It was a beautiful night that would make anyone want to look up to the sky.
The inky blackness of the void, broken only by the tiny pinprick of the stars and their ancient points of light. The large full moon lighting up the cloudless sky, which was reflected on the quietly lapping waves of the beach.
As well as the red ring of forlorn souls that now permanently orbits the earth. It stretches from one end of the horizon to the other, a clear red band made of billions of individual points of light, each one the manifestation of a dead human soul.
She stood there, looking up at the sky, subconsciously trying to count them, to pick one out, to find her own point of light up above with the dead, for that was what she still felt like.
"I wish you'd stop doing that, it's creepy," said a voice behind her. She was familiar with the voice, so it didn't startle her. She continued to stare at the ring of souls.
"Asuka, I've been dead. We've both been dead. That's even creepier, isn't it?" Ritsuko replied.
"Baka," Asuka silently whispered, as she spun on her heels and went back the way she came. The words "it's dinnertime" were barely audible to Ritsuko, as she continued to look at the ring of souls, three quarters of the Earth's population, innocent victims of an uncompleted Third Impact.
"Maya, Misato.. What's the matter? Don't you want to come back?" Ritsuko asked softly to the sky.
NEON
GENESIS
EVANGELION
A3I: Homeostasis
Ritsuko and Asuka ate with the usual silence. Shinji had already excused himself, his bowl of miso soup and soba noodles left unfinished. Asuka broke the silence, setting down her chopstick on the table.
"I am done," she simply stated, then got up and started to leave. "Asuka," Ritsuko started. "Don't forget the Unit 02 activation test tomorrow," she said, barely raising her tired head.
"Of course," Asuka said simply, as she walked out the door of Ritsuko's apartment, leaving her alone at the table. Ritsuko sipped her own bowl of soup, with its perfect balance of ingredients. Cooked with great care and attention with her own hands.
"Curried ramen noodles." Ritsuko mumbled to herself, smirking at the memory. Misato would have fed the Children curried instant ramen noodles. Misato even tried to feed her, Ritsuko, the same stuff. Ramen noodles boiled in water, with curry powder randomly thrown in mixed with whatever raw ingredients Shinji happened to bring back from the Super K outlet. The result was almost always a stinking concoction that made her retch after three bites.
She would have given the world itself for just one more chance to eat Misato's horrible cooking.
A loud squawk broke her reverie.
Ritsuko smiled, lazily getting up from the table and reaching inside the fridge for a side of smoked herring. "Hungry little one, aren't you, Pen- Pen?" Ritsuko asked, with as much affection as she could muster.
A louder squawk was her answer as the penguin tried to reach for the fish. Ritsuko dropped it to the ground, and Pen-Pen quickly gobbled up the offered morsel of food before quickly waddling away from her.
"You're still waiting for her," Ritsuko whispered bitterly. "Stupid bird."
Asuka could hear the cello playing behind the door to Shinji's apartment. There was no escaping it. She felt her feet becoming rooted to that particular spot outside his door. She exerted her willpower, and felt relief when the strength returned to her legs yet again. She tore herself from Shinji's door, walking at full speed towards the only staircase the apartment building had. Despite the burning sensation in her heart that appeared when she heard the plaintive moaning of that cello, a part of her was glad that the elevator was broken, and the only way to her own apartment upstairs was past Shinji's door.
"Tomorrow." Asuka softly whispered to herself.
"The first activation of an Evangelion since Third Impact," Shigeru softly said to no one in particular. "We're all mad," he concluded. He himself had to be pretty mad to agree to the position of Acting Commander of NERV. Yet, he had wanted to live, and there seemed to be no other option than to reactivate the Evangelions, the very tool of humanity's destruction. The alternative was to return to the ring of souls that encircle the earth, trapped between death and Heaven. Shigeru surveyed the scene around him. It was the hollowed out crater where the Geofront once stood, a dead hole in the ground that once spawned the Black Moon of Lilith. The giant parts of the Lilith-Rei creature lay scattered over the countryside, her head, split in two after the Third Impact, lay offshore, her dead eyes, the size of a mountain, were still open and stared back at him in that dead, sightless way that still chilled him. The ocean, once several miles away from the city, now reclaimed the land, linking up with the Ashino lakes, the shorelines merely several hundred meters away from where he stood.
