Sokila had a rather adorable pout on her face.
"PILATE...one of those MAGI things..."
She was doodling a picture of three women, each one wearing a shirt that bore the word 'MAGI'.
"...why do they have to talk so big?"
On a different part of the wall was a tiny portrait of Mayumi Yamagishi, with a cartoony rain cloud lingering over her head.
"And she seems...kind of sad. Like, a lot. I wonder why?"
The faint haze of blue began to brighten-
xxxx
/Wednesday: July 15, 2015/
/Room 23, 2nd Floor, Izanagi Dorms, Hakone Academy/
Three cell phones buzzed at the exact same time. Shinji Ikari and Toji Suzuhara jolted awake, while Kensuke Aida — in the midst of grabbing his school uniform — blinked. Kaworu Nagisa didn't react at all, since he was busy singing in the shower. "Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium! Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!"
"...the heck kind of English is Nagisa singing...?" muttered Toji, rubbing at his eyes.
"I'm not even sure it is English..." muttered Shinji (what is he singing?). Pulling up his phone, he read the same message that (unknowingly) Kensuke and Toji had received.
NERV: SHINJI IKARI, KENSUKE AIDA, AND TOJI SUZUHARA
NERV: YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUIRED AT HEADQUARTERS BY 0900
NERV: YOU WILL BE PREPARING FOR TOMORROW'S NEW MOON OPERATIONS
NERV: DO NOT BE LATE
The three roommates looked at each other. "It's...half past six," muttered Kensuke. "Think we have time for breakfast?"
"We'd better," grumbled Toji.
xxxx
Kaworu Nagisa, towel wrapped around his waist, stepped out of the bathroom, humming to himself...only to blink at the lack of roommates. "Hm?" Had they left for the Junior High Branch already? Idly grabbing his phone, he saw a series of messages in their personal chat room.
-The Room 23 Group-
S. Ikari: we got called in by NERV, Nagisa-kun
S. Ikari: because of tomorrow's new moon
T. Suzuhara: bleh -_-
K. Aida: So don't wait up for us!
"Ah...I suppose tomorrow is that time of the month..." Kaworu Nagisa gazed out the window, looking at the morning sky. "How will you all fare, I wonder...?"
xxxx
Not five minutes after the trio of boys had arrived at NERV, Toji and Kensuke had been dragged away by Mana Kirishima (almost literally) for some supervised training under the watch of Ryuji Sakamoto. As for himself? Well...he wound up in the care of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, sitting in a familiar tube of translucent glass. Again.
"Feel free to communicate your displeasure," dryly said the faux blonde (I wonder why she dyed her hair? She looked more natural in those old pictures...), tapping away at an adjacent terminal.
"...well...I guess it's just...not what I expected I'd be doing, today?"
"Sometimes, you have to get used to the boring and mundane. Not everything can be exciting and novel," she remarked. "And yes, that even includes anything involving a world born from human consciousness, or the human soul."
Shinji hummed, leaning back; as it stood, Dr. Akagi was the only one present (as they had apparently been pulled to monitor A.T. Agents that had wanted to use NERV's subterranean training facilities). It made the whole situation seem...less formal, somehow. "I wonder how the others' training with Sakamoto-san is going...?"
xxxx
/Meanwhile, on the northern outskirts of Tokyo-3 in the Metaverse/
Kensuke Aida hadn't known what to expect (in all honesty!) from a training session with Ryuji Sakamoto.
"Ziodyne!"
He and Ozymandias dove to the side while Toji, Gilgamesh, and Mana Kirishima scattered; the whole forest clearing suddenly danced with lightning, courtesy of Seiten Taisei.
Ryuji Sakamoto stood in a bonafide power stance, arms crossed with a devilish grin. "Come on you kids! It's y'all against me; you gotta show teamwork if you want to put a scratch on me!"
In the end, after the demeanor the man had displayed at the prior Sunday's dinner at Katsuragi's, he probably should've expected a three-on-one brawl straight out of a shonen. "Toji, I'll focus on status effects! Gilgamesh should try and keep his Persona away from him!"
"Easier said than done!" roared Toji, his Metaverse wardrobe billing in the wind. Gilgamesh huffed, preparing for another charge.
"Kirishima, can you you try and incapacitate Sakamoto-san? Like, non-lethally?!"
"NO PROMISES!" yelled Mana as she swung LABRYS, unleashing a wave of energy at the older Persona-user.
