I am so sorry for not writing for a while. Truth is I haven't even looked
at the review for this story for a while. See I promised to fix some things
with the last chapter and that I would produce this one sooner. Now its
been months. All I can say is that life has sucked and I have been short on
inspiration. I just hope you enjoy this. I dedicate this story to PitViper,
Bloody Angel, Shinji the good sharer, Ryan Xavier, and my all of my other
favorite writers. Special dedication goes to Optimus Magnus and apologies
for not reading his story yet. Lately I just haven't had much stamina for
anything but work and school so I haven't even been able to start brand new
stories I wasn't already into. Also I haven't checked my review board
because I half suspected several people were going to be so pissed at me
for breaking my promises to revise and update my stories that I was going
to be flamed six way to Sunday. I will try to read all that you have
written very soon and review it. Also, I /will/ get to revising all of my
chapters. Eventually. I am currently buried under a body-crushing load of
paper work and responsibilities right now.
Also, with that said, I'd like to point out to anyone who may wonder why Shinji is so depressed that a person can be happy, as Shinji had been for the past few days with Rei, but still be somewhat angsty and just not show it. He was forced to leave a family member at a time when he was becoming somewhat frayed around the edges. Especially having found out from the Angel that was a living Sea of Dirac that his father had something to do with his mother's death.
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"Shinji," Misato cried. Shinji lay on the floor, LCL and other nameless substances dripping off of his bare skin. Misato scrambled to his side and embraced him as Ritsuko gaped at the sight she beheld.
"That is enough," said Keel, and instantly the feed was stopped and the monoliths once again reappeared, numbered one through twelve, fashioned after Christ's apostles.
"So," said the ninth monolith, "we are on schedule as far as the third child is concerned.
"Yes," replied the second, "'no man shall enter the kingdom of God lest he be born twice'. The third pilot was an interesting subject before his rebirth, one who upon examination of events surrounding him presented us several mysteries to ponder. But whatever potentials he may have had even as an ordinary human are magnified ten-fold in the aftermath of his rebirth. As one whose body and soul were imbued and to an extent composed from the discharge that followed Adam's reverting into an embryo he was an ideal candidate for an Eva Pilot. But as merely human he could never have been suitable for our scenario. Now that he is now reborn of a new flesh he will be a key stone of the instrumentality that shall lead us to God." said the second monolith.
"Yes, but aren't we taking a risk in leaving all of this in the care of one man. One which we know cannot be trusted?" This from the eighth monolith.
"That is why we are going to relieve him of one of the components to his scenario," said Keel.
"Indeed?" "What" "Please explain," came the replies from his colleagues.
"The first child need no longer remain with Ikari now that her Eva Unit has been destroyed. And she is too dangerous to us in his hands. We shall simply eliminate her and take her remains back in to our custody. If at all possible we shall try to take her soul back as well. We can use both of them to perfect the MP series. "
"So," asked the ninth, "what will that gain us when they can simply create yet another angel to take her place."
"That is no longer possible. It was virtually impossible to begin with, but even so it is now completely impossible. The souls of angels can only be created when the universe is still trying to sort out the paradox that occurs when an indestructible being is slain or in some other way removed from creation. It tries to comprehend something that is akin to an unstoppable force impacting an immovable object. Each angel brings with it a destiny that proclaims it to be both eternal and unstoppable. Even the universe recognizes this divine proclamation as a part of its own inherent destiny. The physical laws of the universe alter slightly with the introduction of each new angel as it has already accepted its conquest and the destruction of humanity as preordained and settles itself into a pattern that is founded on the acceptance that the angel has in effect already won. If it were not for the fact that we have man-made replicas of heavens instruments on our side their victory /would/ be in evitable. Instead, when they are eventually defeated the universe recoils slightly and its laws become momentarily mutable during its confusion. When we try to imitate the patterns of an angel the universe can sometimes be convinced that it is real. At least until the next angel arrives when the process starts all over again, and the universe is then thrown into confusion once more when that angel is destroyed as well. But the final angel has now awakened and so the universe will no longer allow humans to slip artificial angels through its cracks. It knows that God has sent his final messenger, and so now creation awaits its renewal. And once creation has suffered its final slap in the face with the death of God's final messenger it will be forced to except humanities voice as equal to God's. Humanity will then be ready for its ascension; once we are joined within a single divine flesh we shall then truly inherit the heavens as well as the earth and shall exist as God's true heirs as He intended."
"Yes," said the fifth monolith," we need the universe's submission to our will first before we can go forward; it is one of the most vital of all of the components."
"I am grateful for the fourteen year gap we have had which gave us the time we needed to develop the Eva series," said the fourth monolith.
"And for those gaps in between angel attacks in which we created the cores for the Mass Produced Evas," said Keel absently, lost in silent revelry.
"So, now we wait for the last angel to attack. Once he is defeated as well we can go forward,"said the fifth monolith.
"Have you constructed a shell that is suitable to house an angel's soul," asked the ninth monolith, "if we could take the first pilot's soul it would truly be a boon for our scenario."
"Yes," said Keel, "all is nearing completion. We shall take from Ikari what he needs to betray us and ensure that we have the means before us to complete our scenario. It has been so long that I have dreamed of reaching the end that now that I can see it before me I almost cannot believe it."
"Soon all shall be one," chanted the committee as they faded out.
Shinji lay on his bed, drifting somewhere between wakefulness and sleep. It was not time for school yet he assured himself, although his alarm clock soon disagreed with him on that matter. Shinji was fully roused to wakefulness when a large wet tongue began licking his face, and the sound of Ro'oshi's whimpering filled Shinji's ears. Shinji sighed; slowly he wiped his face and then opened his eyes, groaning, he pulled his body out of his bed. Shinji's looked down at his dog. Now that his master was up Ro'oshi stopped wimpering and began to yap loudly as he wagged his stubby tail. Shinji looked down at the small puppy and scratched Ro'oshi behind his ears. Ro'oshi barked happily and followed Shinji as he left for the kitchen.
