Disclaimer: see part 1.
Aoi
Part 3
Out of Sync
By Random1377
-This must be Heaven…- Hikari thought, closing her eyes and resting up against Touji's chest.
They were sitting in the modest Horaki residence, currently empty save for the two of them, and had been making out rather heavily for about thirty minutes. She had broken away to catch her breath… and to gently push his hand back down from where it had slid halfway up her shirt.
She wasn't upset, per se, just a little flustered. She couldn't understand why he wanted to rush. –But it's still nice…- she thought, smiling faintly as he repositioned his hands to her lower back, -he's really gentle… and he always backs off when I ask…-
As for himself, Touji was entirely frustrated. –Damn,- he thought, -what is the big deal? It's not like I'm asking to sleep with her yet, what's wrong with a little touch?-
They had been going out for two weeks, every single day they met at either his father's apartment or her family's – which was also a point of frustration for him, as she refused to go anywhere public.
'What would people say?' she had argued, 'Just imagine the rumors!'
He had countered that he couldn't care less… but she had been firm. Finally, he let it go, deciding that it was better to kiss in private than not to kiss at all… but it still bothered him.
"Mmm…" she whispered, wrapping her arms around him, "what a good day…"
"Yeah," he said, staring over her shoulder at a poster on her wall, "good movie… good food… good you."
She smiled, -That's what Asuka could never see…- she thought happily, -he's so sweet…-
That things like this came naturally to Touji, and were generally insincere, would never have occurred to her – mostly because she, as most others did, assumed that he was dense. But to be able to gauge other's mood and choose the correct response without thinking was one of his greatest talents, even though he rarely used it (ironically, because he paused to actually think sometimes – killing his gut reaction). What others thought of him was not foremost among his concerns… and it never would have crossed his girlfriend's mind that the reason Asuka disliked him was that she could see that he didn't mean half the things he said.
However, he did care for Hikari… and he did enjoy all that they had done that afternoon, so he wasn't exactly lying.
'Withholding the full truth' would have been a better way to put it.
-Maybe tomorrow…- he thought with a mental sigh, wondering how long he would be stuck at first base.
"Is Asuka still mad?" Hikari inquired idly.
The Second Child had not taken Touji's recruitment well. 'Incompetent,' 'loser,' and 'moron' were among some of the kinder words the redhead used to describe her feelings on the matter.
"Sorta…" Touji said thoughtfully, "I think she's still mad – especially about me being in Unit 01 – but at least she's stopped swearing every time I come into the room."
Hikari laughed, not understanding that he was not kidding. "Well," she said, pulling back to look into his eyes, "she does have a short temper…"
He smiled, "That she does…" he agreed, slowly pulling at the bottom of her shirt and leaning in to kiss her.
She closed her eyes and sighed, kissing him back… and gently pushing his hands back down at the same time.
-Worth a shot…- he thought with another mental sigh.
**
-God, I'm in Hell…- Asuka thought darkly as she pulled on her plugsuit.
She shot a glance at the blue-haired girl sharing the room with her, hoping that it might cause a spontaneous heart attack.
-No such luck,- she thought as the First Child pressurized her plugsuit. –Fucking freak…- her eyes narrowed as she recalled the last sync test. When it was over, Rei had whispered, 'Is there not another test? I do not feel that this was a complete set…'
Asuka slammed her locker and headed for the door, trying to push thoughts of the First out of her mind. She was still intensely angry with the other girl, and fully intended to fulfill her vow to kill her… but she was also the slightest bit curious – and jealous. She had heard that Rei could somehow 'feel' Shinji (or, what remained of him) when she was in sync with Unit 00.
And it pissed her off no end.
So angry was she that she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking, and ran smack into Touji as he exited the other locker room, sending them both to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.
She looked up to find herself inches from his face. Their eyes locked… their breathing erratic and wild. Asuka's head inched closer, her lips parting slightly… "Watch where you're walking, dork!" she shouted into his face. "Just because you're Hikari's boyfriend doesn't mean I have to like you!"
"Hey!" he said indignantly, "You ran into me, devil girl! Maybe you should pay more attention!"
