Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is Owned by Gainax. Buy the DVD's of
the Series and the Movies from them. I did, and it was worth every dime.
I don't own anything except my DVD's, and this is done for my own
satisfaction.
Episode 2:13 Playing in the Sandbox
Takes place after 1st season, and the End of Evangelion Movie.
Presumed date is July 18th, 2016
Shinji awoke at his customary time, dressed, and walked downstairs to the kitchen. He started some hot water to boil for tea, and began getting out some leftover sushi from last night.
What a night. He and Hikari had spent four hours cooking and preparing Sushi for their friends and family. They had all finished and gone to bed totally stuffed. Except for Kensuke, who gave up after Toji dared him to eat the Nori Roll he'd stuffed half with rice and half with Wasabi. Pour Kensuke had drank nearly half a gallon of milk trying to put the fire out, and sat around the rest of the night with ice-cubes in his mouth.
'Okay, now where'd that pickled ginger go?' he asked himself silently. He retrieved itand got out the remaining Inari. He added the ginger to his plate of Inari, and took it and his tea to the table to relax and eat. Lately he'd taken to eating light meals in the morning, so that he wouldn't feel full and sluggish when he arrived at the Dojo.
The Sensei Misato found had agreed to teach him, and they'd made swift progress. The older man was a master of multiple disciplines, and had trained thousands of students over the years. Shinji was a capable and willing student, who knew his work in the Dojo was crucial to the survival of mankind.
He waved to Hikari as he saw her coming up the back deck. "Morning Hikari sleep well?"
"Yes Shinji, thank you. Although I don't' think I want to see Sushi again for a few weeks." She glanced at his half empty plate. "I see some people are gluttons for punishment."
"Aw come on Hikari, you know that I eat this before training every morning. Keeps me light on my feet, and ready for anything," Shinji explained.
"So how IS your training going?" she asked.
"Not too bad. Sensei said that I'm getting better every day," he said, fetching himself another cup of tea.
"Learn anything exciting lately?"
"Well it's still the basics really, but I'm supposed to start Thai Stick fighting today."
"I saw you outside on the deck last night before I went to bed. What was that you were doing?"
"Tai-chi. It's a form of martial arts that is also an excellent way to stretch and gather energy into the vital centers of your body. And it helps me to relax after a hard day of work."
"Hmm," she murmured, pouring the tea, which was now ready, into cups for them.
They drank in companionable silence.
"Shinji, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Hikari, you can ask me anything you want, you know that."
"Well, I didn't want to upset you."
"No problem," he said, but was thinking, 'Uh, oh, I bet I know what's coming.'
"Have you had any contact, or visions, or whatever of Asuka since the last ones?"
"No, Hikari. I haven't. Trust me, if there's anything from Asuka, I'll let you know."
"Not even any dreams?" she asked.
Shinji blushed, something he rarely did these days, and looked down to the floor, avoiding Hikari's eyes.
"Shinji, not those kind of dreams. I was just thinking that if you really do have a connection, maybe you can try to talk to each other in your dreams."
Shinji hadn't thought of that, but decided he should try to concentrate his dreams on Asuka. Maybe he could reach her. There was a noise from the stairway, and Toji stumbled through the entertainment room and into the dining room, groaning as he came.
"Ooooh," he yawned, "Good morning."
"Good morning Toji, would you like some breakfast?" Hikari asked, hopping up, and going into the kitchen, I'm going to make Omelet's."
"With cheese?" he asked hopefully.
"One cheese Omelet coming right up," she.
"Morning Hikari," came Kensuke's voice as he walked down stairs, and headed toward the dining room, "you're sister up yet?"
"I expect by now she will be," she answered, "In fact I expect her here at any moment."
"Okay," Kensuke suddenly realized a desperate morning need, and stepped into the downstairs bathroom to relieve himself.
Toji laughed, "Think he's figured out that Nazomi has a crush on him?"
"Not a clue," Shinji shook his head, hearing Hikari laughing as well.
"So what're you doing today Toji?"
"I've got some work to do in the Vehicle Maintenance area. A lot of the construction equipment that's being used for digging out the cavern has been breaking down lately, so they've got us all working hard to keep things repaired. Even Apprentices like me get to do hands on work," Toji said.
"What about you Kensuke, what's up today?" Shinji shouted towards the bathroom.
Kensuke, walked out of the bathroom, having finished his business, and answered, "I'm going to take a scout party out today on a trip for some more supplies. I guess they want to see if they can pick up some spare parts or something, so I'm running them up to Sendai. I guess the teams have only been up there a few times, but they want to do another drop and grab."
Nazomi walked up the back deck at this time, and entered the dining room without knocking. "Good morning Kensuke," she said sweetly.
"Morning Nazomi," he said, stretching and sitting down.
She walked around the table and sat on his right. The others smiled slightly at the two, and turned to other topics of conversation. Poor Kensuke, he didn't realize that as far as Nazomi was concerned he'd been bought and paid for.
Shinji heard a cars horn outside, and got up. "Well, that'll be Misato and Kaji, so I have to go. I'll see you all tonight."
"Bye Shinji," everyone said in chorus.
Shinji grabbed his gym bag, put on his shoes, and ran down the walk to the couple's car. Kaji got out of the passenger seat, and let him crawl into the back.
"Morning Kaji, morning Misato," he said.
"Morning Shinji, have a good weekend?" Misato asked.
"Pretty decent, Hikari convinced Toji that we need to connect the two decks. At first it was just a simple bridge, so they wouldn't get their feet dirty walking between houses. Then Kensuke suggested that as long as we were going to be doing that, we ought to just build the whole thing out as one giant deck, connecting the two houses. We dug some holes for the concrete footings, and they should be poured and set up by Saturday. So it looks like I'll be spending my weekend hammering, cutting, lifting and building."
"Sounds like a lot of work," Kaji noted.
"Yeah, but it's making something with my hands. And I really like that. Being able to create something that other people love. That's important to me."
