For those of you who are wondering, yes the transition between the moods of chapters 33 and 34 is non-existent, but that's because certain people decided that the story would stop being confusing and start being depressing instead. Oh well. Thanks xlax.
Anyways, Drey-chan is out banging his head on the wall in furst…frustras…you know the word, because of writer's block. I bought him a salve for it, but it doesn't appear to be working. Maybe you need prescription drugs for this kind of thing, I don't know.
Disclaimer: Property is theft. But I don't own anything, so I'm innocent. You can't sue!
Fourth Impact
Chapter 35: Yet More Lies
(AN: Gee, I wonder what this chapter's going to be about?)
Esserach looked up at the window he was sure was hers. Then he rang the doorbell. "If that's you, Adamu, go away."
"I would go, but I am not Adamu." The door opened to reveal Misato, glaring at him out of half-lidded eyes. Her eyes slowly widened as she took in the sight of him. He smiled.
"The reports do you no justice." He said smoothly. "Though words would be inadequate in any case." She blushed. "May I come in? It is dreadfully cold out here." She nodded and they stepped inside.
He closed his eyes for a moment. Searai was almost in place. He opened them as Misato came back with tea.
"Why did you come here?" asked Misato. "I would have thought that the UN would have only sent the representative." He nodded.
"They would have, but for my father. I must admit, he sent me here because he wants me out of the way." He sipped at his tea, never taking his eyes off her. "I was never any good at politics." He sat back against the couch, watching her over the rim of his cup. "So here I am, enjoying your company instead of lying to the great ones."
Searai watched from her perch in an Eva catapult. She smiled. If NERV hadn't been so badly damaged from the previous fights, they might have seen her. Or not, the plane was rather large, and the crew as well.
She dropped a meter down to watch three of the Children wander the Geofront. She sighed as Adamu passed beneath her. He was cute, she decided, and callous enough that perhaps she could win him over. More importantly, he was the son of one of Lillith's incarnations. Through him would come much power.
Her grip loosened suddenly and she plunged into the darkness. She barely caught herself on something, hoisting herself back up and grinning stupidly. She didn't dare turn on a light, but whatever she was holding onto was cold, and wet, and squishy…
When liquid began to run down her arm, though, she could take it no longer. She turned on her AT field for a moment, and gulped, letting go and dropping. She didn't care. She could do without touching Zeruel's long dead flesh.
She caught hold of a vent and looked down to make sure that no one had seen her. Exhaling and wiping beads of sweat from her brow, she resumed her lookout, waiting for Esserach's signal.
"…but they didn't listen to me." he said, pausing. She smiled in rueful glee.
"Go on, tell me!" she urged. He turned to face her, and their eyes met for a split second, too quick for her to get a hold on him, but long enough for her to get lost in the depths of his deep golden eyes. Her breath caught in her throat, and a blush forced its was onto her face.
She blinked, inwardly cursing herself. Get a hold of yourself, Misato! You're not a boy, your brain is in your head, not between your legs!
"Well, to put it simply, boom." He finished, not bothering to hide the satisfaction of being right. "No one was hurt, fortunately, but all that money, wasted." He made a dramatic sigh. "And that's why they cut our funding."
She shook her head to clear the blush. "Well, I guess I should start heeding your advice." She said. He stood up slowly, holding out his hand.
"Then I shall advise a stroll, if milady would be so kind." She giggled.
"I told you to stop calling me that." She said, taking his hand and getting up.
"Since I will never be able to achieve the high standards of Eastern courtesy," he replied, "I might as well try for Western instead."
"One of the first rules of courtesy is doing as the lady asks." She countered.
"One of the first rule of being male is to be totally oblivious as to what the lady wishes." He led her out the door and into the sunlight. "So, where shall we go?"
She looked around. The city was still in ruins, but the park was intact. "This way, milord." He looked stricken, then calmed.
"I guess I deserved that." He said with a smile. They reached the park, chatting about their interests, their childhoods, what they liked. By the time they passed her favorite tree, she felt as if she had known him forever.
Suddenly his watch beeped. He sighed, letting go of her hand. "I'm afraid that I must leave you now, milady. My guardian summons me." she smiled.
"Shall I see you tomorrow?" He nodded, and blew her a kiss before running off.
She smirked. Flirt.
"I hate that jerk." Misato told her friend as Tolben left. "He judges me by the alcohol in my desk, not the papers on it."
"Perhaps he is wiser to do so." Ritsuko said with a smirk. "I hate him too, but he does know what he's doing."
