The next day at school; it became obvious to the others that Trunks was upset; he wasn't focused, and he sat at the opposite end of the room: his friends began to worry about him: they worried a lot.
"Goten, what happened?" Hikari asked
Goten looked around to make sure Trunks wasn't listening in on him
"Rei came to our place last night, and she slapped him, and told him to stay away from her and Commander Ikari" Goten said, spitting the word Ikari as if it were poison
Hikari was stunned: there was something very wrong here, and it all started when she went off for that interview. An idea had popped into Hikari's head as she thought about this: when something like fall as Rei had said happened to her, that person's Ki went funny, but Trunks had been sensing for it the whole time, so if it did happen, why didn't he notice it. Spurred on by this line of thinking, Hikari went to find the now isolationist Trunks: he now spent his time on the top of the school in a gargoyle like position, watching but never moving until it was time for class; it gave everyone a real chill to know such a pair of eyes were watching them. She approached carefully
"Trunks, can I speak with you?" she asked
"Go ahead" he answered, his voice barely above a whisper.
"After you left last night, Rei said she'd fallen down. Now she must have been unconscious for about 5 minutes, and if so, her Ki must have been lower than it was when she was with us: and if you were keeping tabs on her: why didn't you notice?" she asked
"Her Ki did not fall, if it did then Gendo Ikari would have ceased to exist the instant he walked through that door" he said, his voice still low but with a, mad, edge?
[What the hell?], the tone scared Hikari
"Okay, then. I'll see you around Trunks" she said and made a quick retreat
As soon as Hikari was downstairs she went to find Goten because if she was right then he was the only one who would know what was going on. After some looking, she found him sitting with Asuka under a tree. They waved her over
"Hi Hikari we-" Asuka started but Hikari started speaking
"Goten: what happens to Saiyens when this sort of thing occurs" she asked, referring to the 'break up' of sorts between Trunks and Rei
"Well, usually the pair will mope around for a few days but then they usually recover and its all hunky dory" he said. The something clicked in his mind, right at the back
"Why?" he asked, sitting up, making Asuka drop off him
"Hey!" she cried indignantly and whacked Goten on the leg
"When I went as spoke to Trunks, his voice seemed, mad"
"Mad as in pissed off, or…" he didn't say the rest
"The unspoken latter I'm afraid" Hikari admitted
[Oh shit] he thought
"Hikari, are you absolutely sure it sounded mad? No joking around here", Goten said
"Go and speak to him yourself if you don't believe me" she said defensively
"I'm sorry but I have to be sure. It's very important" Goten stressed the point
"Why?" Asuka asked
"Sit down, and I will tell you of a dark part of Saiyen nature, a very private part. As females I expect you put this into context, I hope" Goten said and sat down
Hikari and Asuka followed suit and sat down, awaiting his story. Goten explained that Trunks had been bonding with Rei, which is why his behaviour had been odd after last night. He said that when a Saiyen bond is severed, the male usually become very violent and kills anything that moves. Fortunately because the bond wasn't completed, its effect wasn't immediate but it is also the cause of insanity among Saiyens. And if Trunks's voice indeed sounded mad, then there was a good chance he was going to go off in a rage, destroying all in his path, friend or foe. He even told them what happened when his older brother's mate was killed: whole countries and cities felt his wrath at the evil that took her, but he was long dead
"So you see, when this sort of thing happens, the two must be watched very carefully. Or the shit hits the fan" he explained
"What will he do?" Asuka asked
"I honestly don't know: he may explode in a vicious rage at any second, or he could sit back and plan his attack" Goten was unsure. He decided to go and see his friend
Goten flew up to the roof quickly and sat down beside Trunks. For a while nothing was spoken between the two when eventually Goten had to break the silence to try and accomplish his goal
"Trunks; I have to know; did you sense something happen to Rei?" he asked
"Yes. It was odd, it felt like she was being drained but not physically, her Ki only fluctuated for a brief second otherwise I wouldn't of noticed it" he said
"So you aren't up here plotting or just waiting to snap and kill us all then?" Goten said, being the somewhat clueless creature that he is
Trunks said nothing and continued to track Rei with his eyes: she may have brushed him off but he knew there was more to her actions last night than a change of heart: when he asked her about her Ki training from him, she had no idea what he was talking about, nor did she remember that he was not human.
And also, he was damned if any little dirty so-so was going to touch his mate while he was still breathing
************
As Goten, and Trunks walked into their apartment, a letter flopped down from the letterbox: it was addressed to Trunks
"Mail for you man" Goten said and handed him the letter.