Seiten Taisei chortled, dispelling the attack with a vertical swing of his pole before barrelling into Gilgamesh. Sakamoto — still sporting his devil-may-care grin — raised his gun cane and began firing fists of lightning. Because of course he could.
This is gonna be a long day, mentally groaned the bespectacled boy.
xxxx
"Not exactly something you need to be concerned with," bluntly answered Dr. Akagi.
"...I...guess?" Frowning, Shinji glanced through the glass. "Do you know where Misato-san is?" After all, they way she had spoken, she would also be contributing to their planning for tomorrow's new moon.
"She said she'll be performing recon for the first half of the day," answered Ritsuko. "Given that she'll be here by noon, I didn't push her any further."
"Ah..."
"She's a grown woman and an experienced member of the Task Force. She'll be fine."
"...I guess..."
xxxx
/Meanwhile, at Misato Katsuragi's Apartment/
Misato Katsuragi stared imperiously at Pen-Pen as the penguin — caught in mid-yawn — waddled out of his refrigerator. "Wark?" he quacked curiously.
"What am I doing here? That might depend on you, buddy."
Ever since Sunday, Misato had been debating exactly how to handle the issue with Pen-Pen (also known as Mister P. Maybe.), and thus far had been...less than successful.
On the one hand, her paranoia relating to Mister P had subsided somewhat since he had cooperated with Shinji-kun to break her out of Shiro Tokita's clutches...but on the other hand, he was a mysterious son of a gun who had absconded with Shinji-kun on at least one occasion, and apparently was on speaking terms with Rei Ayanami (and her insubordination on the matter still rankled, weeks later). Still, Mister P had not been overtly antagonistic towards her...however, the guy apparently knew Kaji's Shadow, and that just hammered her 'Scorned Woman' button. (Will I ever get over that?)
Her Other huffed.
"You always have had difficulty letting go..."
(Probably not.) All told, combined with her general affinity for her abnormal avian, her thought process had not led to a satisfying conclusion.
So clearly, it was time to wing it.
Placing her left hand on Pen-Pen's shoulder, Misato held her A.T. medallion up in her right, speaking aloud. "Agent Misato Katsuragi, identification zero-one-whiskey-alpha-four: activate cognitive tunneling."
"Cognitive tunneling: authorized."
Misato kept her focus on Pen-Pen as they began to transition into the Metaverse.
zhuu
zhuu
ZHUU
ZHUU
Misato didn't much pay attention to her surroundings, because she had been here before.
(A few months after she had taken residence in Tokyo-3, she shifted into the cognitive world while within her home. As part of her training, she looked at its duplicate in the Metaverse to witness the patterns her thoughts had carved; needless to say, the sight of Yebisu cans dancing around the kitchen was a sign that she needed to dial it back.)
Overall, there wasn't much that had changed since the last time she had looked in her apartment; the beer cans were still relatively tidy around her fridge, and there was a blooming bush of Featherman figures around where the television stood (boy, Mana-chan's really been going at it...then again, I don't really watch the TV that much these days). She briefly considered looking into Mana's room, then promptly rejected the violation of privacy that would be. After all, that wasn't why she was here.
Her Other chuckled knowingly.
"You have someone else to look out for, now."
She grabbed an old sword, laced with blood.
"Any potential threats have to be addressed."
"So...are you gonna transform?"
Pen-Pen looked around with very convincing bewilderment for an animal. "Wark?" The penguin looked like he wanted to run, but simply didn't know where, because everything familiar had changed.
With a sigh, Misato willed her Persona to emerge; in a flash of spectral fire, her A.T. Agent garb manifested, as did the giant swordswoman that was her other. "Or will Tokoyo have to get physical?"
Of all the reactions she had planned for (which included a suicidal charge by the avian, Mister P blasting her wall down in an attempt to escape, or some elaborate trap that had been prepared just for this moment), Misato probably should've expected Pen-Pen to squawk in terror and retreat into his refrigerator (which, funnily enough, was shaped like a giant emperor penguin).
Tokoyo's masked face looked down at her with a put-upon gaze. "You probably should have seen this coming."
"Yeah yeah, you don't have to rub it in, me."
