Disclaimer: see part 1
Aoi
Part 5
Justification
By Random1377
Mana frowned deeply as she looked at the light purple plugsuit in the bag she had been handed. "Are you sure my uncle's been contacted?" she asked. "He worries… can't I call him?"
"I'm afraid not," Ritsuko said, not looking up from her data printout, "no calls until after the sync-test, Commander's orders. But I did leave instructions for your uncle to be contacted."
Mana sighed, "Ok… thanks…" On the outside, she was cool and collected… but inside she was in a near panic. DAMNIT! she thought, zipping the bag closed once more, It wasn't supposed to go this far… if they hadn't come and got me right after I got off the phone, I'd be fucking gone!!
'Uncle' was her contact. When she had called, barely able to speak due to the adrenaline in her body, and told him that she had been chosen as a Child, he had been ecstatic. 'Gather as much information as you can,' he said soothingly, 'then call us the night before the first sync test and we'll get you and the data out of there. Damn good job, Kirishima, damn good!' Not that she had really had much to do with the selection… but still, the praise had pleased her – and the promise of swift extraction had calmed her.
Now, staring up at the sinister black form of Unit 03… it was small comfort.
"We'll start as soon as Major Katsuragi gets here," Ritsuko said, finally looking up, "Why don't you change?"
"Ok," Mana said softly, unable to look away from the behemoth.
Abruptly, she felt a stab of regret. After all the time she had spent with Hikari, listening to her talk about Touji, and the EVAs, and the other pilots… was she really doing the right thing? Her superiors told her that the EVAs were a rogue force, only allowed to be unchained because of the greater threat of the angels. But now…
"Can I get a message to Hikari Horaki?" she asked abruptly, "It's… important. There's something I need to tell her."
Ritsuko blinked, "Well," she conceded, "Commander Ikari didn't say anything about a personal message. Sure," she grabbed a pen, "go ahead, I'll make sure it's delivered myself."
The girl hesitated for a moment, then sighed, knowing she would not find another way to say what she needed to say.
Slowly she detailed a brief message to her friend… secretly impressed that the blonde's only indication of her surprise was a slight raise in her eyebrows as Mana quietly spoke the contents of her heart and asked her forgiveness for the last thing she had done before leaving.
**
Touji stood still, his eyes scanning the letter once more. Key words kept jumping out at him, like touch and loser and mine, the sum of the parts creating a dizzying whirlwind in his mind as he kept coming back to the one word that was hardest to relate to the others.
Hikari.
"No way," he whispered, reading the letter once more as he started pacing through his room, "she wouldn't… let her do that to her – no way!!"
The letter had been in his mailbox that morning, and Touji had been obsessively reading through it for over an hour, trying to keep his cool as his subconscious kept whispering, you're such an idiot!! Over and over.
For the third time, he crumpled the letter in his fist hands, his body shaking with rage as he imagined his girlfriend and – "Mana… I'm gonna fucking kill her!"
His head jerked up as the doorbell rang, and his top lip pulled away from his teeth in a subconscious snarl, and he tossed the letter carelessly at the garbage can in the corner, too angry at its contents to care if it went in or not.
Hikari smiled happily as he opened the door, immediately throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him lightly on the lips. "Hi," she said warmly, "got your message – what's up? You sounded so serious on the phone."
Touji did not return her smile. "Where's Mana?" he asked flatly. "I haven't seen her at school for two days – where'd she go?"
"You know," Hikari said thoughtfully, "I don't know. I guess she had something come up, but she didn't tell me about it." She smiled playfully. "What, did she do something to piss you off? I don't know why you guys can't just get along."
Yeah she did something to piss me off, Touji thought angrily, You!
"She told me about what you guys did a couple days ago," Touji snapped, refusing to waste time on subtlety or tact – skills he never used if he did not have to.
"Ohhh," Hikari nodded, a look of understanding dawning on her face, "I'll bet that's why she's been laying low – she's probably embarrassed."
"Embarrassed??" Touji echoed. "She wasn't too embarrassed in the letter she wrote me!"
Hikari cocked her head to the side. "What're you so upset about?" she asked curiously. "I thought guys liked that kind of stuff."
"Yeah, not me!" Touji shot back, mentally adding, Especially when you won't even let me TOUCH you!