Trunks scrutinised it for a minute: then opened it. It read:
'Trunks,
Don't ask where the letter came from, no one knows. Don't ask who I am, I won't tell you. What you and I now have in common lad; is a wont to have Gendo Ikari's head on a plate.
I know through sources that Gendo has done something to Rei, and it has angered you. I've been told of the somewhat dramatic near kiss you two had.
I can and will help you to get her back, but I need your help too. I am in need of someone with your 'abilities' shall we say to help me find some rather unsavoury people and 'deal' with them.
If you want my help and information, come to: 314 Fuji Road in the suburb of Taiko at 10 tonight, it will be dark so my Ki will be raised to its maximum, find me that way.
Regards,
You didn't think I'd really put my name here did you?'
Now Trunks is a normally rational young man, but with the prospect of getting his mate back and erasing the damage that Gendo had done was too tempting to pass up and he went into his room to prepare. After rifling through some stuff, he found what he was looking for: a long wooden box with a lock. He opened the box and it revealed a sword, the same sword that vanquished Frieza and the same sword that his father forged for him years ago. Trunks smirked and slung it over his back and fastened the strap. It was only 5, but he wanted to scope the area out first, so he went for a fly. And besides, he wanted to speak to Ritsuko
*************
Gendo walked along a great corridor, it was lit only by slits of artificial light along its walls. He was in deep thought.
["This procedure is very dangerous, the results to her mind could be fatal if it is done a second time, and don't even ask about a third"] the doctor had said to him after Rei's erasure had taken place
"If this brat breaks her barriers again, I am going to have to get rid of him" he said to himself
"Then I will set myself up as her guardian; then I can have a better doctor do the memory procedure rather than that backstreet crook" Gendo was no slouch: he had a plan and he was going to carry it out, no matter the cost
He entered a large room with doors thicker than trees and gazed at one of the many creations he had overseen the construction of in his job as Nerv Supreme Commander: it was a glass tube that ran off a spinal cord like cable that was connected to a to what looked like an intestine shaped structure. In the tube was the girl whom he mentioned. She was helping him work on a special system for he Evangelions but only he and another scientist knew about it. The man in question was Kazuhiko Katsuragi, Misato's father; a brilliant man
"Kazuhiko; how is the mapping process coming along?" he asked while watching the prone girl in the tube: her eyes were closed but he knew she was awake
"Brilliantly: at this rate old friend we will have the Dummy System ready for testing in a month" the man said
Gendo smirked a dangerous smirk: his plans were coming together and he was sure that no one would stop him; the Dead Sea Scrolls assured him of success if he manipulated things right. However the Dead Sea Scrolls said that that Asuka would have to be hurt by the 15th Angel and the Scrolls didn't factor in outside interference, especially from creatures like Saiyens. Gendo was unaware however of the boy's origins so to him it wasn't a factor.
Rei on the other hand was, and anything that affected her, affected the scenario. And something was affecting Rei: this process called for a great deal of mental clarity and although she had achieved it, Rei was finding it harder to concentrate because of images and voices invading her mind, ones she knew were not hers. They were of fierce and bloody hand-to-hand battles with creatures of nightmares that made the Angels thus far seem tame and weak. It frightened her; nothing had ever really frightened her before that she could remember. The voices were saying things she didn't understand
"Fusion Ha"
"Irakta Trunks ko"
"Nir, Gotenks gahsi"
"Yuuh ilwa enver defte I"
"Oh, elwa hokcha ith, FINAL FLASH"
When the beam hit, for the voices were accompanied by images, Rei's eyes opened wide and she began to thrash around in the tube until she remembered what she was doing and where she was. Her eyes turned to the front: Gendo was watching her with a worried expression. Then he turned to Professor Katsuragi and began barking things but she couldn't hear them
**********
"What the hell was that Katsuragi?" Gendo growled
"I don't know" said the scientist and began twisting a nob and adjusting some stats
[That was odd, it was like a nightmare for her, but her mind is practically designed not allow REM sleep] he was confused because of this: such a possible development in Rei was dangerous for her and the plans he and Gendo had for her
"And what was that language she was muttering" Gendo asked, he heard only a few undiscernible words, nothing he could even begin to use or understand
"The translator doesn't recognise it. It's possible that it is the Tongue of Angels. She is part Angel after all," the scientist suggested
Gendo's eyes widened in anger at the suggestion, his fists clenched and his teeth began to grind together and he walked over to Kazuhiko very slowly and placed himself nose to nose with the man, and told him in a voice colder than an arctic wind
"If she learns the Tongue of Angels, then it spells doom for us all. I don't care if you have to grow her a new brain: if that is the Tongue of Angels, I want all traces of it in her mind gone" his message was clear
"Yes sir" the older man replied, his hope of learning the Tongue of Angels for himself were dashed as Commander Ikari walked from the room.