That was how Misato found herself back in the real world thirty minutes later, sitting beside Pen-Pen's refrigerator and holding out a dangling anchovy. She knew it was a waste of electricity to hold the door open to the penguin's chilled room until he finally got over his fear, but it was about the principle of the thing, damn it. "Look buddy, I'm sorry for scaring you, I just...had to check something!" Maybe I should have tried following up with Kaji first before trying this. "Anyhow, no need to be frightened, please just eat the fish and stop being scared of me...please?"
She refused to feel like a heel. Absolutely refused to.
xxxx
Pen-Pen knew he was probably milking this a little too much. Honestly!
Alas, in his personal opinion, Misato's opening gambit could have been executed much better. Milking the 'oh no I'm a frightened little animal look at how wide and scared my eyes are' routine for up to an hour (but no more than that; anything beyond that would just be mean) was simply fair recompense.
Plus, he had been expecting something since Ryuji Sakamoto had called out the obvious on Sunday, so it all evened out.
Now the game is truly afoot, playfully thought Pen-Pen as he gingerly — with very convincing trepidation, if he did say so himself — edged his way over to the tasty morsel in his owner's hand. Let us see how determined your paranoia will make you, Misato.
She would need it in the weeks to come.
xxxx
As the minutes continued to tick by at NERV, Shinji — wanting to break the monotonous hum of the tube that was scanning his soul — glanced at Ritsuko Akagi and asked, "uh...Dr. Akagi?"
"Yes?"
"...how well did you know my mother, growing up?"
If there was a hitch in the woman's typing, he didn't catch it. However, a morose sigh slipped past her lips. "Was wondering if you would ever get around to asking."
"Well...until I met Futaba Maruki in America, I didn't even know that you knew my mother at all."
"In all fairness, I don't much like talking about those days."
"...how come?"
The faux blonde glanced towards him, leaning back in her chair to get comfortable. "What's there to talk about? She's someone who's been gone for over a decade. For all intents and purposes, she might as well be dead."
Shinji impulsively twitched at her blunt wording (and something deep within screamed SHE'S ABSOLUTELY NOT) before saying, "um...why do you say that?"
"Because it's what I believe. She would've made some sort of fuss by now if she were still alive. Since she hasn't...well, I've accepted the most probable outcome. Nothing more and nothing less."
"But-"
"What would talking about your mother accomplish?"
Shinji blinked, honestly befuddled, because huh? "Um...because I want to know about her? Why would I need a reason other than that?" He managed to say this without sounding offended or insulted, mostly because he was so confused by the question itself.
"...fair enough," she admitted, a complicated expression flittering across her face. "Not everyone's relationship with their mother is the same. It's only natural your feelings would be different."
"...um..." He wanted to know exactly what Dr. Akagi was getting at. (He didn't have enough determination to ask it.)
"...Yui Ikari was an unusual woman," she finally admitted. "A vigorous and passionate sort. Prone to picking up and dropping different hobbies at a moment's notice. Always searching for something that seemed...just beyond her reach. Looking back...I never could understand what drove her. With her following her father in his academic field, and likewise Futaba with her mother...it only seemed natural, to do so with my own."
"...is that a bad thing? You...don't sound happy..."
The woman snorted. "And am I the type of person to talk about adult problems with a child?"
His Other rolled his eyes.
The Beast sneered. "Oh, trying to pull THAT card, are we?"
"...I'm going to be fighting against supernatural monsters tomorrow," he reminded her. "I'm...considered an adult in some ways, aren't I?"
"...again, fair enough," relented Ritsuko. "Even so...alongside the First and the Second, you and your Evangelion are capable of unbelievable destruction. You children have been given responsibilities beyond what most have to deal with...and yet that doesn't make me inclined in the least to treat you like a therapist."
Shinji tilted his head, "...why would talking about my mother be like therapy?"
This comment actually made the woman snort. "First of all, it's not strictly related to Yui. Second, you'd be surprised how many psychologists make their bread and butter dealing with family issues...though, given your relationship with the Commander..."
"...ah." The awkwardness suddenly began to ramp up. "...can...can we not...?"
"And now you know that not everyone likes talking about their family. Not every relationship is healthy, be it by blood or otherwise."
"..."
"...how about we settle for awkward silence?"
"...um, I'm good with that."
"Perfect," said Ritsuko with a relieved sigh.
And so they were awkward together for the remainder of the hour until the scan finished.
