Neon Genesis Evangelion and all characters from therein are the
property of Gainax. They are used without permission and we beg the
kind and benevolent creators of the glorious show not to sue us. ^_^
Chain Lightning Studios Presents
Together We Stand
By T. L. Webb
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher, leave those kids alone
'The Wall part 2'
Pink Floyd 'The Wall'
[]===============[]
Book 1 Part 3
[]===============[]
Under ordinary circumstances, breakfast at the Horaki residence
was a cheerful event.
On this particular morning however, Nozomi could sense a tension
between her sisters Hikari and Kodama. It had started awhile back when
Hikari got in trouble. She hadn't told them exactly what had happened,
but they did know the basics. They also knew that the incident had put
Hikari at risk of being expelled from her school. It was a big mess and
they didn't know quite what was going to happen.
As she watched her sisters eat in silence, she wished her father
were around more often. He had been working so hard as of late, ever
since Project E had received the extra funding he had even been sleeping
at the labs. On a good week he was home just long enough to sleep and
shower. On a bad one he only came home once or twice.
Fortunately she and her sisters could take care of themselves--their
parents had been keeping long and odd hours for years now. Unfortunately
being self-sufficient didn't make her miss her dad any less. Especially with
her sisters acting like they were.
"I better get going," Hikari said at last as she took her plate to
the sink.
"Why bother?" Kodama asked with a tone that Nozomi didn't like at all.
"What is that supposed to mean Kodama?" Hikari asked with hurt
registering in her voice.
Nozomi frowned at this. It was obvious to her that whatever had been
brewing earlier was about to hit, and while she wasn't so keen on being at
ground zero-- she did want to find out what was bothering the two so much.
"Just what it sounds like," Kodama said with ice edging into her voice,
"why bother, its not like you're going to be there much longer."
"I can not _believe_ you just said that!" Hikari shouted, obviously hurt
by what their sister's words.
"Am I not allowed to be humiliated by what happened?" Kodama asked
vehemently, "I spent two years as class rep at that junior high, and look what
you've done to the title."
"Just leave me _alone_!" Hikari said, turning away from her sister so the
older girl wouldn't see the tears that were forming.
"Why? So you can pretend nothing happened for the next few days?
Or maybe you just want to--"
"Kodama!" Nozomi said, finally speaking up, "stop."
Kodama looked over at her in shock, she had forgotten that her younger
sister was even there-- as usual. Nozomi wondered just how long they would
keep doing that. As many times as Nozomi had gotten dirt on the two this way--
she would have thought that by now they would know better.
"You two better stop it before I decide to tell dad," he said as she
got up and grabbed her bag off the back of the table, " lets go Hikari."
Hikari blinked back the tears that were forming and nodded-- thankful for
the escape that was being offered. They left the house without another word,
and made their way to the elementary school.
"She didn't mean it," Nozomi told her sister.
"Yes she did..." Hikari said softly as she walked beside her, " and I
deserve it."
"Don't give me that," Nozomi said, " you were tying to save Touji and
Kensuke's lives weren't you?"
"Yes..."
"Then you didn't do anything bad. The school might not see it that way,
but if I catch you glooming around about this again I'm going to be forced
to take extreme measures"
Hikari smiled at that, she apparently still remembered the last time
Nozomi had taken 'extreme measures' with Kodama.
"I'm sorry sis," She told the younger girl as she gave her a hug, "it's
just that this thing happened at the worst time."
"You mean there's a _good_ time for it to happen?"
"I suppose not, but its timing is still horrible... there's this new kid
in class and he really could use a friend or two. If I leave then I would
have to leave the job to Touji and Kensuke. I trust them, but... well
you know how they can get."
"Yeah, I remember... so what's so special about this new guy?"
"Well... He's the pilot of the Eva."
"Really? So why would he have any problems making friends?
"It's a long story... I'll tell you another time" Hikari said with a
smile, she seemed to be feeling much better now. Nozomi grinned at that.
Her job here was done
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Morning Shinji!" Hikari called as she rounded a corner and seeing him
at the stoplight. She hadn't realized that they took such a similar route to
school. at least _something_ good would come out this day.
"Good morning Hikari" Shinji replied as she stepped up next to where
he stood. As they waited for the light to change Hikari made a show of
looking around and scratching her head as if befuddled by something.
Obviously confused at her behavior, Shinji finally broke down and asked
what she was doing.
"I was just looking for the idiot duo... they're usually walking with you
when you get to class."
"Oh they showed as usual, but since Nerv started the analysis of the
Angel today, Kensuke wanted to get a look at it before class."
"Why didn't you go?"
"I'm going with Misato after school-- besides, I've already seen enough
of it to last me awhile."
"Shinji I know you don't like to pilot much, but you should take more
interest. Anything you can learn about those things might help you."
"I guess," Shinji said as they walked across the street, "but it's just
hard for me to get excited about it, I'm still trying to find my center in
all of this."
"Well how are you and Misato doing? Are things better now?"
"Yeah... I think she's proud that I stayed, but she still wont stop teasing
me."
"That's just her way. My sisters are the same way-- especially Kodama.
She's one of those people who can't let an opening slide by."
"She's the one who was class rep a year or two ago right?"
"Yeah, the 'nitrogen queen' of Tokyo Three junior high," Hikari said with
a roll of her eyes.
"Was she that bad?"
"Well she had this whole control trip thing going on back then so I can't
rule out the possibility, but she isn't a mean person... well most of the time.
It's a tough call; she might have just been really strict. Maybe if I'd been
more like that I wouldn't be in trouble."
"I'm sorry..."
"It's not your fault. You didn't make me go out there with those two
blockheads."
"Yeah, but I still wish there was something I could do to help. I mean, if
I at least hadn't answered that private message you wouldn't be in as much
trouble."
"That group was well beyond human control Shinji. I doubt even Kodama
herself could have reigned them at that point."
"I still feel guilty about it."
"Shinji, you have got to learn to let some things go-- taking every little
thing and blaming yourself for it won't make it better. You can only deal
with so much guilt before it gets out of hand."
"I guess..."
"Shinji, I'm going to get you to relax one of these days and I just hope
Kensuke has his camera there to record the incident."
[]====[]
[]====[]
An hour before lunch, the teacher's lesson plan went down on the
desk and 94% of the class tuned out of reality.
As the teacher droned on and on, Kensuke began taking an interest
in the latest rumors flying around the classroom's chatsite. Thankfully
Hikari was distracted with something, because the prime topic of discussion
was her.
[Yume] well, I heard that they're going to expel her
[Touji] that's ridiculous!! they're not going to do that!
[Ichigo] yeah, there not kicking jock-boy or G. I. Joker out, why her?
[Touji] hey! watch it!
[Yume] well its what I heard, and they would too because she has more
responsibility so the punishment is harsher
[Reisho] well I think we should do something, it's not fair
[Denki] I agree, hey Kensuke, when is this hearing?
[Kensuke] in a couple of days, I'll let you know
[Kiri] yeah, Denki's right we should do something, if for no other
reason because she isn't as mean as her sister was
[Ichigo] well not all of us were there for it, but I guess you'd know.
[Kiri] hey it wasn't my fault!
[Denki] oh yes, explain to us again how your getting left back for
two years 'wasn't your fault' I love this story.
[Kiri] oh shut up
[Yume] hey did you hear the latest about Ayanami?
As the ever-changing discussion rambled along, Kensuke made good on
his promise and started looking around for the school schedule. The School
board was meeting in two days and that's when they would decide Hikari's
fate. It was likely that she would loose her job, and that was if they were
lenient.
He felt awful about it mostly because it had been his idea to go out
there in the first place. Had they stayed in the shelter none of it would
have happened. He intended to make it up to her somehow, and to that end
he was dipping into some of the school's more secured files.
If he got lucky he would find what he was looking for. Meanwhile he
had a few questions for Shinji. He sent out a private message and made
certain that his new lockout program was in effect so that Hikari would
be unable to eavesdrop.
[Kensuke] hey Shinji got a minute?
[Shinji] according to the clock I have about twenty-seven of them.
[Kensuke] provided you don't fall asleep that is, but anyway; do you
think I could go with you to see the Angel?
[Shinji] I doubt it, Misato says I need to be more careful about even
talking about them with you guys.
[Kensuke] well crap. We couldn't even get a good look this morning.
They have a huge tent covering the whole thing.
[Shinji] wish I could help, but I'm still on probation with Misato for
running off
[Kensuke] Probation?
[Shinji] yeah, I have to check in with her every hour or so that I'm not
in school. Plus they docked my pay and I have to do this whole
crazy password thing even if I just want to use my cashcard.
[Kensuke] well, I don't want you to get in any more trouble... speaking
of trouble, are you going with us to Hikari's hearing?
[Shinji] I'm going to try to, I'll talk with Misato and find out if I have
any tests for that day.
With that Kensuke and Shinji closed out their discussion and tried their
hardest to survive the monotonous droning of the teacher.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Mind if I join you?"
Shinji opened is eyes and saw Hikari standing beside him. He rarely
spent much time on his lunch. Neither Misato's cooking nor the school
box lunches held much appeal-- so for the last few days he had just
found a place to spent his lunch hour relaxing in the shade.
Not having a sane reason to refuse, he nodded as Hikari joined in
the shade. After unpacking her bento, she began looking around in
admiration of the scenery.
"This is a nice spot Shinji. It's a wonder no one else uses it."
"Well it's kind of out in the open, and most of the others tend to
find more private places to eat."
"That doesn't sound like you at all," she said with a giggle.
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked as a blush rose to his face.
"Sitting somewhere high profile like this... I 'd picture you off
in a quiet corner or something."
Shinji blushed even deeper and didn't say anything for a moment.
Finally he said, "Well the truth is... I... oh never mind, its dumb."
"You can tell me," Hikari said as she poured some sauce on her
food, " I swear I won't repeat it."
"Well... it's just that, I was hoping someone would see me and come
over"
Hikari paused in mid bite. "If you wanted company, why didn't you
just go up and ask if you could sit with one of the other groups"
This was obviously embarrassing Shinji, so she decided to drop the
subject. "Hey," she told him, "if you don't want to talk about it you
don't have to."
"No, its okay," he said after another pause, "I think I was afraid they
wouldn't let me join them. I... just didn't want to... be rejected I guess."
Hikari started to tell Shinji that he was being silly and that nothing
like that would happen, but then she remembered something that she had seen
the year before. A new student had done just that: gone up to one of the
lunch groups and had asked to join them. The group hadn't been very polite
about it; in fact they had been downright mean. She had seen all this happen
and while she hadn't done anything at the time, she had been angry with the
kids and had made a point not to speak with them if she could help it for
the rest of that year. The incident wasn't uncommon, some kids were just
plain mean and they inevitably targeted students they felt were easy
marks. It was just one of the things that you had to accept about school
life.
Fortunately there was little of that in her class, but Shinji didn't
know that, and she honestly couldn't blame him for being nervous.
"Why didn't you sit with Touji and Kensuke?" she asked, " I'm sure
they would have been happy for you to join them for lunch."
"I would if I knew where they were-- that's another reason I was out
here. I looked around the other day, but I don't know where they eat."
"Oh?" Hikari said with surprise, "they eat on the roof. Didn't you
even ask them?"
"Haven't had the chance, and when I did I just didn't think about
it," Shinji told her with an embarrassed smile, "I'll pay them a visit
tomorrow... hey, how come you're out here? Don't you usually eat in
the classroom?"
"I do, but with the hearing coming up this week I decided that I
might as well enjoy the company of my fellow students for a change,
who knows if I'll have a chance afterwards."
"Is it that serious? I know some of the rumors say it is but..."
"I don't know" she said with a sigh " going out there like that
was a huge display of bad judgement, plus the thing with the class
earlier, which wouldn't have even come out if we hadn't gotten caught
up with the fight. It's all up to them and my record. I just need to
keep my fingers crossed."
"I wish there was something I could do."
"Stop blaming yourself... what happens, happens"
There was a short silence as Hikari picked through her bento;
suddenly she didn't feel as hungry.
"Hey that looks pretty good," Shinji said breaking the silence,
"who made it?
It took her a moment to pull herself from her musings and realize
he was referring to her meal.
"Oh, I cooked it last night," she told him proudly, "I make most
of the meals at home since neither of my sisters can cook."