Kazuhiko sat down on a chair and removed a small parchment from a drawer and unrolled it on the desk: on the parchment was a small diagram. It showed a design he called 'The System of 6', so named because on it were six circles with a different colour (indicated by a work in brackets underneath the circle), and in each circle lay a symbol that so far, he had only been able to decipher two: in the blue circle it said 'Silent One' the gold one said 'Powerful One'. He had spent many years trying to figure out what the rest meant and indeed what the image meant in general.
He was hindered by another problem; some of the parchment was missing and possibly forever. He had used his contacts to get him people all over the world looking for it or any information on it. So far though all the searches had turned up nil, or just useless hearsay from old drunks in bars in the Middle East.
"It's hopeless, I suppose" he sighed and set about doing a brain scan on Rei for that language she spoke.
He winced for he knew that if someone, anyone not in the real loop of Nerv would most likely execute him for these crimes, especially his daughter or the girl's stepsister.
****************
Trunks arrived at Ritsuko's apartment building in the inner suburbs of Tokyo 3; a nice place but a bit loud for him. Trunks smirked as he recalled all the builders next to his place contending with all the 'equipment failures and thefts' that had practically stopped production. Trunks found the number on the buzzer panel on the door and pressed the button, buzz.
/Hello/ a voice crackled from a speaker
"Ritsuko, its Trunks. I want to speak to you," he said in an even voice
/Oh, Trunks ah. Hi, um okay. Just let me get my stuff together, won't be a second/ Ritsuko replied.
Trunks waited patiently for the science technician to open the door to her building and go in. His mind was ticking over all the time however. First, Ritsuko was the lead science tech; so she would know what kind of procedure was used on Rei in theory. Organizations like Nerv rarely operated with in the law, so there wasn't anything stopping The Commander of Nerv hiring black market operators to come and do his dirty work when ever it was required. So if that was the case, the Trunks needed this mystery joker's help indeed.
Another thing he had been doing was going through a list of suspects as to they identity of this person, and so far he had come up only a few real possibilities and that was weak at best: this person had gone to great lengths to keep their identity a secret. Trunks loved secrets, especially those belonging to other people
A buzzing sound alerted him to the open door to the building. He turned and went inside and travelled up to the door of Ritsuko Akagi and knocked on it. The blonde answered in a flash. A large shirt and some lacks her clothing at the moment. Ritsuko blinked and looked nervous as she caught sight of the sword on his back
"Don't worry: I got a reason for that" he said as Ritsuko asked him in to the apartment.
To make her more comfortable he slung it off and left it in a cupboard before sitting down
"Okay, Trunks if this is about Rei, I heard she slapped you later that night, I am sorry but-"
"I came for no apologies: what I want is an answer to this question: is there any technology in the world that can erase the memories of a human being?" he asked
Ritsuko was a little taken back by the question and was rather nervous about the look in Trunks's eyes as he spoke, but she was going to answer
"Well, there is an experimental procedure that I know of that was given a trial run on removing disturbing memories from victims of severe shocks, like a rape victim and alike" she said
"And?" Trunks prompted her on with a word and a stare
"Well it had to many negative side effects: brain retardation, autism and sometimes death. The trials were deemed a failure and the whole thing was destroyed and its staff disbanded" she finished, lighting up a cigarette at the same time
"Did any date survive from the trials?" he asked
Ritsuko took a drag on her cigarette and looked sharply at Trunks with her greenish eyes, but she found that hers held no chance of ever penetrating those obsidian stones. She knew a person who could do it though. Ritsuko tapped the ash of the end of her fag and spoke
"I can see where you're going with this and I assure you, there is no area of Nerv save the Seele council chambers and Commander Ikari's wing that I cannot access" Ritsuko said
"Uh huh. And you know how big each of those areas are?" he asked
"Yes I do, I have a map of them: the council chamber is not more than 7 meters across and 15 down, and around 3 meters high. The Commander's Wing isn't very big," she said
Trunks laughed a little: for a scientist she was quite naïve and silly, but it wasn't her fault
"And you believe that the most powerful man in the world just keeps his bowling trophies in a private wing? A little naïve to be working for a government agency" Trunks replied
[He is a sharp one. I wonder if…] Ritsuko wondered
Before another word was said: another woman came out of the bathroom in a towel and a smaller one around her head. Trunks just flicked his eyes up, identified the woman and shrugged