"So, you guys already requisitioned the wood?"
"Nope, we're going to use some of that synthetic stuff that's made out of plastic and rice hulls. If we put it over an Iron support system, Kensuke thinks we could get 30 years of use out of it."
"Wow, that's a long time. You pretty sure you're going to be in that house that long?" Misato asked.
"As long as it takes, Misato, I can always move later, if I don't like it, and the person who takes the house after me will be grateful for all the hard work we'll have put into it," he said.
"Hey, kiddo, not that I mind giving you a ride to work every morning, but when are you going to get a new bike?" Misato asked.
"Well, the guys finally talked me into getting a Honda Goldwing out of the Motor Pool this morning, so that I can at least get around. It's not real fast, so they think I should get some sort of 'crotch rocket,' as Kensuke calls it, so I can get from the house to the airfield faster in the event of an attack by the Legionnaires."
"Still no sign of a bike like the first one you had? What was it called again?"
"It was Kawasaki's Kiken Jingutsu 3700," Shinji replied.
Kaji laughed. "Dangerous Individual indeed. I've seen you ride that bike, and I have to say it's appropriate."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Shinji asked, offended.
"Meaning you'd just as soon run over a school bus full of nuns as have to downshift," Kaji said.
"No way," Shinji said, "I'd definitely slow down for nuns. No one else, but definitely for nuns."
Misato and Kaji laughed, and Shinji laughed with them
"Well, here we are, Misato, can you let me out next to the curb?" Shinji asked, seeing that they were nearing the main gym.
"Sure, Shinji, here you go," she said, pulling over, to let him out. "You want me to pick you up after training? You can go to lunch with Kaji and I."
"Nah, thanks, Misato, but I think I'll go ahead and run to the Motor Pool after my workout. It'll help improve my conditioning."
"Alright kiddo, be good," she waved.
"Later Misato. Later Kaji," he said, turning to mount the steps to the gym. Once inside he went to the men's locker room and changed into his workout uniform. He walked out, and entered the first large room. As usual there was a sign on the door stating, "Reserved for Private Lesson."
His Sensei was already here, standing in the large padded room, performing a slow dance in Tai-Chi. Shinji took his position to the right rear of the Sensei, and began to mimic the man's movements, watching in the mirrors that were installed at an angle high up on the wall. Yes, he was getting better since the first few clumsy attempts at this.
After another 20 minutes of increasingly difficult, yet still incredibly elegant moves, Sensei finally finished and stood motionless with his head bowed. Shinji mimicked his master, and bowed his head.
'What is he waiting for?' Shinji wondered to himself, still looking at the ground.
Suddenly Shinji was lying on his back, spots and blackness dancing before his eyes. He shook his head to focus.
"You weren't paying attention young Ikari, you should have been able to anticipate my attack," Sensei said.
"Hai, Sensei, I was not paying attention, as you said," Shinji replied, picking himself up, and bowing in apology.
"Come, I would like you to spar with me for a few minutes that I might study the rewards of your self directed efforts this weekend," and, not waiting for Shinji to reply, the older man attacked.
Shinji began a fast series of dodges, blocks and rolls, keeping from suffering any serious damage at the hands of his master.
'Forearm, forearm, shin, thigh, shin,' he thought to himself, as he used each body part to block a particular attack. 'Forearm, thigh, shin, forearm, thigh,' "WHOOF!" he exclaimed as the kick he'd been expecting to block with his thigh connected to his groin instead.
"Ah very good Ikari, I see you've learned to use your testicles as a way to block my kicks, very inventive, but I don't see how you're going to continue to fight while you're curled up in a ball on my floor," Sensei observed.
Shinji bit back the pain, or tried to, and got slowly to his feet, trying to replace the air that was missing from his lungs. After a couple minutes Shinji had fully recovered, and they bowed, and relaxed into easy fighting stances.
Without warning the Sensei attacked, chopping and kicking his way toward Shinji, but Shinji was determined to not let an attack through his defenses again, and he met every foot leg arm and hand with a block.
The sounds of their breathing echoed back at them from the walls, and Shinji was sweating hard now. He was too absorbed in his own efforts to notice that the Sensei was, himself, starting to sweat.
'This young man shows promise,' he thought, continuing his attack, 'The Commander said he was highly motivated, but I'd never have suspected he would have achieved so much in so little a time. Less than a month, and he's already accomplished at hand to hand combat, within the next couple months he'll be the equal of most of the students I've ever trained, and by the end of the year, he'll be the pride of my time as a teacher.'
A slight smile crept onto the Sensei's lips, which Shinji noticed, but passed off as the older mans delight in beating the 15 year old senseless.
'Man this guy's tough, he just keeps on kicking and punching and never lets up. I've fought ANGELS that were easier to get a hit in on,' Shinji thought.
'Better stop this before I get too winded. Can't let the boy see that he's actually tiring me out.'
"Withdraw," he stated, and Shinji stepped back, assuming the ready position easily enough, and only breathing a little hard. The Sensei had to control his breathing as he walked over to the wall where his bag was kept. He opened it up, and pulled out two short stout sticks, each about 20 inches long. The bottom of them was covered in synthetic shark skin to make gripping them easier.
"Ikari," he called, tossing the sticks to the young man. Shinji caught the two sticks with both hands, and gripped them firmly, feeling their weight.
Sensei turned back around and pulled out another set of sticks, identical to the first. Turning back to Shinji he held his up and spun the around in a circle on the palms of his hands, then gripped them and made quick and elegant cutting motions in the air before him.
"Let the sticks become extensions of your body. They are useful in defense and attack. Instead of allowing blows to strike your body, they should fall upon the sticks. When used to attack an opponent they will allow you to strike with greater force due to the greater amount of momentum they can generate"
The Sense showed him several basic moves, and exercises to get used to the sticks. The practiced for two hours, learning simple techniques, including strikes an parry's as well as combinations of the two. Sensei didn't feel Ikari would yet be ready for disarming attacks, but that could wait until he'd gotten comfortable with the weapons.