"It looks very good. Misato never makes anything other than instant
stuff, and she messes that up half the time, see?" he held up a box
filled with rice. It looked ok, but one whiff told her that someone
had put curry spice in it. A lot of spice. Enough that the aroma alone
was making her crave a glass of water.
"Please tell me this is a joke..." not believing anyone would make
that mistake.
"I'm afraid not. Sooner or later I'm going to have to break out my
cookbook. I'm getting tired of living off instant rice."
"You call instant food living?"
"Not really, but Misato does, I don't think she ever buys anything
else... well there is the beer, but that doesn't count as food. I think."
"Instant food and _beer_?" Hikari repeated with no small measure of
surprise, "tell me that you don't..."
"No, no, no, I don't drink it!" Shinji said rapidly, " the stuff
smells bad enough! How anyone could drink it-- let alone as much as she
does-- is a mystery to me."
"Whew, you had me worried there for a second Ikari" she said with
a laugh, "hey! You just said you have a cookbook! Do you cook too?"
"Well I haven't done much since I arrived, Misato insisted for
awhile that she was the provider and it was her duty... but I do cook
a little."
"We'll have to exchange recipes some time," she said with a smile.
[]====[]
[]====[]
Shinji was still thinking of that smile as he followed Ritsuko
and Misato into the computer station later that day. Even the sight
of the dead Angel wasn't able to fully attract his attention. It was
an impressive sight nonetheless, even with all the scientist crawling
all over it and the scaffolding rigged across it. But for reasons that
he was only aware of on a subconscious level, every time he tried to
concontrate on what was happening around him-- he kept flashing back
the Hikari's smile.
It was a little strange to be so close to the creature now. In
the back of his mind he half expected it to wake up. Fortunately
Doctor Akagi assured him that once the core had been shattered.
All life signs had ceased. It was quite dead.
It still didn't make him feel any safer, and as he looked up
at the construction crews taking it apart piece by piece he still
saw its energy whips lashing around in his minds eye. But even as
he thought back to the battle his mind drifted to that smile.
'Why cant I get it out of my mind?' he thought to himself as
he leaned against a rail, 'is this normal?'
As he let out a sigh, someone walked past him. A quick glance
was enough to almost send him falling off balance.
It was his father.
He, sub-commander Fuyutski and the other two men didn't even
seem to see him as they made their way to a platform where a piece
of the Angel's core was being lowered. As the small entourage began
examining the shattered core sample, Shinji saw that his father had
removed his gloves. The absence of the gloves, however, wasn't what
caught his attention. It was the painful-looking burns that covered
the palms.
"Hey Shinji whatcha doin'?"
Letting out a short yelp of surprise-- Shinji jumped, and turned
to find Misato standing right beside him with one of her trademark
it's-time-to-tease-someone grins in place. Letting out a small groan
in annoyence of the teasing-to-come, Shinji hung his head and made
his way back to the computer room.
"So what were you looking at so intently back there, Shinji?"
Misato repeated.
"Nothing," Shinji said quickly, hoping she would drop the subject,
and at the same time knowing that she wouldn't.
"Now, Shinji," Misato said a bit sternly as they reached Ritsuko's
Magi uplink station, "are you aware that when you say 'nothing' in that
tone of voice you're practically screaming 'pay attention to me' at the
top of your lungs? 'Nothing' draws attention like evasive action."
Realizing that if he didn't answer the question Misato would most
likely drag Ritsuko into the teasing he sighed again and told her the
truth.
"Father... seems to have burned his hands."
Misato frowned and turned to Ritsuko "I hadn't heard about this
one, hey Ritsu, you know how he toasted his hands?"
"It happened the day before you arrived Misato, during Unit zero's
activation test... Have the two of you heard of the incident?"
Misato nodded, but Shinji still looked as confused as before. She
shook her head as she realized that he had only recently received
clearance for that level of information.
"Sorry, silly of me. Unit Zero went berserk during the activation
and the pilot was trapped inside."
"You mean like Unit One did?" Shinji asked
"Not exactly, but it was similar. I wouldn't think of it the same
if I were you however, the incidents have several factors that set them
apart. But to continue, the entry plug was force-ejected, striking the
wall and ceiling before falling to the floor of the wire cage where we
did your VR training. Commander Ikari ran down to the plug and forced
the superheated hatch open with his bare hands, and that's how he burned
them."
Shinji listened to this and Ritsuko could practically feel his mood
darken. It didn't take a mind reader to tell that the boy was upset about
his father's concern for Rei when he had shown none during Shinji's own
first fight over Tokyo Three. The man had not even been present during
Shinji's second battle and it was undoubtedly bothering the boy. She
herself was all too aware of the man's attitude toward his son, a
particular conversation sprung to mind where the Commander had actually
told her that brainwashing Shinji was one of the parameters that she
needed to consider while writing the core data. Should the boy ultimately
refuse to pilot, and if no other candidates were available; that would be
what they would have to do. After all, the fate of mankind rested on his
shoulders.
It didn't make her feel any better about assisting, however.
"And that's how he got those scars?" Shinji asked, broadcasting his
mood quite clearly.
"Yes," Ritsuko answered as she turned back to the computers, "That's
how his hands were burned."
[]====[]
[]====[]
The next day during Gym it was the girl's turn in the pool. Below on
the track field the boys rested from their latest set of laps and made a
show of ogling the girls above and pretending not to.
Up on the pools level, Hikari was enjoying the cool water. It had
been so humid since the rain, and she welcomed chance to cool off. It
also gave her a chance to forget her hearing. She didn't want to think
about it much, it was embarrassing enough as it was without the fact
that her sister was going to be there-- Kodama was being unusually mean
about the whole affair.
A few moments passed where she finally relaxed, but then someone
splashed a bit too close and Hikari's floating was interrupted. Letting
out a frustrated sigh, she swam over and climbed out of the pool. Looking
around she saw Rei sitting in the shade by the fence. She considered it
for a moment, then decided to go and try to talk with her again. She had
given up once, but then Rei had called that night... perhaps it wasn't
an impossible task after all.
"Hi Rei" she said as she sat down beside the albino, "whatcha doing?"
Rei looked at her, and she realized how obvious the answer to that
particular question was. If she wanted a reaction from the girl other
than an annoyed stare she would have to phrase her questions much more
carefully. After the telephone call, she had realized talking to Rei
was not unlike walking though a minefield.
"Okay," she said with a smile, "silly question. Of course your
sitting here. Let me rephrase that: what are you thinking about?"
"I'm afraid it is classified information, Representative Horaki."
Rei answered in her usual soft voice.
"I see... Well I guess I shouldn't press about stuff like that, I
wouldn't want us to get in trouble. Hmmm... how come you don't swim with
everyone else? I hardly ever see you in the pool. If you don't know how
I could give lessons."
Rei tilted her head slightly for a moment, as if confused, and then
to Hikari's surprise (along with everyone in earshot) she spoke the longest
set of words anyone had ever heard the girl say.
"I enjoy swimming very much, Representative Horaki. I do not swim during
class because my skin is very sensitive to sunlight. If I receive too much
exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the resulting damage to my skin will
severely impede my duties. Your offer is unnecessary."
Hikari prevented her mouth from hanging open, but her eyes still went
wide as she listened. Shaking off her surprise, she managed to somehow
continue talking.
"So where do you swim? I don't know of any after hours pools around."
"There is a natatorium not far from Nerv's medical facilities."
"Really? I've never had the chance to swim in one. Is it any different?"
As Rei answered, Hikari noticed that she seemed a bit uneasy. "Sounds
carry differently and the chlorine content is very high as compared to an
outside pool."
Hikari smiled and let the subject drop. She could tell that Rei was
unused to conversations like this. As she did, she noticed something down
below. Shinji was looking up at them, and smiling. She waved back and as
she did she saw Touji and Kensuke sit down beside him. As the three stared
up a conversation she leaned back against the fence and closed her eyes.
They were getting along nicely; things seemed to be going so well. It was
going to be a shame if they expelled her; she was staring to enjoy Shinji's
company and would miss it when or if she left.
[]====[]
[]====[]
That night as he finished cleaning the apartment for their guest Shinji
wondered what connection Rei had to his father. Earlier that afternoon in the
Sixth Cage they had been preparing Unit Zero for the activation test that was
coming up when he had seen the two talking.
Talking... and actually holding a conversation.
Rei had seemed almost giddy when his Father had shown up, and he wished
he'd had an audio pickup handy. They hadn't spoken for long, but it had been
long enough for the jealously to creep into Shinji's mind. He just couldn't
shake it off, even hours later. They had looked... like a father and daughter.
He wanted to hate them for that. He wanted to hate them both for being so
close when he barely knew the commander... but he couldn't do it.
Letting out what might have been his twentieth sigh of the day, he took the
trash down and went back inside to get dressed. Misato had invited Dr. Akagi
over for dinner and it was going to be bad enough since Misato had insisted on
cooking again.
'How in the world can she consider that junk food edible?' he thought as he
changed clothes, 'and what's wrong with her sense of taste anyhow? Is it the
beer that makes her think that curry spice goes with everything humans can consume?'
Deciding that it was unlikely that he would ever understand the woman who was
his legal guardian, he finished dressing and went to the living room to watch some
television before company arrived.
As he leaned back on one of the cushions he heard a phone ring. It took him a
moment to realize that it wasn't the one in the kitchen. A bit confused, he
followed the sound to his room, where he discovered that it was his cell phone.
Picking it up and answering the call he wondered if it was an emergency.
"Hello?"
Hikari's voice greeted him form the other end with a cheerful, "Hi Shinji!"
"Um... hello," Shinji replied, a little taken aback that someone had actually
called him.
"Whatcha doing?"
"Well," he said as his mind began working again, "one of Misato's co-workers
is coming over tonight for dinner. I just got through with the cleaning, so I was
just taking a quick break."
"I see... Well the reason I called is... you know that my hearing is the day
after tomorrow right?"
"I didn't realize it was so close."
"Yeah it came too fast for me too, but anyway I was going over my paperwork
and I saw that you're going to be absent tomorrow for duty... I just wanted to say
goodbye in case I didn't get a chance to see you again."
"_What_?"
"They might expel me for the incident Shinji. it's not a possibility I like
to think about, but one that's there. Anyway I wanted to say goodbye and to thank
you for protecting all of us. And if it's not too much trouble, keep an eye on
Kensuke and Touji? Those two could get in trouble in a padded cell."
"Hikari..." Shinji started to say something but just didn't have the words.
"I should go-- you're going to have company soon... You're a good person
Shinji, I'm glad I had the chance to know you."
As they said goodbye and Shinji set the phone down, a funny--and not entirely
unpleasant-- feeling crept across his skin, not unlike an electric current. He walked
out to the patio and leaned over the rail. There had to be something he could do
about this, but what?
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Um... What is this exactly?" Ritsuko asked as she eyed her food suspiciously.
"Its curry silly," Misato told her with a smile, She'd already grabbed her
fifth beer of the evening, and the food was only just now ready to eat-- assuming
it was even editable this time.
"Please don't tell me you still try and live off this instant crap Misato!"
"Humph," Misato said as she popped the top on her beverage, "I shouldn't have
to remind you my dear friend that you are a guest and have no right to complain."
Sensing the conversation might degenerate even further if left to its own devices,
Shinji quickly offered Misato some of the alleged curry. Smiling in her half-drunken
state, she held up an instant ramen cup.
"Just slop some of that stuff on this stuff!" she told him.
"Um... you're kidding, right? He asked hopefully.
"Of course not silly, it's a nummy treat! You can't get the same savory taste with
just plain cup 'o noodle, you gotta even out the water and make sure you get it nice
and thick! It takes years of practice to do it right, mind you."
'Please let us survive this so called meal' Shinji prayed privately as he poured
some of the curry into the cup. Meanwhile Ritsuko had taken a bite of the food
and had seemingly frozen in place. She slowly and apparently painfully swallowed
and then downed her entire glass of tea.
"Misato cooked didn't she?" she said as she held back a coughing fit, "Next time
invite me over when its Shinji's turn okay?" letting out a sigh, she refilled her cup and
cpntinued, "Shinji, you might want to consider a new roommate before this madwoman's
habits ruin your life."
"Actually," Shinji said as he pushed around his 'food' to keep Misato from realizing
it was going uneaten, "I'm starting to get used to it."
