Chapter 5 - What Are You?
True to Misato's words, Rei Ayanami ended up being discharged from hospital only three days later, as Shinji discovered when the mysterious girl was suddenly in Class 2-A one morning. She didn't look up as Shinji and Asuka entered, instead focusing all of her attention on something beyond the window she was sitting next to. There was still a cast on her right arm and a surgical patch over her left eye; Shinji struggled to think of what could have happened to cause such injuries.
He was about to go and greet her, but Class Representative Horaki was suddenly right beside him, ordering everyone to their seats as the teacher entered. Roll was called, and the teacher seemed astonished when Ayanami answered, still staring out the window, but the man covered his surprise with a short cough and continued. The first lesson period soon began, and Shinji almost fell asleep right away as another lecture about life before Second Impact began. Then again that might have been because of how little sleep he got.
Last night, Asuka had insisted that they both go through their bedrooms to ensure that nothing had been touched. She clearly didn't trust Section Two at all, and Shinji couldn't blame her since one of them had almost ventilated her skull. He had tried to assert that NERV had no need to pry into their sleeping habits, but Asuka had, after checking her room, come into his to make sure no listening devices or hidden cameras had been planted. He rather doubted that the suspicious redhead would have found anything even if Section Two had bugged the place. An organisation like NERV weren't going to be obvious with something like that.
She had left in rather a hurry after opening the drawers in his bedside table, which puzzled Shinji until he realised just what items of clothing were in them. Asuka's face had been starting to turn red, now that he thought of it.
A soft chime reached his ears, startling Shinji enough that his chin suddenly slipped off his hand, but he caught himself before his head could impact the desk. Around him, people were either sleeping, doing late homework, or chatting on their laptops. Even the class representative didn't seem to be paying much attention to the teacher.
Laptop. His had been the one to make that sound, so he opened it up and noticed a message alert. The name attached to the alert made him frown in confusion, before looking ahead of him at Asuka, who stared right back at him in the reflection of the screen before raising an eyebrow and pointedly looking down at her keyboard. Shinji exhaled slowly in quiet exasperation. Chances were that the teacher wouldn't notice them whispering to each other, but evidently Asuka wanted to make sure.
Soryu_A: Is this all that old geezer at the front talks about during this lesson? Isn't this lesson supposed to be Algebra?
Ikari_S: Apparently it is. I asked Aida about it yesterday, and he said this teacher's almost famous for it. But since he's been at this school for a very long time, the people in charge don't want to let him go. Especially when people are leaving the city for safer pastures.
Asuka's response was three horizontal lines; two hyphens with an underscore in the middle. Shinji stared at it for a moment before realisation set in; it was an emoticon, signifying how she felt about that.
Ikari_S: If it helps, you could pretend this is a free period. You do have a college degree, if what Misato said before our first day is true.
Soryu_A: I don't have a college degree.
Ikari_S: Wait, I'm positive s
Shinji stopped typing as another message beat him to the punch.
Soryu_A: I have TWO degrees.
Delete delete.
Ikari_S: Oh. Um.
Ikari_S: Wow. That's amazing. What are they?
He could almost hear the smug grin on the face in front of him.
Soryu_A: Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics. I could go and create a new type of armour for the Evas right now if I wanted to. If I weren't stuck in this damn class listening to someone drone on about food prices twenty years ago.
Ikari_S: TYPE of armour?
Soryu_A: Yeah, the Evas have utility armour for situations like fighting underwater. I don't know if that'll actually happen, though.
Shinji hummed in understanding, just loud enough that Asuka would hear him. There didn't appear to be anything more to say for the time being, so he closed his laptop and returned to leaning his chin on his hand as his eyes idly roamed around the room... before landing on the back of Ayanami's head.
He wasn't even sure if she had moved an inch the entire morning. Her head was resting on her hand, and she was still staring out the window to her left. Shinji blinked as he realised he was copying her posture almost exactly, thought about shifting to a different one, then his chin slipped again as he got another message alert.
Soryu_A: What the hell are you staring at so intently?
Shinji blushed slightly, thankful that Asuka couldn't properly see his face. He considered making something up, but quickly decided it would be better to just tell the truth.
Ikari_S: It's... Ayanami. She hasn't done anything at all since we got here besides look outside. There's not even a book in front of her or anything.
Soryu_A: Oh, so that's the First Child? I thought it was just some weirdo who dyed their hair. Anyway, it's none of your business if she doesn't want to learn about old fuel prices.
