Well ladies, gentlemen, children of all ages, various genetically enhanced super pets and disturbingly intelligent cacti everywhere, it's that time again. I'm going to be serious for a second and say to all and sundry that the pairing for this tale are by no means set in stone, but I do have vague ideas of a Rei/Shinji fic which should be coming in the future.
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For disclaimer see first chapter.
Inside the small, cramped changing stall Rei Ayanami stood, silently stroking the blue material of the dress she had entered with. She had been standing silently doing the same thing for five minutes now, hearing and ignoring the conversation of the Second and Third Children, paying no real attention to their words, while her finger repeatedly trailed across the soft fabric. She had never worn such a dress before. She had never worn anything other than a school uniform or a plugsuit since her first incarnation, so she believed. She vaguely remembered her recollections of her first life being hazy when she was living her second. Now she was in her third and apparantly final existence her memories of her others were near non-existent, aside from specific occasions.
Red cheeks. Blushing, watching the brown haired boy's gentle smile as he continued to stuff useless objects dropped on the floor in apathy into a black garbage bag. His eyes. Blue eyes.
'It's only trash, right?'
Speaking words. Words she had never used before. Perhaps the other had, but never her. Not the her she was, rather than the her she used to be.
Another time. Hearing shrieks, screams of the boy who had been kind to her, spoke to her like a girl not a doll. Calling his name in fear and anxiety, as he continued to sink into the darkness. Feeling a ache in her chest as contact was lost. As he was gone.
Another time. The bestial roar of the Test Unit as it ripped apart it's enemy and devoured the remains, while she lay in her decimated Unit, unable to aid. Learning he was gone. Again.
Another time. Pain. Pain beyond all imagination. Abruptly ending, her Eva falling to the ground. Him, there, in front of her, eyes glistening and pleaing for her to be safe. Asking her to smile. Something she had never done before. Not really. Not like she did for him. Perhaps the other had, but never her. Not the her she was, rather than the her she used to be.
Another time. Pain. Hazy words spoken in aknowledgment of her orders. She would do it again. It was her purpose. It was his will. There was nothing else. Falling. Being cradled, even as she sobbed in pain, protected from more agony. Hearing more words, spoken in a broken voice that trailed of as she fell into darkness.
'I will pilot it...'
Another time. Floating in sepia fluid, suspended in liquid limbo. Syncing with the Dummy Plug. Opening her eyes at his words.
'Rei. We're done here Rei. Lets get something to eat.' Watching him through the glass. The commander's face...so like his. So much that she couldn't help but compare them. And find the commander wanting...again and again and again and again...
Another time.
Another time.
Another time...
The things she did for him...things she had never done before. Perhaps the other had, but never her. Not the her she was, rather than the her she used to be...
She found herself, slumped against the wall of the stall, fingers curled into claws, clutching convulsivly at the soft fabric as she silently gasped. She forced herself to stand, to stop the faint trembles that wracked her frame, to unhook her fingers from the dress. Breathing thickly she stared down at the garment. Blue. Like his eyes.
She blushed. That was new. Asuka never blushed. It just didn't happen. It was like Rei suddenly starting to break dance in class, or Touji postulating on Kant's Deontological Arguements, or Shinji going through one sodding day without something mentally scarring happening. Shinji had long since come to the conclusion that child services in Japan sucked major ass. Abandoned, sent to a foster care home who despised his presence, then an alcoholic slob who tormented him out of boredom. Go Japan. Yay. Needless to say Shinji had been in one of his more ascerbic moods when he had reached this conclusion. To be honest the only person in his home who didn't order him around like a houseboy was Pen-Pen and that was only because the infintesimaly small spine that he possesed refused to allow him to be owned by a penguin.
He stared at the redhead a while longer, before realising that if she caught him she'd smear him across the wall. Luckily she seemed pre-occupied with the floor, seemingly staring at the strapped heels she was wearing. Red, the same as the dress. Embarassed Shinji looked to the side, a blush erupting across his features and fidgeting wordlessly.
Asuka fought the urge to clasp her hands in front of her like a little girl. Or to preen. He thought she was beautiful. She wasn't sure what was shocking about the idea that he found her attractive. She was nearly floored that he had said it out loud, but for some reason she was just as shocked that he felt that way at all. She knew she was beautiful. The avalanche of love letters from school boys (And one girl. Now that scared her shitless.) who thought with their crotches proved that much, even had she not already known from her time in university in her homeland. But it had never mattered to her really whether they thought her beautiful, as long as they noticed her. She desired praise and aknowledgment, but was not overly concerned what it was for - except when it came to Eva. Somehow, whether Shinji felt she was pretty was important to her, in a way it had never been before, not even with Kaji. She was falling faster and faster and she didn't know how to stop. From one who didn't care how others percieved her to be fixating on one boy's opinion was a staggering change and one it took time to adjust to. Shinji perception of her had become important in a way none of the other boys - and one girl - in her school could compare to. Breaking out of her pre-occupation with her strapped heels, which were red to match the dress, she fought to regain her equilibrium.