"Hesh right Ritsu, never doubt the adaptapility of mankind... um Shinji sweetie?
Could you grab me another beer? Thanks. Beshides, if he did move out he'd have to
go through a sea of red tape. I just got his perminininate security card today you know."
"Oh! I can't believe I forgot _again_!" Ritsuko exclaimed as she hit her forehead
lightly with her palm, " hey Shinji could you do me a favor on your way to work
tomorrow?"
"Hmm?" Shinji replied as he returned with Misato's sixth beer, "what is it"
"Ayanami just got her card renewed and I keep forgetting to give it to her. Could
you drop it off at her place before you go in tomorrow? I'll give you the address."
"Sure, no problem," he told her as he took the card. Holding it up, he glanced at the
photo of the first child and the glance turned into a look. The look would most likely
have turned into a stare, but Misato caught on and let out a drunken giggle.
"You're looking at her picture arn'tcha Shinji?" she said with a playful grin.
"Huh? What? No!" Shinji said as he realized that she was insinuating the same thing
his new friends had on the track field.
'And she's about as stubborn as they are' he thought as he tried to think of something
to say. Ritsuko seemed to find the whole thing highly amusing, but at least she wasn't
laughing.
"I wasn't!" he said in what he meant to be a firm tone of voice. Unfortunately it came
out as defensive and nervous.
"Yesh you were, I can tell!" Misato said, "now ya got an excuse to go over to her
housh... and a good one too, don't you think?"
"Rrrrgh" Shinji grunted as he sat down, " stop teasing me!"
"Awww, but its so much fun, you go so balishtik"
"Kind of like you huh Misato?" Ritsu said finally speaking up. For some reason that
Shinji didn't quite understand, the Captain looked at them for a moment, then blushed
bright red. He made a quick mental note to ask Dr. Akagi to explain that some day.
"It's... I just think it's strange that I don't know anything about her even though
we're both pilots." He said while looking down at his plate.
"She's a... nice girl" Ritsuko said a bit hesitantly, "but she's a good deal like
your father. She's not very adept at..."
"At what?" Shinji asked hopefully.
"At living I guess." Ritsuko finished somewhat cryptically
[]====[]
[]====[]
He couldn't believe anyone lived in a neighborhood like that.
Despite the construction he could hear going on, it didn't look as if anyone had
lived in this part of town for decades. Cracks crisscrossed the streets and sidewalks,
and everything was covered in concrete dust. That was most likely due to the
construction, but it just made the area look worse.
The strange part was that even though the apartments were designed for high
occupancy, there didn't seem to be anyone living there at all. It was eerie to walk
down the street and not see anyone; it made him feel almost as if he was the only
one on earth... It was disturbing to say the least.
Rei's apartment was #402 and even it looked abandoned. Letters and advertisements
were jammed into the mail slot to the point of overflow and there was trash all up and
down the walkway. Did anyone even live here? And to make matters stranger, how
could a _girl_ live like this? If he hadn't seen her name above the door he never would
have believed it. However, after he had tried the doorbell a few times before convincing
himself that it was broken, he began to doubt she was even home.
'Oh great... if I don't give this to her, she can't get into headquarters and
someone will chew me out for blowing it off. Think Shinji, maybe I could just leave
it in the mail? No, she obviously never checks it. I wonder...'
He reached out and tried the doorknob, and to his surprise it turned. The door
swung open and he found himself with a slight dilemma.
"Um... Ayanami? Are you home?" He called from the door.
'I cant hear anything with all this construction going on.' he realized quickly and
stepped inside to the foyer. Shutting the door he thankfully found that it blocked
out a good deal of the sound, and he called out again
"Miss Ayanami?"
Not knowing what else to do, and a bit curious as to whether or not anyone
actually lived in the tiny apartment, he removed his shoes and stepped past the
small kitchen into the living area.
'This is... worse than outside!' he realized with a start. The walls and floor were
completely bare, revealing the concrete slabs used in the foundation. The only furniture
was a bed, a chair, a fridge, and a dresser. there was an item on the dresser, flashing
in the dim light that a curtain behind the bed allowed in.
Stepping closer he saw that it was a pair of glasses.
'That's funny, I've never seen her wear any.' Shinji thought as he stepped up to the
dresser and picked them up. They were bent and the glass was cracked in several places,
but what immediately caught his eye was an etching on the rim of one side.
G. Ikari.
"Father?" he whispered aloud.
Whatever line off thought that might have brought, however, was banished as a sound
from behind startled him. Turning he saw Rei Ayanami stepping into the living room clad
only in a towel, and not very well covered at that.
'Ohm'GodI'madeadman' repeated over and over in his mind as the nearly nude young
lady looked at him, and then to his hands where he held the glasses. He did a fairly good
job of not passing out, but as she strode towards him, Shinji finally began to panic. When
she reached towards him he lost it.
Stumbling backwards, he hit her dresser and let out a yelp as she swiped the glasses
from his hands. As she pulled the glasses a bit of relief fell over him, unfortunately he
wasn't
very well balanced and as she took a short step back, his bag caught on the dresser and he
fell forward.
Right on her.
He couldn't move. He knew he should, he knew he _had_ to move; but he was too
stunned and his panic was too high for him to even think straight, let alone move. As he
kneeled there looking into her red eyes he tried to start his brain, but had no success. It
wasn't until she spoke that he finally was able to even think straight.
"Will you get off?" she asked calmly displaying none of the anger he had expected.
The higher functions of his brain finally rebooting, he managed to move his eyes away
from hers, only to realize that his left hand was pressed right against her breast.
"Yeep!" he gasped as he scrambled back. Clambering to his feet he turned from her
and tried his best to apologies
"I'm... um I didn't mean... um I, er..." he stammered as he wondered if he had left
anything out of the will they had made him write.
"Why are you here?" Rei asked as she began to dress.
"Hum? What? Oh yes, well its... um I think, oh yeah the card, your card! Doctor
Akagi asked me to deliver it to you so I um... well that's..."
He might have gone on like that for several hours, except as he continued to babble
his apologies, he heard the front door close and he was suddenly alone in the apartment.
"Wha?" he said aloud in total confusion. Had she just walked out on him?
[]====[]
[]====[]
Sure enough that's exactly what she had done. He finally caught up with her about
three blocks down the road. She didn't seem to see him-- or if she did, she apparently
didn't care. After another three blocks they finally reached one of the Geofront Access
gates. As he dug around his pocket to finally give her the card, he heard a beeping sound.
Looking up he saw that she was trying to gain access using her old card, and was
receiving
no clearance. Suppressing a smile he removed the card from his pocket and walked up.
"Clearance for Central Dogma access gate number four approved" the feminine
recording announced as he slid her card thought the reader. She looked at it, then at
him, still showing no sign of annoyance or any other emotion.
"This is your new card Miss Ayanami, Doctor Akagi asked me to deliver-" as he
spoke she reached out and plucked it from his hand before continuing into the access
gate.
"-it to you..." he finished before shrugging and entering the complex himself.
'She is so _strange_,' he thought as he follower her into the base.
[]====[]
[]====[]
'And I thought I was quiet' he thought as they rode the almost eternally long escalator
down to the ground floors of the Geofront. 'Perhaps I ought to say something, I saw her
and Hikari talking so at least there's a precedent-- no mater what the other kids say. Plus
I still gotta apologize...'
"Um... I'm sorry about that," he said in what he hoped was a friendly voice, he didn't
have much experience in these things.
"What for?" she asked in the same soft mysterious voice.
"Um... well..." okay, he decided, new line of conversation, "I heard your activation
experiment is today, I, um, hope it goes well."
Silence from the young girl.
"Are... are you afraid of getting in that thing?"
"Why should I be?"
'Does she ever give a direct answer?' he thought before continuing "well I heard
you got hurt pretty bad last time, but you don't seem nervous, I was just wondering
if you were scared is all."
"You are commander Ikari's son are you not?"
"Yes."
"Do you have no faith in your own fathers work?"
What was this? Now she was grilling _him_?
"Of course not," He replied hotly, " how could I ever trust him? He's no father
at all!"
This was when she slapped him.
He never saw it coming, and even though it wasn't a powerful strike, it stung
like blazes and left him stunned for the rest of the trip. In fact, he stayed confused
right through the experiment. Right up until the sirens began to go off.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"I'm worried about him." Hikari told her sister as they sat in the shelter.
It had been hours since the alert had gone off, and the authorities had still not
given them any news. This was the longest the city had been under alert yet; it was
almost seven and still nothing. Nozomi had wandered off and their father was
working somewhere at the lab, and this left the two uncomfortably alone.
"Oh? You mean the pilot kid right?" Kodama asked with an amused tone, " the
one you swore wasn't your boyfriend?"
"I barely know him! It's just that... after what I saw I can't help but worry."
"How bad on him can it be? The boys in school are raving otakus for that sort of
stuff-- he's probably loving it."
"You haven't seen it Kodama... It's not some game. I saw him have a nervous
breakdown in the middle of the fight you know."
"Which is why I'm curious as to why you're so fixated on him."
"Will you _stop_ that? He is my friend, and he is a nice boy who is in a
dangerous situation. Why shouldn't I worry about him?"
"Okay, okay, but I do wish you'd stop hanging out with all these guys-- they
do nothing but get you in trouble
"That's not fair Kodama."
"Oh really? So it _wasn't_ the famous 'idiot duo's' fault that you're about to
be kicked out of school?"
"I told you; it was my own fault, I should have gone back for an adult" Hikari
said angrily.
"And if you'd stopped hanging out with them last year when I first asked, you
wouldn't have had to do that either."
"At least I have friends," Hikari said coldly as she stood and walked away.
[]====[]
[]====[]
He hurt all over.
Being boiled alive did that to a person of course, and that's what had happened
to Shinji. The Fifth Angel had arrived over Tokyo Three just as they finished Unit
Zero's activation and he had taken Unit One out to fight. Before he could even lift
a weapon however, the strongest beam of energy he had ever seen erupted from
of the giant eight-sided figure and had begun to burn into Unit One's chest. The
LCL had overheated and he had mercifully passed out in a daze of pain.
But not before experiencing enough to ensure at least a month of nightmares
about being a lobster.
As he drifted back to consciousness he was well aware that every inch of his skin
felt like it had been scrubbed by a Brillo pad and then dipped in lemon juice. Even so,
he felt better than he had any right to, and by all means he should be dead. As he opened
his eyes to find the hospital ceiling he let out a sigh of sad amusement.
"Well at least it's familiar now."
A few moments passed and the door slid open. Turning to look; he saw Rei enter
his room pushing a tray of food.
As he watched on in silence she placed the tray beside him and pulled out a small
book with a Nerv logo
"I'm here to inform you of the schedule of Operation Yashima." She told him calmly
as ever, "It will begin at 0:00 hours. The two pilots, Ikari and Ayanami, will scramble at
the cage at 17:30 hours today. At 18:00 hours, ready Units One and Zero. At 18:05
hours, launch. At 18:30 hours, arrive at the Emergency Base on Mt. Futagoyama. We
will wait there for further instructions. The operation will commence at midnight."
She closed the book and stood there for a moment before setting a plugsuit down
on the bed.
"Here is your fresh uniform. Don't show up looking like that."
Shinji looked down and yelped as he realized that his sheets had slid down more
than he cared for them to. Quickly scrambling back under them he bowed his head
and began to mumble another apology. As he did so, he stopped himself however
and sighed
"I've been apologizing since this morning..."
"The doctors informed me you were to eat when you awoke." Rei said, seemingly
not paying attention to anything he had said.
"I don't think I could keep it down."
"You should attempt, we depart in sixty minutes."
"Do I really have to get back into that thing?" he asked almost pleadingly"
"Yes you do." She said simply.
"You don't understand," Shinji said softly, " you can be so cool about it because
you haven't had to go through the things I have... I don't want to do it again. I can't..."
"Then stay here."
Shinji raised his head and looked at her in surprise.
"I will pilot Unit One, Doctor Akagi is ready to rewrite the core data should that
become necessary."
"Doctor Akagi..."
"I must go, Captain Katsuragi and Doctor Akagi are awaiting me."
With that she turned and walked to the door. She said one more thing before
she left. As the door slid closed behind her, she looked at him and said goodbye.