Asuka's scathing retort (involving the current count of Touji's brain cells) was cut short as Rei stepped out of the locker room and looked down at them. Coolly, the First Child stepped over them, commenting softly, "I was not aware that you were intimate with Pilot Souryu…" As she moved off towards the test room, she added, "congratulations… perhaps it will calm her to be engaged in a relationship."
Touji blinked, and looked at Asuka… shrinking back as he found her grinding her teeth together and glaring after the First Child. Cautiously, he slipped out from under her, "I'll… tell them you'll be a minute…" he said quietly, noting that her face was almost the same color as her suit.
She just nodded, unable to speak. –Bitch!!- her mind screamed as Touji hurried after the other girl.
Touji sighed in relief as they rounded a corner and headed for the sync-test room. He smiled, putting the encounter with Asuka behind him as he thought of the upcoming test – or rather, the ongoing game he had unexpectedly engaged Maya in.
-So cool…- he thought, stepping in front of Rei and opening the door, -she always looks so cute when she blushes…-
"Miss Ibuki," he said, winking at the technician as he stepped in, "you're looking lovely… as always…"
True to form, Maya turned red and stammered, "Th-thank you, Touji…" then surprised him by retorting, "you don't look so bad yourself."
Ritsuko stopped what she was doing and stared, as did Touji, nearly causing Rei to run into him.
Maya grinned and turned away, hiding the faint blush on her cheeks. –He really does…- she thought, sneaking another look at the boy.
Maya Ibuki had led a hard life. Second Impact had claimed nearly every member of her family, with the exception of a second cousin who she had lived with after the event. Her teen years had been full of cruel taunts, such as 'Super-Nerd,' 'boy-girl,' and the most devastating (to her, anyway) simply: 'A-cup.' Since she had chosen a computer field, and was rather good at it, she had been labeled a brainiac by her classmates… and was often picked on for that as well.
Now, here was a handsome young man, telling her on a daily basis that she was pretty… that she was desirable… and that he was interested.
It was a powerful combination – one that she was ill equipped (and not really wanting) to fight.
Touji slowly smiled and continued walking to the test plug, thinking, -Damn… does she mean it?- Always before, she had just blushed and thanked him. He wondered if perhaps there was more to it than just an idle, offhand comment.
That night, it was not his girlfriend that he thought of as he drifted off to sleep.
**
((ring))
((click))
"Akagi."
"You have test results for me?"
"Commander! Yes… I… it's what we thought."
"Still rising, then? Does the Second know?"
"No… I… feel it would be unwise to tell her. I'm concerned that she's becoming… unstable. I think we should be watching her very clos-"
"Understood. Make sure Rei understands that she is not to mention these results to her or the Fourth. And Doctor…"
"Yes?"
"Next time, don't make me call you."
((click))
"I… ok…"
**
Mana Kirishima sighed and looked around the lunchroom. "Where is she?" she whispered to herself.
It was three weeks since she had been 'transferred' to Tokyo-3, and in that time she had only managed to get close to the girlfriend of one of the pilots.
-Would have been easy if the Ikari kid was still around,- she thought with a frown, -his profile was a perfect match for me… what fucked up timing…-
Her mission orders had been simple: befriend one of the pilots, then wait. It sounded so easy on paper
"Hikari!" she called out, finding the person she sought.
She smiled as the other girl waved her over, and started across the room. Her commander had warned against growing attached to any of these people… especially considering what was to happen after the angels had been dealt with. But she found that she rather liked Hikari… maybe even more than just liked.
"Mana!" Hikari said brightly, "Thought you were sick today?"
The other girl sighed. "Nah… I thought I had another headache coming on, but it went away…" -More like you couldn't get past security today, you mean,- her mind whispered.
It was a pathetic cover, but one that seemed effective. She claimed to have a rare, hard to pronounce syndrome that was characterized by sudden, blinding headaches – and she had been supplied with the papers to prove it.
"Great!" Hikari said, "Hey, are you busy later? I thought maybe we could go shopping… you wanna?"
"Sure!" Mana said, not really needing to fake the enthusiasm. She liked shopping… and in spite of her commander's instructions, she liked the girl she would be going with.
-Poor thing…- she thought pityingly, -if you only knew what was going to happen to your little boyfriend…- she smiled, thinking that perhaps she could find a way to be there to comfort the brown-haired girl when it was all over.