Shinji's new apartment was large. Actually, it was very large. And it was mostly vacant although not so much as compared to the rest of the building which had been forced to close down before it could even open. When the investment board responsible for its construction had first brought together its proposal to build a high price apartment condominium NERV had permitted its construction, even though it was only a few miles from its mountain head quarters. It was not even quite finished when the first angel had arrived, and once it had Commander Ikari had ordered it, along with a string of other urban sites next to it, to vacate immediately due to its close proximity to NERV. Despite this, its most extravagant rooms were still deemed safe enough by the NERV Commander for himself, the Sub- Commander, Ritsuko, and a couple of other doctors to live in along with a swarm of NERV agents who served as body guards and security. The buildings only problem was a minor lack of wiring in some of the middle floors as well as a lack of carpeting in what would have been the main office now turned NERV security Center as well a host of other small problems. In return, NERV paid the outraged investors a small fraction of what the building was actually worth. This had lasted until the Sub-Commander disappeared for about a week after which Shinji had heard that his father and the Sub-Commander and Ritsuko had all moved into NERV headquarters.
Shinji appreciated the vast emptiness of his new home, the way his way his voice echoed back to him in hollow tones from off the walls and the way the walls themselves, widely spread apart in the living room, especially when compared to Misato's compact apartment, made the entire apartment feel so blank. In a somber way; it struck a cord within him. Shinji suspected it was because it reminded him what still lay at his center. It also reminded him of the way he had lived before Misato had taken him in. Misato, however, did not like the apartment when she first laid eyes on it, and for the same reason that Shinji had found it so morbidly appealing. She began to use money from out of her own pocket to buy things such as a coffee table and chairs and even paintings for the walls and drapes for the windows. When he saw her online trying to find some posters for his room and eyeing a few that were, in a word, indecent, Shinji decided that he needed to step up to the situation before his home looked like Kaji's, especially since he was sure that she would go bankrupt before she managed to achieve this goal.
Now that he was in the kitchen Shinji gave his dog fresh food and water and then began to prepare his own breakfast and lunch. Shinji wondered if Auska was now preparing food for herself now or if she simply bought her food from the cafeteria now that. It felt so empty without the sounds of human life. Shinji couldn't help but take a certain pleasure in this. It sickened him but somehow he almost enjoyed this emptiness inside of him. /What is the matter with me/, Shinji thought. /Why do I take such perverse happiness in this growing void within me? I have friends. I even have a girlfriend! Most of my classmates are eating out their livers because I got one of the Eva girls as a girlfriend. What the hell is wrong with me? I should feel like million bucks!/ But the feelings of emptiness didn't leave him. Despite having Rei for a girlfriend, despite the fact that he saw Misato and Auska everyday, although he could only see Misato at work now, in the last few days the only thing he could think was that he wanted to be left alone. After a few moments he finished making Rei a meal, put it beside his in a bag, gathered his things and headed for the door. Shinji patted Ro'oshi on the head and left his apartment.
As Shinji walked to school he pondered on his feelings and why they were so bleak. /Its because I moved out of Misato's apartment, duh./ Shinji knew that to be true, but why did these feelings he have bother him so much now? Once feeling isolated was almost pleasant to him. It meant that know one would hurt him. Always being alone had left a void with in him, certainly, but he could fill that void with opera and his cello. And being isolated now still felt as pleasant as before, maybe even more now, but for the first time it also began to bother him that he could enjoy it. /I thought that now that I had a girlfriend to hang around with and stuff that it would be different, that /I/ would be different. I keep hearing how its supposed to be great, and it is, sort of, so why do I feel as empty as I ever have./
/Its because for the first time in my life I felt completely safe and then I was forced to leave. I enjoy being alone now because in a twisted way all of my fears have been justified. I've been hurt and cast out once more. Just as it was before I am alone again./ These thoughts came unbidden from Shinji's mind and he immediately knew it to be true. With his head slightly slumped down, he continued to walk to school.
When he got to the school steps he heard a voice call out to him from behind. "Shinji".
Shinji, still depressed, turned around to see Auska staring at him oddly. "What the hell is the matter with you," asked Auska in an annoyed voice.
"Couldn't sleep," he lied.
"You look like shit. Anyways, Rei isn't here today. She's doing a bunch of tests with your father and she asked Misato on her way to your father's office to please tell you she won't be back for a couple of days."
"Ok."
"Hurry up, Baka. The bell is about to ring."
"Fine," said Shinji, avoiding her eyes.
Auska looked at Shinji in a mixture of pity and disgust and walked up the steps.
Shinji stood there a moment trying to think about what he should do. He considered going to the school nurse and telling her that he felt sick and that he was going home. He decided that he would do just that and ignored the school bell as it began to ring.
Auska yawned as she looked out the window next to her. It was Rei's window, or at least, that was what most kids in her class called it, but since Rei wasn't going to be here Auska decided that it shouldn't go to waste. She could tell by looking at the clouds outside and by the very feel of the air that it was going to rain any second now. She sighed as the school bell rang, seeing that Shinji hadn't made it to class yet. /What's with the baka? You'd think someone had died with that look on his face./ Auska knew that he was going to be hurt by having to move out, but for the past few days he had not seemed to have been so bothered by it. /Maybe having Rei around for the past few days has kept him distracted from thinking about how really feels inside./ Auska knew that while it was a point of pride for her to not need anyone, Shinji may not have shared that sense of independence. Auska had sensed when she arrived to live with the Major that there was a sort of family dynamics already set up between the two, but she had never taken the time to try and understand just how he and the Major had interacted. Auska wondered if the Major was as depressed about being separated as Shinji was.
Auska's line of thought was broken by the sound of the sensei walking through the classroom door which was immediately followed by Hikari's voice as she led the students through the usual sit up, bow, sit down ritual.