Eva unit 02 stood in the middle of the crater, supported by makeshift scaffolding as last minute systems checks were conducted on its systems. The umbilical cable that provided it with power was detached, and the Eva had been still, perhaps even dead, ever since the day of Third Impact. Yet everyone there felt a palpable fear that it would go berserk at any moment and everyone worked quietly, as if afraid to awaken it.
Tomorrow, Asuka will return to the entry plug, and reawaken the world's last
remaining Evangelion. "The Third Impact must not be completed" he reminded himself, trying to brace his soul for the horror that must come.
Ritsuko dreamed, or rather, Ritsuko remembered.
She had made up her mind. She had pressed that button. Nothing happened. She felt panic, and grabbed the handheld out of her pocket.
"Refused by Caspar... Mother.. You choose him over me?" Ritsuko asked, her words quickly drowned out by the blasphemous horror that spewed forth from Gendo's mouth.
"Akagi Ritsuko, I really do love you"
"Liar," Ritsuko spat out. Then it was like an invisible hand pushed her back, into the sea of LCL. Rei. Above the LCL. Rei. But wasn't she with Gendo? Rei, floating? Rei. LCL. Rei. LCL. Then, Maya. Maya felt soft, warm. Maya was afraid but in her arms the fear was gone. Misato. She had felt Misato's presence, but .. Rei... in the LCL where it felt.. warm.
Ritsuko forced herself awake, her mouth gasping for air, sweet air. It wasn't LCL."Not LCL.. It's air.. It's 21 percent oxygen in a 78 percent nitrogen suspension, air, " she whispered to herself, trying to rid her mind of the memory.
Her clock read 4 am. She could hear the chirping of crickets. She sighed. Once the memories came back there will be no more sleep for her. She stood up from the bed, opening the dresser. Misato's dresser. Which was in Misato's apartment. Which still had Misato's bad taste in furniture, her fridge, her pet penguin. Ritsuko grabbed her day clothes and put them on, deciding to walk softly downstairs so as not to wake Shinji or Asuka with the tapping of her heels.
Shinji lay there, his SDAT earphones still attached to his ears, but there was no sound coming from the player. The batteries had died out an hour ago. He looked at the now-familiar ceiling, and heard footsteps outside the door that he recognised as Ritsuko's. He tried to ignore it, but he knew he couldn't.
Tomorrow, Asuka will once again pilot the Evangelion. Asuka will once again enter the hell that was the life of a Child, to face again the returning Angels. While he will never, ever, do so again.
"Don't you ever sleep, Aoba?" Ritsuko asked as she approached him, standing still as a statue on the lip of the crater. The gentle lapping of the waves on the beach answered her. Fine, be that way, she thought to herself. "I'll be down there," she said curtly, walking away. It really wasn't his fault that he hated her, she knew. It was entirely hers, for standing behind Gendo and his insane plans.
Dawn broke as a NERV helicopter landed on the test site. Shigeru ran up to it as Asuka got off, his hand extended in greeting. "Welcome back, Asuka," he enthused, "everything's ready and we can start as soon as you say the word," Shigeru said as Asuka ignored him.
"Mama," said Asuka silently, as she gazed on the rebuilt Unit 02 for the first time in a year. She looked on it in awe, almost reverently.
Shinji worried about Asuka, of course, but he tried to push it to the back of his mind. Today was important to him too, the first day of school. They have finally decided to reopen the schools, and he craved it, waited for it anxiously as a sign that he really was getting on with his life, that he did the right thing when he refused to complete the Third Impact and return all humanity to Heaven. Shinji slung his backpack, with his laptop inside, over his left shoulder and walked alone to the rebuilt Tokyo-03 Middle School building.
"All right, Asuka, remember, this is just a test," said Ritsuko's voice, coming in through the radio. "Jawohl, jawohl, no heroics, no fancy moves, you already told me this yesterday!" being Asuka's irritated reply.
"Inject the LCL" Ritsuko commanded the technicians. "Begin the A-10 nerve connections as soon as she starts breathing LCL," she finshed.
Shinji didn't recognize the faces of the schoolchildren. Some of them looked like his schoolmates from before, others were new, probably children of new NERV staff, or perhaps he never really recognized anyone before, being too busy with the life of an Eva pilot. He resolved not to let himself be locked out of life again. Today was the day he begins life anew.
Shigeru and Ritsuko both stood in awe as the mighty Evangelion took its first few steps, effortlessly clearing a distance of several hundred feet in less than a minute. Its arms moved with the fluidity of a trained dancer, the fingers holding the Progressive Knife, the blade extended.