If Hikari knew what the other girl did, she most assuredly would have been surprised… but she would have been more shocked to know that her friend was a spy.
The organization that sent her had done so in the hopes that she might get close to one of the Children, or (ideally) become intimate with one, and relay information on the EVAs and NERV operations. It was a tactic that most would have considered unsavory, especially considering the age of the players in this game… but even the most stubborn, moralistic tactician would conceded that you must know your enemy.
And if your enemy is a Child, who better to gather information on them than a child?
They had eaten their lunches, and were trying to figure out which stores to go to when the angel alarm sounded.
-Damn…- Mana thought as Hikari grabbed her arm and rushed towards the nearest shelter, -so much for seeing an angel battle up close…-
Before her mission was complete, she would get closer than she ever dreamed.
**
Rei sat on her bed, her knees drawn up to her chest.
In her hand was an SDAT player, its earbuds pressed firmly into her ears. A small note (wrinkled and obviously much-read) sat on her dresser, caught in a shaft of mid-afternoon sunlight.
Her red eyes were closed, and a perfectly blank expression graced her features.
"Beautiful…" she whispered, opening her eyes and regarding the small digital tape device curiously. "This is what you listened too," she mused, "and you wanted to share it with me…"
She clicked a button on the small player, switching back to track 25 as soon as 26 had completed.
"Beautiful."
Her gaze happened upon the letter, and she frowned slightly. She had committed its contents to memory after the first reading, wanting to retain those few words as long as she could, but she still read it from time to time. It hadn't been so very long since Shinji had gone, but it somehow felt like forever.
And at the same time, it felt like it was yesterday.
She looked at her right hand, visualizing the smoking gun as it looked that day, trying to recall the sounds the Other made when the bullets took its life.
"It was right," she whispered. "I was right to do it – that… creature could not be allowed to go free."
Though what she was saying was true, it still felt wrong. She had still killed Shinji's body… she had still been the one holding the gun and pulling the trigger.
She was still the one the Second Child would kill.
That the redhead would kill her, she had no doubt. She had seen the honesty in the other girl's eyes, and she knew that she deserved whatever justice was meted out for what she had done. Justified or not, she would still pay.
With a small sigh, Rei clicked off the SDAT, setting it to the side and rising from her bed. "I will try," she said softly, setting the player on the note. "For you, I will try."
In silence, she crossed to the mirror on her wall… and smiled.
**
"Where's Rei?" Misato asked, holding her side as she strode purposefully onto the bridge, her back held straight.
"On her way," Maya replied, looking up from her terminal. "Her cell phone had a breakdown… she didn't know about the attack until the alarm sounded, but she's on her way."
"What about Asuka and Shi- Touji?"
Maya lowered her eyes, blushing as the operations director clenched her eyes closed. "Asuka is getting changed, and Touji is in his entry plug. He was on call, so he was the first-"
"Ok," Misato cut in, "I know how this works, Maya!"
"Sorry," the brown-haired woman murmured.
Misato rubbed her eyes. "What's the ETA for the angel to reach NERV? And why didn't our sensors pick it up??"
"Fifty minutes," Makoto answered, "and the Mount Fuji station never picked anything up. It's like it just appeared over the city."
The purple-haired woman looked at the floating, black and white ball on the main screen, frowning deeply at the readout marked 'Pattern Orange, no AT field detected.' "Once they're here," she said firmly, rubbing absently at her side. "Launch them." She ground her teeth. "Of course Commander Ikari is away again… damn bad timing!"
"Roger," came the reply.
Tensely, the bridge crew waited for the arrival of the other two pilots and the angel. "Sorry I snapped," Misato muttered finally, stepping closer to Maya's desk.
"It's ok," Maya answered, shrugging uncomfortably. "I shouldn't have told you how to do your job… it's not like you've been gone forever."
"Yeah," the purple-haired woman sighed. –You're right… at least I got to come back…-
"Snapping at your subordinates isn't going to bring him back," a soft voice to her right whispered. "Get a hold of yourself, Misato."
Misato tensed. "How long have you been there?" she asked, not turning to look at her friend.
"I was working on one of the computers," Ritsuko shrugged. "You just weren't paying attention." She shook her head, clicking her tongue twice as she added, "You really are out of it."
