms folded, her expression somewhere between a smirk and frown. Her white labcoat is wrinkled, but her sweater and skirt at clean, pressed, and impeccable. As always, she has something better to do, and this is of course combined with the fact that it is no secret Yui doesn't like her. Mostly, this stems from the problems with Asuka, but also from Asuka's recent breakthroughs that allowed them to save Shinji following the ADAM battle.
"Here's the situation," Yui says, "Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi and Inspector Kaji are both indisposed. We have Katsuragi on enforced vacation and Mr. Kaji is making sure she keeps to it. Additionally, Doctor Akagi and Doctor Ibuki have both called in 'sick' these past three days."
Kyoko snorts, looking away.
"In which case," Yui says, "We need chaperones for the school dance tomorrow evening. And I am hereby volunteering you two."
Kyoko starts, turning and glaring at Ikari. Pieter grins, sitting back.
"Okay, I'm game," he says, "What time?"
"You're agreeing to this?" Kyoko snaps, turning to him with a glare.
"Why not?" he asks, "I haven't spent nearly as much time with the girls as I wanted to, and this seems like a good opportunity."
"You're Sub Director of NERV!"
"I'm pretty sure if we weren't available, the Commander would be doing this," he says with a shrug, Yui chuckling, "I'd be happy to. I'll coordinate Section 2 with the activities and talk with Katsuragi about any concerns. I'm presuming the Children will get special pickup?"
Yui nods, and frowns as her phone rings. She picks up her cell phone, staring at the message, her gaze turning into a hard glare as she mentally processes the text.
"Oh, dear Lord."
*
*
Mana launches herself, spinning in mid air as she snaps her heel out into a kick which could justifiably take off a normal student's head. Rei ducks underneath, dashing off of the crouch and onto her hands, pushing herself off and swinging into a bicycle kick which catches Mana in the stomach and launches her several feet before she lands on her back with a grunt.
Flipping back up, she couchs, padding her fist with her other hand as Rei is already on top of her, grabbing Rei in mid punch and flipping her over her shoulder, Rei landing on her feet and locking her arm around Mana's own.
Mana swings a knife hand to Rei's throat, Rei catching it and bringing her face to face with the redhead, who pulls and slams her forehead into Rei's.
Both yell out in pain, breaking the lock and backing off. Rei rolls her head and flexes her fingers as Mana pounds her fist into her hand and drops back into a fighting stance, grinning.
Both pause, sizing each other up. The air around them hangs with tension. The other students watch with concern, fascination, and horror. The girl, they conclude, is about to ger Reiped.
Mana kicks off first, lunging into a jumping punch as Rei counters with her own. Two punches hit two faces and send both of them flying back, both rolling to their knees and standing. They walk towards each other, slowly, knuckles cracking and eyes locked on each other. They circle, slowly, a grin splitting Rei's face before she lunges and grabs Mana in a hug. Mana squeaks, Rei squealing in joy and swinging her around.
"That was AWESOME!!!!!"
*
*
"Rei has a new friend," Shinji says, watching with one eye wide open, brow raised as Asuka stares with a completely blank expression.
They both sigh, walking back towards the building, the first to break away from the crowd and back towards the building. She smiles, shaky as always and tries to lean a little closer. He smiles back, a confident, genuine smile.
"So," she says, "Um…when do we meet for…"
"Well, we were going to meet everyone there," he responds, "You…well, you know we'd go together. As…"
"A couple?"
He starts, eyes snapping wide. Her smile breaks, her body tensing. Hands begin to ball into fists, the nails digging into her palms as her teeth grind. Stupid, she tells herself, Stupid stupid stupid stupi-
"Yeah," he says, hands hands finding themselves on hers, "I'll call this a date if you do. I do owe you lunch, and…well, you saved my life."
She smiles again, her shoulders relaxing and her nails withdrawing from her palms. Nodding, she begins walking back to the classroom ahead of him, her smile fading and eyes closed as she breathes slowly, calming herself, telling herself to not react like that, it can drive him away, and she doesn't want to drive him away.
*
*
"I like Mari," Hikari says, folding clothes as the afternoon sun sets behind her, Nozomi watching enraptured as Hikari continues discussing her day, "She seems nice, she's got a nice sense of humor, and seems to play off Uri pretty well. So, I think I'm going to try to set up her and Uri."