Yet, Shinji couldn't help but feel like he had gotten some insight into Dr. Akagi...
xxxx
By the time the scan had finished, Misato Katsuragi had arrived, taking Shinji off of Dr. Akagi's hands. ("Fine by me," the woman had wryly said. "I have to compare these results with Futaba Maruki's own notes.")
They had then spent a brief lunch in NERV's cafeteria, refueling with some hot soba. (Misato had rebuffed his few questions about what she had been doing that morning with a smile and easy jokes. He didn't press her any further.)
Afterward, they had gone into one of the few Training Rooms that weren't being used currently, all for the purpose of supplementing Shinji's Persona arsenal. ("Giving you more options is never a bad thing," said the woman. He had nodded in agreement, because it was true.)
Which led to now: after having successfully negotiated with Mokoi and Bicorn (complete with brief training spars against Tokoyo to become familiar with their movesets), he was speaking with his third Archetype of the day. "So..." he muttered, looking quietly at the tiny blue creature called Agathion. "...you really don't mind being stuck in a jar?"
"It comes with the territory!" chirped the red-eyed imp...gremlin...genie...thing? The brass jar that it resided in seemed to dance in the air. "Jars are cool."
"...well, they are useful. Especially for storing food...like fruit preserves."
"Fruit sucks. Not enough blood!"
Shinji resisted the urge to falter (because showing befuddlement or confusion was usually a ticket to getting rejected by the Archetype in question...unless said Archetype was of a mindset that was into that sort of thing. Human thoughts are weird.), settling for "oh...well, they can also be used to store meat, too. Especially when brining it."
"Yeah, meat's much better! But I bet you wouldn't be able to stomach an all-meat diet."
Shinji frowned, looking down at his arms. "But I'm made of meat." (Sort of. He had come to realize that a lot of Archetypes seemed to appreciate oddball responses.)
The blue imp grinned. "Ooh, that's a good point...but wait..." (Here it comes.) "...how could I forget something so basic? I was born from humankind! I am thou, and thou art I! If you'll take hold of me, then you'd better use me!" In response, Shinji simply grabbed hold of one of the brass container's handles, which elicited a grin from the creature. "Yeah!" The Agathion dissolved into azure light, fading into his body and soul.
Shinji suddenly hiccuped, feeling like his spirit burped. (How would that even work?) "Um..."
"Something wrong?" inquired Misato, who had been watching with a keen eye from the nearby wall.
"...I'm...kind of full?" he asked, trying to blink away the odd nausea emanating from his mind and his heart. It was weird. (This whole world is weird!) "...I...don't know if going further is a good idea..."
Misato shrugged, pushing off the wall to walk towards him. "I guess you know your own limits better than I do. It's still weird that you can do this."
"...I can't exactly help it," he muttered, occupying himself by stretching his arms and neck. Motion and action seemed to help. "I wish there were others with this power..."
xxxx
At the moment, elsewhere in Tokyo-3, three former(?) Wild Cards sneezed.
xxxx
Misato chuckled as she ruffled his hair. "Yeah, you and me both...but life ain't exactly fair with the hands dealt, huh?" She gazed around the otherworldly sepia colors lent by the Metaverse, breathing in air that wasn't really air. "I guess we both know that better than most, eh?"
"...maybe." He looked out the side of his eye at the older woman, wondering just what she had been through in her life and she was looking at him. "Er-"
"Yen for your thoughts?" she asked.
"...well, I've been thinking. About family. About...the pain that it can cause."
The woman's expression sobered up. "Sounds pretty heavy."
"Well...isn't it normal?" he asked. "To wonder about other people, the more you get to know them? To know why they do the things they do?" Because if he didn't ask, he would still wonder; if he didn't inquire, he would still find himself wanting to know what made other people tick.
The Beast snorted.
"Such a noble sentiment."
It spewed forth a bloody femur, gnawed and ruined.
"You only want to know because you don't want to feel pain."
"...eh, I suppose that's a fair point...thing is, a lot of people don't like to let themselves be known. Gives others a better chance to hurt them."
(She had no clue just how much that rang true.)
His Other quietly gazed into his eyes.
"Deep down...you still struggle with that."
There was a strange glimmer in those yellow irises.
"But why struggle, if not for a worthy goal...?"
"Are...you afraid of me, Misato-san?"
The woman smirked. "A little. You have a power that not even Ayanami or Asuka have shown...and for someone who's been in the game for not even two months, you've shown a lot of progress. That kind of strength is...scary," she frankly admitted.