"Shut up," Misato shot back.
"Yes ma'am," the blonde said sarcastically.
Nothing more was said as they waited.
**
Asuka leaned Unit 02 around the edge of the building it was situated behind, narrowing her eyes at the floating sphere in the sky. "'I'll show you how it ought to be done!'" she muttered, mimicking Touji's voice. "Fucking dick…"
They had been on the surface for less than ten minutes, and already Asuka was sick of the Fourth Child's attitude.
"Who does he think he is?" she growled, flexing her right hand into a fist. "And Wondergirl…" She grinned suddenly, "Maybe the angel will kill her, then I won't have to worry about it."
She tried to focus her attention on the angel, pushing the pleasing thoughts of the First Child's death from her mind. It would be amusing, she decided, for the blue-haired girl to meet her demise in combat… but it would not be as satisfying as doing it herself. Looking around for the other two EVAs, it occurred to her that Misato and Ritsuko at least knew that she disliked Rei – even if they didn't know just how MUCH – but she didn't care. They could know all they liked, but it wouldn't stop her from killing the girl.
"Are you two losers in place yet?" Asuka snapped.
"Not yet," was Rei's placid reply.
"Fuck you," was Touji's.
Asuka smiled. "What's the matter, stooge?" she asked sweetly, "Having trouble with your little unit?"
In the command room, Makoto coughed to cover a chuckle.
"Seems like Asuka's got some issues," Ritsuko observed.
"I'm gonna have to talk to her when she gets back," Misato grumbled, folding her arms and glaring at the monitor.
"Of course," Ritsuko mumbled, "you're an ideal guardian…"
Misato shot her a withering glance. "Asuka," she called, "fire when ready. Rei and Touji are almost in position and will back you up as soon as possible."
As the redhead acknowledged, Ritsuko frowned. "That wasn't the original attack plan," she pointed out, "they were SUPPOSED to back each other up."
"You're Operations Director now?" Misato sniped.
"Misato," the blonde replied quietly, "I know you're still upset about Shin-"
"Shut. Up."
Wisely, Ritsuko complied.
**
"Let's do it…" Asuka whispered.
In its mammoth red hands, Evangelion Unit 02 was cradling an oversized pump-action shotgun. Though none of the Units had ever used it in combat, Asuka liked the way it felt in 'her' hands, and had been impressed with the projected damage potential and spread-pattern the weapon boasted.
In her mind, the angel was already dead.
With a short cry, she stepped out from behind the building and raised the shotgun, pumping a shell into the breach and bringing it to eye-level. "Die!" she screeched, pulling the trigger.
The kickback was immense and satisfying, actually causing Unit 02 to skid backwards in the street slightly… but Asuka's pleased smile collapsed as the sphere vanished, fading from sight the instant the pellets struck it.
"What the f-"
"Pattern blue detected!" Makoto's voice rang out, "It's directly under Unit 02!"
Asuka's eyes shot down.
"Son of a bitch!!" she cursed as the street beneath her Unit became jet-black… and began to consume her.
"Analyses!" Misato demanded as Unit 02 started slowly sinking into the shadow underneath it.
"Definitely an angel!" Maya replied, typing quickly on her keyboard, "But the MAGI are still calculating its capabil-"
"I don't give a fuck WHAT it can do!" Misato screamed, "Destroy it! Rei! Touji! Rescue Unit 02 NOW!"
"NO!"
All eyes shot to the screen.
"I don't NEED their help!" Asuka's voice continued.
Unit 02 chambered another shell, pointing it downward and pulling the trigger… then repeating the process three more times in rapid succession.
"FUCK!" the Second Child screamed. Her mind kicked into overdrive. –Can't lose,- she thought quickly, schematics, damage potentials, thresholds, and tactics screaming through her mind, "I WILL NOT LOSE!!"
She made her move.
"God…" Misato gasped.
It happened quickly. After five shells had been sent ineffectually into the angel's shadow, Unit 02 abruptly chambered another, wrapped its left hand around its umbilical cable… and fired, pointblank, at its own legs.
**
Touji's teeth clenched together as Asuka's scream echoed over the tac-net.