"Okay, Shinji, are you ready to show me what you've learned today?" he asked taking up a fighting stance.
"Hai, Sensei," Shinji replied, dropping into his preferred stance.
"Very well then. GO!" he cried, launching a series of fast and brutal attacks. Shinji was fast on the defense, and managed to keep his sticks up, and his fingers out of the way of the Masters blows. Faster and faster the Master's attacks came, until they were almost a blur to Shinji.
'CRACK' the first hit to connect with him smacked his left index finger. 'CRACK CRACK CRACK' a series of three strikes landed in quick succession against his sticks, and his hands were starting to get numb. Then there was a blur, and Shinji was vaguely aware that he'd missed a block and was going to pay for it.
Instead an orange glow appeared just off the surface of his skin and the Sensei's blow bounced off the AT field that had materialized around his head.
"Enough," the Sensei cried, "take a shower, and report to the Commander, I'm certain she has duties for you today." The appearance of Shinji's AT field was still a shock when one watched a blow you expected to land just bounce harmlessly off.
"Hai, Sensei," Shinji replied bowing. He ran to the changing room and took a quick shower, changed into his running gear, and slung the bag across his back. He set his watch's timer and started to run; five miles and just under thirty minutes later he jogged up to the Motor Pool office.
"Pilot Ikari, hello, I wondered when we'd be seeing you," said the Motor Pool Technician. "I heard what happened to your bike. I'm sorry. It was a great machine."
"It sure was, I'm on the lookout for another one, so if anyone finds one, let me know alright?" Shinji said.
"Sure thing. Meanwhile, what can I get for you?"
"Toji already come by?"
"Yeah, we've got him out doing some maintenance on an excavator in 'the Pit.' He mumbled something about you needing a new bike."
"Yeah, I do. I think I'm gonna get two, actually, first a Goldwing, for just general riding to and from, and then a fast street bike so that I can get places fast when I need to. What have you got?"
"Well you can have a Goldwing no problem, there's several to choose from, but the only street bikes we've got are Kawasaki Typhoons."
"No problem, I just need something fast. Could you have it dropped off at my house?"
"Sure thing Ikari, want to look at the Goldwing's now?" he said.
"Yeah," said Shinji, waiting until the man led the way to where the bikes were stored. There in a long row, were fourteen of the Honda's, all pretty much alike, except for coloring. Shinji walked down the row of bikes, looking at each one, and finally stopped by the last one. I had a custom paint job on it, that looked fresh, and a small piece of tape on the front wind faring that read, "Reserved."
"Oh it is, is it," he said, turning to look at the Motor Pool Tech.
"That is, if you want it. When I heard that you were looking for a new bike, I had this one painted up to tempt you."
"Oh you did did you? Well it's a deal. I'll take it. I don't suppose you have a helmet?"
"I just so happen to have one right here," the older man smiled, and walked behind the bike to a small rack. On the top of it was a helmet that had also been custom painted. Shinji took it from him, and examined it, admiring the custom paint job on it. There was a custom communications set like his last helmet, and he quickly attached a cable from his cell phone to the helmet, and downloaded all of his numbers to the new unit.
He put the Helmet on, opened the built in rear saddle bag of the Goldwing, and stored his bag in there. He turned around, straddled the bike, and rocked it forward until the kickstand came up. He checked to be sure the fuel flow was turned on, and then keyed the electronic ignition. The smooth sound of the Goldwing's engine catching and revving was pleasing to listen too.
Thanking the Motor Pool Technician, he pulled the bike out of the Motor Pool Lot slowly, and turned it, heading off. Keying . The bike was easy to control, but very heavy. He doubted if he'd had one a year ago and it fell over he would have been able to lift it. Now, however, with all the weight training he was doing, he didn't think it would be too difficult.
His stomach growled, and he realized that it was probably time to get something to eat.
'I wonder if Misato and Kaji have had lunch yet?' he wondered, and, keying his helmet phone, called Misato.
"Yes?" she said, picking up the phone.
"You and Kaji have lunch yet?" Shinji asked.
"Shinji, hi, but what phone is this, it shows as unknown?"
"It's my new helmet system," he explained.
"Ah. So what's up?"
"Well, I just wanted to see if you'd had lunch yet."
"Kaji and I just sat down at the 'Coffee'terium,' come on over, we're outside at one of the umbrella tables."
"Great I'll be there in a few minutes," he said, hanging up.
Five minutes later, Misato and Kaji heard the distinctive thrum of a Honda Goldwing pulling up, and looked over the raised deck railing to see if it was Shinji pulling up down below. Kaji laughed, and Misato grinned when she saw the vision that was pulling into a parking space down below.
A purple, black, and green Honda, driven by someone with a helmet modeled and painted like Unit-01's head. Shinji took off the helmet, and clipped it to the lock on the side of the bike.
"Up here Shinji," Misato called, waving. Shinji ran a hand over his hair, trying to straighten it out, and waved back. He jogged up the stairs, and sat down next to Misato and Kaji.
"That's a great pain job, I take it the guys at the Motor Pool knew you were coming?" Misato laughed.
"Yeah, looks like Toji put them up to it. That explains why the guys were pushing the Goldwing so hard this weekend," Shinji said.
They all shared a laugh at his friends manipulation of him, before ordering their lunch, continuing to talk and laugh as they ate, enjoying the company of family.
'He certainly has changed,' Misato thought, gazing at the young.
"So I understand that your Sensei is having a hard time keeping up with you," Kaji said.
Misato glared at him, and stomped on his foot. That was something that the Sensei had reported to Misato, but NOT something that the young man should have known.
Shinji brushed it off. "Yeah right. He kicked my but today, every time I thought I was gonna land a hit he'd just deflect my blow like I wasn't even trying. It's too bad that we can't have someone like HIM be an EVA pilot. The ANGELS and the LEGION wouldn't have stood a chance."