"Then forget about Evangelion. Or my Personas. Is there something else about me that you're afraid of?"
Her answer was immediate. "Not really. Aside from those two things...you're just a kid, trying to make his way through a crazy world."
"...then...can't it be that simple?" He wanted to say this right. He wanted to get across his intentions properly. (He was just smart enough to figure it out.) "You...you've lived through different things than Dr. Akagi...or the Marukis...or Fuyutsuki-sensei...or anyone else. If...if I want to know how to deal with my own problems...t-then why wouldn't I want to know you dealt with yours?" (He was not charismatic enough to get the idea across without pausing or stuttering, because this was really heavy stuff.)
The woman's gaze was measured, almost detached, even analytical. "My problems aren't exactly the same you're dealing with. For one, my old man's been dead for years, and yours is still kicking."
That was a valid point, he had to admit. But the underlying principle was still applicable. "But...you once told me something, Misato-san...about how you no longer wanted to be chained by fear..."
(After his very first battle with a Shadow on June the Tenth, he had asked Misato why she had become an A.T. Agent, not expecting an honest answer. Yet, she had given him something simple, yet profound: "It'd be a bit of a long story...but I can leave with you a little something. I think...I no longer wanted to be chained by my own fear. And the Anti-Terror Task Force just happened to be the path I took..." It had to be more difficult than that, right? She had soundly disabused him of that notion: "It doesn't have to be complicated. Who knows? In another life, I might have found my answer as a school teacher, or a bike rider. But I think I would found a way regardless.")
"...I...I don't want to be chained by fear, either..." Because if he was, he would never be able to face his father. (And somehow, that felt like a lesser challenge compared to others. But what could be more difficult than that?)
For some reason, his somber words caused Misato to bark with laughter. "Man...I forgot how earnest kids your age could be. It's refreshing."
Shinji flushed impulsively. (The most earnest person in his life was a silver-haired girl that lived in a room of velvet; she had taught him that earnestness could be incredibly effective.) "You're...not making fun of me, are you...?"
The woman grinned cheekily. "Perish the thought, Shinji-kun. Everyone has to start figuring things out somewhere, and most of the time, they're the ones who have to make a decision about what they want...but it'd be a pretty miserable world if the senpai never helped out their kouhai, neh?"
"...I guess so," he admitted with a small smile.
"Just...give me some time to think about it a little. Cause the stuff I want to talk about, the stuff I'd like to talk about, and the stuff you'd want to hear about...they're not exactly the same. But definitely after the new moon tomorrow, okay?"
He only nodded, because that's all Misato needed.
"Great!" she said with a smile so confident that he couldn't help but wonder how much was genuine and how much was put upon to make him feel better. "Let's get back to the real world; we've got a busy day tomorrow."
xxxx
"I see trees of green; red roses too!"
By the time Shinji and Misato had returned from the Metaverse, the MAGI had begun playing songs of another singer in English again.
"I see them bloom...for me and you..."
According to Misato, it was someone by the name of 'Louis Armstrong'. ("The MAGI have some preferences," she admitted as they walked down the hall. "Work here long enough, and you'll get some repeats.")
"And I think to myself...what a wonderful world...!"
From what he could make of the lyrics, they sounded incredibly ironic given the current state of things.
His Other sighed.
"Yet there's a lesson in there."
He gestured towards an imaginary flower.
"Even in dire times...life can find a way..."
The soothing yet gravelly voice (how is that a thing?) accompanied the two as they entered NERV's cafeteria, where they stumbled upon the sight of three kids disheveled kids and a nonchalant man. "...you didn't wear them out too badly, I hope?" remarked Misato with a tired sigh.
Ryuji Sakamoto shrugged as he took another sip of his miso soup. "Not my fault it took em' hours to land a hit on me."
Kensuke Aida flatly ignored him in favor of eating his dinner. Toji Suzuhara — face flat against the table — grumbled audibly. Mana Kirishima — AIGIS and LABRYS affixed to her back — simply muttered "hate you" before taking another petulant bite of her yakisoba pan.
Misato shook her head. "So long as they'll recover in time for tomorrow, I'm sure they'll only benefit from the experience."
"Of course! They got pretty devious near the end." Ryuji gestured toward the two large implements on Mana's back. "She actually tossed her axe and shield so the boys' Personas could use em' in a pincer attack."
Misato's eyes suddenly twinkled. "Aw, learning to share already!"