"It was just once," Hikari shrugged, sitting on Touji's bed and swinging her legs back and forth, "I wasn't planning on making a habit of it, Touji – she just hadn't done it before."
Touji just stared at her.
"What?"
"I gotta get out of here," Touji muttered, too angry to form more complicated sentences, "bye."
"Hey!" Hikari called as he stomped towards the door, "I… it was just once, Touji – I'm sorry."
"Yeah, the hell you are."
Hikari blinked as the door slammed. Let him blow it off, her rational (and, coincidently, stubborn) side recommended, pushing back at the idea that she should chase him, it's not THAT big a deal! I'm not going to go running after him, begging to be forgiven over one lousy practice kiss!
She sighed and got to her feet. "Maybe I'll make some lunch for him," she murmured, starting for the door, "kinda smooth things… over…" she frowned as she spotted a piece of bright blue paper, crumpled into a ball by the garbage can.
Mana's got that little tablet of colored paper on her desk, she thought, looking around the room for a moment before picking the piece of paper up, I wonder what she said.
The blood drained from her face as she read the descriptive, borderline pornographic letter, outlining Mana and herself – "We never did… that!! What the hell!?"
Hikari felt cold all over as she remembered the look of rage on Touji's face. "Aww man," she groaned, dropping the letter and running for the door. "Touji!!"
By the time she made it to the street, glancing wildly around for any sign of her errant boyfriend, it was far, far too late.
**
Misato coughed as quietly as she could, feeling intimidated by the quiet and immensity of the EVA cages. "Are you here?" she called tentatively, trying to pick out the shape of the First Child in the darkness.
"Yes."
Slowly, Misato made her way over to the soft voice, easing herself down with some difficulty and holding her side as she closed her eyes. "Are you here for a while?" she whispered.
Rei continued to stare up at the ceiling. "Yes," she answered simply, pushing PLAY on the SDAT in her hand and letting the music fill her right ear as she offered the other earphone to her superior.
I am glad that she no longer weeps, she thought absently.
It had been a very strange few weeks, Rei decided. She came to the cages on a regular basis, as she found the quiet of the cavernous space more soothing than her small apartment, and she had heard several of the technicians whisper about how odd this habit was… but what struck her as odd was how casually Major Katsuragi had joined her. After the first time she had shared Shinji's music with the Operations Director, the woman had shown up almost every day for more – rather like an addict, when Rei thought about it.
They would sit… and listen to music… and simply be there together. Occasionally they would talk, but this was a rare occurrence, and when it happened, the topic was always Shinji – what he liked, what he did not like, what others liked about him, everything under the sun… though it was mostly Misato talking and Rei listening or offering one-word replies. It seemed to Rei that the older woman was trapped in the past, and having someone to listen to sometimes was a requirement for her continued sanity.
Today, Rei found, was a talkative day.
"Shinji asked if he could invite you for dinner once," Misato said abruptly, grimacing as she rubbed her side, "did he ever do it?"
"No," Rei replied, "he did not."
"I'm jealous of you…"
This, Rei had not expected, and she turned her head to regard the Major. "I see," she said noncommittally, unsure of how to reply to the sudden change of topic.
"Do you know why?" Misato pressed, by now familiar enough with Rei's manner of speech to know that she would not get any unsolicited information.
"No."
"You get to be close to him," the older woman whispered, "somehow, you still get to be with him. I'm jealous of that."
Rei considered this for a moment, knowing that a simple 'I see' would not suffice for this depth of conversation. "I would rather see him as he was," she said finally.
"Me too," Misato said softly, opening her eyes and turning to face the First, "but I'd give a lot to be able to touch him the way you touch him. Something is better than nothing." Tentatively, she put her hand on Rei's shoulder, looking her in the eyes as she whispered, "I can't imagine what it must have taken for you to pull the trigger that day. I know it was for the greater good, but I just… I never would have been able to do it."
Rei nodded, but said nothing, again finding herself at a loss for words under the Major's intense, deeply unhappy gaze.
Misato tilted her head to the side, noticing (not for the first time) how similar Rei and Shinji's faces seemed, when studied under the right light. "Would you like to come over for dinner sometime?"
Rei found herself nodding again. "Yes."
The idea of dinner with one of the two people that Ikari was closest too was very appealing, and when she reflected on the past few weeks… Rei realized that she had grown very comfortable in the purple-haired woman's presence. Dinner, she reasoned, would be very relaxing, provided that the Second was not around.