Ikari_S: No, I mean
Ikari_S: Is she alright? She was in critical condition not that long ago, and suddenly she's here.
Soryu_A: Maybe she's studying how to be a tree. Maybe she hit her head as well. Maybe she's one step away from a vegetable.
Ikari_S: Asuka.
Soryu_A: What?
Shinji sighed and began tapping a finger on the edge of his laptop as he tried to formulate a response. Asuka ended up beating him to the punch.
Soryu_A: You wanna go talk to her at lunch? Introduce yourself properly or something while not very subtly seeing if she's okay?
Ikari_S: I guess. What about you though?
Soryu_A: I may as well come along, wouldn't hurt to meet a fellow pilot.
A quick glance at the clock at the front of the class told Shinji just how long they'd have to wait.
Ikari_S: Just half an hour before lunch.
Soryu_A: Oh just kill me now...
XXX
Shinji had to shield his eyes as he stepped out of the school building into the hot midday sun. Not surprisingly, it seemed as if most of the students were staying inside for the lunch period. He would have preferred to do the same, but questioning Aida had revealed that Rei always went outside during lunch unless it was raining. And even then she only occasionally stayed inside.
"Guess she's not some kind of albino then," Asuka had immediately remarked, to which Shinji had given her a disapproving look. "What? If that hair colour is natural, then there must be something going on with her."
Now they were both outside, looking for that tell-tale mop of blue hair. It took several minutes before Asuka finally located their target. She tapped Shinji on the shoulder and pointed with her other hand towards a large tree near the boundary of the school. Sure enough, Rei was sitting in the shadow of the tree reading a book, and Shinji headed off in that direction, Asuka right on his heels.
"Um, hello Ayanami," he said as they came to a halt a few feet away from Rei.
"Good afternoon, Ikari," the blue-haired girl said in a quiet and monotonous greeting, not looking up from the book balanced carefully on her cast. Her eyes continued back and forth across the page as she asked, "Do you wish to speak to me about something?"
"Uh..." Shinji glanced at Asuka, who raised an eyebrow at the other girl's response. He nervously cleared his throat. "I was just... wondering if you're okay now, after what... um... happened to you. I mean, you're at school now and you still have an arm in a cast..."
"My physical condition was deemed satisfactory enough to be discharged. I am ready to fight if and when it becomes necessary." Rei turned the page and continued reading.
"That's... not quite what I meant."
"Hey!" Asuka's sharp voice cut in. "Would it kill you to be polite? Look at him when he's speaking to you!"
Rei looked up... and immediately flinched upon setting her eyes on Shinji. Her book fell off her cast and flopped closed onto the grass. She narrowed her eyes and got to her feet, staring intently at the now puzzled boy.
"So it was not a hallucination," she quietly murmured, confusing Shinji and Asuka even more. Her next words had a hard edge to them. "What are you?"
Shinji raised his hands in a placating gesture as he took a step back. "W-what do you m-mean?"
Rei took a step forward, her free hand clenched at her side. "What. Are you?"
"I... I'm human?" he attempted, giving a little shrug and a nervous chuckle.
"Then where is your light?"
"My... light?" A plaintive glance at Asuka didn't help Shinji, as the redhead apparently had no idea what was happening either. Fortunately, she decided to finally jump in on the odd conversation.
"How about you stop being weird at my friend and start explaining yourself?"
Rei turned to Asuka... and immediately brought up her casted arm to shield her eyes with a sharp intake of breath as if she had accidentally looked at the sun. She lowered her arm a moment later, risking a peek over the cast, before swiftly raising it again.
"Before you ask," Asuka continued, arms folded across her chest, "I'm human too. No idea what the hell you mean by asking that though."
"Wait a minute," said Shinji as a thought occurred. "Do you think she can... see the, er... problem we have?"
Asuka blinked. "That's ridiculous. The only reason we know for sure is because of... yesterday."
"But she must know something," reasoned Shinji. "When I first met her in the Eva cage, she seemed to see that something was wrong with me before anybody else found out."
"What are you?"
That exact same question again. It was still confusing to him, but now it was starting to be for a different reason.
Asuka groaned and rubbed her eyes. "Well considering what we've found out recently, I wouldn't be too surprised if the weird girl with blue hair and red eyes is... psychic or whatever." She glared at Rei, still hiding her eyes behind her cast. "Are you?"