Mana growled, burying her face into her arms. "I don't know why, but that annoys me."
"Eh, consider it practice," remarked Misato, taking a seat besides her ward. "Shinji-kun, can you grab me a yakisoba pan and some green tea?"
He wordlessly nodded, heading over towards the serving counters. As he occupied himself with grabbing food for both himself and Misato, the sudden sensation of reality having a headache intruded upon his senses; several feet to his left, Rei Ayanami suddenly phased into physicality. "Ayanami-san...?"
The blunette looked stoically at him, a specter of stress overshadowing her eyes. "Hello Ikari."
"...um, are you okay...?"
"I was doing reconnaissance." Glancing towards the server on the other side of the counter, she asked, "I'll have a bowl of miso soup, please."
"...but are you okay?"
"I am...adequate," she admitted.
...I don't even know if that's a good answer or not. He settled for grabbing his tray — holding one yakisoba pan, one large helping of curry bread, and two cans of green tea — before following her back to the table.
Misato saw them first. "Ah. Ayanami-san."
Ryuji glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the girl critically. "Ah...first time meeting the First Child face-to-face. The name's-"
"Ryuji Sakamoto," interrupted the blunette, taking an open seat on the long table. "I've heard Suzuhara-san mention you quite often as of late."
Suzuhara immediately sat up, glaring daggers at the girl. "You don't have to say that!"
This only made Sakamoto chuckle. "Hey, you don't have to feel bad for bragging about me. I mean, I am kind of awesome, all things considered."
Flush with embarrassment, Toji settled for dropping his face back onto the table.
As the eclectic group of Persona-users (sans Mana, whose axe and shield were practically a substitute), Shinji couldn't help but listen to the lyrics of yet another Louis Armstrong song.
"We have all the time in the world...time enough for life to unfold...!"
"Man, the MAGI must be set to irony mode today," griped Kensuke, who had apparently been listening as well.
Shinji couldn't help but agree, because they seemed rather out of place given the pending new moon, and what tomorrow would probably bring. I only hope it won't be as crazy as the battle against Shamshel, he privately mused. (Had it really been a month since he had fought an Angel to the death?)
Finally, after another satisfied sip of her green tea, Misato looked heavily towards the First Child. "Okay Ayanami-san...what were the results of your recon?"
The girl took one last sip of her miso soup before looking intently at them all. "...the patterns of the cognitive world have been shifting. As have those of the spirit. Having witnessed the Angels more consistently as of late...their presence has become easier to sense. To predict."
"...and what's your verdict?" Misato cautiously asked.
"...tomorrow, an Angel will definitely manifest in Kanagawa Prefecture. Where exactly, I'm not sure. Prediction with pinpoint accuracy is not within my capacity as of yet."
"That's more than enough. We're normally stuck playing catch-up with the MAGI sensing confluences of Acolytes. Any luck on duplicating that feat elsewhere?"
"Not before tomorrow's new moon. I would not be able to ascertain enough of their patterns."
"Well, we'll have to take what we can get...good job," she admitted, leaning back in her seat.
"...uh...what exactly are we talking about?" asked Toji, looking around with an uncertain gaze.
Sakamoto leaned forward, a shrewd look in his eyes. "You know, there's been a lot of theories thrown around about Angel Syndrome...about what causes it. I know that NERV has stuck with a pretty insistent line over the past few years...but is it true? That it's actually caused by 'Angels'?"
"Whatever kind they are, they certainly aren't the messenger of any kind of God I want to follow," snarked Misato. "I know that so far, we've only got testimony from Ayanami-san, Asuka, and Shinji-kun as to their existence...and honestly, the light show that Shinji-kun caused last month at Lake Ashi caught the attention of a lot of people. If there's a repeat...I think only the hardliners will insist otherwise."
"What kind of hardliners are we even talking about?" asked Aida, adjusting his glasses with an anxious movement. "I mean...the fact that Angel Syndrome has a cause that we can quantify is a good thing, right?"
"You're preaching to the choir, Aida-kun," grumbled Misato.
"...I get what you're saying," slowly said Sakamoto, an odd expression on his face. It was a mixture of irritation and...resignation? "I'd love to kick the ass of whatever's been causing Angel Syndrome...but think about what that means."
"What does it mean?" asked Toji.