Finding that they had nothing more to say, Rei and Misato simply sat and stared into one another's eyes, completely comfortable with each other and totally unwilling to acknowledge that there was more going on than a simple remembrance of the dead.
**
Touji kicked an empty can of juice, watching it skitter and bounce down the street. "It's no big deal," he muttered sarcastically, "it was just once. Right…"
He looked up at a street sign, then back to the small, worn scrap of paper in his hand.
"Well fuck you too…" he whispered angrily, turning the corner and marching up to the house marked 432.
She wants it that way, he thought bitterly, fine! He brought his hand up, fully intending to push the doorbell, but he hesitated, his finger hovering over the button as an image of Hikari smiling at him floated through his mind. Maybe I should just go… he thought, feeling guilty, maybe it was a misunderstanding.
He almost turned away… but then he thought of Mana, smiling that little, secret smile of hers.
He rang the bell.
After a long pause, Maya came to the door, wearing a simple tee shirt and a pair of shorts, and concealing a yawn behind her palm. As she finished yawning, she realized who it was that had woken her. "Touji!" she said, still slightly asleep, "I was just taking a little nap… what's up?"
He fidgeted, his mind jumping a million different directions. "Maya, Hi… I was just…" What was he doing there? He wasn't certain. He knew that he was hurt by Mana's letter… he knew that he was confused about how he felt for both Hikari and Maya… and he knew that the languid smile Maya was giving him now was driving him insane.
Maya opened the door a little further. "Would you like to come i-" her question was cut short as Touji stepped forward, put his hands on her cheeks, and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her roughly.
Maya gasped in shock as he continued his forward motion, pushing her back into her apartment and up against the wall, kicking the door closed behind him as he went. Her hands slid all over the wall as he kissed her, as if she was trying to decide what to do.
Aggressively, he slipped his tongue into her mouth, eliciting another shocked gasp from the woman. She wants this, right? he thought as he kissed her, Or she wouldn't have invited me over… and invited me in… right?
As his hand slid up her side, Maya decided on a course of action. She put one hand on top of his and pushed down, then put the other on his chest and pushed away.
The kiss broken, Touji stood in front of her, both of them breathing hard. Was I wrong…? he thought nervously.
Maya reached down… and grasped the bottom of her shirt, pulling it up over her head in one movement and tossing it to the side. She then reached out and pulled him back to her, this time pushing her tongue into his mouth and letting out a loud moan.
He only paused for a moment before returning his hand to her side and moving it up once more, dazed by the sensation of warm skin against his hand.
"Touji!" she gasped, breaking away once more and looking into his eyes.
"What?" he whispered, completely unsure of what to do.
"Be… be gentle with me, ok?" she said, a trace of fear in her eyes, "I… it's be a while since I… since… you know…"
His eyes widened, both at the thought of this gorgeous woman being lonely… and at her flat out statement that they would be doing that – as if there was never a doubt in her mind.
Slowly, he nodded. "I would never hurt you…" he whispered, leaning forward and kissing her again… and letting his hand continue to slide, unobstructed, up her side.
**
"We'll be ready to go in ten minutes."
Mana nodded, managing a sickly smile as she looked up at the purple-haired woman in front of her. "Kind of nervous," she laughed weakly, wishing Doctor Akagi was the one helping her suit up.
The Major scared her, not just because Mana thought that the woman might suspect her true motives (this, she reasoned, could be imagination, as Misato seemed to treat EVERYONE with suspicion as far as Mana could see) but because she had an air of barely contained, intermingled rage and sadness that seemed to wash off the woman like an ebbing tide. She always looked tired and ready to snap to Mana, and she was always rubbing at her side and coughing into a wad of Kleenex she kept in her pocket.
Mana was sure that she saw streaks of red and green in one handful the woman had thrown away.
"It'll be fine," Misato muttered, wiping her brow absently and leaning on the doorframe. "Push the button on your right wrist to pressurize your suit… that's good, now put the headband on – no, no, with the bumps parallel to your eyes, like the manual says." She nodded as Mana adjusted the neural connectors. "Yes, like that, I-" she trailed off into a fit of coughing, waving away Mana's offer of help. "I'm… fine," she gasped, "just… get going, I'll see you in the test area."
"Yes ma'am."