"They still didn't and don't, with you as a pilot, Shinji," Misato said.
Shinji blushed, like the old Shinji would have, at the compliment.
"Anyhow, I started Thai Stick Combat Training today. It was pretty cool really. Accept he smacked my hand, and look," Shinji held out his hand, and the left index finger was swollen and bruised.
'And your AT field activated in the middle of fight, so the Sensei halted practice to let you calm down," Misato thought.
They had finished lunch by now, and Shinji was drinking the last of his iced mocha, when he looked up at Misato.
"So. Misato, what was this project you mentioned wanting me to try?"
"Oh. That. Well, do you remember offering to help us expand the base," Misato asked.
"Yeah, want me to get the EVA and head into the pit?"
"Yeah, if you would, they crews are having a hard time digging the stone next to the base, and I thought you could help," she said.
"Not a problem," Shinji said, standing up. Misato and Kaji did the same.
She hugged Shinji, and then watched him leave. Yes, he certainly had changed since Instrumentality. He'd found love, and lost it, but retained hope that it would all work out in time. She felt a small tear form, and drip slowly down her cheek.
"Hey, love, what's wrong?" Kaji asked.
"Just thinking about Shinji and Asuka. I hope he's right, and she is alive out there somewhere, I'd hate to consider the alternative."
The technicians operating the lift controls for the construction pit saw the EVA approaching, and began bringing up the giant elevator.
Shinji waited until the large machine elevator appeared, and, stepping onto it, dropped into the darkness. Soon he was being delivered deep underground to the new excavations at the heard of the NERV facility.
He felt a microwave tingle, and activated his comm. system.
"Yes?"
"Shinji, Misato here, Ritsuko and I want to see if you can break up some of the rock in the pit, okay?"
"Okay," he said, walking over to the edge of the pit, and stepping down into it. The pit was about five hundred feet across, and another fifty feet deep, so he had no problem getting in.
"Okay kiddo, think you can beat that rock into gravel?"
"Yeah, but I've got a better idea. We're just going to dig this hole straight down right?" he asked.
"Yeah, that's the plan, why?"
"Well I have an Idea. Stand back," he said, putting the scoop back where it had started.
"Shinji what are you going to do," Misato asked menacingly.
"Just watch Misato, and be quite. I need to concentrate."
The EVA stepped to the center of the pit, and stood very still for a moment, then it began to do a couple of Tai-Chi moves, as Shinji relaxed, and focused his energies. After about a minute and a half, Shinji finished his moves, and stood very still at the heart of the pit. A soft orange glow began to build around him, and soon, there was a strong energy field encircling the entire pit. Suddenly the field collapsed into a single point, and stabbed downward right at Shinji's feet. For several more seconds nothing happened, then there was a rumble and the ground beneath them shook. A cloud of dust was thrown up all around the outskirts of the pit, and it took some time before anyone could see.
Shinji was gone.
Of course, so were several hundred meters of earth beneath where he'd been standing.
Misato picked up her phone again.
"Shinji!" she cried into the phone.
"Um. Oww?" came the reply.
"Shinji what happened, are you alright?"
"Yeah Misato, fine. I just fell down to the new bottom of the pit. Forgot to expect that. Rather a big shock actually."
"What did you do?" asked Misato, relieved and stunned.
"I manipulated my AT field. Remember back when we were fighting Angels, I would spread my AT field when I was making an attack? Well this is what happens when you concentrate it to a single point, and expand it rapidly. It punches a large hole in the earth, and compresses the intervening rock in the walls, so I'd expect that they're stronger than any concrete structure ever made," Shinji explained proudly.
"What gave you that idea?" Ritsuko asked.
"Well last week Sensei and I spent a lot of time working on Chi manipulation, and I discovered that by concentrating, my AT field could be focused and manipulated. I spent the weekend trying to do something like this, but on a smaller scale. Being in the EVA, just allows me to go bigger."
"The only problem is, that there's a series of Geo-Thermal vents all cross this region, and we think you may have chopped into them."
"Nope, no problem there, Ritsuko. When I compressed the outer structure of the pit, I made sure to seal any possible fissures that would affect the vents. That way the Geo-Thermal plant won't loose efficiency, and we can still keep on digging out the expansion for the base."
"Well, this raises a whole new series of possibilities. That, and it's going to speed up our construction time significantly. Think you're up to another shot?"
"Sure thing, just tell me where," Shinji said.
Ritsuko talked to the site supervisor, and gave Shinji his instructions.
"Clear everyone out of the way, guys, this is gonna get messy," he said, and began to focus again
In the bottom of the pit, Shinji positioned his hands against the walls, and began to focus. This time the orange glow appeared against one side wall, focused into a point, and vanished. Again there was a ground quake, and a slight shockwave, as a dust cloud began rising up, out of the pit, but this time they new what to expect, and as they recovered, Misato called Shinji.
"Still doing okay?"
"Yeah, no problem, punching a hole in the side of this shaft is easier on the rear end than dropping into a hole like this," he said.
"All right, go ahead and come up, I think we've accomplished more today than we thought we would," Misato said.
"Sure thing. Here I come," and there was a purple flash flying out of the hole, and the EVA landed next to them.
"Shinji, the readings I'm getting from your EVA, say your AT field strength is down to 73%. I don't want you to tire yourself out here; we never know when a Legion attack might occur, so I want you to take the rest of the day off and relax," Ritsuko said.
"Yes Doctor Akagi," Shinji sighed.
"See you later Misato," he said, as he boarded the elevator back to the surface.
Next on Episode 2:14 of Neon Genesis Evangelion almost a year after the appearance of the first of the Legion, the new NERV base is expanding by leaps and bounds. New passages and buildings have sprung up underground, and EVA has a new launch bay deep within the new base. But all these improvements may prove to be of little use when a new threat develops.