After the class was settled down the sensei began to regale the class of his usual horror stories of Third Impact, most of which, Auska knew, was fiction invented by the world's government's to hide the truth. As the sensei's voice lulled Auska into a semi awake state another one of her classmates was not taking Shinji's absence as easily as Auska was.
/Shinji, will not going to come into class today/, thought Kawru, who in reality was really Rei II. Rei II was controlling one of her sisters, one that she had dissolved into a form of pure light, after blocking NERV's sensors of course, and caused to slide between the particles of the geofront and from there on into the world above it. But Rei II was trying to remember that if she thought in terms of being Rei II, her cover, meager though it might be, could be ruined. And thus she thought of herself in terms of her assumed identity: Kawru Nagisa, a schoolgirl who appeared at the school one day with all of the paperwork needed for her transfer in hand. With but the tiniest caress of her AT field across the minds of certain people in the school administration office it was determined that it was best if she were placed into the same class as the three Eva pilots. So now Kawru, as Rei II thought of herself, was to win the affection of Shinji. The fact that Rei III was not showing up to class made things a little bit simpler, but not if Shinji wasn't going to be here either. From where she sat in the classroom she could feel the conversation going on downstairs between Shinji and the school nurse. Shinji was telling her that he was noxious from the substance that they fill his Eva Unit with and that he needed to go home. The school nurse agreed and signed a sick form for Shinji, then she told him he could leave.
/If he is leaving than I wish to follow. His soul is troubled and I wish to give it solace. Whether he knows it or not he is calling me to him/, and with that thought on the front of her mind Kawru walked out of the classroom, her briefcase in hand. When Kawru made it out of the school's main door Shinji was already a ways up the street; Kawru looked after him for a moment and then turned and headed to the school bike rack.
When she had first been removed from NERV headquarters to act as Rei II's vessel, she had been naked, alone, and without any form of outside resources to draw from. Her first objective was to solve two of those problems by sifting through the wreckage of the houses that had been destroyed during the battle against the fifteenth angel. She avoided taking the things in the scorched houses she sifted through that looked like they possessed things that could be salvaged by the inhabitants, but the things that were ruined beyond any hope of repair she claimed for herself. Some ruined clothes that had been scorched in a house fire, and a bicycle that had been twisted and burnt almost beyond recognition constituted the majority of her prizes so far. Repairing the bicycle with her AT field had been easy enough, it was a girl's bicycle with purple and pink coloring, but the close had been a drain for all of the precision that it had required from her.
The bicycle seemed like a logical tool to salvage as it presented her with a way of moving about quickly that did not require money or that drew the attention of others. Also it was capable of carrying two people due to a bicycle accessory screwed on to the back wheels, a thing that Kawru had liked and now could put a use to.
Kawru pulled out her bike from the rack, and as she tossed one leg over it she sensed a consciousness directed at her. She turned her head upward to where she sensed the thoughts concerning her. Back against the back drop of black clouds against a dark grey sky and inside a cracked building Kawru saw Auska staring down at her. She stared back at Auska, wondering if she could sense who she really was. A loud drop of rain falling on the pavement in front of her turned her attentions back onto the matter at hand. She put her feet on the bicycle pedals and followed after Shinji.
From her vantage point at the window, Auska watched as the new girl pedaled her bike after Shinji, and suspected at least that the new girl had feelings for Shinji. Not to surprising given his international fame. /Dumpkhof/, thought Auska, who turned her face away from the window and back to the classroom.
Up the street, Shinji walked home, almost oblivious and completely indifferent to the sharp, cold wind that blew out from the sea and whipped around his form. The trees along the side walk rustled loudly and bent ever so slightly to the wind and softly groaned from the force. Little by little it began to hale.
"Ikari-kun", came a voice from behind Shinji.
Shinji turned and stared at Kawru who was slowly pedaling beside him.
"Ikari-kun, you should go indoors when the whether is like this, please let me take you home."
Shinji stared at her, still astonished at how much she looked like Rei, and yet so very different in expression. Kawru, for her part simply smiled at Shinji in a serene manner, although not as carefree as she did the day before when she first introduced herself to Shinji's class. Now she was smiling, but obviously concerned for Shinji's welfare.
"Um, thanks. . . but . . . I am not allowed to bring people in to my apartment."
Kawru's smile tightened slightly at this, but she recovered immediately. "Then I will not come inside. I do not mind, I simply want to make sure you get home alright."
Shinji looked at her, somewhat shaken by this strange young girls words. "Why do you care?" Shinji knew those were the absolutely wrong words to say, but his mood was frayed and he couldn't help but be suspicious at someone who acted this caring towards him without a reason.
"I care because you are you, and I am me."
"W-what? What is that supposed to mean?"
"Merely that I will help you whenever I can."
Rain and the odd hailstone showered down upon the two, causing Shinji to shiver.
"Why?"
Kawru did not answer but instead extended her hand and took Shinji's in her own, and half led, half dragged Shinji onto the back of her bike. Once he was firmly situated Kawru began peddling into the direction that Shinji had been walking towards.
"Where is your home," asked Kawru as she pedaled, trying to pick up the pace. Shinji told her and Kawru headed towards his apartment./Ah, so Shinji lives in the Commander's former residence. I wonder why the Commander put him there./
The rain poured down like a great deluge upon the two, and twice Kawru nearly made a slip on the sidewalk that would have sent the two sprawling into the pavement if not flat out in to the traffic. The two were thoroughly soaked when Shinji's apartment was at last in sight and more than once Shinji found that with the twists and turns Kawru had made getting Shinji to his home his rain soaked hands had slid perilously high up Kawru's middle. In each instance Shinji had given a little yelp, although Kawru acted as if she hadn't noticed, and slid his hands back down to Kawru's waist and very nearly lost his grip in the process.