"...beings with enough power to plunge our world into hell? I can buy that. I've seen enough crazy crap in the Metaverse to put any doubts about that to bed...but the kind of beings that would do all this to us...they've got to have a lot of hate: the kind that makes my skin crawl."
It was a sobering thought; Shinji couldn't help but shudder, distantly remembering the words of Shamshel.
("You deserve naught but to be washed away for thy transgressions," thundered the otherworldly creature. The anathemas and curses continued as they battled and fought. "Wretched ant! Thou art Nothing! Thou art Condemned! Thou art Anathema!" Shamshel's fury remained to the last.)
...why would they subject us to so much death? To so much pain, and suffering? It was a question that he felt would never be answered.
His Other hummed thoughtfully.
"You will have other chances to ask..."
The Beast bared its teeth.
"Don't waste your time, because they won't. Burn them all and be done with them."
Shaking his head, he looked over towards where Ayanami was sitting. The blunette had spoken with a detached air, belying her stated reasons for why she fought. She didn't look or sound like someone who fought for redemption, atonement, absolution, or even freedom. Does she really have that much control over her emotions? She had never been someone who could be accused of being extroverted, but...it seemed odd, for her to present such a front.
The Beast huffed.
"A front, you say?"
She quietly traced a finger along Ayanami's jaw.
"Who are you to complain about a false face?"
Shinji's inward thoughts were broken by Mana, who decided to add her own thoughts to the discussion. "...does it really matter if they hate us or not, though? They've been trying to kill us. So we have to stop them."
"A girl after my own heart!" said Misato with a hearty yell, punctuating her exclamation with a another chomp into her yakisoba pan.
Sakamoto shrugged. "Eh, I guess I just like to know the reasons, is all. Makes it easier for me kick ass, after all."
The conversation dwindled from there, until Misato authoritatively said, "okay then. Shinji-kun, Ayanami-san...you two will be on patrol tomorrow in Kanagawa in the Metaverse. Coordinate as you will. Aida-kun, Mana-chan, Suzuhara-kun...per our prior conversation, you three will be under the command of Ryuji Sakamoto tomorrow. When it comes to how you deploy against any Acolytes, I'll leave that decision up to him."
"Open reins, eh? I can work with that. Just forward any of the planned deployment zones for the Task Force to my phone so I'll know where not to overlap."
As Sakamoto and Katsuragi exchanged contact information, Aida asked, "so...are we bunking in the NERV barracks again, like last month?"
Misato nodded. "Why fix what ain't broke? I figured Sakamoto and Suzuhara-kun could have one room, while Aida-kun and Shinji-kun could room together like before. I'll check for one of the larger rooms for myself, Mana-chan, and Ayanami-san. Might as well get some mileage out of my Director of Operations title."
Shinji sighed; the curry bread was sitting rather heavily in his stomach, now. "I...I think I'm going to turn in."
"I'll text you the room number where our stuff got sent!" said Kensuke, before Sakamoto launched into discussions of strategy for tomorrow for the three teenagers under his 'command'. As he walked away from the table, he took one last glance over towards Ayanami.
She did not look at him.
Feeling strangely pensive, Shinji quietly left the cafeteria, making his way down the hallway to the elevators. As he waited for the doors to open, his thoughts naturally drifted to what would be happening tomorrow...until the doors opened, revealing the stoic image of his father. "..."
"..."
Shinji sighed. (He was just stubborn enough to enter the elevator.) Pressing the button for the floor with the barracks (he's going to an even lower floor...), he stood besides his father. Silence pervaded the elevator, born from their mutual awkwardness and antipathy like the stench from a rotting corpse.
As such, the gravelly voice of Louis Armstrong was all they heard: caught in the midst of another song, one that was simpler than others he had heard previously.
"You can sail on a ship by yourself; take a nap or a nip by yourself; you can get into debt on your own; there's a lot of things that you can do alone!"
(How true.)
"But! Takes two to tango, two to tango, two to really get the feeling of romance! Let's do the tango, do the tango! Do the dance of love!"
The feeling of the song, from what he could make out...it was more about a man and a woman. Yet...
"It takes two to tango, hm?" His father's words broke through the tinny song like a thunderclap. "If it takes two to truly understand the depths of love...then the same would apply for certain other emotions as well."
"...what are you saying?" he risked asking.
"...do you think I hate you?" He calmly asked.
(He wasn't quite dogged enough to risk a true answer. Not after how callously he had rebuffed his offer of mother's pictures.)
