From the author: Shinji gets to click last few buttons before leaving Neogoya , and he is both interested and surprised in the themes of that
don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira
Neon Genesis Evangelion belongs to Studio GAINAX and Hideaki Anno
Akira belongs to Kōdansha and Katsuhiro Ōtomo
"this" is speech
'this' is thought
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION HIGHWAY STAR : THE BALLAD OF SHINJI IKARI
Chapter 36: Last surprise
"I think im gonna puke"-Shinji said as he released another wave of his insides with Asuka holding his arms
"Well that's what you get for driving in banked circles for 100 laps"-Asuka said as Shinji wiped his face
"Maybe , but I really wanted to do something like that since I read about it in some magazine. Kinda like our speedway but cooler and more balls-of-steel-requiring"-Shinji said as he got up and sat inside the Mazda with Asuka and Rei following soon. As they all got inside Shinji begun to fire it up , and again , and again , and again
"Shinji ? What's wrong with the ignition ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji looked more and more annoyed
"It was screwed up before i left Neogoya , only my uncle was able to fire it up without problems"-Shinji said as he finally managed to start it up
"And Misato in her fashion probably destroyed it even more"-Asuka said as Shinji chuckled
"Maybe , it was probably screwed up ever since I was four. My uncle apparently raced it in college back in the 90s Tokyo before the Impact"-Shinji said as he looked at the rev counter before switching to the 1st gear and driving away from the stadium before heading towards the highway
"It's maybe old , and not that reliable but its still fast"-Shinji said as he reached the fifth gear as the rev counter was showing 12000 rpm
"Shinji , be honest. What did you modify ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji looked around the car
"Well , i swapped the steering wheel , and fixed the rev counter , and some other stuff i dont remember"-Shinji said as they continued their way back to the apartment. After they reached it Shinji noticed that he scratched the front bumper and some of the matt paint was scratched off
"Ah fuck"-Shinji said as he noticed that instead of the primer it was a silver sticker underneath it
"Shinji ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji used his hands to peel off the paint. Asuka and Rei curiously walked up to his as he finished tearing it from the small protruding on the bumper
"Holy Shit"-Shinji said as he noticed the sticker on the bumper. The silver "Mid night speciall" sticker
"What's wrong ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji remained frozen
"What could be so outstanding in a sticker to take brother's breath away"-Rei asked as Shinji finally released air from his lungs
"This is the Mid Night sticker , and judging how this car always had matt black it had to be there before i was born , just like the shiny blue paint job around it "-Shinji said as he pressed the combination on the keypad to make the car disappear
"And I thought he told you everything he knew about racing ?"-Asuka asked as they got inside the elevator
"Of course , but he never told me how he got the HS , let alone why the Mazda has not-stock bumpers and some systems that been outdated for the last 20 years"-Shinji said as the elevator was making its way to the 16th floor
"And mister super genius hadn't put the clicks together and figured it out ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji showed his tongue
"Hey ! How i could figure everything when i didn't have proper info , there could've been ten Mazdas , hell maybe more"-Shinji said as the elevator reached the 16th floor
"Perhaps we could search your uncle's room to find data about his past ?"-Rei asked as Shinji turned his head towards her
"I haven't done that , ever since i was 3 and since he died and i was forbidden to look through his papers"-Shinji said as they reached the apartments door
"Well now he is dead and i'm sure you won't be haunted by his ghost for reading some papers"-Asuka said as she opened the door to reveal Misato and Pen-Pen playing Shogi at the table
"Oh hey kids ? How was the party ? And was the Mazda reliable because i swear to god Shinji you should do something with the ignition"-Misato said as Shinji sighed
"I know , but right now we have to do something related to do that"-Shinji said he and the girls walked towards the main bedroom
"Ok , the plan is simple , we clear the wardrobe and everything that has drawers to find any papers , any letters , photos etc. After we clean it though we go to Shinji's room to scramble though what we found"-Asuka said as Shinji and Rei nodded and got to work and searched through every drawer in the room , Rei managed to find a box signed "1990-1995" with Shinji finding some folders under the bed alongside some unopened condoms and ammo boxes.