"No matter how many times I look at it, it's still awesome," Shigeru commented. "So, some things don't change?" queried Ritsuko absent-mindedly as she read the reports that came in to her computer terminal. There was a moment's silence, before Shigeru turned his face to her, his eyes suddenly cold and hard as Gendo's eyes used to be.
"That is only on the surface, Dr. Akagi. Everything has changed," he said bitterly, before refocusing his attention on Unit 02.
"Class Rep?" Shinji asked the girl. He felt he recognized the girl with the brown hair and pigtails and almost by reflex, walked down the corridor to approach her, his hand tentatively reaching to tap her on the shoulder.
At the sound of his voice, she turned around. It was indeed, Hikari Hokari, Shinji's old Class Rep back in the days that seemed long past. The freckles were gone now, and she was significantly thinner than he had remembered her, but it was indeed, her. A familiar face in an unfamiliar world. She had recognized him, he could tell by the sudden change in her expression when she saw him.
"Ikari Shinji..." Hikari said breathlessly, her face a jumble of conflicting emotions which did not last long, for one emotion, one feeling, quickly rose above the others and registered in her face.
Pure hatred.
"Murderer" the word slid off her lips so naturally, with the weight of truth behind them. Shinji stood there dumbstruck by the force of her accusation. "Killer. Murderer," Hikari whispered, louder and louder, until the words drowned out the normal conversation in the school hallways. Several other students nervously walked away, yet many stayed, and perhaps, they shared Hikari's conviction.
Shinji tried to stammer out a denial, but he knew there will never be an explanation, or justification, for his part in the Third Impact. He only managed to mouth the word "no". Her fist hit her target, and Shinju crumpled to the ground, clutching his stomach. It had hurt him even more than when Toji hit him so long ago.
Hikari stood angrily over him, eyes narrowed. Shinji accepted his fate, as she began to kick him in the head, chest and abdomen, wordlessly grunting out her hatred with each blow.
It took two NERV bodyguards to subdue her.
Shinji's battered form was unceremoniously bundled into the back seat of the NERV car, both his bodyguards wordlessly getting in the front seats and immediately began to drive away.
"Is that so?" Ritsuko asked over the phone.
Asuka recognized the tone of voice immediately. Misato sounded that way when Shinji fell into the Sea of Dirac. Misato sounded that way when Rei blew herself up.
"Send him home, of course. I'm on my way. No, that will NOT be necessary."
Baka Shinji, Asuka mouthed to herself. What could he do to himself now, on his first day of school? She fiddled with the suction controls of the plug suit nervously. This wasn't the best way to celebrate a succesful activation test.
Ritsuko set the phone down, turning to face Asuka. "We're going home. No time to change out of the plugsuit. "
"And one of us needs to talk to your friend Horaki," Ritsuko said with a chilling finality.
Shinji sat on the edge of his bed. A twinge of pain tore through the fiber of his being, travelling up his spinal cord from the stomach to his ribs straight to his brain by way of a bruised head where Hikari kicked him.
The door opened and Ritsuko marched in, interrupting Shinji's solitude. In an instant, she was there, face to face with him.
"Shinji-kun, hold still," Ritsuko softly said, as her hands probed and examined his face and chest. He didn't turn away, he wanted to, and he felt he needed to, but Ritsuko was firm and persistent, and Shinji neither protested nor turned away as Ritsuko finished her cursory medical examination. "Good, it's just bruising and some wounded pride. If you want, Shinji, you can take some of the painkillers in my apartment." she said, smiling at him.
"Ritsuko-san," Shinji said, softly. "Please, forget about me," he said. It disturbed him that Ritsuko seemed to care so much for someone as undeserving.
She looked at him; her right hand still cradling his jaw, the fingers delicately placed around a nasty bruise. Her fingers felt icy cold. They have always been icy cold, for as long as he could remember.
"No, Shinji-kun, I will never again forget about you. Every one of us has a place, as long as he is remembered. You will find your place in this world," she tried to assure him.
"Even in your position?" Shinji asked, biting his lip with bitterness.
"Even in my position," Ritsuko confirmed. "My prison sentence is the position that I naturally deserve. The suspension of that sentence in exchange for defending humanity one more time against the Angels, is the position that I have earned."