Gendo took his silence as an affirmative, nonetheless. "Do you think I would hate for a meaningless reason?"
"...no," he admitted. If there was one thing he could confidently say about Gendo Ikari, it was that he didn't do things halfway.
"Then apply that to yourself," he quietly said.
"...I..." The door dinged, opening to reveal the corridor leading to NERV's barracks. His feet moved automatically before he could fully process what his father was getting at. However, it hit just in time for him to turn around and ask, "...what have I done to earn you hate?!"
Gendo's only response was a dry and acidic smirk before the elevator doors closed.
...well, that only made Shinji even more tired.
Trudging down the hall with a sudden lethargy, he looked for the door number that Kensuke had texted him. As he entered the nondescript room, he saw where his bag from school had been deposited; reaching for his sleeping clothes and his SDAT, he threw himself onto the bed. Pressing play, he waited for the sounds of the blue tape to echo through his ears...
xxxx
...and as the unseen woman began her familiar wail, he was sitting in a folding chair, looking right at Sokila.
Her smile was a sad one. "...are you okay, Mister Ikari...?"
"...not really," he admitted. That was generally how most interactions with his father seemed to leave him, these days.
"...did you come to make new Personas?" She looked over towards the auditorium, where Yaksini handed Andras a diploma. "Or did you come here to teach one of your Personas somethin' new? Your owl-man finally learned Counter!"
"...I just wanted to sleep...and this place is...comforting..."
"Oh..." murmured Sokila. "Well...tomorrow's s'posed to be tough...I
guess playtime can wait...hold on!" She rushed over towards the stage, awkwardly clambering onto it before running beyond the curtains.
All the while, Igor remained silent, maintaining his enigmatic smile.
After about a minute, Sokila rushed back out, arms full with a bundle of blankets and a pillow. With a childish huff, she dropped them off of the stage, freeing herself to safely hop down. "Here! The ground's kind of tough, so I brought extra blankets!"
"...thank you, Sokila-chan," he remarked. "...do you ever sleep?"
"Um...kind of...it's...comp-luh-catey?" she stumbled through with her words. "But I
do have bedtime! It's just...usually when you're not here..."
Shinji quietly formed a futon, kneeling down to rest his head on the pillow.
It feels...wonderful. I wonder if I can take this outside...? The sight of sandal-clad feet prompted him to look up. "Sokila-chan...?"
"Uh...can I...take a nap, too...? I dun' wanna keep you up...but..."
By some unknown instinct, he understood her meaning. He raised his arm, indicating an open spot.
Sokila excitedly kicked off her sandals and hopped onto the futon, clutching to his side as though she were a living, overly excitable teddy bear. Even so...something about this felt...natural, in a wholesome and fulfilling sense.
The wailing of the woman served as a beautiful lullaby...
xxxx
END OF 7/15/2015
xxxx
Author's Note: So, both Sun (Misato) and Moon (Ritsuko) reached Rank 3, while Devil (Gendo) hit Rank 4.
Shinji also got some new Personas! Here's his current party (so to speak):
HAMLET: Mudo, Tentarafoo, Psi, Cleave, Mapsi, Giant Slice (Fool) *Resist Psy, Weak Dark*
KINNARA: Agi, Media (Star) *Null Fire, Resist Light/Dark/Psy, Weak Ice*
ANDRAS: Foul Breath, Terror Claw, Zio, Bufu, Energy Drop, Counter (Devil) *Resist Ice/Psy, Weak Fire/Bless* (Formed from Pixie and Jack Frost)
YAKSINI: Hysterical Slap, Wage War, Counter (Empress) *Resist Ice, Weak Nuclear*
MATADOR: Psi, Null Dizzy, Sukukaja, Double Fangs, Garula, Dormin Rush (Death) *Null Dizzy/Wind, Weak Elec* (Formed from Berith and Sandman)
MOKOI: Tarukaja, Dazzler, Skull Cracker, Marin Karin (Death) *Resist Elec, Weak Wind*
BICORN: Lunge, Tarunda, Garu, Ice Wall, Apt Pupil (Hermit) *Resist Dark, Weak Elec*
AGATHION: Dia, Baisudi, Lunge, Rakukaja, Zio, Dodge Elec (Chariot) *Resist Gun/Elec, Weak Wind*
Anyhow, y'all have yourselves a blessed Easter!
/next time
/ANGEL BOSS FIGHT