"Be careful, Ikari-kun, it would be easy for you to become injured if you slipped."
"Sorry," Shinji squeaked weakly, tired, dazed, and more than just a little confused.
"We are here."
"Come in to the lobby with me. I'll try to get you permission to come in with me."
"Thank you, Ikari-kun."
Four minutes later. . .
tap^tap^tap "Excuse me, um, hello," Shinji looked around through the security window. Though he could have gotten Kawru and himself through the security door with his security card, he had been warned against taking friends into his apartment. He had been informed by the person who gave him a quick tour of the building that if any strangers were spotted past the security entrance they would likely be shot on sight, even if they were conversing with him, unless they were given special clearance. What exactly 'special clearance' meant was not clear to him, so he decided to try and talk to the security guards that were currently on patrol.
"Hello," called Shinji again.
"What do you want," came the reply from a fat security guard that walked into Shinji's view from the side he stood on the bullet proof window.
"I have a friend here with me, would you please let her come upstairs to my room."
"Huh?"From behind Shinji, Kawru walked into view. Her hair looked lovely, even if it was soaked. Her clothes were drenched and pressing themselves against her skin, giving a fairly good outline of her body.
The Security guard grinned at Shinji. /Hoo, boy. Just like his father,/ thought the security guard, who's name was Armasa, while he recalled the girls that he had given the pass to when the Commander and a few of his top people had lived in the building. In each instance it was the same: they didn't technically exist, at least security wise. The guard had always wondered if that blonde haired woman that lived there with the Commander had ever, or would ever, figure out that the man she was living with was cheating on her constantly. He also wondered if she would have even cared. It wasn't that she hadn't looked dignified and all that crap, it was just that Armasha recognized the look of a woman who was ready to settle for less. He was married to one himself. /Heh, well I guess if its like that then it's the same procedure: she aint really here, especially if another woman asks. Glad that at least this kid seems to like a little variety, the last Ikari always had his women look exactly the same. Crap, who pays a woman to put on a /brown/ wig any how? Now grayish silver is kinda original/.
"Okay kid, I know da drill," said the security guard, grinning at Shinji with a grin that left him utterly baffled, and with an appraising glance at Kawru that left him feeling uncomfortable. Kawru, for her part was well aware of what the security guard was thinking, and not just because she had extended her AT field over his soul in the event he needed to be influenced. She was well aware of the Commander's disloyalty to Ritsuko, she had assisted the Commander in maintaining his alibis when necessary, and also aware of what the security guard thought. Not that she cared as that it had gotten her into the apartment.
Inside Shinji's apartment Rooshi was barking madly at the new stranger as Shinji led Kawru to the bathroom so she could dry herself off.
"Um, I have an idea. If you take a hot bath right now I could take me your wet clothes and put them in the dryer for you."Shinji blushed as he said this, looking down a little.
"Thank you," said Kawru as she reached for the red bow of her school uniform.
Shinji stared at Kawru for a second, and then realizing that she was serious he quickly spun around and kept his eyes front and center. Or that was the goal at any rate. /I wonder if all albinos are like this./ When he heard the door click behind him he cautiously turned around and seeing that Kawru was not behind him he carefully gathered her clothes and took them to his dryer. Once he had them on their way to being dry he went into the kitchen to prepare hot ramen for himself and his guest.
In the bathroom Kawru lay in the bathtub as pale wisps of steam rose up all around her. After being drenched in icy rain this was a luxury that she wished to savor. However one upsetting fact prevented her from truly enjoying herself. /Ikari-kun does not sense who I am yet. Should I reveal myself to him. No. He is tired of his life from Eva. He wants release from it and so if he understood what I was he would desire release from me. I must show him the truth about himself. Then all will be clear to him./ Kawru smiled to herself. She smiled to herself and lifted herself up from the bathtub. She picked out a towel for herself out of the bathroom cabinet and began drying off. Outside she heard a loud crash and the dog barking hysterically. Immediately Kawru flexed her AT Field and sensed that Shinji was well. Still he was concerned about something and so she stepped out of the bathroom, with her towel wrapped loosely about her shoulders, to go and see if there was anything she could do. Kawru gave out a small giggle, /deja vu Shinji. Lets see if this helps you recognize me./
Downstairs a women's voice called out in an authoritative manner to the security guard behind the desk. "Excuse me, please let me through. I am here to the Third Child."
"Who are you, lady?"
The woman did show any visible signs of annoyance at being called 'lady' which surprised the security guard some. The red head beside her now, she looked like she was born angry, which didn't make her look any less cute. The security guard faded out on that thought and it was the woman's voice that brought him back.
"I am Major Katsuragi, I am here to see Shinji-kun."
/Ah, shit. This aint never happened with his daddy. She's his superior, so do I let her in or not?/
"Well," said the Major impatiently.
"Open the damn door you baka," shouted the red head.
/Shit. I wonder if that's his girlfriend. With an attitude like that I can see why he'd want a little something on the side./ "Uh, mam, I'm not exactly sure if I'm supposed to let you in. I . . . uh. My superiors ordered me to. . . "
"Your superiors answer to /me/, just like you do. Open the %^@%@ door now!" The woman was obviously pissed off at him now.
"Uh, I think he has some company right now. You know he's got a guest. Are you absolutely /sure/ you don't want to just leave a message?"
"What? Nobody is supposed to be up there with him! Who the hell else is up there? He was told specifically that if either Toji or Kensuke entered past the secure point in this building they'd likely be shot. Who gave Shinji permission to take someone up there?!?" The woman's voice was filled with rage and a hint of worry, apparently the idea of who ever those two people she named being hurt filled her with a bit of dread.
"Uh, well, you see, it's a special circumstance ma'am." The woman's eyes lanced him with a glance. "Why?"
To be continued.