Shinji looked up, confusion in his eyes at that remark.
"Listen to me, Shinji-kun," Ritsuko said slowly. "The fact that you are here, with me, in this moment, is your position now. But there's a position, a place for you, in this world that you can earn for yourself. You realized it when you decided to return to this world."
Ritsuko sighed. Perhaps the boy didn't understand.
"Now, Shinji-kun, you know I have to do some things at the Geofront. You'll be all right..." She paused, she knew she was running out of words. How did Misato live with someone so fragile, so distant?
"I will see you for dinner, that's a promise, Shinji-kun."
Her heart sank a little to see his head fall, his eyes fixed upon his feet, proof positive her words had little to no effect on him. She stood up, placing a calming hand on Shinji's shoulder, feeling his muscles tense up the instant her flesh made contact with him. She slowly walked out the door, and after the door closed, immediately pulled out her datapad from the pocket of her white lab coat. Her eyes narrowed as she read the display, and the guards could hear her mutter "destardo is still manifesting" over the clicking of her heels as she left.
"There it is again!" The operator shouted. Shigeru stood over the man, looking at the readout from the MAGI. Shigeru snarled. A blue pattern. An Angel. "The other MAGIs are confirming it sir," the operator continued. "Berlin, Houston, Beijing, Putrajaya…" he recited names of the concurring systems, almost as if it was necessary.
"Dear God, no, no.." Shigeru muttered.
His worst fears were coming true, and it had only been five hours since Unit 02 was reactivated.
"But why Paris?" he asked, surprised by the unusual location for an Angel to appear.
"It's gone!" the operator shouted, causing a hubbub of commotion to break out as the other computer operators trained satellites on the French capital and tapped into the millitary and civillian communications and broadcast systems, trying to get a visual confirmation.
"Find it!" Shigeru shouted. "Find it now!"
"Forget it," came the sound of a woman's voice from behind him. Shigeru whirled around to see Ritsuko walking unconcernedly past the various flashing monitors. "Where were you?" Shigeru asked, the stress evident in the hostile tone of voice.
"With the Children," Ritsuko replied coolly. "You won't find the Angel if you look for it," Ritsuko said, being as cryptic as usual. "Stand aside," she commanded one of the computer operators , quickly taking his seat. Ritsuko's fingers danced across the keyboard, while Shigeru stood behind her, jaw clenched in anger. If it were up to him, she'd be rotting in jail for genocide, not sitting there, mocking him with supercompetence.
"Nothing's happening."
"That's what I want," Ritsuko replied. "I've reprogrammed the MAGI to look away for five minutes every time it gets a blue pattern. This Angel's smart enough to know we're looking for him, so we're going to pretend we're not looking for him."
Shigeru shrugged. Damn her, and her complete mastery of the MAGI. "Now, commander, I have an Evangelion to check up on, and cook dinner for the Children, " she said, getting up and getting ready to leave.
Asuka and Hikari listlessly bounced the basketball around the empty court. It was almost dusk; the redness of the sun temporarily masking the damnable belt of red that circled the earth. Asuka still wore her plugsuit; Hikari was still in her school uniform. The exercise felt good, and was a welcome relief from the horror that was the Horaki family residence. The stench of unremoved garbage, the table set for three with the food lying rotted on the plates. It was hard to even talk to her inside such a horrible place.
Sweat was beginning to break through Hikari's skin, Asuka could see the damp patches on the sleeves of her blouse. Asuka smiled a little seeing her friend make the effort to steal the ball from her. She loved seeing people strive. It made them look nobler somehow.
"I have to stop," Asuka said, finally, just as Hikari was setting herself up for a three point shot. "Ritsuko's cooking tonight," she finished, smiling. Hikari nodded her assent, the ball falling away from her hands as she reached her arms towards Asuka, holding her friend in a tight hug that seemingly renewed their friendship.
"Tell Shinji I'm sorry. I promise I'll treat him better," she said, trying to apologize.
"Just don't be a stranger, ever again," Asuka said as she broke the hold and stepped back to look her friend in the eye, where there was now a tiny little spark of joy that replaced the raging fire of misplaced rage that was there before.
Asuka walked home, under an blood red archway in the night sky, the angry light of a full moon rising unable to blot it away. She felt some satisfaction at her achievements today, having successfully piloted an Eva again, and brought Hikari back from the brink. No matter how mad the world had become, she had managed to bring some things back to normal. Dinner tonight should be good.