Mana hurried out of the locker room, trying not to look back as Misato coughed again. Damn, she thought, relieved as she finally made it out of earshot, she's- she cut her thought off as she found Doctor Akagi rounding the corner in front of her. You know, she thought with a mental sigh, she's not too bad either. Man, NERV must have a good looks requirement for hiring.
"I have your letter in my pocket," Ritsuko announced, as the girl fell in step at her side, "Sorry, I didn't have time to get it sent."
"No big deal," Mana said softly, trying not to let her shoulders slump, "I can just tell her myself, I guess."
"Good," Ritsuko said, briskly pushing past the issue, "now Major Katsuragi outlined the procedure for you, correct?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Mana nodded as they entered the synchronization test facility. "She said this is just a test, so all I have to do on this one is clear my mind and focus on my body, right?"
"Right," Ritsuko nodded approvingly, "just try to think of your arms and legs, and the EVA will do the rest. It'll get more complicated when we get to moving and fighting, but you'll be briefed by Misato or myself when that time comes."
"If I can hear her through the coughing," Mana joked gamely, "man, ummm… is she ok, Doctor Akagi? I mean, I know she got stabbed, but she doesn't look so good… so is she ok?"
Ritsuko hesitated as they reached the entry plug, glancing up as Misato came through the opposite door. "No," she whispered softly, taking in her friend's pale complexion and dark, haunted eyes, "no, she's not."
"Get in and let's get this over with," Misato said tersely, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a small bottle of pills. "I've got shit to do."
Mana winced as the woman tossed two capsules into her mouth and bit down, her expression registering disgust as she crunched them into oblivion. "Y-yes ma'am," she stammered, climbing awkwardly into the entry plug.
"Begin insertion," Ritsuko ordered, glancing at Misato from the corner of her eye. "You should take it easy on the kid," she said, speaking quickly as Misato's expression darkened, "and don't give me your 'I won't back down' spiel again, ok? She's still just a kid, so back off a little."
"Let's just do this," Misato said flatly, "we'll talk about an off day when we're done or something, but for now… just do it, Ritsuko."
"Yes ma'am."
Mana forced herself to relax as the plug was flooded with LCL. Keep it calm, she thought, 'uncle' will get me out of here tomorrow, and I'll get a big fat commendation for all the information I've gathered.
"Stage one connection," Ritsuko announced, "all boards are green. Mana? How do you feel?"
"Ummm… warm, I guess," Mana answered honestly, "that's about it."
"Excellent," Ritsuko said approvingly, "low-level nerve sympathy confirmed. Preparing for stage two."
Mana shivered as a wave of warmth passed over her. This isn't… that bad, she thought reasonably, I just… She took a deep breath, focusing on her body for a moment as the warm feeling started to fade. I hope this is the right thing…
She frowned slightly at this thought. Usually she was very steadfast in her duties and beliefs – it was one of her best traits, actually – but after all the time she had spent around NERV employees and their friends and families, she was starting to feel the faint, softly whispering voice of doubt.
"Doing good, Mana," Ritsuko said briskly, "moving to stage two."
Mana's arms and legs started tingling, and she had the oddest sensation of… largeness – as if she was suddenly twenty times larger. It's EVA, she told herself, inexplicably excited about the upcoming third stage, I'm about to be connected to the biggest, most powerful weapon on earth – screw the Trident, this thing would crush it like a bug!
"Stage two, one hundred percent green," Ritsuko announced, grinning at Misato. "Just a few more minutes and we can pack it all in – happy now?"
"Ask me again in a few more minutes," Misato grumbled, giving one, almost sullen cough.
"Fucking pessimist," Ritsuko needled softly. "Preparing for stage three – absolute borderline in two minutes."
Mana inhaled slowly, feeling the LCL flow effortlessly into her lungs. I wish that letter got sent, she lamented, Hikari… oh God, I hope you can forgive me. I think… I think I'm in love with you, so please understand why I wanted to hurt him, ok? I just-
"Absolute borderline in ten, nine, eight…" Ritsuko's cool, collected voice cut into her thoughts, making her focus on the event at hand.
After, she promised herself quickly, think about it after we-
"…zero, we have absolute-"
"Energy surge in the back panel!" one of the techs cried out.
"What?!"