"I think that's everything"-Shinji said as he looked across the mess they made during their search
"No , not yet"-Asuka said as she brought up the second box signed "1995-1999". Shinji only sighed as he looked at the couple of the folders he managed to find
"Well then , I hope that at least his spirit won't haunt me for breaking his rule"-Shinji said as they cleaned up the mess they made and walked towards Shinji's room where they unpacked the folders and boxes and dug through the search. Some of those photos were the originals of the photocopies that were in the main photo album. Like the photos of young Katsuhiro Ikari riding his old Yamaha TZ250 in Fuji in 1983 and a photo of him and young Yui spraying champagne. After some time they managed to dug to the photos from the 90s
"Brother , i think i found something"-Rei said as she handed a photo towards Shinji showing young Katsuhiro sitting on the Mazda in its "original" metallic blue with visible changes in the bodywork of the car that for years Shinji thought were stock with stickers on the front window
"Well at least i know why the matt paint looked so jumpy"-Shinji said as he put down the photo
"I also found some letters"-Asuka said as Shinji grabbed one and begun to read it outloud
Kyoto
601-0121
06.02 1990
Son , I've heard from your sister about what you are doing in Tokyo. Instead of taking your college classes , Yui and I kept the information from your father as we both know his opinion about your passion. Yet you broke your promise about quitting road racing , we even bought you a car after we sold your motorcycle and equipment. Looking back we should've bought you a Daewoo instead of the "Rotary Rocket" as you called it and didn't look at the obvious red flags. I've seen reports on the TV about road pirates that drive over 200 kilometers per hour. At least when you raced bikes you were doing it in the "Safe" environment of a race track. And I'm not alone in that statement. Ever Since Yui came back from her visit she talked to me about how you drove with your "Friends" on the highway racing imports and how much money you were making from betting and how most of it went for parts. We managed to keep all the information hidden from your father as we all know what's his opinion about motor racing and how it interrupted your education back when you raced both your private Honda and the Yamaha you raced for a privateer. You know how despotic your father can be both with his strings and at home and if he finds out you broke his ban racing he will cut you off from money and you will be on your own. Watch out for yourself , i love you
Your mother Rinko
"Wow , looks like your uncle had a tuff life"-Asuka said as Shinji put down the letter
"That's nothing new. He told me a lot about how my asshole grandad who I only saw once and that was his funeral was cutting his wings. We keep digging maybe we will find some letters from the Mid Night members"-Shinji said as they returned to digging though maculature filled with old bills from tune shops and some yellowing instructions before finding another letter
Tokyo
163–8001
04.23.1991
Hey Ikari , first of all as your mentor I want to congratulate you on getting onto Mid Night , that FC you have is pretty quick for something your supposed terrible father had bought you after selling your beloved Honda. Also you are a really good mechanic for someone who spends most of his days in engineering school and lives in a condo yet managed to get his old 86 Mazda to outrun 300zx and 911s. But please don't bring your sister next time. Don't get me wrong she is incredibly smart and wasn't annoying but you should know that Mid Night is not a place for children. Anyways, I've seen how you do your mechanical work and I'm sure that if you had half the budget like Yoshida with his 930 you could break a record or two , hell last time you had 305 kilometers. I knew I could've called but I'm leaving town to head to Yatabe for speed tests. Good luck
Tachibana Shinichi
"Howie ! Now we know who was my uncle's mentor"-Shinji said as he looked though photos of his uncle and Tachibana alongside some photos from the building processes of the Mazda
"Question , since I only know about Techno Bosozoku I need some insight about what Mid Night is ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji only looked at her with his thinning eyelids
"So for the last 45 minutes I was talking about something you didn't understand and didn't lift a finger in question ? Fine , Mid Night was one of the racing clubs that were forming in Japan during the 80s and 90s back when Tokyo wasnt a nuclear wasteland. Mid Night was the most popular one by a big margin with many of the iconic cars like the Devil Z and the Blackbird were in its ranks. And so many people wanted to join that they had a system where a newbie would get a pink sticker and a mentor that would show them the ways. At least that what i could read about it behind my uncle's back"-Shinji said as he put down the letter
"But why didn't he want to talk about it ? Shouldn't that be something that he should be proud for ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji shaked his head
"I dunno , we need to search through every photo , letter , old notebooks and journals , everything"-Shinji said as they continued digging through the material. Another 30 minutes passed as they read letters. Mostly the ones written by Yui or his mother alongside some from his former mentor Tachibana. Shinji finally managed to find a letter that got him interested
Tokyo
163–8001
06.27. 1995
Ikari , listen I heard what happened between you and your father and that you live in a studio apartment in Nagoya and work 24/7 because you were thrown out of college. But leaving Mid Night and helping the Yakuza setting up races is the last thing I was expecting from you as a former professional racer, not to mention painting your FC with that terrible black paint. But I know about your problems and the best I can do as your mentor is to help you out. And you are probably surprised about the keys inside the envelope. I know that I should've just brought it here to Nagoya but it should be able to help you. Fresh off the production , 1995 Honda cbr900rr sc33 in the nice purple and green color scheme. You said numerous times that you had experience in racing motorcycles so i can only hope it will serve you well