The inky blackness of the void, broken only by the tiny pinprick of the stars and their ancient points of light. The large full moon lighting up the cloudless sky, which was reflected on the quietly lapping waves of the beach.
As well as the red ring of forlorn souls that now permanently orbits the earth. It stretches from one end of the horizon to the other, a clear red band made of billions of individual points of light, each one the manifestation of a dead human soul.
She stood there, looking up at the sky, subconsciously trying to count them, to pick one out, to find her own point of light up above with the dead, for that was what she still felt like.
"I wish you'd stop doing that, it's creepy," said a voice behind her. She was familiar with the voice, so it didn't startle her. She continued to stare at the ring of souls.
"Asuka, I've been dead. We've both been dead. That's even creepier, isn't it?" Ritsuko replied.
"Baka," Asuka silently whispered, as she spun on her heels and went back the way she came. The words "it's dinnertime" were barely audible to Ritsuko, as she continued to look at the ring of souls, three quarters of the Earth's population, innocent victims of an uncompleted Third Impact.
"Maya, Misato.. What's the matter? Don't you want to come back?" Ritsuko asked softly to the sky.
NEON
GENESIS
EVANGELION
A3I: Homeostasis
Ritsuko and Asuka ate with the usual silence. Shinji had already excused himself, his bowl of miso soup and soba noodles left unfinished. Asuka broke the silence, setting down her chopstick on the table.
"I am done," she simply stated, then got up and started to leave. "Asuka," Ritsuko started. "Don't forget the Unit 02 activation test tomorrow," she said, barely raising her tired head.
"Of course," Asuka said simply, as she walked out the door of Ritsuko's apartment, leaving her alone at the table. Ritsuko sipped her own bowl of soup, with its perfect balance of ingredients. Cooked with great care and attention with her own hands.
"Curried ramen noodles." Ritsuko mumbled to herself, smirking at the memory. Misato would have fed the Children curried instant ramen noodles. Misato even tried to feed her, Ritsuko, the same stuff. Ramen noodles boiled in water, with curry powder randomly thrown in mixed with whatever raw ingredients Shinji happened to bring back from the Super K outlet. The result was almost always a stinking concoction that made her retch after three bites.
She would have given the world itself for just one more chance to eat Misato's horrible cooking.
A loud squawk broke her reverie.
Ritsuko smiled, lazily getting up from the table and reaching inside the fridge for a side of smoked herring. "Hungry little one, aren't you, Pen- Pen?" Ritsuko asked, with as much affection as she could muster.
A louder squawk was her answer as the penguin tried to reach for the fish. Ritsuko dropped it to the ground, and Pen-Pen quickly gobbled up the offered morsel of food before quickly waddling away from her.
"You're still waiting for her," Ritsuko whispered bitterly. "Stupid bird."
Asuka could hear the cello playing behind the door to Shinji's apartment. There was no escaping it. She felt her feet becoming rooted to that particular spot outside his door. She exerted her willpower, and felt relief when the strength returned to her legs yet again. She tore herself from Shinji's door, walking at full speed towards the only staircase the apartment building had. Despite the burning sensation in her heart that appeared when she heard the plaintive moaning of that cello, a part of her was glad that the elevator was broken, and the only way to her own apartment upstairs was past Shinji's door.
"Tomorrow." Asuka softly whispered to herself.
"The first activation of an Evangelion since Third Impact," Shigeru softly said to no one in particular. "We're all mad," he concluded. He himself had to be pretty mad to agree to the position of Acting Commander of NERV. Yet, he had wanted to live, and there seemed to be no other option than to reactivate the Evangelions, the very tool of humanity's destruction. The alternative was to return to the ring of souls that encircle the earth, trapped between death and Heaven. Shigeru surveyed the scene around him. It was the hollowed out crater where the Geofront once stood, a dead hole in the ground that once spawned the Black Moon of Lilith. The giant parts of the Lilith-Rei creature lay scattered over the countryside, her head, split in two after the Third Impact, lay offshore, her dead eyes, the size of a mountain, were still open and stared back at him in that dead, sightless way that still chilled him. The ocean, once several miles away from the city, now reclaimed the land, linking up with the Ashino lakes, the shorelines merely several hundred meters away from where he stood.