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I'd like to point out to anyone who may wonder why Shinji is so depressed that a person can be happy, as Shinji had been for the past few days with Rei, but still be somewhat angsty and just not show it. He was forced to leave his only family member, Misato treats Shinji like family, something that is totally new to him, at a time when he was becoming somewhat frayed around the edges. Especially having found out from the Angel that was a living Sea of Dirac that his father had something to do with his mother's death. Remember, he may have liked Rei from a distance, but he had been living with Misato and had received a great deal of strength and words of encouragement from her. Thus I don't think I took him out of his character much. I hope you enjoyed the story!
Also, with that said, I'd like to point out to anyone who may wonder why Shinji is so depressed that a person can be happy, as Shinji had been for the past few days with Rei, but still be somewhat angsty and just not show it. He was forced to leave a family member at a time when he was becoming somewhat frayed around the edges. Especially having found out from the Angel that was a living Sea of Dirac that his father had something to do with his mother's death.
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"Shinji," Misato cried. Shinji lay on the floor, LCL and other nameless substances dripping off of his bare skin. Misato scrambled to his side and embraced him as Ritsuko gaped at the sight she beheld.
"That is enough," said Keel, and instantly the feed was stopped and the monoliths once again reappeared, numbered one through twelve, fashioned after Christ's apostles.
"So," said the ninth monolith, "we are on schedule as far as the third child is concerned.
"Yes," replied the second, "'no man shall enter the kingdom of God lest he be born twice'. The third pilot was an interesting subject before his rebirth, one who upon examination of events surrounding him presented us several mysteries to ponder. But whatever potentials he may have had even as an ordinary human are magnified ten-fold in the aftermath of his rebirth. As one whose body and soul were imbued and to an extent composed from the discharge that followed Adam's reverting into an embryo he was an ideal candidate for an Eva Pilot. But as merely human he could never have been suitable for our scenario. Now that he is now reborn of a new flesh he will be a key stone of the instrumentality that shall lead us to God." said the second monolith.
"Yes, but aren't we taking a risk in leaving all of this in the care of one man. One which we know cannot be trusted?" This from the eighth monolith.
"That is why we are going to relieve him of one of the components to his scenario," said Keel.
"Indeed?" "What" "Please explain," came the replies from his colleagues.
"The first child need no longer remain with Ikari now that her Eva Unit has been destroyed. And she is too dangerous to us in his hands. We shall simply eliminate her and take her remains back in to our custody. If at all possible we shall try to take her soul back as well. We can use both of them to perfect the MP series. "
"So," asked the ninth, "what will that gain us when they can simply create yet another angel to take her place."
"That is no longer possible. It was virtually impossible to begin with, but even so it is now completely impossible. The souls of angels can only be created when the universe is still trying to sort out the paradox that occurs when an indestructible being is slain or in some other way removed from creation. It tries to comprehend something that is akin to an unstoppable force impacting an immovable object. Each angel brings with it a destiny that proclaims it to be both eternal and unstoppable. Even the universe recognizes this divine proclamation as a part of its own inherent destiny. The physical laws of the universe alter slightly with the introduction of each new angel as it has already accepted its conquest and the destruction of humanity as preordained and settles itself into a pattern that is founded on the acceptance that the angel has in effect already won. If it were not for the fact that we have man-made replicas of heavens instruments on our side their victory /would/ be in evitable. Instead, when they are eventually defeated the universe recoils slightly and its laws become momentarily mutable during its confusion. When we try to imitate the patterns of an angel the universe can sometimes be convinced that it is real. At least until the next angel arrives when the process starts all over again, and the universe is then thrown into confusion once more when that angel is destroyed as well. But the final angel has now awakened and so the universe will no longer allow humans to slip artificial angels through its cracks. It knows that God has sent his final messenger, and so now creation awaits its renewal. And once creation has suffered its final slap in the face with the death of God's final messenger it will be forced to except humanities voice as equal to God's. Humanity will then be ready for its ascension; once we are joined within a single divine flesh we shall then truly inherit the heavens as well as the earth and shall exist as God's true heirs as He intended."
"Yes," said the fifth monolith," we need the universe's submission to our will first before we can go forward; it is one of the most vital of all of the components."
"I am grateful for the fourteen year gap we have had which gave us the time we needed to develop the Eva series," said the fourth monolith.
"And for those gaps in between angel attacks in which we created the cores for the Mass Produced Evas," said Keel absently, lost in silent revelry.
"So, now we wait for the last angel to attack. Once he is defeated as well we can go forward,"said the fifth monolith.
"Have you constructed a shell that is suitable to house an angel's soul," asked the ninth monolith, "if we could take the first pilot's soul it would truly be a boon for our scenario."
"Yes," said Keel, "all is nearing completion. We shall take from Ikari what he needs to betray us and ensure that we have the means before us to complete our scenario. It has been so long that I have dreamed of reaching the end that now that I can see it before me I almost cannot believe it."
"Soon all shall be one," chanted the committee as they faded out.
Shinji lay on his bed, drifting somewhere between wakefulness and sleep. It was not time for school yet he assured himself, although his alarm clock soon disagreed with him on that matter. Shinji was fully roused to wakefulness when a large wet tongue began licking his face, and the sound of Ro'oshi's whimpering filled Shinji's ears. Shinji sighed; slowly he wiped his face and then opened his eyes, groaning, he pulled his body out of his bed. Shinji's looked down at his dog. Now that his master was up Ro'oshi stopped wimpering and began to yap loudly as he wagged his stubby tail. Shinji looked down at the small puppy and scratched Ro'oshi behind his ears. Ro'oshi barked happily and followed Shinji as he left for the kitchen.