Tachibana Shinichi
"So that's how my uncle got the HS , he always said that he bought it fresh from the dealership. At least now we know that he didn't have the funds necessary"-Shinji said as he put down the letter
"And perhaps we found a reason why your uncle didn't told you in accurate details , daddy issues"-Asuka said as Shinji turned towards her
"Don't get me wrong , he still is a better parent than all of our parents combined but maybe he had some problems with his father. Presumably he found out about his hobbies"-Asuka said as Shinji turned towards the boxes
"Maybe this could help"-Rei said as she showed Shinji and Asuka a cassette tape. Shinji quickly grabbed the tape and put it inside his tape deck
"You've broken my ban and made an embarrassment of me and your family !"-Voice boomed across the room as Shinji pressed the pause button on the tape deck
"I think you need to turn the volume down"-Rei said as Shinji nodded and turned the volume down and pressed the play button
"At least i do something worthy with my life instead of farting in a chair with other old farts waiting for the apocalypse to happen"-The younger Katsuhiro said as Shinji begun to connect the dots together
"If you were adult enough you would understand the goal me and my associates are working towards. If you used your potential instead of wasting fuel and tires perhaps you would be able to help us, just like your sister"-his father said as the dots in Shinji's mind were increasing its saturation
"I swear to god if something will happen to Yu-"
"She is under constant supervision , just because i seem like a terrible father doesn't mean i don't let my children loose , i should've kept you on a tighter leash instead of letting you go to Tokyo with a car and funds"-Katsuhiro was interrupted by his father said as Shinji continued to listen
"You keep bragging non-stop about me "wasting my potential" while you cut me off from racing when i was a teenager , i could've been in Europe right now instead of kicking me out of the college because you seemed to like it"-Katsuhiro said as Shinji could sympathize with him
"I did that because you didn't listen to me and uphold my rules , you are a disappointment in my eyes. From now on you only rely on yourself, goodbye"-Katsuhiro's father said as the call ended and Shinji pressed the stop button
"Holy shit , and I only wanted to find out why my uncle didn't tell me about Mid Night. And i now know that my family is worse than Hitler , Stalin and Pol Pot combined"-Shinji said as his head landed on the floor as Asuka also connected the dots
"Mein Gott , it's a whole pyramid of evil. Your grandfather is a member of SELLE and your father is the underling of his club of evil illuminati friends"-Asuka said as Shinji groaned in disappointment
"I swear to god and as an atheist i said that rarely but i cant fucking believe it. I thought my uncle being a Yakuza was something that was terrible. But no , my grandfather bested my old man in the contest of douchiness by being a part of a cult that wants to reverse everyone into human juice. I thought that he simply died off before I was born but I'll repeat myself. He is a piece of shit among other pieces of shit in a cult ! I have to cut off all the repetition"-Shinji said as he reversed the tape inside the tape deck and put it back in the box
"Ah come on , it isn't so bad. I mean look at your mother. Smart , caring , friendly. So at least one of the Ikaris is crystal clear good"-Asuka said as Shinji got himself back in the sitting position
"Maybe ,sadly I can't ask her because she's dead. Maybe we can find some more interesting stuff ? At least I'll be able to click the last thing out and go to bed with no worries for tomorrow"-Shinji said as they continued their search though the boxes. Shinji couldn't focus on his task as he was thinking about all the info that he just received. And that he knew presumably why his uncle took him in. 'So I'm here because he felt sympathetic towards me ? I don't know how to feel about it'-Shinji thought as he found a VHS tape after digging through the maculature. The tape had "Sakazuki-goto-1996" written on its label.
"Oh ! It's my uncle's initiation in the Yakuza"-Shinji said as he took the tape and put it inside the player. After the tape finally caught the image they saw young Rai Kichirou sitting in front of younger Katsuhiro and them drinking Sake together according to the ancient tradition
"So that's how you get inside a criminal group"-Asuka said as Shinji nodded
"Exactly , I had one as well. And i don't remember someone recording it"-Shinji said as he stopped the tape and took it out of the player
"I believe that it's all the data we could collect"-Rei said as Shinji put the tape back to the box
"Yeah you're right , now we should clean the room. It's just twists after twists with the lack of foreshadowing ? Did M night Shyamalan ascend to godhood some time ago ?"-Shinji rhetorically asked as he segregated the photos he wanted to put in photo frames and the ones that Shinji would want to forget for the next five years. After 25 minutes of cleaning up the papers and segregating worthwhile photos and documents and putting them in Shinji's drawers .
"That was an interesting experience , so what do we do for the rest of the evening ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji looked around the room and pointed at the PS2
"How about a few fights in Tekken to relax a bit ?"-Shinji said as Asuka grinned
"Jawohl"- Asuka replied as they spent the rest of the evening in front of the tiny kinescope playing fighting games
A/N: So this chapter was bit of a clip show mostly revolving around Shinji's family because i wouldn't have place to put it in the next arc when we finally return to Tokyo 3 and prepare for the countdown towards the finale. And this also the second chapter in the new format with one upload a week and will try to keep it up