For some reason it sent chills down his spine.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"What's wrong, Hikari?" Nozomi asked as she sat down beside her sister.
"I had another fight with Kodama." Hikari replied reluctantly. Her younger sister
nodded sagely and leaned back on her elbows.
"What was this one about?"
"Well I don't know if that's easy to answer. We were arguing about some of
my friends, but I don't think that's why we were fighting... I think that she's
disappointed in me."
"Oooooohhh the school thing again?"
"Yeah, the hearing is tomorrow and I think that's what the little spat we had
was really about."
"Could be, but maybe she isn't really mad, maybe its something else."
"Really? How do you figure?"
"Well, it's not like either of you have ever been very good at coming out
and saying stuff that's really personal. Remember when she had that crush on
wazhisname? She beat around the bush for months and never came out and
said it. Eventually he found someone else and she lost whatever chance she
did have. And don't try to tell me you're not the same way. She was kinda
jealous when you first go the class rep job, but I think she was finally starting
to be proud of how well you were doing when all this happened. Now she's
confused cuz she doesn't know what to think"
"You ever consider doing an advice section in the school paper?"
"Why give it away when I could start a business of it? No, the free advice
is just for family."
"Thanks sis" Hikari said as she gave the younger girl a hug "I'll apologize to
Kodama first chance I get."
"Hey, can't have my two favorite people fighting all the time" Nozomi said
with a smile, "now tell me more about this pilot guy, is he cute?"
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Oh god don't let her be dead!" Shinji prayed as he tried to pull the hatch
to Unit Zero's entry plug open.
Things had gone sour with the first shot. Whatever the Angel's energy
beam was made of it had some weird distortion effect on the positron
canon's own discharge and he had missed.
As he'd chambered in the fresh round and tried to will the canon to cool
faster, the Angel had fired again. Just before the devastating wave of energy
struck him Rei had jumped into position. The shield that they had provided
was designed to provide seventeen seconds of protection before giving out.
This was a problem seeing as how the rifle required at least three more
seconds than that before he could fire again.
As her shield gave way and Unit Zero took the full brunt of the onslaught,
Shinji took aim and opened fire. This time the blast struck home and in the
distance the angel fell to earth in flames. As he looked back however, he
saw Unit Zero falling as well, its armor melted and twisted from the heat.
Now as he opened the plug's emergency access hatch in an uncanny
duplication of his father's actions almost a month before he wondered if
Rei Ayanami had gone out intending to die. Her last words to him had
been spoken as if she would never see him again, and they way she
had said goodbye had been made infinitely more disturbing than had
been when she'd said the same at the hospital.
"Rei! Are you alright?" he cried as he climbed into the Entryplug to
find the pale girl lying in the pilot seat. As he reached for her hand he
remembered her words as they had waited for the order to move out.
"I have nothing else," she had said.
"Rei?" he said again a bit louder as he saw her head turn slightly. As
her eyes opened he couldn't hold the tears back anymore, he had been
so afraid she had died… that she had died for something as worthless
as saving his life. As the tears streamed down his cheeks he began to speak.
"Don't say you have nothing else, and don't say goodbye before leaving
on a mission, its just too sad!"
She leaned up in the chair and looked at him with confusion.
"Why... why are you crying?" She asked
Shinji sniffed back a sob and told her that he was crying because he
was happy she was alive.
"I see..." she said as she looked down, "I am sorry, but I do not know
what I should do or say at a time like this."
"If you're happy... then you should smile" he told her as he calmed
down a bit.
She nodded and sat there for another moment before he began helping
her out of the Entryplug. He wasn't sure if she had even listened to what he
had said until his eyes met hers and he realized that there was a soft look in
them, another closer glance and he realized that she was actually smiling for
the first time since he had met her.
As they made their way up the path toward the oncoming emergency crew,
he decided that a smile suited her.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Please step outside while we deliberate." The school council told the
few people in the audience.
It had gone about as she had expected, and save for the presence of
most of her classmates, it had been an awful experience. Touji and Kensuke
had actually spoken on her behalf, and although they hadn't done very well,
she was proud of the two for standing up for her. They had tried to take the
entire blame for the incident and while they had been less than convincing,
she did appreciate the effort that her friends had made. The committee was
not easy to speak to, mostly due to the fact that none of them wanted to be
there in the first place.
As she waited outside with her classmates, she made half-hearted
acknowledgments to the ones who were wishing her luck and telling
her they would miss her if she had to go. She was feeling very depressed
however, and Kodama still wasn't speaking to her. Not only that, but
She hadn't heard from Shinji since she had called him the other night and
she was worried for him. They had defeated the angel, the one Kensuke
kept referring to a giantD8--whatever that was. Unfortunatly there was still
no word on the condition of the pilots.
Rumors were spreading that someone had seen Unit One take a full force
blast not too long after the first siren. It was possible that Shinji was hurt
badly... and there was no way for her to find out.
As she sat there, she saw a familiar figure walk around a corner and up to
the door where her fate was being decided. It was the blond woman who had
taken her and the boys' blood samples after the incident that this entire mess
stemmed from. As Hikari watched on, the woman opened the door and entered
the meeting hall. A few minutes later, she walked out with a slight smile.
Realizing that the woman worked for Nerv, Hikari stood and hurried after
her, catching up just before a set of elevators.
"Excuse me ma'am?"
"Yes?" The woman responded as she turned.
"I don't mean to be rude, but do you work for Nerv?"
"Yes I do actually," the woman responded with an amused voice.
"Um... I was wondering, if it isn't classified I mean, if you know if
Pilot Ikari is all right? He's a friend of mine and I was worried."
"You're Hikari Horaki aren't you?" the women asked as her smile widened.
"Um, yes ma'am."
"Shinji's fine, and he's actually part of the reason I stopped by here
today."
"I'm sorry?"
"It's not really important, but as I said, he is fine and you should
see him in school within two weeks."
Before Hikari could even begin to explain about the hearing, the
elevator opened and the blond woman stepped in. As the doors closed
Hikari let out a sigh of relief that her friend was alright. It was
too bad that she probably wouldn't have a chance to see him though.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"After careful consideration of all the factors involved in this
incident, we have decided that while the charges are severe, the
circumstances surrounding them point to no real wrongdoing on the part
of Miss Horaki. However, due to her lack of judgment we are placing
her on probation and any further breaches of discipline will result
in loss of her rank as class representative."
Hikari could not have been more surprised; it just wasn't
possible. She had fully expected the worst punishment that the
school had available for her screw up. For them to be this lenient
was unreal.
As she stood there in a state of not unpleasant shock, the rest
of her class cheered behind her and she suddenly found her sister
beside her. The older girl gave her a hug and as they left the building
(after about an hour of praise from her classmates) Kodama spoke up.
"Congratulations sis."
"Thank you Kodama."
"I think I owe you an apology for what I said last night. I was way
out of line."
" Its okay, I shouldn't have snapped at you.
"It's not okay... I think I was a bit jealous."
"Jealous? Of what?"
"Well when I was class rep, I didn't have many friends... well
any real ones. I was a bit of a bitch and didn't really care about it
at the time. When you got the job and I heard that you were... well
at the time I thought you were slacking off and wouldn't last a month.
Then you not only kept the job but seemed to be doing a good job, well
lets just say that after I didn't win the position in my class this
year a green eyed monster bit me."
"You've been talking with Nozomi haven't you?"
"How can you tell?"
"She says we both tend to beat around the bush too much and that
whole bit just now sounded more like her than you... or me for that
matter."
Kodama smiled and let out a chuckle. "Ok, you got me there, she
gave me a pointer or two. Hey you want to go to the mall?"
"Well actually if your not busy I was wondering if you wouldn't
mind making a quick stop somewhere..."
[]====[]
[]====[]
As he sat in the living room, Shinji Ikari swore that he was never going to eat
anything that had been boiled ever again.
His entire body felt sore, and that wasn't counting the constant itching his
clothing was causing as it brushed his skin. Ritsuko had assured him that the
aching would be gone in a few day's as his skin finished repairing the outer
layers, but until then he would still feel like hell warmed... boiled over.
He only dimly heard the doorbell and as Misato answered he tuned even that
out until she called his name.
"Hey Shinji!" she yelled from beyond the kitchen, "get decent, we got company!"
He rolled his eyes and got to his feet. Just because she wandered the house
half-naked didn't mean everyone else did too. As he walked into the kitchen he
was more than a bit surprised to find Hikari and a slightly older girl he didn't
know walking in after Misato.
"Shinji!" Hikari said cheerfully as she saw him, "guess what?"
"Hi Hikari, what's going on?" he asked as he wondered who the other girl was.
"I didn't get expelled or even booted off as class rep!" she said with obvious joy.
"That's great Hikari!" Shinji said as Misato agreed, "I'm glad, we would have
missed you at school."
The other girl looked back and forth between the two and smirked. Shinji saw
this and immediately grew worried, she had just mimicked perfectly what he tended
to think of as a 'Misato smirk' and it usually signaled an imminent round of teasing.
"You were right Hikari, he is a sweetie." The older girl sad, immediately sending
Misato into a gigglefit. Hikari, meanwhile blushed furiously and looked at the girl
with an obvious desire to strangle her.
"Kodama!" she said with indignation, " that wasn't nice."
"You're right, I should at least introduce myself before I start teasing someone.
I'm Hikari's older sister Kodama. By the way I am very pleased you meet you Mr.
Ikari, and you as well Captain Katsuragi. Thank you both for saving my sister's life
the other day."
"Oh, just doing our jobs Kodama, and lets all be friends here, He's Shinji and I'm
Misato."
"Sounds fine by me," Kodama said. As the two began talking, Shinji and Hikari
slipped out unnoticed into the living room.
"Oh great, " Shinji muttered, " there's two of them now."
Between the giggles that this statement caused in Hikari, she agreed "I think bringing
sismay not have been one of my better moves.
"Well at least they seem to be getting along," Shinji said, "I am glad you didn't get
into much trouble though, I've been worried about it ever since you called the other night. I
would have been there but they didn't release me until an hour ago and Misato wanted
me to stay inside."
"Well I should be thanking you anyway, that doctor lady said something and I think
that had more to do with their decision than anything."
"Doctor lady?"
"The one with the lab coat and the short blond hair."
"Oh you mean Doctor Akagi? Was she there?"
"You didn't know? She implied that she was there because of you."
"Well she was in the room when I was asking Misato if there was anything we could
do to help you... maybe she thought of something."
"Well thank her for me next time you see her okay?"
"Absolutely. "Shinji said.
As they talked about school for a bit, Misato leaned in and asked to speak with 'the
lovebirds' for a moment. As they blushed and complained about the teasing they stepped
back into the kitchen.
Misato was sitting at the table with Kodama and asked them to sit down.
"Okay, listen up cuz I'm about to get serious for a change-- don't worry it won't last
long. Anyway, look-- the two of you are friends and I'm happy about that, but I want you
to remember that Shinji works for a organization that has many top secret projects. I
don't want either of you discussing Nerv when you can help it, and never _ever_ talk about it
or the Evas over the phone. Do you understand that?"
Shinji and Hikari nodded.
"Good, now who wants to play quarters?"
[]======================[]
To be Continued...
[]======================[]
Authors incoherent babbling
I skipped over a lot of the fight because like I said awhile back, we've seen
these in the episodes, and in this case it didn't have a lot to do with the story I'm
telling (not to mention it didn't go any differently).
Other stuff, whatcha think of Hikari's sisters? My concepts for them are as follows:
About the * I don't know just how Japanese schools are structured, but if they
are like what I know, then junior high is two years. I'm going on the assumption of
Kodama being class rep all the way up to high school.
Kodama: after realizing that she was something of a jerk while class rep she had
become a little jealous of Hikari, but felt bad about feeling that way. Now that that's
behind them I intend to play her a bit like Misato in the fact that she teases Hikari
about Shinji often. She and Misato hit it off and will be friends, (should be a good
way to do more scenes with the 'lovebirds' together) (not them you hentai, I meant
Shinji and Hikari!)
Nozomi: a little imp. She is sharp as a monomolecular edge and loves it when
people don't realize this. She plays up the helpwess wittle goil act and uses it
to fool people into thinking she's a flake. Her sisters know better, and keep
an eye on her. She is full of useful advice and surprises people often with this.