"Hey baka, what was that crap about going out, the four of us? You might fool Wondergirl, but so could a plank of wood and I know better. Misato never mentioned anything about it to me and she definatly would have. So whats the deal, Third?" As she spoke the German girl cocked her leg and leant a hand on her hip peircing him with her semi-heated glare. Which made it perfectly clear that 'semi-heated' could easily turn into 'heated' could easily turn into 'scorching', could easily turn into 'BEAM OF BURNING DEATH'. Swallowing past a suddenly arid throat, Shinji decided to go for the truth.
"Ah...well, Rei looked like she really wanted to try on that dress, um, but needed to justify it somehow. So...I lied..and said that Misato had suggested going out to give her a reason." At the last Shinji flushed once again, and found himself unable to meet his roomates eyes, instead finding the wall truly fascinating. Asuka silently appraised the boy, face softening now that he was no longer looking.
"That was sweet of you." Asuka resisted the sudden impulse to slug herself in the face really really hard and settled for wincing instead and glaring at the ceiling. Both teens were blushing so much now that a rosy glow was eminating from the door of the changing rooms, mildly disturbing passing customers. Darting a glance at Shinji out of the corner of her eye she saw him still determindly staring at the wall. Knowing it was safe to do so Asuka smiled gently at him, unconciously clasping her hands in front of her. He was embarassed, and she had complimented him. He couldn't look at her, and the only way she could look at him was when he couldn't see. But she was still happy.
The curtain two stalls down abruptly opened, attracting the attention of the two flourescent teens. Rei stepped out slowly, holding her arms across her middle, looking for all the world as if she was trying to sooth her stomach. Looking up she spotted the others watching her, Asuka curiously and Shinji with concern. Eyes flittering uncertainly between the two, her soft voice sounded strained, something Asuka had never heard before outside a battle.
"How...does it look?" Her crimson eyes met Asuka's and the redhead shook seeing a terrified girl despiratly fighting for control, a child who wanted to flee the more than anything else. That look scared Asuka witless. It looked too much like her. Rei seemed to sway on her feet, as if everything she was depended on the answer to a question about a dress.
"It looks good Rei." Asuka turned to watch her fellow pilot smiling reassuringly at Ayanami, who immediatly stopped trembling at his words. Did Shinji see how much those words meant to her? Was he speaking beacasue it was the truth or becasue any other answer would have destroyed the girl? Asuka wasn't sure, she had no idea how perceptive the boy was at things like this.
"And you Sohryu...Asuka? Do you also think it looks...good?" Asuka was brought back to the present by the albino's quiet voice. Snapping her attention back to who stood before her she answered honestly.
"Yeah. Yeah it looks good on you Wondergirl. You should get it." She did look good in it, that was true enough. It was powder blue and reached to her ankles, the thin straps crossing over before slipping over her shoulders. Regardless of what the truth had been though Asuka would have answered the same way. That look in Rei's eyes, that look of all encompassing fear, wouldn't let her say anything different. Rei inclined her head in aknowledgment and retreated into the stall once more, assumedly to change back into the clothes that Asuka had leant to her.
''What was that? Wondergirl...afraid?' Asuka turned to look at Shinji in consternation. 'Is this how he sees her? She was terrified...Is this what the Commander made her into? What did he do to her?' For once Asuka could muster no irritation at the taciturn girl. She was hard pressed not to be swamped by pity. Without the old bastard around any more, whatever he did to keep her that way isn't happening anymore. No wonder she's changing. And Shinji was always there for her. He always answered her questions. He always talked to her when everyone else ignored her and didn't want to spend time with her. Like he does with me. Suddenly afraid, Asuka stared at the boy, uncertain. 'Just what are we to you Shinji? One girl who always insults you and another who ingored your existence 90 of the time? Why are you so nice to us?' Asuka blinked as she saw Shinji's face contorted into a scowl. His hand, always twitching open and closed in distress was clasped into a tight fist, knuckles strained white where the flesh was stretched across bone.
"What did he do to her?" The brown haired pilot spoke in a whisper, but it still carried clearly to Asuka's ears in the quiet. He was clearly far more perceptive than she had ever thought.
"Shinji couldn't relate to someone with a manual!"