*
*
"Mana's the closest I've come to a fair fight in years," Rei says, clapping her hands together as she explains the fight, standing in front of Yui and Gendo in his office, "That was great! Soooooooooo I think she has a crush on Uri, so I'm gonna set them up!"
Yui and Gendo look to each other, and Gendo shrugs.
"Anycase," Yui says, stepping off the desk and clearing her throat, "Since your sisters had their little…adventure…we wanted to discuss appropriate behaviors concerning boys with you, Rei. Dear?"
He takes out a bag and places objects on the desk. A bouquet of flowers, a turnip, a cattle prod, and an empty tranquilizer pistol.
"Rei," he says, "Which of these are appropriate for you to bring on a date?"
Rei stares, raises her eyebrows, and nods.
"None of them."
"Very good, Rei," he says with visible relief.
"I just use my teeth and hands!"
Yui palms her face.
"Maybe not," Gendo says.
*
*
"Uri needs to socialize," Kyoko says into her voice recorder, pacing her office, "Socialization leads to attachment, which leads to higher synchronziation ratio. So, it makes sense to pair Uri with a fellow pilot."
She taps her fingers on the mic, pursing her lips.
"To that extent, as I have determined that Ayanami is insane, it is to my determination that the best social, romantic, and sexual engagement partner for Uri would be Pilot Ikari. I will present these findings to Dr. Ikari following the debasing task of being forced to chaperone the…school dance."
She chews the inside of her cheek in thought, sitting on her desk.
"I am certain Dr. Ikari will agree whole-heartedly with my assessment, as this will also keep Pilot Ikari away from the distracting influence of the girl."
*
*
Misato has changed to a bright pink fuzzy bathrobe and sipping tea at the kitchen table as the door opens and Shinji and Asuka walk in. She levels her gaze at the both of them, nodding her head at the table as they both sit down, Shinji glancing at Misato's cleavage before then looking directly at her face. Asuka is beaming, as if the smile has been carved into her face all day. Misato knows why, of course.
"So," she says, "You're going on a date."
Asuka nods. Shinji twiddles his fingers.
"Do I need to explain the birds and the bees to you?" Misato asks.
"God, no," Shinji coughs, "My father did that when I was thirteen."
"I…learned from the internet," Asuka adds.
Misato sighs, palming her face, twiddling her fingers and taking out her PDA.
"Rules," she says, "You're both back before eleven. I know you're more or less grown up, but Shinji, I have no need to make your Mom angry at me. No hanky panky. First base only. No drinking. Especially my beer."
Shinji nods. Asuka continues smiling.
"Now that that's out of the way," Misato says, "You two will have fun tomorrow. Asuka, Mari will be by early tomorrow morning to get you prepared. Shinji, you have a synch test tomorrow morning."
"Okay," Shinji sighs, "Are you chaperoning the dance, Misato?"
She shakes her head, sipping her tea.
"I'm on enforced leave," she says, "Just to give me time to relax since I haven't taken a vacation in four years, and we don't see Angels coming for at least a few days. I think they're tapping Ritsuko and Maya to chaperone."
*
*
Coughing miserably, Ritsuko Akagi starts, rolling her eyes up before she pitches forward in the bed and sneezes. Adjusting the hot water bag on her forehead, she lies back down and groans, holding one hand up over her face and counting ten fingers.
"Maya," she moans. Silence is her response.
"MAYA!"
Grumbling from the living room, shuffling of cloth and the angry mewling of the cat as Maya, clad in blue bunny pajamas and a pink bathrobe appears in the doorway.
"What is it, Sempai?" Maya Ibuki moans, bags under her eyes and her face the color of fresh death.
"Need more tea," Ritsuko moans.
Muttering under her breath, Maya grabs the tea cup and starts walking out, clearing the doorway before another cry splits the silence.
"MAYA!"
"Yes, Sempai?" Maya asks, rolling her eyes.
"Water!"
Padding her feet along the carpet, Mr. Fluffles follows her, hopping onto the kitchen counter as Maya begins boiling water.
Whistling to herself, running on Dayquil and coffee, Maya calmly walks over to the locked kitchen cabinet next to the refrigerator. Taking a knife, she jams it into the lock and hits the knife with the can opener, breaking the lock and pulling out a bottle of whiskey.
"MAYA! TEA!"