Shinji's new apartment was large. Actually, it was very large. And it was mostly vacant although not so much as compared to the rest of the building which had been forced to close down before it could even open. When the investment board responsible for its construction had first brought together its proposal to build a high price apartment condominium NERV had permitted its construction, even though it was only a few miles from its mountain head quarters. It was not even quite finished when the first angel had arrived, and once it had Commander Ikari had ordered it, along with a string of other urban sites next to it, to vacate immediately due to its close proximity to NERV. Despite this, its most extravagant rooms were still deemed safe enough by the NERV Commander for himself, the Sub- Commander, Ritsuko, and a couple of other doctors to live in along with a swarm of NERV agents who served as body guards and security. The buildings only problem was a minor lack of wiring in some of the middle floors as well as a lack of carpeting in what would have been the main office now turned NERV security Center as well a host of other small problems. In return, NERV paid the outraged investors a small fraction of what the building was actually worth. This had lasted until the Sub-Commander disappeared for about a week after which Shinji had heard that his father and the Sub-Commander and Ritsuko had all moved into NERV headquarters.
Shinji appreciated the vast emptiness of his new home, the way his way his voice echoed back to him in hollow tones from off the walls and the way the walls themselves, widely spread apart in the living room, especially when compared to Misato's compact apartment, made the entire apartment feel so blank. In a somber way; it struck a cord within him. Shinji suspected it was because it reminded him what still lay at his center. It also reminded him of the way he had lived before Misato had taken him in. Misato, however, did not like the apartment when she first laid eyes on it, and for the same reason that Shinji had found it so morbidly appealing. She began to use money from out of her own pocket to buy things such as a coffee table and chairs and even paintings for the walls and drapes for the windows. When he saw her online trying to find some posters for his room and eyeing a few that were, in a word, indecent, Shinji decided that he needed to step up to the situation before his home looked like Kaji's, especially since he was sure that she would go bankrupt before she managed to achieve this goal.
Now that he was in the kitchen Shinji gave his dog fresh food and water and then began to prepare his own breakfast and lunch. Shinji wondered if Auska was now preparing food for herself now or if she simply bought her food from the cafeteria now that. It felt so empty without the sounds of human life. Shinji couldn't help but take a certain pleasure in this. It sickened him but somehow he almost enjoyed this emptiness inside of him. /What is the matter with me/, Shinji thought. /Why do I take such perverse happiness in this growing void within me? I have friends. I even have a girlfriend! Most of my classmates are eating out their livers because I got one of the Eva girls as a girlfriend. What the hell is wrong with me? I should feel like million bucks!/ But the feelings of emptiness didn't leave him. Despite having Rei for a girlfriend, despite the fact that he saw Misato and Auska everyday, although he could only see Misato at work now, in the last few days the only thing he could think was that he wanted to be left alone. After a few moments he finished making Rei a meal, put it beside his in a bag, gathered his things and headed for the door. Shinji patted Ro'oshi on the head and left his apartment.
As Shinji walked to school he pondered on his feelings and why they were so bleak. /Its because I moved out of Misato's apartment, duh./ Shinji knew that to be true, but why did these feelings he have bother him so much now? Once feeling isolated was almost pleasant to him. It meant that know one would hurt him. Always being alone had left a void with in him, certainly, but he could fill that void with opera and his cello. And being isolated now still felt as pleasant as before, maybe even more now, but for the first time it also began to bother him that he could enjoy it. /I thought that now that I had a girlfriend to hang around with and stuff that it would be different, that /I/ would be different. I keep hearing how its supposed to be great, and it is, sort of, so why do I feel as empty as I ever have./
/Its because for the first time in my life I felt completely safe and then I was forced to leave. I enjoy being alone now because in a twisted way all of my fears have been justified. I've been hurt and cast out once more. Just as it was before I am alone again./ These thoughts came unbidden from Shinji's mind and he immediately knew it to be true. With his head slightly slumped down, he continued to walk to school.
When he got to the school steps he heard a voice call out to him from behind. "Shinji".
Shinji, still depressed, turned around to see Auska staring at him oddly. "What the hell is the matter with you," asked Auska in an annoyed voice.
"Couldn't sleep," he lied.
"You look like shit. Anyways, Rei isn't here today. She's doing a bunch of tests with your father and she asked Misato on her way to your father's office to please tell you she won't be back for a couple of days."
"Ok."
"Hurry up, Baka. The bell is about to ring."
"Fine," said Shinji, avoiding her eyes.
Auska looked at Shinji in a mixture of pity and disgust and walked up the steps.
Shinji stood there a moment trying to think about what he should do. He considered going to the school nurse and telling her that he felt sick and that he was going home. He decided that he would do just that and ignored the school bell as it began to ring.
Auska yawned as she looked out the window next to her. It was Rei's window, or at least, that was what most kids in her class called it, but since Rei wasn't going to be here Auska decided that it shouldn't go to waste. She could tell by looking at the clouds outside and by the very feel of the air that it was going to rain any second now. She sighed as the school bell rang, seeing that Shinji hadn't made it to class yet. /What's with the baka? You'd think someone had died with that look on his face./ Auska knew that he was going to be hurt by having to move out, but for the past few days he had not seemed to have been so bothered by it. /Maybe having Rei around for the past few days has kept him distracted from thinking about how really feels inside./ Auska knew that while it was a point of pride for her to not need anyone, Shinji may not have shared that sense of independence. Auska had sensed when she arrived to live with the Major that there was a sort of family dynamics already set up between the two, but she had never taken the time to try and understand just how he and the Major had interacted. Auska wondered if the Major was as depressed about being separated as Shinji was.
Auska's line of thought was broken by the sound of the sensei walking through the classroom door which was immediately followed by Hikari's voice as she led the students through the usual sit up, bow, sit down ritual.
After the class was settled down the sensei began to regale the class of his usual horror stories of Third Impact, most of which, Auska knew, was fiction invented by the world's government's to hide the truth. As the sensei's voice lulled Auska into a semi awake state another one of her classmates was not taking Shinji's absence as easily as Auska was.