Hotwire
Chain Lightning Studios
http://hotwire182.freeyellow.com/chainlightning.html
property of Gainax. They are used without permission and we beg the
kind and benevolent creators of the glorious show not to sue us. ^_^
Chain Lightning Studios Presents
Together We Stand
By T. L. Webb
We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teacher, leave those kids alone
'The Wall part 2'
Pink Floyd 'The Wall'
[]===============[]
Book 1 Part 3
[]===============[]
Under ordinary circumstances, breakfast at the Horaki residence
was a cheerful event.
On this particular morning however, Nozomi could sense a tension
between her sisters Hikari and Kodama. It had started awhile back when
Hikari got in trouble. She hadn't told them exactly what had happened,
but they did know the basics. They also knew that the incident had put
Hikari at risk of being expelled from her school. It was a big mess and
they didn't know quite what was going to happen.
As she watched her sisters eat in silence, she wished her father
were around more often. He had been working so hard as of late, ever
since Project E had received the extra funding he had even been sleeping
at the labs. On a good week he was home just long enough to sleep and
shower. On a bad one he only came home once or twice.
Fortunately she and her sisters could take care of themselves--their
parents had been keeping long and odd hours for years now. Unfortunately
being self-sufficient didn't make her miss her dad any less. Especially with
her sisters acting like they were.
"I better get going," Hikari said at last as she took her plate to
the sink.
"Why bother?" Kodama asked with a tone that Nozomi didn't like at all.
"What is that supposed to mean Kodama?" Hikari asked with hurt
registering in her voice.
Nozomi frowned at this. It was obvious to her that whatever had been
brewing earlier was about to hit, and while she wasn't so keen on being at
ground zero-- she did want to find out what was bothering the two so much.
"Just what it sounds like," Kodama said with ice edging into her voice,
"why bother, its not like you're going to be there much longer."
"I can not _believe_ you just said that!" Hikari shouted, obviously hurt
by what their sister's words.
"Am I not allowed to be humiliated by what happened?" Kodama asked
vehemently, "I spent two years as class rep at that junior high, and look what
you've done to the title."
"Just leave me _alone_!" Hikari said, turning away from her sister so the
older girl wouldn't see the tears that were forming.
"Why? So you can pretend nothing happened for the next few days?
Or maybe you just want to--"
"Kodama!" Nozomi said, finally speaking up, "stop."
Kodama looked over at her in shock, she had forgotten that her younger
sister was even there-- as usual. Nozomi wondered just how long they would
keep doing that. As many times as Nozomi had gotten dirt on the two this way--
she would have thought that by now they would know better.
"You two better stop it before I decide to tell dad," he said as she
got up and grabbed her bag off the back of the table, " lets go Hikari."
Hikari blinked back the tears that were forming and nodded-- thankful for
the escape that was being offered. They left the house without another word,
and made their way to the elementary school.
"She didn't mean it," Nozomi told her sister.
"Yes she did..." Hikari said softly as she walked beside her, " and I
deserve it."
"Don't give me that," Nozomi said, " you were tying to save Touji and
Kensuke's lives weren't you?"
"Yes..."
"Then you didn't do anything bad. The school might not see it that way,
but if I catch you glooming around about this again I'm going to be forced
to take extreme measures"
Hikari smiled at that, she apparently still remembered the last time
Nozomi had taken 'extreme measures' with Kodama.
"I'm sorry sis," She told the younger girl as she gave her a hug, "it's
just that this thing happened at the worst time."
"You mean there's a _good_ time for it to happen?"
"I suppose not, but its timing is still horrible... there's this new kid
in class and he really could use a friend or two. If I leave then I would
have to leave the job to Touji and Kensuke. I trust them, but... well
you know how they can get."
"Yeah, I remember... so what's so special about this new guy?"
"Well... He's the pilot of the Eva."
"Really? So why would he have any problems making friends?
"It's a long story... I'll tell you another time" Hikari said with a
smile, she seemed to be feeling much better now. Nozomi grinned at that.
Her job here was done
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Morning Shinji!" Hikari called as she rounded a corner and seeing him
at the stoplight. She hadn't realized that they took such a similar route to
school. at least _something_ good would come out this day.
"Good morning Hikari" Shinji replied as she stepped up next to where
he stood. As they waited for the light to change Hikari made a show of
looking around and scratching her head as if befuddled by something.
Obviously confused at her behavior, Shinji finally broke down and asked
what she was doing.
"I was just looking for the idiot duo... they're usually walking with you
when you get to class."
"Oh they showed as usual, but since Nerv started the analysis of the
Angel today, Kensuke wanted to get a look at it before class."
"Why didn't you go?"
"I'm going with Misato after school-- besides, I've already seen enough
of it to last me awhile."
"Shinji I know you don't like to pilot much, but you should take more
interest. Anything you can learn about those things might help you."
"I guess," Shinji said as they walked across the street, "but it's just
hard for me to get excited about it, I'm still trying to find my center in
all of this."
"Well how are you and Misato doing? Are things better now?"
"Yeah... I think she's proud that I stayed, but she still wont stop teasing
me."
"That's just her way. My sisters are the same way-- especially Kodama.
She's one of those people who can't let an opening slide by."
"She's the one who was class rep a year or two ago right?"
"Yeah, the 'nitrogen queen' of Tokyo Three junior high," Hikari said with
a roll of her eyes.
"Was she that bad?"
"Well she had this whole control trip thing going on back then so I can't
rule out the possibility, but she isn't a mean person... well most of the time.
It's a tough call; she might have just been really strict. Maybe if I'd been
more like that I wouldn't be in trouble."
"I'm sorry..."
"It's not your fault. You didn't make me go out there with those two
blockheads."
"Yeah, but I still wish there was something I could do to help. I mean, if
I at least hadn't answered that private message you wouldn't be in as much
trouble."
"That group was well beyond human control Shinji. I doubt even Kodama
herself could have reigned them at that point."
"I still feel guilty about it."
"Shinji, you have got to learn to let some things go-- taking every little
thing and blaming yourself for it won't make it better. You can only deal
with so much guilt before it gets out of hand."
"I guess..."
"Shinji, I'm going to get you to relax one of these days and I just hope
Kensuke has his camera there to record the incident."
[]====[]
[]====[]
An hour before lunch, the teacher's lesson plan went down on the
desk and 94% of the class tuned out of reality.
As the teacher droned on and on, Kensuke began taking an interest
in the latest rumors flying around the classroom's chatsite. Thankfully
Hikari was distracted with something, because the prime topic of discussion
was her.
[Yume] well, I heard that they're going to expel her
[Touji] that's ridiculous!! they're not going to do that!
[Ichigo] yeah, there not kicking jock-boy or G. I. Joker out, why her?
[Touji] hey! watch it!
[Yume] well its what I heard, and they would too because she has more
responsibility so the punishment is harsher
[Reisho] well I think we should do something, it's not fair
[Denki] I agree, hey Kensuke, when is this hearing?
[Kensuke] in a couple of days, I'll let you know
[Kiri] yeah, Denki's right we should do something, if for no other
reason because she isn't as mean as her sister was
[Ichigo] well not all of us were there for it, but I guess you'd know.
[Kiri] hey it wasn't my fault!
[Denki] oh yes, explain to us again how your getting left back for
two years 'wasn't your fault' I love this story.
[Kiri] oh shut up
[Yume] hey did you hear the latest about Ayanami?
As the ever-changing discussion rambled along, Kensuke made good on
his promise and started looking around for the school schedule. The School
board was meeting in two days and that's when they would decide Hikari's
fate. It was likely that she would loose her job, and that was if they were
lenient.
He felt awful about it mostly because it had been his idea to go out
there in the first place. Had they stayed in the shelter none of it would
have happened. He intended to make it up to her somehow, and to that end
he was dipping into some of the school's more secured files.
If he got lucky he would find what he was looking for. Meanwhile he
had a few questions for Shinji. He sent out a private message and made
certain that his new lockout program was in effect so that Hikari would
be unable to eavesdrop.
[Kensuke] hey Shinji got a minute?
[Shinji] according to the clock I have about twenty-seven of them.
[Kensuke] provided you don't fall asleep that is, but anyway; do you
think I could go with you to see the Angel?
[Shinji] I doubt it, Misato says I need to be more careful about even
talking about them with you guys.
[Kensuke] well crap. We couldn't even get a good look this morning.
They have a huge tent covering the whole thing.
[Shinji] wish I could help, but I'm still on probation with Misato for
running off
[Kensuke] Probation?
[Shinji] yeah, I have to check in with her every hour or so that I'm not
in school. Plus they docked my pay and I have to do this whole
crazy password thing even if I just want to use my cashcard.
[Kensuke] well, I don't want you to get in any more trouble... speaking
of trouble, are you going with us to Hikari's hearing?
[Shinji] I'm going to try to, I'll talk with Misato and find out if I have
any tests for that day.
With that Kensuke and Shinji closed out their discussion and tried their
hardest to survive the monotonous droning of the teacher.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Mind if I join you?"
Shinji opened is eyes and saw Hikari standing beside him. He rarely
spent much time on his lunch. Neither Misato's cooking nor the school
box lunches held much appeal-- so for the last few days he had just
found a place to spent his lunch hour relaxing in the shade.
Not having a sane reason to refuse, he nodded as Hikari joined in
the shade. After unpacking her bento, she began looking around in
admiration of the scenery.
"This is a nice spot Shinji. It's a wonder no one else uses it."
"Well it's kind of out in the open, and most of the others tend to
find more private places to eat."
"That doesn't sound like you at all," she said with a giggle.
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked as a blush rose to his face.
"Sitting somewhere high profile like this... I 'd picture you off
in a quiet corner or something."
Shinji blushed even deeper and didn't say anything for a moment.
Finally he said, "Well the truth is... I... oh never mind, its dumb."
"You can tell me," Hikari said as she poured some sauce on her
food, " I swear I won't repeat it."
"Well... it's just that, I was hoping someone would see me and come
over"
Hikari paused in mid bite. "If you wanted company, why didn't you
just go up and ask if you could sit with one of the other groups"
This was obviously embarrassing Shinji, so she decided to drop the
subject. "Hey," she told him, "if you don't want to talk about it you
don't have to."
"No, its okay," he said after another pause, "I think I was afraid they
wouldn't let me join them. I... just didn't want to... be rejected I guess."
Hikari started to tell Shinji that he was being silly and that nothing
like that would happen, but then she remembered something that she had seen
the year before. A new student had done just that: gone up to one of the
lunch groups and had asked to join them. The group hadn't been very polite
about it; in fact they had been downright mean. She had seen all this happen
and while she hadn't done anything at the time, she had been angry with the
kids and had made a point not to speak with them if she could help it for
the rest of that year. The incident wasn't uncommon, some kids were just
plain mean and they inevitably targeted students they felt were easy
marks. It was just one of the things that you had to accept about school
life.
Fortunately there was little of that in her class, but Shinji didn't
know that, and she honestly couldn't blame him for being nervous.
"Why didn't you sit with Touji and Kensuke?" she asked, " I'm sure
they would have been happy for you to join them for lunch."
"I would if I knew where they were-- that's another reason I was out
here. I looked around the other day, but I don't know where they eat."
"Oh?" Hikari said with surprise, "they eat on the roof. Didn't you
even ask them?"
"Haven't had the chance, and when I did I just didn't think about
it," Shinji told her with an embarrassed smile, "I'll pay them a visit
tomorrow... hey, how come you're out here? Don't you usually eat in
the classroom?"
"I do, but with the hearing coming up this week I decided that I
might as well enjoy the company of my fellow students for a change,
who knows if I'll have a chance afterwards."
"Is it that serious? I know some of the rumors say it is but..."
"I don't know" she said with a sigh " going out there like that
was a huge display of bad judgement, plus the thing with the class
earlier, which wouldn't have even come out if we hadn't gotten caught
up with the fight. It's all up to them and my record. I just need to
keep my fingers crossed."
"I wish there was something I could do."
"Stop blaming yourself... what happens, happens"
There was a short silence as Hikari picked through her bento;
suddenly she didn't feel as hungry.
"Hey that looks pretty good," Shinji said breaking the silence,
"who made it?
It took her a moment to pull herself from her musings and realize
he was referring to her meal.
"Oh, I cooked it last night," she told him proudly, "I make most
of the meals at home since neither of my sisters can cook."