"The angel is moving again," Makoto announced a moment later, his voice shaking. "The… sphere is back, and its heading towards headquarters."
"What's Asuka's status?" Misato asked, swallowing as she looked up at the viewscreen.
Unit 02 was clearly visible, lying several hundred yards from where it had flown free of the angel's shadow. It seemed that when she pulled the trigger, Asuka had also activated her umbilical cable's emergency retract mode.
The street was spattered with purplish-red blood.
"I think she's unconscious," Ritsuko replied, her eyes staying fixed on the pilot readouts to avoid the carnage on the main screen. "Her sync ratio was seventy percent when she pulled the trigger."
Misato shivered.
"Orders?"
Rei's voice filled the command room as the camera shifted to a view of Unit 00. The blue machine was braced against a building, with a very large rifle trained on the floating sphere. Since she had not received permission to fire, she was unwilling to move until given clear direction.
She would not make any mistakes. She would not endanger any lives. She would not risk damaging her Unit.
"Hold your fire," Misato answered as she tracked the angel's progression through the city. "Meet Touji at location delta-seven and await instruction… I think I might have a plan."
"What about Souryu?" Touji's voice came back.
"She's in no immediate danger," Ritsuko said quietly. "Leave her."
**
"Here's the thing," Misato said quietly, her voice sounding too tense to Touji's ears. "You can't kill it."
"Come again?" the boy replied, never looking away from the slow-moving sphere.
"What you're seeing," Ritsuko explained, "isn't the angel. It's the angel's shadow, do you understand?"
"Ummm… no."
The angel had made its way to within ten miles of the center of Tokyo-3, and if projections were correct, it would be able to melt its way through to NERV headquarters in just under five minutes, once it got there.
Misato had no intention of finding out how accurate the projections were.
"It's not important that you understand," she said curtly. "What's important is that you do what I tell you to, got it? Good."
When both Children acknowledged, Ritsuko spoke. "One of you," she said quietly, "is going to get under the angel… and attack." She paused for a moment before continuing. "Once the angel starts to swallow you, you are to activate your AT field at full power, and try to direct it towards the center of the shadow."
"What's that gonna do?" Touji asked uneasily, his eyes flicking to the timer indicating the amount of time before the angel arrived at HQ.
"Well," Ritsuko said reluctantly, "that's where the other player comes into effect. The second Unit will be standing by at the shadow's edge, and will also concentrate their AT field at full power towards the center of the angel – where the MAGI theorize its core is. Hopefully, this will create a resonance between the fields and cause the core to expose itself."
"That's a lot of 'if,'" Touji pointed out. "Isn't there some oth-"
"Just do it!" Misato cut in angrily. "You're no good to me if you waste time fucking around and whining! Do what you're TOLD!"
"I never asked for this, you know!" Touji shouted, the tension finally overcoming his nerve. "I didn't ask to be a pilot! I never wanted this!"
"Neither did Shinji!" Misato countered. "But at least he did what he had to! He didn't waste time with complaining – he fought!"
"Shinji's DEAD!"
The command deck fell silent, allowing Touji's words to echo for a moment, disrupted only by the hiss of shocked, disbelieving breath.
"Unit 01," Misato finally replied, her tone cold and hard. "You will take point A, and attack the angel from below."
"Fine," Touji answered immediately. "Then when I get back, I'm done! I'm not going to-"
"You'll do what you're told," Misato cut in, her tone like ice, "when you're told, until I say you can stop… do I make myself clear, Fourth Child?"
In the ensuing silence, Ritsuko cleared her throat. "Misato…" she whispered carefully, "easy…"
"Moving into position…" Touji's voice came to them a moment later, sounding clipped and abrupt.
"Unit 00," Rei said softly, "moving into position…"
"You really need to take it easy," Ritsuko said quietly, eyeing Misato with some concern. "You're pushing too hard – them AND you…"
The Operations Director was rubbing her side with a pained expression. "Don't tell me how to do my job," she grumbled darkly. "You just keep calculating whatever it is you calculate until you KNOW that it's going to die when they attack…"
On the main screen, Unit 01 was walking straight towards the angel, its arms hanging easily at its sides.
"He's being reckless," Makoto murmured.
