My Purple Haze
A Sailor Moon / Evangelion crossover
Part Six
Computers sounded out that they were working and computing data through their wires and chips.
"So, who is she?"
Ritsuko looked up with a smile. Misato stood over her shoulder, scanning the sync data on the Fifth Child. She seemed to do it a lot, and Ritsuko didn't mind it any more, though she did ponder as to why Misato always turned to her.
"Hmm… just what the file says," she said, pulling it up and ignoring the words in German. She already knew what they all meant.
"Hotaru Tomoe. Age fourteen. Fifth Child. She was raised by adopted parents in Tokyo-3. Her original parents are unknown. Her adoptive parents were killed nearly a year ago. Some kind of automobile accident. She's doing well. She had 42% sync ratio in the first test. That's not much above Shinji's, but it's still rather good. There's only one thing that puzzles me…"
Misato raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"Pilot 05's mental stability is on the fringe of becoming a disaster. If something happens, the EVA could reject her, she could go insane… or die."
"Do you know why it's disturbed to that level?"
"No. Without a psychiatric evaluation, there would be no way to determine it. Even then, we might not find the answer."
"Is there anything we can do? Would this affect her combat?"
"Without a diagnosis, there could be nothing that we can do. This occurred with Pilot 00 as well, though her sync ratios were not quite this high. We'll keep a close eye on her, that's for sure," Ritsuko said, shrugging her shoulders. Her computer suddenly beeped. She blinked in surprise. "What's that?" Misato asked, scanning the new document that had opened itself.
"It's the results from her physical. It seems… she has a…"
Misato squinted at the computer screen, then cocked her head to the side as she saw the words.
"A condition?"
Shinji frowned as he put the bag on the table. "I don't know why I had to find the food," he grumbled, glaring at Asuka. "Well," she said with a smirk, "You've already eaten. Besides, it was only a snack anyway."
Shinji rolled his eyes, almost in unison with Asuka, who was turned and neither could see. She reached out and grabbed the bag, pulling on both sides to open it. The package came open abruptly and two pocky sticks flew out onto the floor. Either she didn't notice or she didn't care that they had landed on the floor. She took two, stuck one in her mouth and then slid the plastic bag over to Hotaru. She examined her stick.
"I think they're strawberry flavored or something…" she mumbled and then stuck it back in her mouth. Hotaru plucked one out and slowly took it to her mouth before putting it in. She chewed on it a little.
Asuka suddenly frowned. She squirmed and then gritted her teeth, trying to be tolerant of whatever was bothering her. Finally, she let out a frustrated growl. "This stupid uniform is getting uncomfortable. I'm going to go change," she said and stood up. "C'mon Hotaru," she said, quickly grabbing the other girl's wrist and pulling her up. Hotaru was given no time to argue as Asuka pulled her into a different room and leaving Shinji alone with an open bag of pocky. A hand slammed the sliding door and it opened again with the force set behind it. A curse was heard in a distinct accent and the tiny space was closed.
Shinji frowned uncomfortably in the silence as he sucked on the pocky stick.
The other room was dimly lit, and a few degrees cooler. Asuka padded across the room with confidence as to where she was stepping while Hotaru shuffled a few steps and stopped. Hotaru heard rustling.
"So what's your favorite color?"
Hotaru blinked.
The rustling stopped.
"Well?"
"Oh… well… purple, I guess," Hotaru stammered.
More rustling came from across the room. Suddenly, something soft hit her in the face.
"I think that's purple," Asuka said, "You can borrow it for a while if you want, but you can't keep it."
Hotaru squinted at the dark clothes in her hands. She held it up and looked at the outline. She stared at it as her eyes adjusted completely to the darkened room. It was a light dress, unlike the school uniform she was wearing, and it had sleeves that would fall past her shoulders a few inches. It was soft in her hands, and felt like it had been well worn and washed. She lowered the dress and started to speak. "Hey Asuka wh— " she cut herself off with a startled sound as she saw that in the dark Asuka was pulling on new clothes.
Asuka looked up at her, the raised eyebrow forming. "What are you doing? Aren't you going to change?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah, sure…" Hotaru mumbled and pulled on the collar string, then unsnapped the skirt. She thanked the higher power that the room was dark, otherwise Asuka would've seen that her hands were shaking as she peeled off her school uniform. She could almost feel the needles of someone's eyes finding her unclothed form. She didn't want anyone to see her that way.
The door opened and Shinji looked up, startled, and he swiped his hand across the table, quickly picking up six stripped pocky sticks and depositing them under the table. He folded his hands together and tried to look as if he hadn't just eaten all of the snacks.
The two girls emerged from the room. Asuka was in that yellow dress that tied at the shoulders. It was the same one that Shinji had seen while on the ships, the same one that hadn't fought the wind. He blushed as he remembered the sight, and it was nearly the same heat that had crossed him moments later with her hand. Hotaru was in a lavender dress that fell just below her knees. The dress would've fit anyone else Asuka's height, but the raven-haired girl was a few inches shorter. The light colored dress highlighted her creamy skin and amethyst eyes. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, as if she were going to greet someone. A hint of rose caressed her cheeks.
As they entered the light, Asuka looked at the dark haired girl, looking her over and a quick frown appeared on her lips. She cast a glare at Shinji, then he realized he had been staring and averted his eyes. But the memory of them both as they appeared was still clear.
They sat down in the places they had been minutes before. Asuka pulled the snack bag in her direction, shoving in her fingers to pull out something. When her hands failed to grasp something in their first attempts, she growled and snatched up the bag and opened it to inspect it. She narrowed her eyes and a frown crossed her. She glared at Shinji. "Dunkopf!" she exclaimed, throwing the near empty bag at him, "You ate all the pocky! Gieriger Idiot!"
Shinji dodged the slow moving bag with a helpless look on his face.
Yes, Asuka. I am stupid. Just keep assuring me of what I am.
He glanced at Hotaru, who was watching the both of them uneasily. She didn't know that this was almost a routine now. Shinji would do something stupid, like put the soy sauce in the wrong cabinet or eat the last Koala cookies, and then Asuka would yell at him. Her eyes would turn to cerulean fire, and her lips would purse. He knew what would happen, and he took it every time, knowing it was either just the way she was or that he truly was stupid.
He heard a small sound, almost like a whimper. Both he and Asuka turned. Her eyes were wide, almost fully white.
"Hotaru? What's wrong?!"
Gendo Ikari heard the phone pick up across the room after two rings. The murmurs of Fuyutsuki's voice came and went. Then the receiver clicked back.
"Commander…"
Ah, the tone was ominous.
Shinji took her shoulders and began to shake her furiously.
"C-c-coming…" she stuttered out, pulling her arms to her chest as if to protect herself. Suddenly, her eyes focused on Shinji's face. Her lips trembled. He fought to understand what had just happened.
Then the phone rang.
Asuka answered.
"Hotaru… what…" Shinji stammered, his hands still on her shoulders.
The receiver clicked back.
"Hey dunkopf, we gotta go! Move it!" Asuka said and started quickly to the door where she began to slip on her shoes.
"Where are we going?" Shinji asked, dumbfounded.
"NERV headquarters of course! They've spotted a new Angel!"
Creativity = plane.
Mine = crashed and burned.