/Shinji, will not going to come into class today/, thought Kawru, who in reality was really Rei II. Rei II was controlling one of her sisters, one that she had dissolved into a form of pure light, after blocking NERV's sensors of course, and caused to slide between the particles of the geofront and from there on into the world above it. But Rei II was trying to remember that if she thought in terms of being Rei II, her cover, meager though it might be, could be ruined. And thus she thought of herself in terms of her assumed identity: Kawru Nagisa, a schoolgirl who appeared at the school one day with all of the paperwork needed for her transfer in hand. With but the tiniest caress of her AT field across the minds of certain people in the school administration office it was determined that it was best if she were placed into the same class as the three Eva pilots. So now Kawru, as Rei II thought of herself, was to win the affection of Shinji. The fact that Rei III was not showing up to class made things a little bit simpler, but not if Shinji wasn't going to be here either. From where she sat in the classroom she could feel the conversation going on downstairs between Shinji and the school nurse. Shinji was telling her that he was noxious from the substance that they fill his Eva Unit with and that he needed to go home. The school nurse agreed and signed a sick form for Shinji, then she told him he could leave.
/If he is leaving than I wish to follow. His soul is troubled and I wish to give it solace. Whether he knows it or not he is calling me to him/, and with that thought on the front of her mind Kawru walked out of the classroom, her briefcase in hand. When Kawru made it out of the school's main door Shinji was already a ways up the street; Kawru looked after him for a moment and then turned and headed to the school bike rack.
When she had first been removed from NERV headquarters to act as Rei II's vessel, she had been naked, alone, and without any form of outside resources to draw from. Her first objective was to solve two of those problems by sifting through the wreckage of the houses that had been destroyed during the battle against the fifteenth angel. She avoided taking the things in the scorched houses she sifted through that looked like they possessed things that could be salvaged by the inhabitants, but the things that were ruined beyond any hope of repair she claimed for herself. Some ruined clothes that had been scorched in a house fire, and a bicycle that had been twisted and burnt almost beyond recognition constituted the majority of her prizes so far. Repairing the bicycle with her AT field had been easy enough, it was a girl's bicycle with purple and pink coloring, but the close had been a drain for all of the precision that it had required from her.
The bicycle seemed like a logical tool to salvage as it presented her with a way of moving about quickly that did not require money or that drew the attention of others. Also it was capable of carrying two people due to a bicycle accessory screwed on to the back wheels, a thing that Kawru had liked and now could put a use to.
Kawru pulled out her bike from the rack, and as she tossed one leg over it she sensed a consciousness directed at her. She turned her head upward to where she sensed the thoughts concerning her. Back against the back drop of black clouds against a dark grey sky and inside a cracked building Kawru saw Auska staring down at her. She stared back at Auska, wondering if she could sense who she really was. A loud drop of rain falling on the pavement in front of her turned her attentions back onto the matter at hand. She put her feet on the bicycle pedals and followed after Shinji.
From her vantage point at the window, Auska watched as the new girl pedaled her bike after Shinji, and suspected at least that the new girl had feelings for Shinji. Not to surprising given his international fame. /Dumpkhof/, thought Auska, who turned her face away from the window and back to the classroom.
Up the street, Shinji walked home, almost oblivious and completely indifferent to the sharp, cold wind that blew out from the sea and whipped around his form. The trees along the side walk rustled loudly and bent ever so slightly to the wind and softly groaned from the force. Little by little it began to hale.
"Ikari-kun", came a voice from behind Shinji.
Shinji turned and stared at Kawru who was slowly pedaling beside him.
"Ikari-kun, you should go indoors when the whether is like this, please let me take you home."
Shinji stared at her, still astonished at how much she looked like Rei, and yet so very different in expression. Kawru, for her part simply smiled at Shinji in a serene manner, although not as carefree as she did the day before when she first introduced herself to Shinji's class. Now she was smiling, but obviously concerned for Shinji's welfare.
"Um, thanks. . . but . . . I am not allowed to bring people in to my apartment."
Kawru's smile tightened slightly at this, but she recovered immediately. "Then I will not come inside. I do not mind, I simply want to make sure you get home alright."
Shinji looked at her, somewhat shaken by this strange young girls words. "Why do you care?" Shinji knew those were the absolutely wrong words to say, but his mood was frayed and he couldn't help but be suspicious at someone who acted this caring towards him without a reason.
"I care because you are you, and I am me."
"W-what? What is that supposed to mean?"
"Merely that I will help you whenever I can."
Rain and the odd hailstone showered down upon the two, causing Shinji to shiver.
"Why?"
Kawru did not answer but instead extended her hand and took Shinji's in her own, and half led, half dragged Shinji onto the back of her bike. Once he was firmly situated Kawru began peddling into the direction that Shinji had been walking towards.
"Where is your home," asked Kawru as she pedaled, trying to pick up the pace. Shinji told her and Kawru headed towards his apartment./Ah, so Shinji lives in the Commander's former residence. I wonder why the Commander put him there./
The rain poured down like a great deluge upon the two, and twice Kawru nearly made a slip on the sidewalk that would have sent the two sprawling into the pavement if not flat out in to the traffic. The two were thoroughly soaked when Shinji's apartment was at last in sight and more than once Shinji found that with the twists and turns Kawru had made getting Shinji to his home his rain soaked hands had slid perilously high up Kawru's middle. In each instance Shinji had given a little yelp, although Kawru acted as if she hadn't noticed, and slid his hands back down to Kawru's waist and very nearly lost his grip in the process.
"Be careful, Ikari-kun, it would be easy for you to become injured if you slipped."
"Sorry," Shinji squeaked weakly, tired, dazed, and more than just a little confused.
"We are here."
"Come in to the lobby with me. I'll try to get you permission to come in with me."
"Thank you, Ikari-kun."