Misato frowned. "Yes, threatening us. The UN didn't like the resurrection of NERV any more than we did, and he's making sure that we know it. If only he knew what was really going on."
"Well, it's a good thing he's not in Kaji-kun's class. Then we'd be doomed." Ritsuko grabbed her cup of coffee. "It's the boy that worries me."
"The boy." Misato shrugged. "I really don't understand why you're so worried. He seems innocent."
"Misato-kun, Kaoru-san seemed innocent until he took over Unit 02." Ritsuko reminded her. "Kaoru-san isn't saying anything, but I still don't trust the boy."
"You're just being paranoid. The boy is fine." Misato waved off Ritsuko's protests. "Besides, even if the boy turns out to be something, we have five, maybe six Angels with us, and the Splinters of Loginus. We don't need to be worried about him."
"Hey, Takoru-chan! Catch!" Takoru spun just in time to see the melon hurtling towards him. He jumped back with a yelp and the melon exploded on the ground in front of him. Melon guts splattered all over his pants and onto his shirt.
"What was that for?" he demanded. Lilliko giggled.
"I thought you would catch it." She replied. "Don't worry, it's only a melon." She strode over to him, another melon tucked under her arm. "Go get a melon. The Ikaris are coming over tonight and Shinji-san promised to teach me how to make pie."
His eyes lit up at the word pie, and he rushed over to get another melon.
"Hey, Lilli-kun!" Lilliko turned to see Misato and Esserach striding toward them. "What are you doing, desecrating Kaji-san's melon patch?"
"I'll be making pie." She answered. "And besides, Kaji-san surely didn't make this patch simply to watch it take over the Geofront. These are good melons here."
"And that one?" she pointed to the melon guts still splattered all over Takoru's clothing. Lilliko grinned.
"We were playing." She said innocently. "It's not my fault that Takoru can't catch."
"I don't know, it seems like the thrower is at fault here. I've known Takoru for years, and he's managed to catch everything, from baseballs to hubcaps to the flu."
"Please," Esserach cut in, "don't you think that it is too early in the morning for you fair maidens to be bickering?"
Misato made a most un-lady-like snort. "Maiden, Lilli-kun. Right."
Lilliko drew back with an indignant pout. "What? Me?"
Misato nodded. "Please, Lilli-kun, don't be coy. Takoru sleeps in your room every night, and the way you act…"
Lilliko humph'd. "I just talk that way to make my brother upset. I'm still pure."
"Say that again tonight, when Takoru'll be playing with your melons and eating your pie, eh?"
(AN:
Drey-chan: Layra-chan! Really, get your head out of the gutter.
Layra: But Drey-chan, you know how much I enjoy making suggestive comments. Without them, talking to me wouldn't be any fun.
Drey-chan: I rated this story PG-13 for a reason.
Layra: We all know what 13-year olds enjoy most, don't we? …)
Takoru turned bright red and hastily put down the melon he was holding. Misato burst out laughing, and suddenly Lilliko leapt at her, knocking her down.
"Girls!" Esserach exclaimed. "Watch out for the melons!" Smash! He sweatdropped and started turning a bit red himself as the girls clawed and punched at each other, rolling back and forth through the crushed melons.
"So, they packed me into the plane and shipped me off without a word." Esserach said, finishing off his pie. "The funny thing is, I ended up in France anyway, because they'd thought I was Jeremy all along."
The adults laughed, and Esserach smiled. He had them, all but Adamu and Ritsuko. Ritsuko was no matter, she was only a simple human. And Adamu…Searai said to leave him alone.
"Takoru-kun," Misato said suddenly, "you've barely touched Lilli-kun's pie." Takoru was nervously poking at his pie, trying to force down a blush. "Don't you want your girlfriend to know how delicious it is?"
Lilliko glared at her, then smirked, sliding over and plopping herself onto Takoru's lap. She stifled a yelp by shoving a large portion of pie into his mouth. "He just wanted me to feed it to him."
Esserach stood up slowly. "Thank you for the wonderful meal." He said, bowing. "And the most enjoyable conversation. I must be going now."
"Let me walk you back to NERV." Misato said, standing up. He nodded and deposited their dishes in the sink. They walked out with a final goodbye to everyone.
No one failed to notice that their hands were linked.
Searai felt Esserach's signal and dropped from the Eva catapult, falling through the broken shaft and into the Geofront.
AN: …Look, Drey-chan, so my mind is dirty. Is that such a crime? Are only boys allowed to be perverts? Really, you're such a sexist. Girls can also be stupid, bloodthirsty, perverted pyromaniacs who only think with the thing between their legs, not just boys. Take me, for example…