"It looks very good. Misato never makes anything other than instant
stuff, and she messes that up half the time, see?" he held up a box
filled with rice. It looked ok, but one whiff told her that someone
had put curry spice in it. A lot of spice. Enough that the aroma alone
was making her crave a glass of water.
"Please tell me this is a joke..." not believing anyone would make
that mistake.
"I'm afraid not. Sooner or later I'm going to have to break out my
cookbook. I'm getting tired of living off instant rice."
"You call instant food living?"
"Not really, but Misato does, I don't think she ever buys anything
else... well there is the beer, but that doesn't count as food. I think."
"Instant food and _beer_?" Hikari repeated with no small measure of
surprise, "tell me that you don't..."
"No, no, no, I don't drink it!" Shinji said rapidly, " the stuff
smells bad enough! How anyone could drink it-- let alone as much as she
does-- is a mystery to me."
"Whew, you had me worried there for a second Ikari" she said with
a laugh, "hey! You just said you have a cookbook! Do you cook too?"
"Well I haven't done much since I arrived, Misato insisted for
awhile that she was the provider and it was her duty... but I do cook
a little."
"We'll have to exchange recipes some time," she said with a smile.
[]====[]
[]====[]
Shinji was still thinking of that smile as he followed Ritsuko
and Misato into the computer station later that day. Even the sight
of the dead Angel wasn't able to fully attract his attention. It was
an impressive sight nonetheless, even with all the scientist crawling
all over it and the scaffolding rigged across it. But for reasons that
he was only aware of on a subconscious level, every time he tried to
concontrate on what was happening around him-- he kept flashing back
the Hikari's smile.
It was a little strange to be so close to the creature now. In
the back of his mind he half expected it to wake up. Fortunately
Doctor Akagi assured him that once the core had been shattered.
All life signs had ceased. It was quite dead.
It still didn't make him feel any safer, and as he looked up
at the construction crews taking it apart piece by piece he still
saw its energy whips lashing around in his minds eye. But even as
he thought back to the battle his mind drifted to that smile.
'Why cant I get it out of my mind?' he thought to himself as
he leaned against a rail, 'is this normal?'
As he let out a sigh, someone walked past him. A quick glance
was enough to almost send him falling off balance.
It was his father.
He, sub-commander Fuyutski and the other two men didn't even
seem to see him as they made their way to a platform where a piece
of the Angel's core was being lowered. As the small entourage began
examining the shattered core sample, Shinji saw that his father had
removed his gloves. The absence of the gloves, however, wasn't what
caught his attention. It was the painful-looking burns that covered
the palms.
"Hey Shinji whatcha doin'?"
Letting out a short yelp of surprise-- Shinji jumped, and turned
to find Misato standing right beside him with one of her trademark
it's-time-to-tease-someone grins in place. Letting out a small groan
in annoyence of the teasing-to-come, Shinji hung his head and made
his way back to the computer room.
"So what were you looking at so intently back there, Shinji?"
Misato repeated.
"Nothing," Shinji said quickly, hoping she would drop the subject,
and at the same time knowing that she wouldn't.
"Now, Shinji," Misato said a bit sternly as they reached Ritsuko's
Magi uplink station, "are you aware that when you say 'nothing' in that
tone of voice you're practically screaming 'pay attention to me' at the
top of your lungs? 'Nothing' draws attention like evasive action."
Realizing that if he didn't answer the question Misato would most
likely drag Ritsuko into the teasing he sighed again and told her the
truth.
"Father... seems to have burned his hands."
Misato frowned and turned to Ritsuko "I hadn't heard about this
one, hey Ritsu, you know how he toasted his hands?"
"It happened the day before you arrived Misato, during Unit zero's
activation test... Have the two of you heard of the incident?"
Misato nodded, but Shinji still looked as confused as before. She
shook her head as she realized that he had only recently received
clearance for that level of information.
"Sorry, silly of me. Unit Zero went berserk during the activation
and the pilot was trapped inside."
"You mean like Unit One did?" Shinji asked
"Not exactly, but it was similar. I wouldn't think of it the same
if I were you however, the incidents have several factors that set them
apart. But to continue, the entry plug was force-ejected, striking the
wall and ceiling before falling to the floor of the wire cage where we
did your VR training. Commander Ikari ran down to the plug and forced
the superheated hatch open with his bare hands, and that's how he burned
them."
Shinji listened to this and Ritsuko could practically feel his mood
darken. It didn't take a mind reader to tell that the boy was upset about
his father's concern for Rei when he had shown none during Shinji's own
first fight over Tokyo Three. The man had not even been present during
Shinji's second battle and it was undoubtedly bothering the boy. She
herself was all too aware of the man's attitude toward his son, a
particular conversation sprung to mind where the Commander had actually
told her that brainwashing Shinji was one of the parameters that she
needed to consider while writing the core data. Should the boy ultimately
refuse to pilot, and if no other candidates were available; that would be
what they would have to do. After all, the fate of mankind rested on his
shoulders.
It didn't make her feel any better about assisting, however.
"And that's how he got those scars?" Shinji asked, broadcasting his
mood quite clearly.
"Yes," Ritsuko answered as she turned back to the computers, "That's
how his hands were burned."
[]====[]
[]====[]
The next day during Gym it was the girl's turn in the pool. Below on
the track field the boys rested from their latest set of laps and made a
show of ogling the girls above and pretending not to.
Up on the pools level, Hikari was enjoying the cool water. It had
been so humid since the rain, and she welcomed chance to cool off. It
also gave her a chance to forget her hearing. She didn't want to think
about it much, it was embarrassing enough as it was without the fact
that her sister was going to be there-- Kodama was being unusually mean
about the whole affair.
A few moments passed where she finally relaxed, but then someone
splashed a bit too close and Hikari's floating was interrupted. Letting
out a frustrated sigh, she swam over and climbed out of the pool. Looking
around she saw Rei sitting in the shade by the fence. She considered it
for a moment, then decided to go and try to talk with her again. She had
given up once, but then Rei had called that night... perhaps it wasn't
an impossible task after all.
"Hi Rei" she said as she sat down beside the albino, "whatcha doing?"
Rei looked at her, and she realized how obvious the answer to that
particular question was. If she wanted a reaction from the girl other
than an annoyed stare she would have to phrase her questions much more
carefully. After the telephone call, she had realized talking to Rei
was not unlike walking though a minefield.
"Okay," she said with a smile, "silly question. Of course your
sitting here. Let me rephrase that: what are you thinking about?"
"I'm afraid it is classified information, Representative Horaki."
Rei answered in her usual soft voice.
"I see... Well I guess I shouldn't press about stuff like that, I
wouldn't want us to get in trouble. Hmmm... how come you don't swim with
everyone else? I hardly ever see you in the pool. If you don't know how
I could give lessons."
Rei tilted her head slightly for a moment, as if confused, and then
to Hikari's surprise (along with everyone in earshot) she spoke the longest
set of words anyone had ever heard the girl say.
"I enjoy swimming very much, Representative Horaki. I do not swim during
class because my skin is very sensitive to sunlight. If I receive too much
exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the resulting damage to my skin will
severely impede my duties. Your offer is unnecessary."
Hikari prevented her mouth from hanging open, but her eyes still went
wide as she listened. Shaking off her surprise, she managed to somehow
continue talking.
"So where do you swim? I don't know of any after hours pools around."
"There is a natatorium not far from Nerv's medical facilities."
"Really? I've never had the chance to swim in one. Is it any different?"
As Rei answered, Hikari noticed that she seemed a bit uneasy. "Sounds
carry differently and the chlorine content is very high as compared to an
outside pool."
Hikari smiled and let the subject drop. She could tell that Rei was
unused to conversations like this. As she did, she noticed something down
below. Shinji was looking up at them, and smiling. She waved back and as
she did she saw Touji and Kensuke sit down beside him. As the three stared
up a conversation she leaned back against the fence and closed her eyes.
They were getting along nicely; things seemed to be going so well. It was
going to be a shame if they expelled her; she was staring to enjoy Shinji's
company and would miss it when or if she left.
[]====[]
[]====[]
That night as he finished cleaning the apartment for their guest Shinji
wondered what connection Rei had to his father. Earlier that afternoon in the
Sixth Cage they had been preparing Unit Zero for the activation test that was
coming up when he had seen the two talking.
Talking... and actually holding a conversation.
Rei had seemed almost giddy when his Father had shown up, and he wished
he'd had an audio pickup handy. They hadn't spoken for long, but it had been
long enough for the jealously to creep into Shinji's mind. He just couldn't
shake it off, even hours later. They had looked... like a father and daughter.
He wanted to hate them for that. He wanted to hate them both for being so
close when he barely knew the commander... but he couldn't do it.
Letting out what might have been his twentieth sigh of the day, he took the
trash down and went back inside to get dressed. Misato had invited Dr. Akagi
over for dinner and it was going to be bad enough since Misato had insisted on
cooking again.
'How in the world can she consider that junk food edible?' he thought as he
changed clothes, 'and what's wrong with her sense of taste anyhow? Is it the
beer that makes her think that curry spice goes with everything humans can consume?'
Deciding that it was unlikely that he would ever understand the woman who was
his legal guardian, he finished dressing and went to the living room to watch some
television before company arrived.
As he leaned back on one of the cushions he heard a phone ring. It took him a
moment to realize that it wasn't the one in the kitchen. A bit confused, he
followed the sound to his room, where he discovered that it was his cell phone.
Picking it up and answering the call he wondered if it was an emergency.
"Hello?"
Hikari's voice greeted him form the other end with a cheerful, "Hi Shinji!"
"Um... hello," Shinji replied, a little taken aback that someone had actually
called him.
"Whatcha doing?"
"Well," he said as his mind began working again, "one of Misato's co-workers
is coming over tonight for dinner. I just got through with the cleaning, so I was
just taking a quick break."
"I see... Well the reason I called is... you know that my hearing is the day
after tomorrow right?"
"I didn't realize it was so close."
"Yeah it came too fast for me too, but anyway I was going over my paperwork
and I saw that you're going to be absent tomorrow for duty... I just wanted to say
goodbye in case I didn't get a chance to see you again."
"_What_?"
"They might expel me for the incident Shinji. it's not a possibility I like
to think about, but one that's there. Anyway I wanted to say goodbye and to thank
you for protecting all of us. And if it's not too much trouble, keep an eye on
Kensuke and Touji? Those two could get in trouble in a padded cell."
"Hikari..." Shinji started to say something but just didn't have the words.
"I should go-- you're going to have company soon... You're a good person
Shinji, I'm glad I had the chance to know you."
As they said goodbye and Shinji set the phone down, a funny--and not entirely
unpleasant-- feeling crept across his skin, not unlike an electric current. He walked
out to the patio and leaned over the rail. There had to be something he could do
about this, but what?
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Um... What is this exactly?" Ritsuko asked as she eyed her food suspiciously.
"Its curry silly," Misato told her with a smile, She'd already grabbed her
fifth beer of the evening, and the food was only just now ready to eat-- assuming
it was even editable this time.
"Please don't tell me you still try and live off this instant crap Misato!"
"Humph," Misato said as she popped the top on her beverage, "I shouldn't have
to remind you my dear friend that you are a guest and have no right to complain."
Sensing the conversation might degenerate even further if left to its own devices,
Shinji quickly offered Misato some of the alleged curry. Smiling in her half-drunken
state, she held up an instant ramen cup.
"Just slop some of that stuff on this stuff!" she told him.
"Um... you're kidding, right? He asked hopefully.
"Of course not silly, it's a nummy treat! You can't get the same savory taste with
just plain cup 'o noodle, you gotta even out the water and make sure you get it nice
and thick! It takes years of practice to do it right, mind you."
'Please let us survive this so called meal' Shinji prayed privately as he poured
some of the curry into the cup. Meanwhile Ritsuko had taken a bite of the food
and had seemingly frozen in place. She slowly and apparently painfully swallowed
and then downed her entire glass of tea.
"Misato cooked didn't she?" she said as she held back a coughing fit, "Next time
invite me over when its Shinji's turn okay?" letting out a sigh, she refilled her cup and
cpntinued, "Shinji, you might want to consider a new roommate before this madwoman's
habits ruin your life."
"Actually," Shinji said as he pushed around his 'food' to keep Misato from realizing
it was going uneaten, "I'm starting to get used to it."