Four minutes later. . .
tap^tap^tap "Excuse me, um, hello," Shinji looked around through the security window. Though he could have gotten Kawru and himself through the security door with his security card, he had been warned against taking friends into his apartment. He had been informed by the person who gave him a quick tour of the building that if any strangers were spotted past the security entrance they would likely be shot on sight, even if they were conversing with him, unless they were given special clearance. What exactly 'special clearance' meant was not clear to him, so he decided to try and talk to the security guards that were currently on patrol.
"Hello," called Shinji again.
"What do you want," came the reply from a fat security guard that walked into Shinji's view from the side he stood on the bullet proof window.
"I have a friend here with me, would you please let her come upstairs to my room."
"Huh?"From behind Shinji, Kawru walked into view. Her hair looked lovely, even if it was soaked. Her clothes were drenched and pressing themselves against her skin, giving a fairly good outline of her body.
The Security guard grinned at Shinji. /Hoo, boy. Just like his father,/ thought the security guard, who's name was Armasa, while he recalled the girls that he had given the pass to when the Commander and a few of his top people had lived in the building. In each instance it was the same: they didn't technically exist, at least security wise. The guard had always wondered if that blonde haired woman that lived there with the Commander had ever, or would ever, figure out that the man she was living with was cheating on her constantly. He also wondered if she would have even cared. It wasn't that she hadn't looked dignified and all that crap, it was just that Armasha recognized the look of a woman who was ready to settle for less. He was married to one himself. /Heh, well I guess if its like that then it's the same procedure: she aint really here, especially if another woman asks. Glad that at least this kid seems to like a little variety, the last Ikari always had his women look exactly the same. Crap, who pays a woman to put on a /brown/ wig any how? Now grayish silver is kinda original/.
"Okay kid, I know da drill," said the security guard, grinning at Shinji with a grin that left him utterly baffled, and with an appraising glance at Kawru that left him feeling uncomfortable. Kawru, for her part was well aware of what the security guard was thinking, and not just because she had extended her AT field over his soul in the event he needed to be influenced. She was well aware of the Commander's disloyalty to Ritsuko, she had assisted the Commander in maintaining his alibis when necessary, and also aware of what the security guard thought. Not that she cared as that it had gotten her into the apartment.
Inside Shinji's apartment Rooshi was barking madly at the new stranger as Shinji led Kawru to the bathroom so she could dry herself off.
"Um, I have an idea. If you take a hot bath right now I could take me your wet clothes and put them in the dryer for you."Shinji blushed as he said this, looking down a little.
"Thank you," said Kawru as she reached for the red bow of her school uniform.
Shinji stared at Kawru for a second, and then realizing that she was serious he quickly spun around and kept his eyes front and center. Or that was the goal at any rate. /I wonder if all albinos are like this./ When he heard the door click behind him he cautiously turned around and seeing that Kawru was not behind him he carefully gathered her clothes and took them to his dryer. Once he had them on their way to being dry he went into the kitchen to prepare hot ramen for himself and his guest.
In the bathroom Kawru lay in the bathtub as pale wisps of steam rose up all around her. After being drenched in icy rain this was a luxury that she wished to savor. However one upsetting fact prevented her from truly enjoying herself. /Ikari-kun does not sense who I am yet. Should I reveal myself to him. No. He is tired of his life from Eva. He wants release from it and so if he understood what I was he would desire release from me. I must show him the truth about himself. Then all will be clear to him./ Kawru smiled to herself. She smiled to herself and lifted herself up from the bathtub. She picked out a towel for herself out of the bathroom cabinet and began drying off. Outside she heard a loud crash and the dog barking hysterically. Immediately Kawru flexed her AT Field and sensed that Shinji was well. Still he was concerned about something and so she stepped out of the bathroom, with her towel wrapped loosely about her shoulders, to go and see if there was anything she could do. Kawru gave out a small giggle, /deja vu Shinji. Lets see if this helps you recognize me./
Downstairs a women's voice called out in an authoritative manner to the security guard behind the desk. "Excuse me, please let me through. I am here to the Third Child."
"Who are you, lady?"
The woman did show any visible signs of annoyance at being called 'lady' which surprised the security guard some. The red head beside her now, she looked like she was born angry, which didn't make her look any less cute. The security guard faded out on that thought and it was the woman's voice that brought him back.
"I am Major Katsuragi, I am here to see Shinji-kun."
/Ah, shit. This aint never happened with his daddy. She's his superior, so do I let her in or not?/
"Well," said the Major impatiently.
"Open the damn door you baka," shouted the red head.
/Shit. I wonder if that's his girlfriend. With an attitude like that I can see why he'd want a little something on the side./ "Uh, mam, I'm not exactly sure if I'm supposed to let you in. I . . . uh. My superiors ordered me to. . . "
"Your superiors answer to /me/, just like you do. Open the %^@%@ door now!" The woman was obviously pissed off at him now.
"Uh, I think he has some company right now. You know he's got a guest. Are you absolutely /sure/ you don't want to just leave a message?"
"What? Nobody is supposed to be up there with him! Who the hell else is up there? He was told specifically that if either Toji or Kensuke entered past the secure point in this building they'd likely be shot. Who gave Shinji permission to take someone up there?!?" The woman's voice was filled with rage and a hint of worry, apparently the idea of who ever those two people she named being hurt filled her with a bit of dread.
"Uh, well, you see, it's a special circumstance ma'am." The woman's eyes lanced him with a glance. "Why?"
To be continued.
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I'd like to point out to anyone who may wonder why Shinji is so depressed that a person can be happy, as Shinji had been for the past few days with Rei, but still be somewhat angsty and just not show it. He was forced to leave his only family member, Misato treats Shinji like family, something that is totally new to him, at a time when he was becoming somewhat frayed around the edges. Especially having found out from the Angel that was a living Sea of Dirac that his father had something to do with his mother's death. Remember, he may have liked Rei from a distance, but he had been living with Misato and had received a great deal of strength and words of encouragement from her. Thus I don't think I took him out of his character much. I hope you enjoyed the story!