Mana felt her stomach roll over as something… slithered into her consciousness. Wha…
Alarms sounded all around her, filling her world with noise and light. "Get down!" she picked Misato's voice out of the din, and she was dimly aware of the purple-haired woman tackling Doctor Akagi as a brilliant white flash filled the room, a roaring growl signaling Unit 03's complete surrender to the angel that had infected it on its flight to Japan.
God, Mana thought, vomiting violently into the LCL as the entire row of technicians in front of her vaporized before her eyes, I can still feel everything!! I don't deserve this! God, please – save me! Please, anyone… SAVE ME!!!
God, it seemed… was not listening.
**
"So are they dead?"
"Unknown," Maya's voice came into Unit 01's entry plug sounding uncertain and scared, "All we know is that there was an explosion at Matsushiro, contact was lost, and a blue pattern was detected at that location."
"Got it," Touji nodded. In spite of the gravity of the situation, he could not keep himself from smiling. "So when we get back," he said casually, switching to a private channel, "should we… pick up where we were interrupted?"
Maya hesitated, clearly embarrassed by what she was about to say. "Umm… I'd… I'd like to," she said slowly, "but maybe we could, like, get some dinner first and… and talk about stuff, k?"
Missing the uncertainty in the woman's voice, Touji shrugged. "Sure thing," he said easily, thinking back to the activity they had been partaking of in Maya's front hall when the angel alarm sounded.
Kensuke'll freak, he thought, his smile becoming a full-blown grin, but I think I'll hold off on telling him until we're like, officially dating and stuff. Or maybe I'll just tell him I've done it, but not with who, cuz I think she'd be pissed – and he probably wouldn't believe me anyway.
"So…"
He was drawn from the pleasant contemplation of his forthcoming declaration of 'adulthood' by Asuka's casual, private-line hailing.
"Sup, Red?" he said casually, refusing to let her attitude ruin his mood.
"Saw you and Ibuki come in together," Asuka's voice said calmly.
"Yeah, and?" Touji snorted.
"I wonder what Hikari would say, that's all."
Touji scowled. "Ask her girlfriend," he said gruffly, closing the connection window and ignoring the immediate request for a new connection. "Bitch."
After several moments, Asuka gave up. Hikari and me are done, he thought angrily, why would I want a little girl when I've got a woman – a woman that actually DOES stuff? He leaned his head back on his pilot's seat, waiting for further orders and letting his mind wander over all that had happened in the last seven hours. Aww fuck, he thought, rubbing his eyes, now I'm feeling all guilty… don't tell me I LOVE Hikari?!
"Fucking love," he sighed, "shit's never simple for me…"
"Target is approaching Unit 02's position," Aoba's voice announced, "long range scanners projecting picture onscreen in four, thee, two – target."
"No way!"
Touji simply stared as the hulking, black and white form of Unit 03 came lumbering around one of the mountains near Kobei, its arms swinging loosely at its sides.
"That's one of us!" Asuka gasped. "It's M-"
"It is an angel," Gendou cut in, "destroy it."
"But the pilot," Asuka protested, eying the EVA warily and unconsciously tightening Unit 02's grip on its rocket launcher. "The pilot is-"
"Destroy the target," Gendou interrupted again, "it is an angel – now do your duty."
"Y-yes sir," Asuka stammered, preparing herself to fight.
"Now what about the pilot?" Touji asked, trying to relax in his seat as he finally opened the private communications window.
"You mean you don't know?" Asuka's voice came back. "No one told you who the pilot is??"
"No, devil girl," Touji growled, "I'm afraid no one seems to be too cool with letting me in on top secret shit these days."
"Well," Asuka replied, her voice sounding terribly reluctant, "the… the pilot-"
Her voice was cut off by a loud bang, as if two semi trucks had collided five feet from where she was standing.
"Unit 02 has engaged," Maya's voice came over the tac-net, "damage to primary weapons systems, cause unknown – damn it, they're kicking up too much dust for me to… wait… progressive knife activated…"
Touji waited in tense silence, letting out a shaky breath as Maya spoke again.
"Unit 02 has gone silent. Entry plug ejection was successful, and pilot is away."
"Thank god," Touji whispered. He rubbed his eyes, knowing that the redhead would sooner have died than lose in a fight, but he was not too interested in attending anymore funerals in the near future, even the German's. "Me and Ayanami'll take care of this," he told himself, glancing at the small dot marked Unit 00 on his tactical map, "isn't that right, Shinji?"
