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Chapter 13 – Aerodynamic
Ryouji Kaji was ready for the knock at the door to Apartment 501. He opened it quickly, allowed the blonde doctor to step into the room, and shut the door just as soon as she had entered. They looked into each other's eyes for a minute. There was a certain tension between them, something that they would have gone into if the circumstances had been better. As it was, they sat down at the kitchen table across from each other.
"Now, what was so important that you couldn't tell it to me over the phone?"
"Maya's been kidnapped."
Ryouji slammed his fist on the table, making Ritsuko start. "It's starting," he said, "the old men are going to follow through with their threat. That's why I was mugged today," he said, indicating the nasty bruise on his face, "and why Ibuki was kidnapped."
"We've got to do something, Ryouji! She's probably already been taken out of the country by now!"
"I have to leave. They only want me."
"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped, "nobody just gives themselves up to their enemies."
Denial
"They do if they have people they care about."
"NO!" she shouted harshly, standing up, "if you go, they'll come after us!"
Anger
"Not if they already have me."
"Listen, Ryouji, I… I don't know why you want to give yourself up. You worked for those bastards for years, but it was in the past! I'll do anything for you to stay. Why don't I go?"
Bargaining
"Because… you didn't work for them. You worked for Ikari, whom you killed when he tried to follow their orders. You've done your job, and everything you could have."
"I just don't understand, though… I know, I know I killed Shinji's father… But why did I do it?" She put her head in her hands to hide the tears. "Why are they s-still after you? I don't know what to do if you leave; I've been so lonely all these years."
Depression
"I know, and… I want you to know that I do care for you, Ritsuko."
"How can I know that?" she whined, "You loved Misato; I don't know if I can trust you…"
"Don't say that," he responded coldly. "Of course I loved Misato, but she's long gone. I can't waste my life thinking about something that will never come back. Do you really think that a person as good as Misato would be jealous about you having somebody to love, when she knew its joy?"
"No," she rasped, unable to contain herself as she silently wept.
"Ritsuko," he said, standing, "I have to get some sleep. You're welcome to stay here, if you think it'll be safer."
"Fine…"
Acceptance
He walked over to the couch and lay down, closing his eyes. Ryouji had forgotten how tired he was. The last thing he saw before sleep overtook him was Ritsuko Akagi's form, slumped over the table, sound asleep.
When the man awoke, he noticed something slightly wrong with his surroundings. Ryouji Kaji opened his eyes, and realized that his mouth was gagged, and his hands and legs were bound. He looked around the apartment. Ritsuko Akagi had been similarly constrained, and now lay on the kitchen table, unable to move at all. He surmised that Shinji was in the same predicament in the bedroom. Then, Kaji noticed the others: three men dressed in all black. One stood over the doctor, taunting her and pawing at her rudely; she was either asleep or too tightly tied up to fight back in any way. A second stood outside the door to the bedroom. He's probably guarding Shinji, Ryouji thought. The third, probably the leader, was leaning against the front door, smoking a cigarette. Kaji's face caught his attention, and he approached the supine man, unceremoniously putting out the tobacco product by squashing it against a loose flap of Ritsuko's lab coat. Hatred filled Ryouji's eyes as he heard a small sizzling, meaning that the smoldering cigarette burned a hole clean through the pristine fabric.
A thoroughly muffled cry leaked out from the floor behind the couch. Kaji's eyes widened. Maya! He closed his eyes, thankful that she was here, instead of a dirty cell somewhere.
The leader of the thugs came to stand over the couch. Ryouji tried to make out the man's face, but he, as well as the others, were wearing rubbery masks of some long-dead politician.
"I am so glad that you are awake, Monsieur Kaji," his captor said.
The prisoner furrowed his eyebrows, to try to communicate his disgust. The criminal chortled at Ryouji's weak attempt to fight.
"Now," he continued, "I shall ask you some simple 'yes' or 'no' questions, and you shall respond by a nodding or shaking of your head. You understand, no?"
Deciding to humor him, Kaji nodded. The man smiled, and returned to his position leaning on the front door. "Prop him up, so that we can all see Monsieur's responses," he told one of his lackeys. The one by Ritsuko walked over and lifted Ryouji up somewhat.
Now, he could see the room better. Dr. Akagi was strapped down to the kitchen table, and Maya was secured to the floor with an absurd amount of duct tape. Her eyes were full of pain, and she appeared to have been physically abused, even before being stuck to the ground. Only a madman, Kaji mused sadly.
"Now our little questionnaire shall begin," the crook said gleefully. "Monsieur Kaji, you worked for SEELE, no?"
Nod.
"You knew the ultimate plans of SEELE, no?"
Nod.
"You delivered the embryo of Adam to the late Commander of NERV, no?"
This question was crucial, as only Ryouji himself knew the answer. He glanced at Ritsuko, who had strained her eyes toward him. He nodded. The doctor relaxed her head, and even through the gag, he could hear her crying. I helped to move Instrumentality forward, and I didn't try to stop it. I ran away.
"Monsieur, you have extensive knowledge of the members of SEELE, no?"
Nod.
"You were detained by SEELE for over a year, no?"
Nod.
"You were specifically ordered not to return to this country, no?
Nod.
"You defied that order, yes?"
Nod.
"Do you know why that order was given?"
Ryouji did not respond.