It's Evangelion Episode 2:14 Fighting for a brother's love
Episode 2:13 Playing in the Sandbox
Takes place after 1st season, and the End of Evangelion Movie.
Presumed date is July 18th, 2016
Shinji awoke at his customary time, dressed, and walked downstairs to the kitchen. He started some hot water to boil for tea, and began getting out some leftover sushi from last night.
What a night. He and Hikari had spent four hours cooking and preparing Sushi for their friends and family. They had all finished and gone to bed totally stuffed. Except for Kensuke, who gave up after Toji dared him to eat the Nori Roll he'd stuffed half with rice and half with Wasabi. Pour Kensuke had drank nearly half a gallon of milk trying to put the fire out, and sat around the rest of the night with ice-cubes in his mouth.
'Okay, now where'd that pickled ginger go?' he asked himself silently. He retrieved itand got out the remaining Inari. He added the ginger to his plate of Inari, and took it and his tea to the table to relax and eat. Lately he'd taken to eating light meals in the morning, so that he wouldn't feel full and sluggish when he arrived at the Dojo.
The Sensei Misato found had agreed to teach him, and they'd made swift progress. The older man was a master of multiple disciplines, and had trained thousands of students over the years. Shinji was a capable and willing student, who knew his work in the Dojo was crucial to the survival of mankind.
He waved to Hikari as he saw her coming up the back deck. "Morning Hikari sleep well?"
"Yes Shinji, thank you. Although I don't' think I want to see Sushi again for a few weeks." She glanced at his half empty plate. "I see some people are gluttons for punishment."
"Aw come on Hikari, you know that I eat this before training every morning. Keeps me light on my feet, and ready for anything," Shinji explained.
"So how IS your training going?" she asked.
"Not too bad. Sensei said that I'm getting better every day," he said, fetching himself another cup of tea.
"Learn anything exciting lately?"
"Well it's still the basics really, but I'm supposed to start Thai Stick fighting today."
"I saw you outside on the deck last night before I went to bed. What was that you were doing?"
"Tai-chi. It's a form of martial arts that is also an excellent way to stretch and gather energy into the vital centers of your body. And it helps me to relax after a hard day of work."
"Hmm," she murmured, pouring the tea, which was now ready, into cups for them.
They drank in companionable silence.
"Shinji, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Hikari, you can ask me anything you want, you know that."
"Well, I didn't want to upset you."
"No problem," he said, but was thinking, 'Uh, oh, I bet I know what's coming.'
"Have you had any contact, or visions, or whatever of Asuka since the last ones?"
"No, Hikari. I haven't. Trust me, if there's anything from Asuka, I'll let you know."
"Not even any dreams?" she asked.
Shinji blushed, something he rarely did these days, and looked down to the floor, avoiding Hikari's eyes.
"Shinji, not those kind of dreams. I was just thinking that if you really do have a connection, maybe you can try to talk to each other in your dreams."
Shinji hadn't thought of that, but decided he should try to concentrate his dreams on Asuka. Maybe he could reach her. There was a noise from the stairway, and Toji stumbled through the entertainment room and into the dining room, groaning as he came.
"Ooooh," he yawned, "Good morning."
"Good morning Toji, would you like some breakfast?" Hikari asked, hopping up, and going into the kitchen, I'm going to make Omelet's."
"With cheese?" he asked hopefully.
"One cheese Omelet coming right up," she.
"Morning Hikari," came Kensuke's voice as he walked down stairs, and headed toward the dining room, "you're sister up yet?"
"I expect by now she will be," she answered, "In fact I expect her here at any moment."
"Okay," Kensuke suddenly realized a desperate morning need, and stepped into the downstairs bathroom to relieve himself.
Toji laughed, "Think he's figured out that Nazomi has a crush on him?"
"Not a clue," Shinji shook his head, hearing Hikari laughing as well.
"So what're you doing today Toji?"
"I've got some work to do in the Vehicle Maintenance area. A lot of the construction equipment that's being used for digging out the cavern has been breaking down lately, so they've got us all working hard to keep things repaired. Even Apprentices like me get to do hands on work," Toji said.
"What about you Kensuke, what's up today?" Shinji shouted towards the bathroom.
Kensuke, walked out of the bathroom, having finished his business, and answered, "I'm going to take a scout party out today on a trip for some more supplies. I guess they want to see if they can pick up some spare parts or something, so I'm running them up to Sendai. I guess the teams have only been up there a few times, but they want to do another drop and grab."
Nazomi walked up the back deck at this time, and entered the dining room without knocking. "Good morning Kensuke," she said sweetly.
"Morning Nazomi," he said, stretching and sitting down.
She walked around the table and sat on his right. The others smiled slightly at the two, and turned to other topics of conversation. Poor Kensuke, he didn't realize that as far as Nazomi was concerned he'd been bought and paid for.
Shinji heard a cars horn outside, and got up. "Well, that'll be Misato and Kaji, so I have to go. I'll see you all tonight."
"Bye Shinji," everyone said in chorus.
Shinji grabbed his gym bag, put on his shoes, and ran down the walk to the couple's car. Kaji got out of the passenger seat, and let him crawl into the back.
"Morning Kaji, morning Misato," he said.
"Morning Shinji, have a good weekend?" Misato asked.
"Pretty decent, Hikari convinced Toji that we need to connect the two decks. At first it was just a simple bridge, so they wouldn't get their feet dirty walking between houses. Then Kensuke suggested that as long as we were going to be doing that, we ought to just build the whole thing out as one giant deck, connecting the two houses. We dug some holes for the concrete footings, and they should be poured and set up by Saturday. So it looks like I'll be spending my weekend hammering, cutting, lifting and building."
"Sounds like a lot of work," Kaji noted.
"Yeah, but it's making something with my hands. And I really like that. Being able to create something that other people love. That's important to me."
"So, you guys already requisitioned the wood?"