**
Rei carefully edged Unit 00 around the side of the hilltop she was crouching behind, watching closely as the thirteenth angel made its way ponderously towards NERV headquarters. The assault rifle her mecha cradled was huge, with rounds half the size of streetlights and a damage classification of four point three on the six-point scale.
It could level a mid-sized building in one volley.
And its back is to me, she thought, slowly zooming in on Unit 03, now is the opportune time to fire.
She hesitated for a fraction of a second, the image of the Fifth Child's smiling profile picture floating up in her mind before she carefully suppressed it.
"For the greater good," she whispered, willing Unit 00 to squeeze the trigger.
When the battle footage was later analyzed, the review committee would all agree that pilot Ayanami did everything in her power to stop the renegade Evangelion. They would nod and hum, and point out that the black mecha was certainly never designed to move that fast, and they would sagely concur that under normal circumstances every round that Unit 00 fired would have found its mark.
All Rei knew was that one minute she was opening fire on a slow moving target, and the next… she was on the ground, with her assault rifle crushed under her.
"Unit 00 is down!" Maya called out, her voice high with concern. "MAGI have upgraded estimated target speed to… oh my God – class seven??"
The technician's words meant nothing to Rei; the only thing that mattered was escape. She willed Unit 00 to roll, trying to shake the offending mecha off her back, but to her very great surprise she found that she could not move.
It is stronger, she thought with sudden clarity, I…
The truth downed in her mind, accompanied by a feeling she rarely experienced: shame. She had underestimated her opponent, and now was at its mercy. This point was driven home as she felt an odd tingling sensation in her left arm, as if she had fallen asleep on it and was just waking up.
"Target has begun infiltration of Unit 00," Aoba's voice announced suddenly, "estimate total unit loss in… seven minutes."
Rei blinked in surprise as she heard the commander calmly order, "Sever Unit 00's arm."
"But her neural connections are still active!" Maya protested, "At least let me c-"
"Do it now or I will have you shot," Gendou cut in flatly.
There was a long moment of silence… and Rei's arm exploded. She let out a sharp cry as all of her nerves informed her 'your arm is gone now.'
"T-target has released Unit 00."
Rei barely heard the announcement that her attacker had retreated – all she could do was clutch her arm and moan weakly. It is there, she tried to tell herself, I can… feel it with my other hand – it is there!
It was no use. Consciously, she could see and touch her left arm, but no matter how she tried, she could not force it to react to her mind's commands.
"First Child has sustained neural damage," Maya's voice came to her, sounding faint and surreal, "extent is unknown at this time, but… but there's no way she can pilot right now."
"Understood," the commander's voice echoed in Rei's ears, "then it falls to Unit 01."
Her mind a nauseating blaze of pain and confusion, Rei felt darkness swimming up to fold her in its warm embrace, one final thought floating across her consciousness before she passed out.
I am sorry, Ikari…
**
"Is she alive??"
"She's unconscious," Maya's voice filled Touji's entry plug, sounding shaken and scared, "but yeah, she's alive, Touji."
Touji pursed his lips as his long range sensors displayed the hulking black shape heading his way. "Hey," he said suddenly, "what about the pilot of this thing? What's his story? Asuka was about to say something… what's the deal?"
"The pilot has been ejected," Gendou's voice returned coolly, "you will meet after the recovery… provided you can win."
"Oh I can win, sir," Touji said grimly, narrowing his eyes and assessing the terrain around him for the best cover, "if there's no one in that thing, it's as good as dead."
"Excellent."
Touji frowned, disliking the pleased note in the commander's voice. No one should be that happy about losing a big, super-expensive robot, he thought warily, maybe I'll ask Maya about it the next time we…
"Fourth Child's heart rate is up," Hyouga announced suddenly, "you ok, Suzuhara?"
"Yeah, I'm good," Touji replied, trying not to smile as he thought of the brown-haired tech. The feeling faded, however, as Hikari's openly honest smile popped up in his mind.
Fuck, he thought, trying to focus on what he was doing, fuck, fuck, fuck – why do I care?? She's fucking around with another girl for God's sake! I'm not cheating on her, she's cheating on m-
"Target is one minute from long range firing distance," Aoba's voice brought him back to reality, "no projectile weapons present… she's all yours, Suzuhara."
"Got it," Touji said firmly. "Let's do this!"