"Do you?" the man asked loudly, now taking a gun out of his jacket and effortlessly pointing it at Ritsuko's face.
Sighing as best he could, Ryouji shook his head.
"Then I shall tell you: You have tried, since the destruction of NERV, to get back at SEELE, and see that we are forever prevented from accomplishing what was laid out in the Scrolls. The government of Japan is powerful, and it can easily track us down, along with the United Nations. We cannot allow that to happen. We will not be deterred. We must eradicate our detractors, starting now." He ripped off the rubber mask, to reveal one of the 'old men' of SEELE, with pompous hair, large, glassy eyes, and a malicious sneer on his face. From where he stood, he focused the gun at Dr. Akagi's panicked visage.
"They shall all die before your eyes," he rasped mirthfully. His right index finger stroked the trigger, and he raised his eyes to the ceiling. He began to speak in an eldritch tone:
"God's in his heaven, all's right with the w—"
He never had a chance to finish his thought, as the door behind him exploded violently, sending chunks of metal into his back. He cried out in vain as they severed his spinal cord and he died; smoke billowed into the apartment, and a shadowy figure emerged. Over a period of mere seconds, it had untied Ritsuko and Ryouji. While he cut through the duct tape that held Maya to the floor, the two other thugs sprang on top of him, but their vision was obscured by the smoke that stung their eyes. Only two shots were fired, and they fell down beside Ibuki, who screamed, and ran outside, encouraged by the man.
Ryouji, his eyes watering, felt around for the doctor. His wrists and feet were sore beyond comparison, and he felt almost too weak to keep moving. Through luck, he bumped straight into her bosom.
"Very clever, Casanova!" she wheezed.
He snorted in rough laughter as their hero shepherded them out into the fresh air.
"Where in the world is Shinji?" Ritsuko asked before collapsing into a fit of coughing.
"R-right here, Akagi-san," a weak voice behind Ryouji piped in.
"Good, let's get out of this hovel," she responded.
The three followed their benefactor, who wore a sort of gas mask to protect himself from the smoke. Maya stood beside him, shivering. She looked extremely ill, and Ritsuko flocked to her side, enveloping the younger woman in her arms. Maya cried in happiness. Shinji looked around in the chilly November morning, his eyes settling on the stranger, who had taken his protective mask off. Shinji gasped, and Ryouji shook the man's hand.
"I should have known it was you, Shigeru," Kaji admitted.
Indeed, it was Shigeru Aoba. Almost four years ago, having been briefed by the government and questioned by the United Nations, he set out to prevent madmen like the members of SEELE from ever getting in the way of organizations like NERV again. Much like Kaji, nobody but Aoba himself was really sure of his official title or status, or what he actually did, for that matter. As police officers swarmed the scene, the former coworkers stood huddled together. They had won the battle, but the end of the war was still a long way away.
As if very little had happened recently, Kaji checked his watch and turned to Shinji.
"It's about time you left for school. Today you have enough to get yourself lunch, too."
Shinji's mouth dropped open. Is he serious! School? Now? As if hearing the boy's thought, Kaji folded his arms and nodded serenely. Shinji shoulders fell and he returned to the smoky apartment to grab his school things. He emerged moments later ready to leave. Ryouji, Ritsuko, Shigeru, and Maya all saw him off. He waved and tried to smile, but he was surprised that life could move on so smoothly. Things are going so fast; I just want it all to slow down…
Today, there was no reason to hurry to school, and Shinji saw her instead of crashing into her as he had done yesterday.
"Koyomi!"
She wasn't really planning on talking to him today, based on his rudeness yesterday, but when she glanced at him, she noticed that his clothes were sooty and he looked rather scuffed up. Her caring side took over.
"I-Ikari?" she asked softly, walking over to him in the snow.
Shinji froze in his steps. He looked down. I'm really a mess, he thought, disgusted at his appearance. He sighed.
"There was… a fire at my apartment," he lied as they walked to the high school. She looked up at him, but he stared at the ground ahead of him.
"Are you alright? Why did you come to school?" she asked, slightly worried.
"My f—my guardian…" Did I almost just call Kaji-san… father?
The head of the police force himself approached Ryouji Kaji.
"Sir, I have prepared groups of officers to watch this apartment complex in shi—"
Kaji raised his hand.
"It's alright, Chief. I have a feeling that we won't be seeing the likes of them," he said, motioning to the body bags outside Apartment 501, "for some time. I don't want to put such a strain on your people."
Ritsuko came to Ryouji's side.
"A-are you sure?"
"Of course, Akagi-san."
"Besides," Shigeru interjected, "I'm still here, and next time, if there is a next time, I'll have more than just a hand grenade and a gun."
The police chief thought for a minute, but eventually shrugged his soldiers and walked off. Ritsuko looped her arm around Kaji's waist. Aoba's eyes were drawn to their indirect embrace. I guess there's really something there… between them… Smiling knowingly, he left the scene peacefully. Maya had returned to her apartment to rest some time earlier. And as the sun rose to its full potential, Ritsuko Akagi and Ryouji Kaji stood in the chill morning, breathing in time.
"Ryouji, let's… go to my apartment," she whispered at one point. For a time, he didn't reply. I expected he would get the wrong impression, she thought. "It's okay," she said, leaning in, "we have all the time in the world."
He looked into her eyes and nodded. They left.