Eva unit 02 stood in the middle of the crater, supported by makeshift scaffolding as last minute systems checks were conducted on its systems. The umbilical cable that provided it with power was detached, and the Eva had been still, perhaps even dead, ever since the day of Third Impact. Yet everyone there felt a palpable fear that it would go berserk at any moment and everyone worked quietly, as if afraid to awaken it.
Tomorrow, Asuka will return to the entry plug, and reawaken the world's last
remaining Evangelion. "The Third Impact must not be completed" he reminded himself, trying to brace his soul for the horror that must come.
Ritsuko dreamed, or rather, Ritsuko remembered.
She had made up her mind. She had pressed that button. Nothing happened. She felt panic, and grabbed the handheld out of her pocket.
"Refused by Caspar... Mother.. You choose him over me?" Ritsuko asked, her words quickly drowned out by the blasphemous horror that spewed forth from Gendo's mouth.
"Akagi Ritsuko, I really do love you"
"Liar," Ritsuko spat out. Then it was like an invisible hand pushed her back, into the sea of LCL. Rei. Above the LCL. Rei. But wasn't she with Gendo? Rei, floating? Rei. LCL. Rei. LCL. Then, Maya. Maya felt soft, warm. Maya was afraid but in her arms the fear was gone. Misato. She had felt Misato's presence, but .. Rei... in the LCL where it felt.. warm.
Ritsuko forced herself awake, her mouth gasping for air, sweet air. It wasn't LCL."Not LCL.. It's air.. It's 21 percent oxygen in a 78 percent nitrogen suspension, air, " she whispered to herself, trying to rid her mind of the memory.
Her clock read 4 am. She could hear the chirping of crickets. She sighed. Once the memories came back there will be no more sleep for her. She stood up from the bed, opening the dresser. Misato's dresser. Which was in Misato's apartment. Which still had Misato's bad taste in furniture, her fridge, her pet penguin. Ritsuko grabbed her day clothes and put them on, deciding to walk softly downstairs so as not to wake Shinji or Asuka with the tapping of her heels.
Shinji lay there, his SDAT earphones still attached to his ears, but there was no sound coming from the player. The batteries had died out an hour ago. He looked at the now-familiar ceiling, and heard footsteps outside the door that he recognised as Ritsuko's. He tried to ignore it, but he knew he couldn't.
Tomorrow, Asuka will once again pilot the Evangelion. Asuka will once again enter the hell that was the life of a Child, to face again the returning Angels. While he will never, ever, do so again.
"Don't you ever sleep, Aoba?" Ritsuko asked as she approached him, standing still as a statue on the lip of the crater. The gentle lapping of the waves on the beach answered her. Fine, be that way, she thought to herself. "I'll be down there," she said curtly, walking away. It really wasn't his fault that he hated her, she knew. It was entirely hers, for standing behind Gendo and his insane plans.
Dawn broke as a NERV helicopter landed on the test site. Shigeru ran up to it as Asuka got off, his hand extended in greeting. "Welcome back, Asuka," he enthused, "everything's ready and we can start as soon as you say the word," Shigeru said as Asuka ignored him.
"Mama," said Asuka silently, as she gazed on the rebuilt Unit 02 for the first time in a year. She looked on it in awe, almost reverently.
Shinji worried about Asuka, of course, but he tried to push it to the back of his mind. Today was important to him too, the first day of school. They have finally decided to reopen the schools, and he craved it, waited for it anxiously as a sign that he really was getting on with his life, that he did the right thing when he refused to complete the Third Impact and return all humanity to Heaven. Shinji slung his backpack, with his laptop inside, over his left shoulder and walked alone to the rebuilt Tokyo-03 Middle School building.
"All right, Asuka, remember, this is just a test," said Ritsuko's voice, coming in through the radio. "Jawohl, jawohl, no heroics, no fancy moves, you already told me this yesterday!" being Asuka's irritated reply.
"Inject the LCL" Ritsuko commanded the technicians. "Begin the A-10 nerve connections as soon as she starts breathing LCL," she finshed.
Shinji didn't recognize the faces of the schoolchildren. Some of them looked like his schoolmates from before, others were new, probably children of new NERV staff, or perhaps he never really recognized anyone before, being too busy with the life of an Eva pilot. He resolved not to let himself be locked out of life again. Today was the day he begins life anew.
Shigeru and Ritsuko both stood in awe as the mighty Evangelion took its first few steps, effortlessly clearing a distance of several hundred feet in less than a minute. Its arms moved with the fluidity of a trained dancer, the fingers holding the Progressive Knife, the blade extended.