"Nope, we're going to use some of that synthetic stuff that's made out of plastic and rice hulls. If we put it over an Iron support system, Kensuke thinks we could get 30 years of use out of it."
"Wow, that's a long time. You pretty sure you're going to be in that house that long?" Misato asked.
"As long as it takes, Misato, I can always move later, if I don't like it, and the person who takes the house after me will be grateful for all the hard work we'll have put into it," he said.
"Hey, kiddo, not that I mind giving you a ride to work every morning, but when are you going to get a new bike?" Misato asked.
"Well, the guys finally talked me into getting a Honda Goldwing out of the Motor Pool this morning, so that I can at least get around. It's not real fast, so they think I should get some sort of 'crotch rocket,' as Kensuke calls it, so I can get from the house to the airfield faster in the event of an attack by the Legionnaires."
"Still no sign of a bike like the first one you had? What was it called again?"
"It was Kawasaki's Kiken Jingutsu 3700," Shinji replied.
Kaji laughed. "Dangerous Individual indeed. I've seen you ride that bike, and I have to say it's appropriate."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Shinji asked, offended.
"Meaning you'd just as soon run over a school bus full of nuns as have to downshift," Kaji said.
"No way," Shinji said, "I'd definitely slow down for nuns. No one else, but definitely for nuns."
Misato and Kaji laughed, and Shinji laughed with them
"Well, here we are, Misato, can you let me out next to the curb?" Shinji asked, seeing that they were nearing the main gym.
"Sure, Shinji, here you go," she said, pulling over, to let him out. "You want me to pick you up after training? You can go to lunch with Kaji and I."
"Nah, thanks, Misato, but I think I'll go ahead and run to the Motor Pool after my workout. It'll help improve my conditioning."
"Alright kiddo, be good," she waved.
"Later Misato. Later Kaji," he said, turning to mount the steps to the gym. Once inside he went to the men's locker room and changed into his workout uniform. He walked out, and entered the first large room. As usual there was a sign on the door stating, "Reserved for Private Lesson."
His Sensei was already here, standing in the large padded room, performing a slow dance in Tai-Chi. Shinji took his position to the right rear of the Sensei, and began to mimic the man's movements, watching in the mirrors that were installed at an angle high up on the wall. Yes, he was getting better since the first few clumsy attempts at this.
After another 20 minutes of increasingly difficult, yet still incredibly elegant moves, Sensei finally finished and stood motionless with his head bowed. Shinji mimicked his master, and bowed his head.
'What is he waiting for?' Shinji wondered to himself, still looking at the ground.
Suddenly Shinji was lying on his back, spots and blackness dancing before his eyes. He shook his head to focus.
"You weren't paying attention young Ikari, you should have been able to anticipate my attack," Sensei said.
"Hai, Sensei, I was not paying attention, as you said," Shinji replied, picking himself up, and bowing in apology.
"Come, I would like you to spar with me for a few minutes that I might study the rewards of your self directed efforts this weekend," and, not waiting for Shinji to reply, the older man attacked.
Shinji began a fast series of dodges, blocks and rolls, keeping from suffering any serious damage at the hands of his master.
'Forearm, forearm, shin, thigh, shin,' he thought to himself, as he used each body part to block a particular attack. 'Forearm, thigh, shin, forearm, thigh,' "WHOOF!" he exclaimed as the kick he'd been expecting to block with his thigh connected to his groin instead.
"Ah very good Ikari, I see you've learned to use your testicles as a way to block my kicks, very inventive, but I don't see how you're going to continue to fight while you're curled up in a ball on my floor," Sensei observed.
Shinji bit back the pain, or tried to, and got slowly to his feet, trying to replace the air that was missing from his lungs. After a couple minutes Shinji had fully recovered, and they bowed, and relaxed into easy fighting stances.
Without warning the Sensei attacked, chopping and kicking his way toward Shinji, but Shinji was determined to not let an attack through his defenses again, and he met every foot leg arm and hand with a block.
The sounds of their breathing echoed back at them from the walls, and Shinji was sweating hard now. He was too absorbed in his own efforts to notice that the Sensei was, himself, starting to sweat.
'This young man shows promise,' he thought, continuing his attack, 'The Commander said he was highly motivated, but I'd never have suspected he would have achieved so much in so little a time. Less than a month, and he's already accomplished at hand to hand combat, within the next couple months he'll be the equal of most of the students I've ever trained, and by the end of the year, he'll be the pride of my time as a teacher.'
A slight smile crept onto the Sensei's lips, which Shinji noticed, but passed off as the older mans delight in beating the 15 year old senseless.
'Man this guy's tough, he just keeps on kicking and punching and never lets up. I've fought ANGELS that were easier to get a hit in on,' Shinji thought.
'Better stop this before I get too winded. Can't let the boy see that he's actually tiring me out.'
"Withdraw," he stated, and Shinji stepped back, assuming the ready position easily enough, and only breathing a little hard. The Sensei had to control his breathing as he walked over to the wall where his bag was kept. He opened it up, and pulled out two short stout sticks, each about 20 inches long. The bottom of them was covered in synthetic shark skin to make gripping them easier.
"Ikari," he called, tossing the sticks to the young man. Shinji caught the two sticks with both hands, and gripped them firmly, feeling their weight.
Sensei turned back around and pulled out another set of sticks, identical to the first. Turning back to Shinji he held his up and spun the around in a circle on the palms of his hands, then gripped them and made quick and elegant cutting motions in the air before him.
"Let the sticks become extensions of your body. They are useful in defense and attack. Instead of allowing blows to strike your body, they should fall upon the sticks. When used to attack an opponent they will allow you to strike with greater force due to the greater amount of momentum they can generate"
The Sense showed him several basic moves, and exercises to get used to the sticks. The practiced for two hours, learning simple techniques, including strikes an parry's as well as combinations of the two. Sensei didn't feel Ikari would yet be ready for disarming attacks, but that could wait until he'd gotten comfortable with the weapons.