"I do not possess telepathic abilities," Rei replied, before hesitating. After a few awkward seconds, she said, "You, Ikari, do not have a light. And you, Pilot Soryu, your light is almost painful to look at. It is... disconcerting to see the two of you like this."
"Wait, you already know who I am?"
"Asuka Langley-Soryu, Second Child and pilot of the Production Model, Evangelion Unit-02," Rei instantly replied. "I was informed of your arrival due to Pilot Ikari being insufficiently capable of piloting Unit-01."
Shinji turned away, a frown on his face at the blunt statement. The school yard was mostly deserted thanks to the heat, but there were still a few stubborn students in the shade near one of the buildings. An idea, as well as something to get back on topic and away from that memory, came to mind.
"Hey Ayanami," he began. Rei peeked out from behind her cast at him, and he pointed towards the students. "Are they too bright to look at as well?"
Rei lowered her cast, and looked at the students for a few seconds. "They are bright, but not painfully so." Her head started to turn towards Asuka, but stopped short. It took almost half a minute, and eventually a hand mostly covering her eyes, but eventually she managed to at least partially look at Asuka. "You are like staring at two people at once, their light overlapping and magnifying each other."
Asuka rolled her eyes when Shinji shot her a knowing look. "Two people. Well I guess that proves it then," she said as she turned away in exasperation. "Unless she's just toying with us for some unknown reason."
"I have no reason to lie."
"And I believe her," Shinji added. "So... should we tell her? About the contract and such?"
"I suppose..."
The rest of the lunch period was spent filling Rei in on all they could tell her about the soul contract, finishing just as the warning bell rang.
"I am finding this somewhat hard to believe," said Rei as they began to head back to class.
"Oh, trust me, you're not alone there," Asuka replied exasperatedly.
"But just as I have no reason to lie to you, I see no reason for you to lie to me. And it does fit with what I can see." Rei paused as they reached the double doors leading into the building. "I... apologise for my attitude earlier. I thought you were-" She cut herself off with a frown and stepped inside.
"Thought we were what?" Shinji asked as he and Asuka got out of the heat.
"Not both, just you, Pilot Ikari. And I cannot speak of it."
"Why not?"
"That is classified."
"Of course it is," Asuka grumped. "Why would anything be easy?"
"If she can't tell us, then she can't tell us," reasoned Shinji. "Anyway, before we get to class, could we please do the other thing we wanted to find Ayanami for?"
"Excuse me?" asked Rei as she stopped, turning to look at them with a visible wince.
"Hm?" Asuka thought for a second. "Oh. Right. Let us properly introduce ourself." She then muttered, "For all the good it will do."
Shinji went first, giving his name but stopping short when he almost added 'former pilot of Unit-01'. Asuka's was a carbon copy of her greeting to Class 2-A, right down to the 'Charmed, huh?' at the end.
Rei gave a short little bow. "I am Rei Ayanami, pilot of the Prototype Evangelion Unit-00."
"You know," said Asuka. "It would be convenient if we could be friends."
As she straightened back up, Rei gave as much of a flat expression as she could without looking directly at Asuka. "What purpose would that serve?"
Asuka's eyes widened, apparently taking offence to the response. "What the hell does that mean?!"
"I think it's a good idea," Shinji hurriedly said, almost wanting to stand between them to stop a potential fight. "There's no harm in it, and it could only help you two when you're piloting if you have a positive relationship with each other."
Rei seemed to think on this, before nodding her head at Asuka. "That is an appropriate reason. I accept your offer of friendship."
"Er... good?" Asuka lamely replied, before walking quickly past the other two teenagers. "Anyway we better get to class! At least we don't have to listen to the windbag for the rest of the day!"
Rei followed, and Shinji was not far behind. He sighed internally. If he had actually managed to not screw things up and become Unit-01's pilot, maybe that friendship offer would have extended to him too.
Why was he even still in Tokyo-3? He had been fully expecting to end up back in Fujikawa with his teacher after washing out. Was it just too much effort to arrange a return trip? His father had been completely absent since their first meeting in the Eva cage, obviously too busy to waste time on him. He would just have to make the most of his lot in life as usual. Eventually Misato would get tired of him.
Just like his aunt and uncle had, shipping him off to Fujikawa to stay with the teacher that was apparently a friend of the family, only a year after taking him in.
Just like his father had, getting rid of him only a couple of months after... that.
As he neared the classroom, Shinji rubbed a hand across his face, banishing the despondent look for the time being. If Misato ended up being too busy to send him back to Fujikawa...