"Hesh right Ritsu, never doubt the adaptapility of mankind... um Shinji sweetie?
Could you grab me another beer? Thanks. Beshides, if he did move out he'd have to
go through a sea of red tape. I just got his perminininate security card today you know."
"Oh! I can't believe I forgot _again_!" Ritsuko exclaimed as she hit her forehead
lightly with her palm, " hey Shinji could you do me a favor on your way to work
tomorrow?"
"Hmm?" Shinji replied as he returned with Misato's sixth beer, "what is it"
"Ayanami just got her card renewed and I keep forgetting to give it to her. Could
you drop it off at her place before you go in tomorrow? I'll give you the address."
"Sure, no problem," he told her as he took the card. Holding it up, he glanced at the
photo of the first child and the glance turned into a look. The look would most likely
have turned into a stare, but Misato caught on and let out a drunken giggle.
"You're looking at her picture arn'tcha Shinji?" she said with a playful grin.
"Huh? What? No!" Shinji said as he realized that she was insinuating the same thing
his new friends had on the track field.
'And she's about as stubborn as they are' he thought as he tried to think of something
to say. Ritsuko seemed to find the whole thing highly amusing, but at least she wasn't
laughing.
"I wasn't!" he said in what he meant to be a firm tone of voice. Unfortunately it came
out as defensive and nervous.
"Yesh you were, I can tell!" Misato said, "now ya got an excuse to go over to her
housh... and a good one too, don't you think?"
"Rrrrgh" Shinji grunted as he sat down, " stop teasing me!"
"Awww, but its so much fun, you go so balishtik"
"Kind of like you huh Misato?" Ritsu said finally speaking up. For some reason that
Shinji didn't quite understand, the Captain looked at them for a moment, then blushed
bright red. He made a quick mental note to ask Dr. Akagi to explain that some day.
"It's... I just think it's strange that I don't know anything about her even though
we're both pilots." He said while looking down at his plate.
"She's a... nice girl" Ritsuko said a bit hesitantly, "but she's a good deal like
your father. She's not very adept at..."
"At what?" Shinji asked hopefully.
"At living I guess." Ritsuko finished somewhat cryptically
[]====[]
[]====[]
He couldn't believe anyone lived in a neighborhood like that.
Despite the construction he could hear going on, it didn't look as if anyone had
lived in this part of town for decades. Cracks crisscrossed the streets and sidewalks,
and everything was covered in concrete dust. That was most likely due to the
construction, but it just made the area look worse.
The strange part was that even though the apartments were designed for high
occupancy, there didn't seem to be anyone living there at all. It was eerie to walk
down the street and not see anyone; it made him feel almost as if he was the only
one on earth... It was disturbing to say the least.
Rei's apartment was #402 and even it looked abandoned. Letters and advertisements
were jammed into the mail slot to the point of overflow and there was trash all up and
down the walkway. Did anyone even live here? And to make matters stranger, how
could a _girl_ live like this? If he hadn't seen her name above the door he never would
have believed it. However, after he had tried the doorbell a few times before convincing
himself that it was broken, he began to doubt she was even home.
'Oh great... if I don't give this to her, she can't get into headquarters and
someone will chew me out for blowing it off. Think Shinji, maybe I could just leave
it in the mail? No, she obviously never checks it. I wonder...'
He reached out and tried the doorknob, and to his surprise it turned. The door
swung open and he found himself with a slight dilemma.
"Um... Ayanami? Are you home?" He called from the door.
'I cant hear anything with all this construction going on.' he realized quickly and
stepped inside to the foyer. Shutting the door he thankfully found that it blocked
out a good deal of the sound, and he called out again
"Miss Ayanami?"
Not knowing what else to do, and a bit curious as to whether or not anyone
actually lived in the tiny apartment, he removed his shoes and stepped past the
small kitchen into the living area.
'This is... worse than outside!' he realized with a start. The walls and floor were
completely bare, revealing the concrete slabs used in the foundation. The only furniture
was a bed, a chair, a fridge, and a dresser. there was an item on the dresser, flashing
in the dim light that a curtain behind the bed allowed in.
Stepping closer he saw that it was a pair of glasses.
'That's funny, I've never seen her wear any.' Shinji thought as he stepped up to the
dresser and picked them up. They were bent and the glass was cracked in several places,
but what immediately caught his eye was an etching on the rim of one side.
G. Ikari.
"Father?" he whispered aloud.
Whatever line off thought that might have brought, however, was banished as a sound
from behind startled him. Turning he saw Rei Ayanami stepping into the living room clad
only in a towel, and not very well covered at that.
'Ohm'GodI'madeadman' repeated over and over in his mind as the nearly nude young
lady looked at him, and then to his hands where he held the glasses. He did a fairly good
job of not passing out, but as she strode towards him, Shinji finally began to panic. When
she reached towards him he lost it.
Stumbling backwards, he hit her dresser and let out a yelp as she swiped the glasses
from his hands. As she pulled the glasses a bit of relief fell over him, unfortunately he
wasn't
very well balanced and as she took a short step back, his bag caught on the dresser and he
fell forward.
Right on her.
He couldn't move. He knew he should, he knew he _had_ to move; but he was too
stunned and his panic was too high for him to even think straight, let alone move. As he
kneeled there looking into her red eyes he tried to start his brain, but had no success. It
wasn't until she spoke that he finally was able to even think straight.
"Will you get off?" she asked calmly displaying none of the anger he had expected.
The higher functions of his brain finally rebooting, he managed to move his eyes away
from hers, only to realize that his left hand was pressed right against her breast.
"Yeep!" he gasped as he scrambled back. Clambering to his feet he turned from her
and tried his best to apologies
"I'm... um I didn't mean... um I, er..." he stammered as he wondered if he had left
anything out of the will they had made him write.
"Why are you here?" Rei asked as she began to dress.
"Hum? What? Oh yes, well its... um I think, oh yeah the card, your card! Doctor
Akagi asked me to deliver it to you so I um... well that's..."
He might have gone on like that for several hours, except as he continued to babble
his apologies, he heard the front door close and he was suddenly alone in the apartment.
"Wha?" he said aloud in total confusion. Had she just walked out on him?
[]====[]
[]====[]
Sure enough that's exactly what she had done. He finally caught up with her about
three blocks down the road. She didn't seem to see him-- or if she did, she apparently
didn't care. After another three blocks they finally reached one of the Geofront Access
gates. As he dug around his pocket to finally give her the card, he heard a beeping sound.
Looking up he saw that she was trying to gain access using her old card, and was
receiving
no clearance. Suppressing a smile he removed the card from his pocket and walked up.
"Clearance for Central Dogma access gate number four approved" the feminine
recording announced as he slid her card thought the reader. She looked at it, then at
him, still showing no sign of annoyance or any other emotion.
"This is your new card Miss Ayanami, Doctor Akagi asked me to deliver-" as he
spoke she reached out and plucked it from his hand before continuing into the access
gate.
"-it to you..." he finished before shrugging and entering the complex himself.
'She is so _strange_,' he thought as he follower her into the base.
[]====[]
[]====[]
'And I thought I was quiet' he thought as they rode the almost eternally long escalator
down to the ground floors of the Geofront. 'Perhaps I ought to say something, I saw her
and Hikari talking so at least there's a precedent-- no mater what the other kids say. Plus
I still gotta apologize...'
"Um... I'm sorry about that," he said in what he hoped was a friendly voice, he didn't
have much experience in these things.
"What for?" she asked in the same soft mysterious voice.
"Um... well..." okay, he decided, new line of conversation, "I heard your activation
experiment is today, I, um, hope it goes well."
Silence from the young girl.
"Are... are you afraid of getting in that thing?"
"Why should I be?"
'Does she ever give a direct answer?' he thought before continuing "well I heard
you got hurt pretty bad last time, but you don't seem nervous, I was just wondering
if you were scared is all."
"You are commander Ikari's son are you not?"
"Yes."
"Do you have no faith in your own fathers work?"
What was this? Now she was grilling _him_?
"Of course not," He replied hotly, " how could I ever trust him? He's no father
at all!"
This was when she slapped him.
He never saw it coming, and even though it wasn't a powerful strike, it stung
like blazes and left him stunned for the rest of the trip. In fact, he stayed confused
right through the experiment. Right up until the sirens began to go off.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"I'm worried about him." Hikari told her sister as they sat in the shelter.
It had been hours since the alert had gone off, and the authorities had still not
given them any news. This was the longest the city had been under alert yet; it was
almost seven and still nothing. Nozomi had wandered off and their father was
working somewhere at the lab, and this left the two uncomfortably alone.
"Oh? You mean the pilot kid right?" Kodama asked with an amused tone, " the
one you swore wasn't your boyfriend?"
"I barely know him! It's just that... after what I saw I can't help but worry."
"How bad on him can it be? The boys in school are raving otakus for that sort of
stuff-- he's probably loving it."
"You haven't seen it Kodama... It's not some game. I saw him have a nervous
breakdown in the middle of the fight you know."
"Which is why I'm curious as to why you're so fixated on him."
"Will you _stop_ that? He is my friend, and he is a nice boy who is in a
dangerous situation. Why shouldn't I worry about him?"
"Okay, okay, but I do wish you'd stop hanging out with all these guys-- they
do nothing but get you in trouble
"That's not fair Kodama."
"Oh really? So it _wasn't_ the famous 'idiot duo's' fault that you're about to
be kicked out of school?"
"I told you; it was my own fault, I should have gone back for an adult" Hikari
said angrily.
"And if you'd stopped hanging out with them last year when I first asked, you
wouldn't have had to do that either."
"At least I have friends," Hikari said coldly as she stood and walked away.
[]====[]
[]====[]
He hurt all over.
Being boiled alive did that to a person of course, and that's what had happened
to Shinji. The Fifth Angel had arrived over Tokyo Three just as they finished Unit
Zero's activation and he had taken Unit One out to fight. Before he could even lift
a weapon however, the strongest beam of energy he had ever seen erupted from
of the giant eight-sided figure and had begun to burn into Unit One's chest. The
LCL had overheated and he had mercifully passed out in a daze of pain.
But not before experiencing enough to ensure at least a month of nightmares
about being a lobster.
As he drifted back to consciousness he was well aware that every inch of his skin
felt like it had been scrubbed by a Brillo pad and then dipped in lemon juice. Even so,
he felt better than he had any right to, and by all means he should be dead. As he opened
his eyes to find the hospital ceiling he let out a sigh of sad amusement.
"Well at least it's familiar now."
A few moments passed and the door slid open. Turning to look; he saw Rei enter
his room pushing a tray of food.
As he watched on in silence she placed the tray beside him and pulled out a small
book with a Nerv logo
"I'm here to inform you of the schedule of Operation Yashima." She told him calmly
as ever, "It will begin at 0:00 hours. The two pilots, Ikari and Ayanami, will scramble at
the cage at 17:30 hours today. At 18:00 hours, ready Units One and Zero. At 18:05
hours, launch. At 18:30 hours, arrive at the Emergency Base on Mt. Futagoyama. We
will wait there for further instructions. The operation will commence at midnight."
She closed the book and stood there for a moment before setting a plugsuit down
on the bed.
"Here is your fresh uniform. Don't show up looking like that."
Shinji looked down and yelped as he realized that his sheets had slid down more
than he cared for them to. Quickly scrambling back under them he bowed his head
and began to mumble another apology. As he did so, he stopped himself however
and sighed
"I've been apologizing since this morning..."
"The doctors informed me you were to eat when you awoke." Rei said, seemingly
not paying attention to anything he had said.
"I don't think I could keep it down."
"You should attempt, we depart in sixty minutes."
"Do I really have to get back into that thing?" he asked almost pleadingly"
"Yes you do." She said simply.
"You don't understand," Shinji said softly, " you can be so cool about it because
you haven't had to go through the things I have... I don't want to do it again. I can't..."
"Then stay here."
Shinji raised his head and looked at her in surprise.
"I will pilot Unit One, Doctor Akagi is ready to rewrite the core data should that
become necessary."
"Doctor Akagi..."
"I must go, Captain Katsuragi and Doctor Akagi are awaiting me."
With that she turned and walked to the door. She said one more thing before
she left. As the door slid closed behind her, she looked at him and said goodbye.
For some reason it sent chills down his spine.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"What's wrong, Hikari?" Nozomi asked as she sat down beside her sister.