"It's not going to do anything," Misato told him flatly. "The MAGI say the angel won't attack unless it's attacked first – it's more interested in getting HERE."
"The MAGI have been wrong before," Makoto pointed out, "I mean…" he trailed off as Misato slowly turned to face him, her eyes flashing. "Never mind."
**
"Here goes…" Touji murmured, bringing Unit 01 to a stop under the angel, and raising its right hand. "Wish me luck, Shin-man."
Taking a deep breath, he willed Unit 01 to squeeze the trigger on the oversized pistol in its hand.
As before, the orb in the sky vanished as soon as the bullet made contact with its outer shell. Immediately, the ground beneath the purple mecha darkened, drawing it slowly down even as its pilot willed its AT field into existence. At the edge of the shadow, Unit 00 stood still, waiting for the command to move.
"Now!" Misato cried.
Rei nodded to herself, willing her Unit to spread its field. She pursed her lips in concentration as the shadow rippled and Unit 01 stopped sinking. The center of the shadow became gradually more malformed and misshapen until finally… a glint of red became apparent.
"Firing," the First Child whispered, bringing her rifle around to bear.
Before she could fire, the shadow solidified and Unit 01 began to sink once more.
"Rei," Ritsuko's voice burst out, "you're slipping… you need to maintain full power on your AT field!"
"Then I will not be able to fire," Rei pointed out, focusing on her field and allowing the rifle to hang at Unit 00's side.
"Stalemate," Maya murmured nervously.
Misato narrowed her eyes. "No," she said tensely. "Unit 01 is still sinking… just slower."
Indeed, the purple machine WAS inching deeper into the shadow, and while it was going down at a greatly reduced speed, it was still going down.
Misato closed her eyes to concentrate, ignoring the pain in her side and the worried whispers all around. –Arc,- she thought suddenly, -if Rei can…-
"Major!"
Misato's eyes flew open as Unit 00 suddenly whipped its rifle up, firing a volley into the air. "Good girl," she muttered, taking a deep breath and turning to Ritsuko. "Give me a time estimate for repairs on Unit 02."
"But," Ritsuko wet her lips. "The… the angel-"
"Is dead."
Ritsuko looked uncertainly from the now-calm eyes of her friend to the main screen, where Unit 00 had resumed holding its AT field in place. She gasped as a moment later, a bolt of energy fell from the sky, slamming into the angel's core with pinpoint accuracy.
"H-how…?"
The shadow exploded. There was no gradual deterioration, no struggle or fight for life. There was only abrupt, instant, spectacular death.
Misato started for the door. "Give me a full report tomorrow," she said absently, "I'm going home."
The other members of the bridge crew simply gaped as Ritsuko looked from her readout to the main screen and back again. "There's… no way," she whispered to herself, "there is no… way… possible that Rei could have calculated that shot so accurately… no way…"
**
Asuka lay very still in her hospital bed, staring at the wall with a vacant expression on her face. She had not moved for at least an hour, nor did she have an inclination to move any time soon.
The angel was dead – thanks to Rei.
-Damn her…- the redhead thought tiredly. –That was MY kill… FUCK!-
She had managed to keep from screaming at Misato only by a narrow margin. A narrow margin and the look in the woman's eyes that whispered, 'I know what you're thinking – and keep it to yourself.' She knew that screaming wouldn't solve anything… but it always made her feel better to be able to let go sometimes. To cut all of her anger loose, even if it was only for a few seconds, and vocalize the pain inside of her.
She honestly did not know how Rei existed.
"Freak…" Asuka whispered, still staring at the wall. "It should have been you in that accident…"
Forcing her eyes closed (the doctors had made it clear that if she didn't sleep, she would be PUT to sleep) the redhead sighed.
"Don't think I'll forget…"she whispered, trying to lose herself in sleep.
She swallowed as she finally felt drowsiness beginning to set in… and tried not to cry as she remembered the last words she had heard before passing out in Unit 02.
"Leave her."
Continued…
Author's notes: the plot thickens! …I think. _ I was trying to thicken the plot! Really!! Maybe a dash more cornstarch…
Pre-read was by Ryoma – who, not many people know, is secretly Barbie and Ken's lovechild. ^_^
Feedback is always welcome at random1377@yahoo.com