Maybe he'd just have to do it himself.
XXX
Days passed, and the two female pilots slowly began testing their new friendship out. It took a little while before Rei managed to look properly at Asuka, and even then Shinji caught the occasional wince whenever Rei turned to the redhead.
Rei did not speak much to begin with; the few times she did made her seem rather frosty. Soon though, Asuka managed to thaw her out a little. It quickly became apparent that Rei had no opinion or interest in 'normal' conversation topics, such as the school gossip or what was on television, so things to talk about were rather thin on the ground.
Because of the warm weather, whenever they did go outside it was usually to the tree under which they had met the First Child.
What surprised both Asuka and Shinji was that Rei could also read and speak German. Rei had stated that she had taught herself so that she could read several medical textbooks, at least one of which always seemed to be in her school bag. That at least gave them something of a useful conversation topic. Soon, the three pilots were speaking purely in German during their lunch breaks.
Or to be more precise, Rei and Asuka talked while Shinji usually stayed quiet. Most of the time he couldn't think of anything to add to the conversation, not being nearly as scientifically inclined as the two girls, or just didn't want to get in the way of their slowly developing friendship. If Asuka or Rei noticed how little he spoke, they didn't show it. His main contribution to their lunchtime together generally consisted of preparing their meals, since the cafeteria's selection clearly fell far short of being considered real food. Rei had tried to decline, but after relenting and taking a bite, her resistance fell and she began accepting the free meals from the Third Child, once he made adjustments for the fact that she was a vegetarian.
And then one day, Aida came up to them at lunch with something of a warning.
"Ikari. Soryu," he said by way of greeting upon reaching their little patch of shade. "Remember your first day? When Hikari and I talked about Suzuhara and his sister?"
Shinji froze. His stomach once again turned queasy. Asuka noticed, and shot him a pointed glance.
"Well apparently his sister decided she wasn't going to get any worse, and that she didn't need to be babysat at the hospital everyday," Aida continued, oblivious to the turmoil brewing inside Shinji. "She demanded that he return to school."
"'Demanded'?" Asuka replied with a raised eyebrow. "And what, he's just gonna let himself be pushed around by his little sister?"
Aida nodded. "Exactly. He adores her. Would probably go to Hell and back if that's what it takes to heal her. Even I'd do what she says, otherwise she'd kick me in the shins or something. And she's good at that. Anyway, Suzuhara's returning tomorrow. Just thought I'd warn you two."
Asuka narrowed her eyes. "Why? What do we have to be concerned about?"
Aida raised a hand to adjust his glasses. Sunlight glinted off the lenses as he smirked. "I know it was one of you two that piloted the giant robot."
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Rei asked, staring a hole into Aida's head.
"It's far too convenient. The robot appears, NERV is suddenly all over our school, and then you two come into our class." Aida tapped the side of his head. "I'm not stupid. I've seen those men in black suits shadow you. You leave school, a moment later they do."
Asuka glanced at Shinji, who could only offer a helpless look back.
Aida leaned forward conspiratorially. "So which one of you was it?"
"If you do not wish to be arrested, you will cease this line of inquiry immediately."
Everyone stared at Rei, who was now almost glaring at Aida.
"NERV takes the security of its employees very seriously," she continued. "Should you persist in harassing us, they may decide you are dangerous."
"Whoa whoa!" Aida waved his hands in the air in front of him and shook his head. "I'm not trying to harass you, I'm just letting you know that Toji's going to... ah... be mad."
"But why would he..." Asuka began, before trailing off. She grabbed a fistful of the fearful boy's shirt and yanked him close. "You told him about us didn't you?!" she almost shouted in his face.
"I-it just slipped out, I-I s-swear!" Aida stammered. "He called me and asked if anything was happening at school, and I told him you two arrived right after the attack! He got real quiet after that." He looked away from Asuka's burning stare. "I think he came to his own conclusion."
"Feh." Asuka released him with a little push, and Aida slowly retreated.
"Look, for what it's worth I'm really sorry," he said.
"Just get the hell out of here, nerd."
Perhaps deciding that discretion was the better part of valour, Aida did as she said and retreated back inside the school building.
"I'm going to have to apologise to him," Shinji dejectedly mumbled. "It's the only way to make this right."
"You're not apologising for a damn thing," Asuka retorted sharply. "What did I say about it not being your fault?"
"If it was you in that situation, would you see things so clearly?"
"You are not at fault here, Ikari," Rei interjected. "You were brought in because I had been injured."