"Okay, Shinji, are you ready to show me what you've learned today?" he asked taking up a fighting stance.
"Hai, Sensei," Shinji replied, dropping into his preferred stance.
"Very well then. GO!" he cried, launching a series of fast and brutal attacks. Shinji was fast on the defense, and managed to keep his sticks up, and his fingers out of the way of the Masters blows. Faster and faster the Master's attacks came, until they were almost a blur to Shinji.
'CRACK' the first hit to connect with him smacked his left index finger. 'CRACK CRACK CRACK' a series of three strikes landed in quick succession against his sticks, and his hands were starting to get numb. Then there was a blur, and Shinji was vaguely aware that he'd missed a block and was going to pay for it.
Instead an orange glow appeared just off the surface of his skin and the Sensei's blow bounced off the AT field that had materialized around his head.
"Enough," the Sensei cried, "take a shower, and report to the Commander, I'm certain she has duties for you today." The appearance of Shinji's AT field was still a shock when one watched a blow you expected to land just bounce harmlessly off.
"Hai, Sensei," Shinji replied bowing. He ran to the changing room and took a quick shower, changed into his running gear, and slung the bag across his back. He set his watch's timer and started to run; five miles and just under thirty minutes later he jogged up to the Motor Pool office.
"Pilot Ikari, hello, I wondered when we'd be seeing you," said the Motor Pool Technician. "I heard what happened to your bike. I'm sorry. It was a great machine."
"It sure was, I'm on the lookout for another one, so if anyone finds one, let me know alright?" Shinji said.
"Sure thing. Meanwhile, what can I get for you?"
"Toji already come by?"
"Yeah, we've got him out doing some maintenance on an excavator in 'the Pit.' He mumbled something about you needing a new bike."
"Yeah, I do. I think I'm gonna get two, actually, first a Goldwing, for just general riding to and from, and then a fast street bike so that I can get places fast when I need to. What have you got?"
"Well you can have a Goldwing no problem, there's several to choose from, but the only street bikes we've got are Kawasaki Typhoons."
"No problem, I just need something fast. Could you have it dropped off at my house?"
"Sure thing Ikari, want to look at the Goldwing's now?" he said.
"Yeah," said Shinji, waiting until the man led the way to where the bikes were stored. There in a long row, were fourteen of the Honda's, all pretty much alike, except for coloring. Shinji walked down the row of bikes, looking at each one, and finally stopped by the last one. I had a custom paint job on it, that looked fresh, and a small piece of tape on the front wind faring that read, "Reserved."
"Oh it is, is it," he said, turning to look at the Motor Pool Tech.
"That is, if you want it. When I heard that you were looking for a new bike, I had this one painted up to tempt you."
"Oh you did did you? Well it's a deal. I'll take it. I don't suppose you have a helmet?"
"I just so happen to have one right here," the older man smiled, and walked behind the bike to a small rack. On the top of it was a helmet that had also been custom painted. Shinji took it from him, and examined it, admiring the custom paint job on it. There was a custom communications set like his last helmet, and he quickly attached a cable from his cell phone to the helmet, and downloaded all of his numbers to the new unit.
He put the Helmet on, opened the built in rear saddle bag of the Goldwing, and stored his bag in there. He turned around, straddled the bike, and rocked it forward until the kickstand came up. He checked to be sure the fuel flow was turned on, and then keyed the electronic ignition. The smooth sound of the Goldwing's engine catching and revving was pleasing to listen too.
Thanking the Motor Pool Technician, he pulled the bike out of the Motor Pool Lot slowly, and turned it, heading off. Keying . The bike was easy to control, but very heavy. He doubted if he'd had one a year ago and it fell over he would have been able to lift it. Now, however, with all the weight training he was doing, he didn't think it would be too difficult.
His stomach growled, and he realized that it was probably time to get something to eat.
'I wonder if Misato and Kaji have had lunch yet?' he wondered, and, keying his helmet phone, called Misato.
"Yes?" she said, picking up the phone.
"You and Kaji have lunch yet?" Shinji asked.
"Shinji, hi, but what phone is this, it shows as unknown?"
"It's my new helmet system," he explained.
"Ah. So what's up?"
"Well, I just wanted to see if you'd had lunch yet."
"Kaji and I just sat down at the 'Coffee'terium,' come on over, we're outside at one of the umbrella tables."
"Great I'll be there in a few minutes," he said, hanging up.
Five minutes later, Misato and Kaji heard the distinctive thrum of a Honda Goldwing pulling up, and looked over the raised deck railing to see if it was Shinji pulling up down below. Kaji laughed, and Misato grinned when she saw the vision that was pulling into a parking space down below.
A purple, black, and green Honda, driven by someone with a helmet modeled and painted like Unit-01's head. Shinji took off the helmet, and clipped it to the lock on the side of the bike.
"Up here Shinji," Misato called, waving. Shinji ran a hand over his hair, trying to straighten it out, and waved back. He jogged up the stairs, and sat down next to Misato and Kaji.
"That's a great pain job, I take it the guys at the Motor Pool knew you were coming?" Misato laughed.
"Yeah, looks like Toji put them up to it. That explains why the guys were pushing the Goldwing so hard this weekend," Shinji said.
They all shared a laugh at his friends manipulation of him, before ordering their lunch, continuing to talk and laugh as they ate, enjoying the company of family.
'He certainly has changed,' Misato thought, gazing at the young.
"So I understand that your Sensei is having a hard time keeping up with you," Kaji said.
Misato glared at him, and stomped on his foot. That was something that the Sensei had reported to Misato, but NOT something that the young man should have known.
Shinji brushed it off. "Yeah right. He kicked my but today, every time I thought I was gonna land a hit he'd just deflect my blow like I wasn't even trying. It's too bad that we can't have someone like HIM be an EVA pilot. The ANGELS and the LEGION wouldn't have stood a chance."