"I had another fight with Kodama." Hikari replied reluctantly. Her younger sister
nodded sagely and leaned back on her elbows.
"What was this one about?"
"Well I don't know if that's easy to answer. We were arguing about some of
my friends, but I don't think that's why we were fighting... I think that she's
disappointed in me."
"Oooooohhh the school thing again?"
"Yeah, the hearing is tomorrow and I think that's what the little spat we had
was really about."
"Could be, but maybe she isn't really mad, maybe its something else."
"Really? How do you figure?"
"Well, it's not like either of you have ever been very good at coming out
and saying stuff that's really personal. Remember when she had that crush on
wazhisname? She beat around the bush for months and never came out and
said it. Eventually he found someone else and she lost whatever chance she
did have. And don't try to tell me you're not the same way. She was kinda
jealous when you first go the class rep job, but I think she was finally starting
to be proud of how well you were doing when all this happened. Now she's
confused cuz she doesn't know what to think"
"You ever consider doing an advice section in the school paper?"
"Why give it away when I could start a business of it? No, the free advice
is just for family."
"Thanks sis" Hikari said as she gave the younger girl a hug "I'll apologize to
Kodama first chance I get."
"Hey, can't have my two favorite people fighting all the time" Nozomi said
with a smile, "now tell me more about this pilot guy, is he cute?"
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Oh god don't let her be dead!" Shinji prayed as he tried to pull the hatch
to Unit Zero's entry plug open.
Things had gone sour with the first shot. Whatever the Angel's energy
beam was made of it had some weird distortion effect on the positron
canon's own discharge and he had missed.
As he'd chambered in the fresh round and tried to will the canon to cool
faster, the Angel had fired again. Just before the devastating wave of energy
struck him Rei had jumped into position. The shield that they had provided
was designed to provide seventeen seconds of protection before giving out.
This was a problem seeing as how the rifle required at least three more
seconds than that before he could fire again.
As her shield gave way and Unit Zero took the full brunt of the onslaught,
Shinji took aim and opened fire. This time the blast struck home and in the
distance the angel fell to earth in flames. As he looked back however, he
saw Unit Zero falling as well, its armor melted and twisted from the heat.
Now as he opened the plug's emergency access hatch in an uncanny
duplication of his father's actions almost a month before he wondered if
Rei Ayanami had gone out intending to die. Her last words to him had
been spoken as if she would never see him again, and they way she
had said goodbye had been made infinitely more disturbing than had
been when she'd said the same at the hospital.
"Rei! Are you alright?" he cried as he climbed into the Entryplug to
find the pale girl lying in the pilot seat. As he reached for her hand he
remembered her words as they had waited for the order to move out.
"I have nothing else," she had said.
"Rei?" he said again a bit louder as he saw her head turn slightly. As
her eyes opened he couldn't hold the tears back anymore, he had been
so afraid she had died… that she had died for something as worthless
as saving his life. As the tears streamed down his cheeks he began to speak.
"Don't say you have nothing else, and don't say goodbye before leaving
on a mission, its just too sad!"
She leaned up in the chair and looked at him with confusion.
"Why... why are you crying?" She asked
Shinji sniffed back a sob and told her that he was crying because he
was happy she was alive.
"I see..." she said as she looked down, "I am sorry, but I do not know
what I should do or say at a time like this."
"If you're happy... then you should smile" he told her as he calmed
down a bit.
She nodded and sat there for another moment before he began helping
her out of the Entryplug. He wasn't sure if she had even listened to what he
had said until his eyes met hers and he realized that there was a soft look in
them, another closer glance and he realized that she was actually smiling for
the first time since he had met her.
As they made their way up the path toward the oncoming emergency crew,
he decided that a smile suited her.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Please step outside while we deliberate." The school council told the
few people in the audience.
It had gone about as she had expected, and save for the presence of
most of her classmates, it had been an awful experience. Touji and Kensuke
had actually spoken on her behalf, and although they hadn't done very well,
she was proud of the two for standing up for her. They had tried to take the
entire blame for the incident and while they had been less than convincing,
she did appreciate the effort that her friends had made. The committee was
not easy to speak to, mostly due to the fact that none of them wanted to be
there in the first place.
As she waited outside with her classmates, she made half-hearted
acknowledgments to the ones who were wishing her luck and telling
her they would miss her if she had to go. She was feeling very depressed
however, and Kodama still wasn't speaking to her. Not only that, but
She hadn't heard from Shinji since she had called him the other night and
she was worried for him. They had defeated the angel, the one Kensuke
kept referring to a giantD8--whatever that was. Unfortunatly there was still
no word on the condition of the pilots.
Rumors were spreading that someone had seen Unit One take a full force
blast not too long after the first siren. It was possible that Shinji was hurt
badly... and there was no way for her to find out.
As she sat there, she saw a familiar figure walk around a corner and up to
the door where her fate was being decided. It was the blond woman who had
taken her and the boys' blood samples after the incident that this entire mess
stemmed from. As Hikari watched on, the woman opened the door and entered
the meeting hall. A few minutes later, she walked out with a slight smile.
Realizing that the woman worked for Nerv, Hikari stood and hurried after
her, catching up just before a set of elevators.
"Excuse me ma'am?"
"Yes?" The woman responded as she turned.
"I don't mean to be rude, but do you work for Nerv?"
"Yes I do actually," the woman responded with an amused voice.
"Um... I was wondering, if it isn't classified I mean, if you know if
Pilot Ikari is all right? He's a friend of mine and I was worried."
"You're Hikari Horaki aren't you?" the women asked as her smile widened.
"Um, yes ma'am."
"Shinji's fine, and he's actually part of the reason I stopped by here
today."
"I'm sorry?"
"It's not really important, but as I said, he is fine and you should
see him in school within two weeks."
Before Hikari could even begin to explain about the hearing, the
elevator opened and the blond woman stepped in. As the doors closed
Hikari let out a sigh of relief that her friend was alright. It was
too bad that she probably wouldn't have a chance to see him though.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"After careful consideration of all the factors involved in this
incident, we have decided that while the charges are severe, the
circumstances surrounding them point to no real wrongdoing on the part
of Miss Horaki. However, due to her lack of judgment we are placing
her on probation and any further breaches of discipline will result
in loss of her rank as class representative."
Hikari could not have been more surprised; it just wasn't
possible. She had fully expected the worst punishment that the
school had available for her screw up. For them to be this lenient
was unreal.
As she stood there in a state of not unpleasant shock, the rest
of her class cheered behind her and she suddenly found her sister
beside her. The older girl gave her a hug and as they left the building
(after about an hour of praise from her classmates) Kodama spoke up.
"Congratulations sis."
"Thank you Kodama."
"I think I owe you an apology for what I said last night. I was way
out of line."
" Its okay, I shouldn't have snapped at you.
"It's not okay... I think I was a bit jealous."
"Jealous? Of what?"
"Well when I was class rep, I didn't have many friends... well
any real ones. I was a bit of a bitch and didn't really care about it
at the time. When you got the job and I heard that you were... well
at the time I thought you were slacking off and wouldn't last a month.
Then you not only kept the job but seemed to be doing a good job, well
lets just say that after I didn't win the position in my class this
year a green eyed monster bit me."
"You've been talking with Nozomi haven't you?"
"How can you tell?"
"She says we both tend to beat around the bush too much and that
whole bit just now sounded more like her than you... or me for that
matter."
Kodama smiled and let out a chuckle. "Ok, you got me there, she
gave me a pointer or two. Hey you want to go to the mall?"
"Well actually if your not busy I was wondering if you wouldn't
mind making a quick stop somewhere..."
[]====[]
[]====[]
As he sat in the living room, Shinji Ikari swore that he was never going to eat
anything that had been boiled ever again.
His entire body felt sore, and that wasn't counting the constant itching his
clothing was causing as it brushed his skin. Ritsuko had assured him that the
aching would be gone in a few day's as his skin finished repairing the outer
layers, but until then he would still feel like hell warmed... boiled over.
He only dimly heard the doorbell and as Misato answered he tuned even that
out until she called his name.
"Hey Shinji!" she yelled from beyond the kitchen, "get decent, we got company!"
He rolled his eyes and got to his feet. Just because she wandered the house
half-naked didn't mean everyone else did too. As he walked into the kitchen he
was more than a bit surprised to find Hikari and a slightly older girl he didn't
know walking in after Misato.
"Shinji!" Hikari said cheerfully as she saw him, "guess what?"
"Hi Hikari, what's going on?" he asked as he wondered who the other girl was.
"I didn't get expelled or even booted off as class rep!" she said with obvious joy.
"That's great Hikari!" Shinji said as Misato agreed, "I'm glad, we would have
missed you at school."
The other girl looked back and forth between the two and smirked. Shinji saw
this and immediately grew worried, she had just mimicked perfectly what he tended
to think of as a 'Misato smirk' and it usually signaled an imminent round of teasing.
"You were right Hikari, he is a sweetie." The older girl sad, immediately sending
Misato into a gigglefit. Hikari, meanwhile blushed furiously and looked at the girl
with an obvious desire to strangle her.
"Kodama!" she said with indignation, " that wasn't nice."
"You're right, I should at least introduce myself before I start teasing someone.
I'm Hikari's older sister Kodama. By the way I am very pleased you meet you Mr.
Ikari, and you as well Captain Katsuragi. Thank you both for saving my sister's life
the other day."
"Oh, just doing our jobs Kodama, and lets all be friends here, He's Shinji and I'm
Misato."
"Sounds fine by me," Kodama said. As the two began talking, Shinji and Hikari
slipped out unnoticed into the living room.
"Oh great, " Shinji muttered, " there's two of them now."
Between the giggles that this statement caused in Hikari, she agreed "I think bringing
sismay not have been one of my better moves.
"Well at least they seem to be getting along," Shinji said, "I am glad you didn't get
into much trouble though, I've been worried about it ever since you called the other night. I
would have been there but they didn't release me until an hour ago and Misato wanted
me to stay inside."
"Well I should be thanking you anyway, that doctor lady said something and I think
that had more to do with their decision than anything."
"Doctor lady?"
"The one with the lab coat and the short blond hair."
"Oh you mean Doctor Akagi? Was she there?"
"You didn't know? She implied that she was there because of you."
"Well she was in the room when I was asking Misato if there was anything we could
do to help you... maybe she thought of something."
"Well thank her for me next time you see her okay?"
"Absolutely. "Shinji said.
As they talked about school for a bit, Misato leaned in and asked to speak with 'the
lovebirds' for a moment. As they blushed and complained about the teasing they stepped
back into the kitchen.
Misato was sitting at the table with Kodama and asked them to sit down.
"Okay, listen up cuz I'm about to get serious for a change-- don't worry it won't last
long. Anyway, look-- the two of you are friends and I'm happy about that, but I want you
to remember that Shinji works for a organization that has many top secret projects. I
don't want either of you discussing Nerv when you can help it, and never _ever_ talk about it
or the Evas over the phone. Do you understand that?"
Shinji and Hikari nodded.
"Good, now who wants to play quarters?"
[]======================[]
To be Continued...
[]======================[]
Authors incoherent babbling
I skipped over a lot of the fight because like I said awhile back, we've seen
these in the episodes, and in this case it didn't have a lot to do with the story I'm
telling (not to mention it didn't go any differently).
Other stuff, whatcha think of Hikari's sisters? My concepts for them are as follows:
About the * I don't know just how Japanese schools are structured, but if they
are like what I know, then junior high is two years. I'm going on the assumption of
Kodama being class rep all the way up to high school.
Kodama: after realizing that she was something of a jerk while class rep she had
become a little jealous of Hikari, but felt bad about feeling that way. Now that that's
behind them I intend to play her a bit like Misato in the fact that she teases Hikari
about Shinji often. She and Misato hit it off and will be friends, (should be a good
way to do more scenes with the 'lovebirds' together) (not them you hentai, I meant
Shinji and Hikari!)
Nozomi: a little imp. She is sharp as a monomolecular edge and loves it when
people don't realize this. She plays up the helpwess wittle goil act and uses it
to fool people into thinking she's a flake. Her sisters know better, and keep
an eye on her. She is full of useful advice and surprises people often with this.
Hotwire
Chain Lightning Studios
http://hotwire182.freeyellow.com/chainlightning.html