"Oh, don't you start," Asuka groaned. "NERV are the ones that screwed up by leaving things to the last minute. The moment you were injured and deemed unable to pilot, Shinji should have been put on a plane and brought here to start training. Instead... well... look how things turned out."
Rei took the admonishment silently, staring blankly at nothing for a minute. Suddenly, she inhaled sharply and looked at Shinji. "Wait. That would perhaps have been worse."
"What do you mean?" asked a puzzled Shinji. "If I had gotten here earlier and had time to train, I wouldn't have performed so terribly against that Angel."
"No," said Asuka, before slapping her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Shit, she's right. If you'd come here early, NERV would have found out about your... problem then."
"Correct," agreed Rei. "You would have been deemed an unsuitable pilot for Unit-01. I would most likely have been sent out against the Third Angel anyway."
"Where you would have probably died..." Shinji breathed, recalling the terrible state she had been in when they had first met. He looked down at his hands. Was that a spot of red? "You were in no condition to even get out of bed, let alone pilot."
Rei solemnly shook her head. "That does not matter. The Angels must be defeated at any cost. If I die, I can be replaced."
The matter-of-fact way she said that caused both Asuka and Shinji's eyes to widen in shock. None of them managed to speak again before the warning bell for the end of lunch rang. In a daze, the two roommates got up and headed back inside, Rei silently following behind.
XXX
Asuka had told Shinji to go on ahead to their usual spot and that she and Rei would be there in a few minutes. Having read between the lines and realising that Asuka didn't feel like saying what personal business they were doing, he had immediately headed off.
Right into Toji Suzuhara's waiting fist.
Shinji reeled as it connected with his face. He staggered backwards, holding a hand over his now throbbing cheek as his back bumped into the tree.
Shinji stared up at Suzuhara, idly noting that Aida was almost hiding behind the seething tracksuit-clad boy. Aida gave a helpless shrug when he noticed Shinji glancing at him. His gaze was unwillingly drawn back to Suzuhara when two hands grabbed his shirt and almost lifted him off the ground.
"Got anything to say for yourself, punk?" Suzuhara demanded as he slammed Shinji into the tree.
Last night, Asuka had once again tried to get it into his head that he wasn't to blame, and that if he should end up confronting Suzuhara, he should say as much. But that logic still evaporated in the face of a boy who had almost lost his sister. And it wouldn't have taken much effort to work out who he was, considering he and Asuka were the only new additions to Class 2-A. Having evidently decided not to go after Asuka, for whatever reason, Toji must have decided it was him piloting the robot that had injured his sister.
Shinji could only hold eye contact for a few seconds before breaking, looking down and to the side. That only seemed to make things worse. Shinji heard a growl, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Suzuhara raise a fist again. He closed his eyes and waited.
But nothing happened.
When nothing continued to happen after a few more seconds, he hesitantly opened his eyes to a surprising and thankful sight.
Asuka was there, a hand clenched tightly around Suzuhara's wrist preventing the punch from landing. Rei was also nearby, a frown on her face as she observed what was happening.
"First and only warning, asshole," snarled Asuka. "Leave. Him. Alone." Suzuhara, looking rather shocked that somebody had stopped his fist without much effort, opened his mouth, but she continued before he could speak. "We don't have time for your bullshit. We need to leave now, and you two idiots will soon need to get to a shelter."
"Shelter?" Aida echoed. "You mean-"
"There will soon be another attack," said Rei. "We are needed at NERV."
Suzuhara sighed angrily and let Shinji go. Asuka put a hand on her friend's shoulder and led him away.
"This ain't over!" Suzuhara yelled at their retreating backs.
Without looking back, Asuka said, "When we return, I'm going to explain in simple words what happened. After that, if you still want to take it out on us, then I'll be happy to oblige."
"Another attack," Shinji mumbled as they got into the Section Two car. "But why am I being brought along?"
"May as well ask why Rei is coming too," replied Asuka, buckling her seatbelt before folding her arms. "She can't pilot yet."
"Standard procedure for an emergency," said Rei. "Pilots must be secured and brought to the Geofront even if they will not be deployed."
Shinji frowned. "But I'm not a pilot..."
"It's probably the safest place on the planet, Shinji," Asuka swiftly cut in. "Would you rather sit in a shelter? No clue what's happening outside?"
"...No thanks."
"That's what I thought. Just accept that you're still important enough to get special treatment."
The rest of the trip to the Geofront was silent.