"They still didn't and don't, with you as a pilot, Shinji," Misato said.
Shinji blushed, like the old Shinji would have, at the compliment.
"Anyhow, I started Thai Stick Combat Training today. It was pretty cool really. Accept he smacked my hand, and look," Shinji held out his hand, and the left index finger was swollen and bruised.
'And your AT field activated in the middle of fight, so the Sensei halted practice to let you calm down," Misato thought.
They had finished lunch by now, and Shinji was drinking the last of his iced mocha, when he looked up at Misato.
"So. Misato, what was this project you mentioned wanting me to try?"
"Oh. That. Well, do you remember offering to help us expand the base," Misato asked.
"Yeah, want me to get the EVA and head into the pit?"
"Yeah, if you would, they crews are having a hard time digging the stone next to the base, and I thought you could help," she said.
"Not a problem," Shinji said, standing up. Misato and Kaji did the same.
She hugged Shinji, and then watched him leave. Yes, he certainly had changed since Instrumentality. He'd found love, and lost it, but retained hope that it would all work out in time. She felt a small tear form, and drip slowly down her cheek.
"Hey, love, what's wrong?" Kaji asked.
"Just thinking about Shinji and Asuka. I hope he's right, and she is alive out there somewhere, I'd hate to consider the alternative."
The technicians operating the lift controls for the construction pit saw the EVA approaching, and began bringing up the giant elevator.
Shinji waited until the large machine elevator appeared, and, stepping onto it, dropped into the darkness. Soon he was being delivered deep underground to the new excavations at the heard of the NERV facility.
He felt a microwave tingle, and activated his comm. system.
"Yes?"
"Shinji, Misato here, Ritsuko and I want to see if you can break up some of the rock in the pit, okay?"
"Okay," he said, walking over to the edge of the pit, and stepping down into it. The pit was about five hundred feet across, and another fifty feet deep, so he had no problem getting in.
"Okay kiddo, think you can beat that rock into gravel?"
"Yeah, but I've got a better idea. We're just going to dig this hole straight down right?" he asked.
"Yeah, that's the plan, why?"
"Well I have an Idea. Stand back," he said, putting the scoop back where it had started.
"Shinji what are you going to do," Misato asked menacingly.
"Just watch Misato, and be quite. I need to concentrate."
The EVA stepped to the center of the pit, and stood very still for a moment, then it began to do a couple of Tai-Chi moves, as Shinji relaxed, and focused his energies. After about a minute and a half, Shinji finished his moves, and stood very still at the heart of the pit. A soft orange glow began to build around him, and soon, there was a strong energy field encircling the entire pit. Suddenly the field collapsed into a single point, and stabbed downward right at Shinji's feet. For several more seconds nothing happened, then there was a rumble and the ground beneath them shook. A cloud of dust was thrown up all around the outskirts of the pit, and it took some time before anyone could see.
Shinji was gone.
Of course, so were several hundred meters of earth beneath where he'd been standing.
Misato picked up her phone again.
"Shinji!" she cried into the phone.
"Um. Oww?" came the reply.
"Shinji what happened, are you alright?"
"Yeah Misato, fine. I just fell down to the new bottom of the pit. Forgot to expect that. Rather a big shock actually."
"What did you do?" asked Misato, relieved and stunned.
"I manipulated my AT field. Remember back when we were fighting Angels, I would spread my AT field when I was making an attack? Well this is what happens when you concentrate it to a single point, and expand it rapidly. It punches a large hole in the earth, and compresses the intervening rock in the walls, so I'd expect that they're stronger than any concrete structure ever made," Shinji explained proudly.
"What gave you that idea?" Ritsuko asked.
"Well last week Sensei and I spent a lot of time working on Chi manipulation, and I discovered that by concentrating, my AT field could be focused and manipulated. I spent the weekend trying to do something like this, but on a smaller scale. Being in the EVA, just allows me to go bigger."
"The only problem is, that there's a series of Geo-Thermal vents all cross this region, and we think you may have chopped into them."
"Nope, no problem there, Ritsuko. When I compressed the outer structure of the pit, I made sure to seal any possible fissures that would affect the vents. That way the Geo-Thermal plant won't loose efficiency, and we can still keep on digging out the expansion for the base."
"Well, this raises a whole new series of possibilities. That, and it's going to speed up our construction time significantly. Think you're up to another shot?"
"Sure thing, just tell me where," Shinji said.
Ritsuko talked to the site supervisor, and gave Shinji his instructions.
"Clear everyone out of the way, guys, this is gonna get messy," he said, and began to focus again
In the bottom of the pit, Shinji positioned his hands against the walls, and began to focus. This time the orange glow appeared against one side wall, focused into a point, and vanished. Again there was a ground quake, and a slight shockwave, as a dust cloud began rising up, out of the pit, but this time they new what to expect, and as they recovered, Misato called Shinji.
"Still doing okay?"
"Yeah, no problem, punching a hole in the side of this shaft is easier on the rear end than dropping into a hole like this," he said.
"All right, go ahead and come up, I think we've accomplished more today than we thought we would," Misato said.
"Sure thing. Here I come," and there was a purple flash flying out of the hole, and the EVA landed next to them.
"Shinji, the readings I'm getting from your EVA, say your AT field strength is down to 73%. I don't want you to tire yourself out here; we never know when a Legion attack might occur, so I want you to take the rest of the day off and relax," Ritsuko said.
"Yes Doctor Akagi," Shinji sighed.
"See you later Misato," he said, as he boarded the elevator back to the surface.
Next on Episode 2:14 of Neon Genesis Evangelion almost a year after the appearance of the first of the Legion, the new NERV base is expanding by leaps and bounds. New passages and buildings have sprung up underground, and EVA has a new launch bay deep within the new base. But all these improvements may prove to be of little use when a new threat develops.
It's Evangelion Episode 2:14 Fighting for a brother's love