The assault rifle Unit 01 was carrying that day was the exact twin of Unit 00's, and therefore had the same damage inflicting capabilities. Unit 01, however, was positioned further away from the angel when it opened fire, and was thus able to fire a short burst into the creature before it was able to move out of the way, scoring solid, unmistakable contact and sending the angel to the ground in a cloud of dust and debris.
Then everything went to hell.
"What is that?!" Touji cried, clapping his hands over his ears as a high-pitched keening flooded his entry plug, setting his teeth on edge and making him wish he was deaf. The worst aspect of that sound, and the detail that would wake any sane person from a dead sleep, was its overlapping, dual nature… as if two people were crying out.
"I've got a biospike from the Fifth Child!" Maya shouted. "She's alive and… oh Jesus – it's making her feel what it feels! It's still synchronized!!"
**
There was a horrified silence on the command deck as the thirteenth angel's mournful scream faded away.
"C-commander?" Maya asked hesitantly, "What should we do?"
The look Gendou gave her nearly stopped her heart in her chest. "There are no changes in our operational guidelines at this time," he said flatly. "Proceed as ordered."
Before Maya could reply, Touji's voice boomed out of the overhead speakers. "She's alive?" he asked slowly. "She's alive? You've got a girl trapped in there??"
"The angel is moving again," Hyouga said tensely, "MAGI confirm seventy percent of Unit 01's rounds hit, but cannot confirm any substantial damage." He looked up from his terminal. "It's trying to get behind Unit 01, sir."
"Complete your assignment," Gendou ordered, "destroy the target, pilot, before it destroys you."
Touji's voice was serious as he answered, "Fuck you."
"That's a direct order," Gendou said softly, ignoring the gasps of shock all around him, "obey it or you will be tried for treas-"
"I don't give a fuck!" Touji snapped. "I'm not going to kill one of our own – and I sure as hell won't kill a girl! What the fuck is wrong with you??"
"Target is closing," Hyouga reported, "it's staying low to the ground, but considering how fast it moved on Unit 00, it could attack any time."
"Activate the dummy plug system."
Maya's head whipped up. "But sir," she protested, "Doctor Akagi hasn't approved its use yet!"
"It's better than the current pilot," Gendou sneered, "Do it now."
"Touji," Maya whispered, turning back to her keyboard, "I'm sorry…"
Closing her eyes and trying not to hear Touji cry 'Maya, what's he doing? Maya??' she hit ENTER.
**
When he was younger, Touji used to visit his only surviving grandparent from time to time in the mountains of old Okinawa. He never looked forward to these trips, as the old, rundown house always smelled of cats and unwashed clothes, but there were two saving graces to his grandmother's house – the pool, and the hot springs. When his father would excuse him, Touji would spend hours in the pool playing with Kimiko, just splashing and playing and enjoying life. His favorite thing, though, was to soak in the hot springs for five minutes until his body was warm and languid, then hop out and dive directly into the pool, reveling in the invigorating rush of comparatively freezing water washing over his skin.
The sensation of having his connection with Unit 01 cut, he decided, was like that… only instead of feeling invigorated, he felt horror washing over him instead.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he demanded, craning his head frantically as the lights in the entry plug switched to red.
"Dummy plug system coming online," Maya's voice reached him, sounding shaken and sick, "forty three percent of emotional elements cannot be read – we can't monitor it sir."
"Irrelevant," Gendou's cool voice returned, "engage the system. Commence attack."
Touji's eyes widened. "Aw fuck," he breathed, bracing himself as he spied the low, crouching form of Unit 03 scuttling towards him on all fours, rushing his position with uncanny speed and pouncing in the blink of an eye.
The impact was bone-jarring, but instead of being flung backwards, Touji found Unit 03 careening to the ground, clutching its face with both hands and uttering its unearthly cry as it struggled to regain its footing.
"Unit 01 hit it!" he heard Aoba cackle. "Just nailed it right in the damn jaw! Nice!!"
"Gain still increasing," Maya reported, her voice faint and disbelieving, "equivalent sync ratio currently… seventy percent."
Behind his folded hands… Gendou smiled.
"Target is moving," Aoba called out, "its coming in low – damn it! It's got Unit 01 around the waist, it's trying to get it on the ground!"
So fast! Touji thought, stunned by the speed the angel closed the distance between them.