"Hi Maya. How's the wrist?" Trunks asked casually, referring to the sprained wrist Maya got when she was playing hockey
"F, fine thanks" she stuttered
"What's wrong? You sound upset?" Trunks asked
Ritsuko felt she had to cut in: Maya was a bit stunned as to how to explain why she was with Ritsuko
"Well, Maya is a little sensitive about our friendship" she said
"Oh okay. It's okay Maya, I'm not reading into this at face value" he said did a quick check
[Their friendship is true and strong. If only all people were so lucky] he thought and smiled
"Thank you for the information Ritsuko; I'll see you around. Maya, that wrist should be good in a few days. Just exercise it gently occasionally to keep it from becoming cramped and stiff" Trunks said
"Oh and I won't spread the word that you're a lesbian: because you're not. You have my word as a gentleman and a warrior"
Trunks was going to leave but as he picked up his sword he knew that if he was to gain the trust of the people he needed to help him get Rei back, he'd have to be straight with them. So he spun on his heel, went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife
"Ritsuko, if I am going to have any chance to help Rei, I need your trust as well as hers, so I am going to give you a very secret piece of information" he said and made a quick cut across his hand
Ritsuko looked on with wide eyes while Maya began to shake
"Take this to your lab tomorrow, and in secret test it. I believe the results will be self-explanatory" he said and handed her the bloody knife in a plastic bag. Then he walked out, leaving both women stunned
******************
There was a silence in that apartment that seemed to last almost an hour, while in reality it was only a few seconds long. Maya broke the silence first
"Is he dangerous?" Maya asked when he was out of earshot
"I wish I knew Maya, I wish I knew" she replied and hugged her friend, soothing her fears
****************
Asuka was on her bed at her apartment, purring in contentment as Goten managed to ease all the muscle tension in her shoulders by emitting low energy and low frequency Ki waves as his hand skimmed along her shoulders and back
"Who taught you this?" she asked as a satisfied groan escaped her mouth
"My father did. It was originally to ease muscle tension and muscle related injuries after training and battle, but I soon learnt that it had more intimate uses" he answered
Asuka wasn't listening however. She was wondering on something. People had been asking why she'd had a sudden change in attitude and behaviour lately: she used to be quite aggressive and got into a few fights; she also usually won them. Since the arrival of Goten however, she had mellowed considerably. She was still a bit louder and more rambunctious than most girls and some boys, but she was definitely friendlier than she used to be
"Goten, that Saiyen Bond thing you talk about, what does it do?" she asked
Goten stopped the massage and looked Asuka in the eye, in it he saw pain and confusion, like Trunks it was buried deep inside but not as deep as Trunks. He also saw fear: fear of what he had no idea
"It creates an unbreakable mental link between two people. It is so strong that they often are able to read each other's thoughts if one allows the other in" he said
"Do they transfer dreams, images and memories?" Asuka was starting to cry
"Yes they do, some good and some bad: as is the nature of all things. If a bond is made, no force other than death can break it," he added
"So, you Saiyen's mate for life" she said, reaching out and touching Goten's cheek
He grasped her hand gently and rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand, her skin was smooth but firm, and a nice tan colour like his own. Through her skin he felt small buzzes of Ki: she was afraid of something
"Why are you afraid?" Goten asked while he got up on the bed beside Asuka
"I've been seeing images in my head: ones of bloody violent combat between…"
Asuka paused and turned her head to see Goten: he as smiling, she had smile back
"You and some other beings, it was horrible. I thought Eva combat was tough, we've nothing on your kind of combat" she said
"Asuka" Goten whispered her name, and she looked up and saw him mid-transformation to Super Saiyen.
It was beautiful in a way, he seemed more heavenly with the yellow glow, and his eyes were a bit softer on the eyes now. Asuka also knew that behind the mask of beauty in the transformation lay its real purpose: war. To Saiyens it seemed as if the Super Saiyen was the Evangelion Pilot of their race: ultimate warriors and wielders of incredible power. And young, fragile and vulnerable, just like them.
Not that Asuka would ever admit to being fragile and vulnerable, but she was, and Goten could see it. He could also see her loneliness and sadness. Without thinking, Goten leaned in and kissed her softly. He felt her lips tremble a bit so he pulled away.
Asuka was surprised when Goten kissed her, and she was even a bit sorry when he pulled away. Goten giggled when he saw Asuka was blushing. Asuka however pointed out that Goten was too, then, as softly as she had him, Asuka Langley Soryu, pilot of Evangelion Unit 02, let someone close to her heart and she was placed close to his.
The kiss lasted until the night was late.
**************