Only the sounds of shoppers moving past outside intruded. Asuka found it apt. No matter how surrounded by people they were, the three of them were still alone. Only they, and perhaps Touji a little, knew what it had been like. They had only each other, and the only one tying them together was Shinji. Always Shinji. Hesitantly Asuka layed a hand on his shoulder, feeling the tenseness of his muscles, hearing him swallow in anger. They stood in silence and waited for the last of their party to finish getting changed. This was all she could do.
oooooo
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE!" Needless to say Misato was in one for her less pleasent moods, and was making this plain and clear to all peoples within a 8 block radius of her position. The fact that she was a considerable distance underground didn't make much difference. The former sub-commander shifted almost uncomfortably as his younger companion spoke from behind clasped hands.
'He only does that because he can't grow a proper beard and doesn't like people staring at him. Twat.' Fuyutsuki had mentioned on more than one occaison to his former student that he looked more than a little like a tit when he did that, but that not detered Gendo. The only one who had ever been able to get him to shave had been Yui. With her gone Gendo had immediatly gone into a facial hair fiasco, or a 'chinfro' as Fuyutsuki prefered to call it. Sighing quietly the old man mused on the fact that none of the Ikari breed new how to use a hair brush. Both father and son had untamable hair and Rei seemed content to wander around looking like she had just been struck by lightning, though she pulled it off with a little more grace than the men. Resisting the urge to chuckle and run a hand through his neatly combed greying hair, he surrupticiously fingered the inside cuff of his right sleeve, feeing the small comb he had secreted inside. One person in the entire organisation had to look like they knew how to groom dammit.
"Both I and the former sub-commander were tried and found guilty of crimes against humanity. After the trial and our subsequent incarseration we were offered a parlay. The UN needed a liason to keep an eye on the Nerv organisation. Someone who had knowledge of the inner workings of the institution. For some reason they felt that two men imprisoned for trying to artificially speed up humanities evolution a couple of billion years were appropriate candidates. I believe Space Cakes were involved." The sound of Fuyutsuki sighing was apparant in the suddenly silent room. Silent except for the occasional soft 'pop' of Commander Misato Katsuragi having a haemorage in pure unadulterated fury. If Ritsuko hadn't confescated her sidearm after her mostly joking threats upon the Second Child's personal safety, it would be time to send Gendo Ikari's bullet riddled cadaver down the corpse hatch into Central Dogma. Fuyutsuki too, just for being too well groomed. Smug git. At this point Misato realised that she was probably overreacting a tad. Killing the Uber-Bastard was all well and good, but justifying murder on the grounds that the victim was looking too damn spiffy was going to take brain cells she was no longer sure she possessed. In addition she had seen Ritsuko stiffen as soon as it had become apparant who the liason was. Although her old college friend was long over any emotional connection to the elder Ikari, Misato knew seeing him once again was the last thing she would have wanted. Ritsuko had been the happiest of all when the former commander of Nerv had disappeared. With her friends feelings to consider making her an accessory to a double murder was probably not the best course of action she could take.
"Our roles here are purely superficial. We are only needed in case of actual battles wherein the Eva are used, to co-ordinate between yourselves and the JSSDF and the UN. As such we hold the courtesy ranks of Major, but exist outside the command structure of Nerv. While that does give you no direct authority over us, implied authority exists, while we ourselves have no power over anyone working within the Nerv superstructure." Fuyutsuki noticed Gendo's left eyelid flick, his only sign of discomfort with this arrangement. Having little real power was a sore point for the younger man, but he had been unable to negotiate for more from the UN council, Space Cakes or no. They hadn't budged on the matter even when the bong had come out.
"Fine." Misato managed to master her emotions, and her abject desire to cause physical harm, in the leiu of Fuyutsuki's clarification of the situation. "In that case you're welcome to take back your old office. I never use it anyway." Gendo inclined his head exactly 5 degrees signaling his aknowledgement. Fuyutsuki sighed once again.
'Twat.'
"I believe a game of chess is called for Sensei." Fuyutsuki's eyebrows rose at the suggestion from his former student. It had been a while since they had the opportunity for a good game of chess.
"My apologies, gentlemen, but we released your games pieces. You may have to make do with scrabble." Ritsuko's voice was far from pleasent. Gendo stooped noticably at the news, while his older colleague narrowed his eyes in displeasure. They were not going to play scrabble. He knee still got sore on cold mornings and he wagered Gendo still had the scar from their last game. 'Gendofication' was not a scrabble word. It was not dammit.
As the platform on which the two men had arisen slowly began to sink back below the floor unto a lower level the elder of the two men could be heard speaking.
"We can catch most of the pawns again at least. They can't have gone far."
While the rest of the bridgr crew remained slightly stunned Shigeru once again took centre stage. And it seems that his brain was still out to lunch.
"Well, shit me." Maya burst out laughing, nearly falling off her seat when the long haired bridge bunny swiveled his chair to stare at her in surprise. Both Misato and Ritsuko developed small sweatdrops and sighed. Suddenly Ritsuko groaned loudly and began to cradle her head in her hands, eyes screwed shut in anxiety. Her purple haired friend turned to her in concern.