"Give me the controls!" he demanded, spying the top of Unit 03's entry plug peeking up from the back of the infested machine. "I can… I can save her! Give me the contro-"
"You had your chance, Fourth Child," Gendou cut in coldly, "Lieutenant Ibuki, increase the system's threat level to ten."
"The… the maximum, sir?" Maya asked uncertainly. "But… we didn't even test that setting, sir!"
"Unit 01 is losing its balance!" Aoba cried.
"Now, Lieutenant."
"…yes sir."
Touji clenched his teeth as Unit 01 suddenly roared, an all-encompassing sound that seemed to shake the world with its rage. "What have you done now…?" he gasped, unable to look away from the screen as Unit 01's gargantuan hands clasped together and hammered Unit 03 in the back of the head.
Again and again, the massive hammer fell on the black mecha's head, shoulders, and neck, each hit drawing another, sickeningly overlapped cry of pain.
"Unit 03 is pulling back," Aoba called out, "MAGI report cracks in its cranial armor."
The angel staggered back, howling in pain and rage, and readjusted its angle of attack, its hands whipping out and wrapping around Unit 01's neck.
"Look at those arms!" someone in the command room cried. "Unit 03 shouldn't be able to do that!"
"It's not Unit 03," Fuyutsuki whispered, shaking his head as Unit 01 struggled in its adversary's grasp, "It's an angel."
Unit 01, it seemed, heard his comment, for at that very moment it reached up and grasped the rouge Unit's wrists. Holding them tightly, it twisted to the side, pulling Unit 03 off balance and howling victoriously as the black machine stumbled and fell to one knee.
"Equivalent sync ratio at ninety-eight!" Maya gasped.
"Now we will see her real power," Gendou mused, watching intently as Unit 01 narrowed its eyes, "watch closely, my old friend… I think you're about to see our little Rei's rage unleashed."
Unseen beside him, Fututsyki shivered.
**
"Oh God," Touji whispered, horrified almost to the point of speechlessness as he tried futilely to pull on Unit 01's control yokes, "Oh God, oh God, oh God… someone make it stop – please, God make it stop!!"
It had all happened so fast – like a blur. Unit 03 had fallen to its knees, Unit 01 had let out that nauseatingly human cry of triumph, Maya had announced that the system controlling Unit 01 was two sync points from being in total control… and the next thing Touji knew, Unit 03 was at 'his' feet, screeching in agony as Unit 01's fingers scrabbled and clutched at its chest plate, digging in with cruel, brutal ferocity and trying to tear it open.
And as far as Touji could see… it was succeeding.
"Make it stop!!!"
He pulled desperately on the control yokes, willing the great machine to pull back and let the wildly thrashing Unit 03 up, the vague hope that he could still get the entry plug out bouncing through his mind like a stray bullet.
His attempt was not successful.
"Target's left arm is separated," Aoba whispered, his eyes glued to the display as Unit 01 ravaged the angel. "Right leg… left hand… God, chest plate is open…"
Maya covered her eyes as Unit 03 gave one last, abrupt cry.
"Target is silent."
"You got what you wanted," Touji shouted, feeling sweat break out all over his body as Unit 01 dug deeper and deeper into its opponent's chest. "Call it off, god damn it!!"
"Biospike from Unit 03," Hyouga said grimly, "Mana's life
signs are falling."
It was like a nightmare.
"Mana…?" Touji's lips barely moved. "Did you just say Mana??"
"Entry plug is out!" Aoba called out. "Sir…?"
In Touji's mind, he could see the brown-haired girl's mischievous grin and teasing, laughing eyes. "NO!!"
With a sickening crunch, Unit 01 bore down on Unit 03's entry plug, crushing it in a split second.
When Touji's scream of horror reached her ears, Maya Ibuki did the only sensible thing a woman in her situation could do – she passed out.
Continued…
Author's notes: Now before anyone asks 'are you going manga or anime fate for poor little Mana?' let me just say – wait and see! Hahahahah Oh stop your complaining… this chapter came much faster than the last one and was SEVERAL pages longer, so you have to be happy about that, right? RIGHT?? Ingrates… -_-
Pre-read on this chapter was by Ryoma. Thanks to him for that, and for promising not to tell anyone about the massive collection of Rei-centric hentai I have on my hard drive. :P
Feedback is always welcome at random1377@yahoo.com