"Coming, Sempai!"
She brews the tea, waiting a moment to watch it darken. Unscrewing the cap of the bottle, she hums to herself as she empties the whiskey into the tea, turning the bottle right side up and taking a long drag from it herself.
Reaching into her robe, she takes out a bottle labeled 'Spanish Fly', crumbling a capsule in her hand and sprinkling it on the tea.
"MAYA!"
"Coming, Sempai!"
And whistling, grumbling, she shambles back to the bedroom.
*
*
One arm wrapped around the doll, the smile hasn't left Asuka's face all day. It didn't collapse. It didn't go bad. In fact, it went exactly as she hoped it would and it wasn't that bad when he looked her in the eye and asked her if she wanted to go with him. There wasn't a question of what her answer would be, of course. Even with that little faux pas afterwards she didn't mess it up.
She is exhausted from the excitement, though. She hasn't been this tired in some time.
"You'll have a great time, Asuka," the doll squeaks, "You just need to relax. If you make him uncomfortable, he might react badly."
"I know," she moans, "And I don't want to make him unhappy, but…what can I do for him? Mother says I should just…throw myself at him, but does he really want that? He says he likes me, but I don't know what will happen if…"
"Of course he likes you, Asuka," the doll squeaks, as Asuka holds it at arms length in front of her, "But maybe he also cares about you, to! So that's why he hasn't done those things Mother wants!"
She sighs, hugging the doll close as she lies down on her bed. It is right. This room, much bigger than her one at home, is comfortable and safe. She has everything she wants, everything to keep her content. And yet…for the first time, she is feeling a need for something more. The words she spoke over that walkie into the Dirac still echo between her ears.
Is it possible?
Is she actually falling in love?
Her mind swims, tightening her grasp on her advisor, her friend, her voice of reason. Maybe she is. But what if he says no?
What if he says yes?
Her knees curl up to her chest, her arms wrapping around her as she lies on her side, heavy eyes closing. Questions burning in her mind, body fatigued from the events of the day, Asuka drifts off into a pleasant, soft sleep.
*
*
The ride up from the Geofront apartment he stays in with Mother to the surface of Tokyo-3 takes forty five minutes. During that time on the Tram, Uri is expected to read. Originally, it was operations manuals and field guides, with the Art of War mixed in because it wasn't supposed to be monotonous.
As he is going up not in the capacity of NERV, he has decided to dress in a spare school uniform, minus the jacket. In his hands is a copy of War of the Worlds, a present he received from Asuka shortly before they left for Japan. He doesn't have much time to read between synch tests and other duties, and has worked this into his schedule by always reading on the Tram.
The bell signals the arrival to topside, and he grabs his bag, stuffs the book in and walks out into Tokyo-3 proper. Unlike his other pilots, he can blend in. Ikari bears no small resemblance to his mother and Ayanami is…Ayanami. So he, just being a thin, sixteen year old boy with reddish blonde hair doesn't stick out any more than his sister does and…
Oh, right.
Clicks his tongue, and moves into the crowd, a little flaming torch in the sea of black and brown.
An arm wraps around his, and he sees the red and the green eyes as Mana grins, pulling him from the crowd and into an alleyway of street vendors.
"Hey, Uri," she says.
"Hello, Kirishima," he responds, and pauses, "What are you doing?"
"Getting your attention," she says, rolling her shoulders under her grey sweater, "So, you're going to the dance tonight?"
"Dance?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
"You know, kids get together. Boys sit awkwardly on one side, girls on the other. No one does anything, girls start crying. It's a lot of fun, especially when someone mixes alcohol into the punch."
Uri purses his lip, scratching the back of his head.
"Really…"
Mother mentioned something about a dance, and how she wouldn't mind if an Angel stepped on the school. Ah, yes. That dance. He didn't say anything to upset her on the subject, and generally ignored her when she started to talk glowingly about Ikari for some reason.
He would believe Mother is trying to set him up with Ikari, but that would be outright ridiculous.
"So, going?" Mana asks.
"I don't know," Uri sighs, "Mari was interested in it for some reason."
"Well…" Mana says with a grin, leaning forward, her hands folded behind her, "I was thinking of going myself. You know, because all the other pilots are going. I mean, for one thing I think I might have taken a shine to Shinji, and I mean not romantically or anything like that."