"Whats wrong Ritsuko? It's not about seeing that semi-bearded ass again is it?" Ritsuko shook her head mutely. Her feelings for Gendo had long since shriveled up and died, and while seeing him again was far from pleasent, it was not what had made her groan.
"No, not that. He's going to start 'Gendofication' again." Since the removal of Gendo Ikari as Nerv's chief of operations Misato's 'unique' touch had begun to be reflected throughout the base. The stark corridors were brightly lit, and bare hallways decorated with fake plants - sunlight was hard to come by underground - and the occasional painting. Considering the size of the Nerv base, some picture sellers were now millionaires. Another part of the 'Misato makeover' was the frequent vending machines for Yebisu and curry ramen. These were less popular. All in all the base was much different from the blandness of the former commanders reign.
"What the hell is Gendofication?" Misato asked, the image of another of Commander Ikari's plans reaching out to blanket the world in shadow and despair. And possibly take away her vending machines. There were priorities after all. Wordlessly Ritsuko stalked to the console near Maya, who had calmed down, and began to type. Misato followed her, curious and a little worried. After a few seconds more typing the bottle blonde doctor stood back and gestured to the overhead screen. Above them a graphical represantation was taking form. What looked to be a leather bound book appeared on the screen with the words 'Nerv Brand Dictionary' scrawled across the front in golden script. The book proceeded to open leading to an archaic search engine, surrounded by Doric and Ionic columns and Cherubs posing with AK47's rather than the traditional bow and arrow. Maya and Shigeru face faulted. Ritsuko leant down once again and typed in 'Gendofication' with her left hand. Upon clicking enter the screen was replaced with a black background and flourescent yellow letters informing the viewer that the Magi were 'searching'. At the bottom of the screen super-deformed chibi versions of the former commander and the former sub-commander proceeded to dance merrily. Both bridge bunnies, now back in their seats, looked ready to fall out again. Misato stood with her mouth slightly open, obviously struggling to come to terms with what she was being shown.
Abruptly the frolicing chibis were replaced with a full screen view of Gendo Ikari in full scowl. Misato jumped slightly in surprise hearing a sqwauk and a thump, announcing Maya falling off her chair in shock. The leaden tones of the man rang out through Nerv.
"Word found." Quickly the man was replaced with lines of text detailing the Nerv Brand Dictionary definition of Gendofication:
'Gendofication:
1- To
be altered in accordance with the preferences of the Gendo.
2-
To attempt to imitate the style of the Gendo.
3-
To 'get Gendo', as in 'lets get funky.'
Lit. to become a sour life
hating bastard, with a fondness for destruction.
"You're shitting me right?" Misato turned to her colleague. "You mean basically he's going to try and turn this place into the depressing hell it was before?" Ritsuko nodded ruefully. Misato grimaced, slightly disturbed that that man had produced a Nerv dictionary for the sole purpose of making 'Gendofication' a word. And because he kept refering to himself in the third person. Silence reigned in the Command Centre.
"Well that sucks."
ooooooooooooooooooooooo
The three Children walked side by side down the sidewalk outside the shopping centre. Having changed back into the cloths that they had worn out of the katsuragi appartment it was deemed that since they had more to do during the day it would be impractical to carry the shopping around until they were finished. With this in mind they had instead opted to have the cloths delivered to their respective addresses. Without the bags to carry the children had wondered aimlessly, trying to think of something to do next which might be considered fun. After a little thought Asuka had suggested the arcade, adding a couple of comment about how she was going to wipe the floor wioth the two of them. As they approached Shinji descerned two familiar figures at the entrance to the video arcade.
"Hey Shinji! Buddy!" The young man soon recognised his friends Touji Suzuhara and Aida Kensuke ahead and wondered if it was a blessing or a curse to meet the two now. Seeing Asuka scowl in blatant displeasure the answer seemed obvious. Jogging lightly the two boys quickly approached the trio.
"Hey Shinji, Ayanami." Touji's face darkened as he turned to Asuka. "Satan's favourite daughter." The echoing crack of Asuka's palm slapping the boy's face resounded in the the street. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR DEMON?" Shinji sighed as one of his closest friends butted heads with his room mate, while Kensuke recorded the encounter on his ever present video camera and Rei watched impassivly.
oooooooooooooooooooo
In the still silence of the former commander's office Gendo Ikari sat with his old second in command at his side. Peering at the room from behind his black and white striped glasses, he re-examined the room that had been the seat of his power for over a decade.
"The room is adequate. There is no need for Gendofication."
"Thats not a word dammit!"
o
As you may have noticed there was not as much humor in this chapter as in the previous two. I appologise for this and will try to rectify this in later chapters.