"No matter how many times I look at it, it's still awesome," Shigeru commented. "So, some things don't change?" queried Ritsuko absent-mindedly as she read the reports that came in to her computer terminal. There was a moment's silence, before Shigeru turned his face to her, his eyes suddenly cold and hard as Gendo's eyes used to be.
"That is only on the surface, Dr. Akagi. Everything has changed," he said bitterly, before refocusing his attention on Unit 02.
"Class Rep?" Shinji asked the girl. He felt he recognized the girl with the brown hair and pigtails and almost by reflex, walked down the corridor to approach her, his hand tentatively reaching to tap her on the shoulder.
At the sound of his voice, she turned around. It was indeed, Hikari Hokari, Shinji's old Class Rep back in the days that seemed long past. The freckles were gone now, and she was significantly thinner than he had remembered her, but it was indeed, her. A familiar face in an unfamiliar world. She had recognized him, he could tell by the sudden change in her expression when she saw him.
"Ikari Shinji..." Hikari said breathlessly, her face a jumble of conflicting emotions which did not last long, for one emotion, one feeling, quickly rose above the others and registered in her face.
Pure hatred.
"Murderer" the word slid off her lips so naturally, with the weight of truth behind them. Shinji stood there dumbstruck by the force of her accusation. "Killer. Murderer," Hikari whispered, louder and louder, until the words drowned out the normal conversation in the school hallways. Several other students nervously walked away, yet many stayed, and perhaps, they shared Hikari's conviction.
Shinji tried to stammer out a denial, but he knew there will never be an explanation, or justification, for his part in the Third Impact. He only managed to mouth the word "no". Her fist hit her target, and Shinju crumpled to the ground, clutching his stomach. It had hurt him even more than when Toji hit him so long ago.
Hikari stood angrily over him, eyes narrowed. Shinji accepted his fate, as she began to kick him in the head, chest and abdomen, wordlessly grunting out her hatred with each blow.
It took two NERV bodyguards to subdue her.
Shinji's battered form was unceremoniously bundled into the back seat of the NERV car, both his bodyguards wordlessly getting in the front seats and immediately began to drive away.
"Is that so?" Ritsuko asked over the phone.
Asuka recognized the tone of voice immediately. Misato sounded that way when Shinji fell into the Sea of Dirac. Misato sounded that way when Rei blew herself up.
"Send him home, of course. I'm on my way. No, that will NOT be necessary."
Baka Shinji, Asuka mouthed to herself. What could he do to himself now, on his first day of school? She fiddled with the suction controls of the plug suit nervously. This wasn't the best way to celebrate a succesful activation test.
Ritsuko set the phone down, turning to face Asuka. "We're going home. No time to change out of the plugsuit. "
"And one of us needs to talk to your friend Horaki," Ritsuko said with a chilling finality.
Shinji sat on the edge of his bed. A twinge of pain tore through the fiber of his being, travelling up his spinal cord from the stomach to his ribs straight to his brain by way of a bruised head where Hikari kicked him.
The door opened and Ritsuko marched in, interrupting Shinji's solitude. In an instant, she was there, face to face with him.
"Shinji-kun, hold still," Ritsuko softly said, as her hands probed and examined his face and chest. He didn't turn away, he wanted to, and he felt he needed to, but Ritsuko was firm and persistent, and Shinji neither protested nor turned away as Ritsuko finished her cursory medical examination. "Good, it's just bruising and some wounded pride. If you want, Shinji, you can take some of the painkillers in my apartment." she said, smiling at him.
"Ritsuko-san," Shinji said, softly. "Please, forget about me," he said. It disturbed him that Ritsuko seemed to care so much for someone as undeserving.
She looked at him; her right hand still cradling his jaw, the fingers delicately placed around a nasty bruise. Her fingers felt icy cold. They have always been icy cold, for as long as he could remember.
"No, Shinji-kun, I will never again forget about you. Every one of us has a place, as long as he is remembered. You will find your place in this world," she tried to assure him.
"Even in your position?" Shinji asked, biting his lip with bitterness.
"Even in my position," Ritsuko confirmed. "My prison sentence is the position that I naturally deserve. The suspension of that sentence in exchange for defending humanity one more time against the Angels, is the position that I have earned."
Shinji looked up, confusion in his eyes at that remark.