"Why are you telling me this?" he asks.
"Well, because he's going with your sister," she sing songs, "And I wanted to make sure he doesn't try anything dirty with her. Don't you?"
He grits his teeth, nodding.
"Right," he breathes, "I should be there, to!"
"Great. Meet me there at six."
"Understood," Uri says, and pats Mana on the shoulder, "I owe you for this, Kirishima!"
With that, he runs off to take care of his business for the day. Watching him go, or more in particular watching his butt as he goes, she grins. Reaching into her pocket, she snaps out her cell phone.
"Hook, line and sinker," Mana says, "Pretty Boy has fallen for the bait. Cancel plan B."
*
*
On the overlooking rooftop, Rei sighs and closes the radio detonator.
"I never get to do plan B."
Behind her, holding the bazooka, Kensuke shrugs.
"All will be as it will be," he breathes, "What destruction shall we sew next, Rei?"
She thinks, screwing her face in thought. With a squeal, she pumps her fist into the air, pointing to the horizon.
"Come along," she shouts, "Next, we wire the school! For blackmail!"
"And great Justice!"
*
*
The door opens to Yui's office, and she smiles as, without her needing to prompt him, Shinji takes a seat in front of her desk. She finishes signing off on a report, placing it in a slot on the side of the desk as the pneumatics take over and send it through a clear tube to another part of the building.
"Well, we're not getting a synch rating near 300 percent," she says with a smile, "But it is holding at around 80. So, you're still steadily improving, but I didn't ask you to come here for that. So, you start."
He sighs, leaning ack in the chair.
"Why didn't you tell me Ichi was Unit 01?" he asks, "And for that matter, why did I just find out I was a pilot?"
She nods, folding her hands on her desk.
"Shinji, shortly before I sent you to your aunt and uncle, we found two things," she says, "The first was Rei. The second was that, somehow, Unit 01 was trying to communicate with us. Now, any interaction we would have with it was going to be colored by our knowledge of what it was, which would be utterly horrifying to a nascent intelligence. So, we had to find a way to let it talk with someone who wasn't afraid of it."
"Like a six year old boy," he responds.
"Exactly. That's the same reason I had Rei start emailing Asuka. Both developed their own personalities despite not being human. Because of their interactions with people who did not outright judge them, these personalities were welcoming and protective of humans. The fact that Unit 01 will calm down if it goes out of control is largely thanks to you."
"And piloting?"
She sighs, nodding. The lines on her face are more pronounced, more visible as she looks down, tapping her fingers on her hands.
"I never like the fact that I have to put you in danger," she says, "Your father, less so. But it became obvious early on that it was you Ichi desired as her pilot. We never told you so you could at least have several normal years. Look at Uri and Asuka. Their lives revolved around Eva. You, on the other hand, got to be happy for ten years before we called you back. I'm sorry you weren't prepared, but I'd rather you be surprised than…well, you see what I'm getting at."
Nodding with a heavy sigh, he folds his hands in his lap.
"Now," she says, "I thought you were going to ask about your seven half sisters as well, but I can introduce you to them directly later on. One of them is…away for a bit, but I think they would want to meet you. In any case, you should head back to Katsuragi's and prepare for tonight."
He nods with a small smile, getting up.
"Thanks for making the time to talk, Mom," he says, "I appreciate it."
He turns and walks out, closing the door behind him. Leaning back, she takes her glasses off and rubs her nose, the book case behind her sliding open and Gendo peaking in.
"He bought it?" he asks.
"Hook, line, sinker," she says, "Half truths. Nothing I said was a complete lie, mind you. We did have Ichi email him as a Turing test, after all. And we did keep trying to get the Dummy system working so he didn't have to pilot."
He nods, walking over and rubbing her shoulders. He grins, a small chuckle from his lips as she stands, resting her arms on his shoulders.
"Kihl has contacted me," she says, "Nagisa has Kei, and is keeping her in chemical hot sleep so's not to activate her S2 organ. Kihl has said, for the 'piddling price' of my daughter, he is giving us the Lance."
"Right when we don't need it," he growls.
"He wants to make this an object lesson," she says, "So do I. I think it's time we became serious about how protracted and messy a death those old men deserve."
"Which one do we start with? 06?"
She shakes her head, pursing her lips.
"Oh, no," she says, "Not him. My father goes last."