"Listen to me, Shinji-kun," Ritsuko said slowly. "The fact that you are here, with me, in this moment, is your position now. But there's a position, a place for you, in this world that you can earn for yourself. You realized it when you decided to return to this world."
Ritsuko sighed. Perhaps the boy didn't understand.
"Now, Shinji-kun, you know I have to do some things at the Geofront. You'll be all right..." She paused, she knew she was running out of words. How did Misato live with someone so fragile, so distant?
"I will see you for dinner, that's a promise, Shinji-kun."
Her heart sank a little to see his head fall, his eyes fixed upon his feet, proof positive her words had little to no effect on him. She stood up, placing a calming hand on Shinji's shoulder, feeling his muscles tense up the instant her flesh made contact with him. She slowly walked out the door, and after the door closed, immediately pulled out her datapad from the pocket of her white lab coat. Her eyes narrowed as she read the display, and the guards could hear her mutter "destardo is still manifesting" over the clicking of her heels as she left.
"There it is again!" The operator shouted. Shigeru stood over the man, looking at the readout from the MAGI. Shigeru snarled. A blue pattern. An Angel. "The other MAGIs are confirming it sir," the operator continued. "Berlin, Houston, Beijing, Putrajaya…" he recited names of the concurring systems, almost as if it was necessary.
"Dear God, no, no.." Shigeru muttered.
His worst fears were coming true, and it had only been five hours since Unit 02 was reactivated.
"But why Paris?" he asked, surprised by the unusual location for an Angel to appear.
"It's gone!" the operator shouted, causing a hubbub of commotion to break out as the other computer operators trained satellites on the French capital and tapped into the millitary and civillian communications and broadcast systems, trying to get a visual confirmation.
"Find it!" Shigeru shouted. "Find it now!"
"Forget it," came the sound of a woman's voice from behind him. Shigeru whirled around to see Ritsuko walking unconcernedly past the various flashing monitors. "Where were you?" Shigeru asked, the stress evident in the hostile tone of voice.
"With the Children," Ritsuko replied coolly. "You won't find the Angel if you look for it," Ritsuko said, being as cryptic as usual. "Stand aside," she commanded one of the computer operators , quickly taking his seat. Ritsuko's fingers danced across the keyboard, while Shigeru stood behind her, jaw clenched in anger. If it were up to him, she'd be rotting in jail for genocide, not sitting there, mocking him with supercompetence.
"Nothing's happening."
"That's what I want," Ritsuko replied. "I've reprogrammed the MAGI to look away for five minutes every time it gets a blue pattern. This Angel's smart enough to know we're looking for him, so we're going to pretend we're not looking for him."
Shigeru shrugged. Damn her, and her complete mastery of the MAGI. "Now, commander, I have an Evangelion to check up on, and cook dinner for the Children, " she said, getting up and getting ready to leave.
Asuka and Hikari listlessly bounced the basketball around the empty court. It was almost dusk; the redness of the sun temporarily masking the damnable belt of red that circled the earth. Asuka still wore her plugsuit; Hikari was still in her school uniform. The exercise felt good, and was a welcome relief from the horror that was the Horaki family residence. The stench of unremoved garbage, the table set for three with the food lying rotted on the plates. It was hard to even talk to her inside such a horrible place.
Sweat was beginning to break through Hikari's skin, Asuka could see the damp patches on the sleeves of her blouse. Asuka smiled a little seeing her friend make the effort to steal the ball from her. She loved seeing people strive. It made them look nobler somehow.
"I have to stop," Asuka said, finally, just as Hikari was setting herself up for a three point shot. "Ritsuko's cooking tonight," she finished, smiling. Hikari nodded her assent, the ball falling away from her hands as she reached her arms towards Asuka, holding her friend in a tight hug that seemingly renewed their friendship.
"Tell Shinji I'm sorry. I promise I'll treat him better," she said, trying to apologize.
"Just don't be a stranger, ever again," Asuka said as she broke the hold and stepped back to look her friend in the eye, where there was now a tiny little spark of joy that replaced the raging fire of misplaced rage that was there before.
Asuka walked home, under an blood red archway in the night sky, the angry light of a full moon rising unable to blot it away. She felt some satisfaction at her achievements today, having successfully piloted an Eva again, and brought Hikari back from the brink. No matter how mad the world had become, she had managed to bring some things back to normal. Dinner tonight should be good.