Episode: 6
"Strange Bedfellows"
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The boy whose alarm had woken him finds it difficult to return to sleep. The nine minutes that the "snooze" feature allows before sounding the alarm again are silently ticking away, and he would like nothing better than a few more moments of respite. But it seems that is not to be.
He reaches over Rei's sleeping form, fumbling around on the bedside table for his glasses. He wants badly to touch her nude body, but he's polite enough to not risk waking her by doing so. Not finding his glasses, he frowns, then rolls over and gropes the table on the opposite bedside. Underneath his outstretched arm, Asuka tosses in her sleep. She feels his heaving chest near her, and snuggles closer. Still, his glasses elude him.
Misato enters the bedroom, carrying a tray filled with breakfast. She smiles, finding the boy awake and the two girls with him still asleep. He smiles back lustfully, though the tray she carries is obscuring the most interesting parts of her toplessness. She's about to set the tray down, when the alarm sounds once more.
"Kensuke!" calls the boy's father. "You need to get up now, or you'll be late for school!"
Kensuke Aida exits his empty bed, cursing his usual luck.
He peers around his blurry room until he spies a glasses-shaped smudge sitting on his desk. He puts them on, then immediately raises them to inspect the model assault-tank that they'd been sitting next to. Kensuke can't help admiring his workmanship before beginning his day. He'd applied the basecoat to the "Rhino" last night, and it's now ready for detailing. But that will have to wait until after he gets home from school.
Once he's dressed, Kensuke traipses into the kitchen to find breakfast waiting. His father is eating already, as well as reading the morning newspaper. The elder Aida turns a few more pages before eyeing his son. The teen is picking at his food distractedly, heedless of his need for haste to ensure a punctual arrival at school.
"Something bothering you, Ken?" his father asks. The curly-haired boy peers over the tops of his glasses, reluctant to answer. With a sigh, he stops making any attempt to eat.
"I'm not looking forward to school," he admits. His father fixes him with a concerned stare. As far as he knew, Kensuke never lacked enthusiasm for anything.
"Trouble in one of your classes?" he asks skeptically.
"No," Kensuke replies, trying hard not to roll his eyes. "It's my friends, Dad…. Hikari, the Class Rep, and her best friend, Asuka, aren't speaking. That's putting Asuka in a fowler mood than usual. On top of that, Hikari won't talk to Toji, either. He's getting really depressed, and nothing I can say seems to help. Kaagi, the new kid, is coming back today, and I'm pretty sure that'll make things worse. But maybe not. Once Ayanami and Shinji get back, though… then things will definitely get worse."
"Let me guess," Kensuke's father says, smiling knowingly. "One of these girls heard from one of the other girls that the third girl said something mean about her behind her back. Now they're all mad at each other, and they won't let their boyfriends talk either. Am I right?"
"Uh… well… it's a little more complicated than that," Kensuke says. "See, they all went out on a date the Saturday before last, and Asuka made out with Kaagi, who was supposed to be with Ayanami. Asuka told the whole class about it the following Monday while Kaagi and Shinji were in America, and Ayanami attacked her. They haven't seen each other since that day, because the city was attacked, and Ayanami got absorbed into Unit-01. Then, Friday, everyone thought Shinji and Kaagi were dead, so Toji went to Asuka's on Saturday morning to console her. He ended up kissing her, and Hikari walked in on them. Come to find out on Sunday, Shinji and Kaagi are alive and Ayanami got out of Unit-01. Kaagi was supposed to come back to school on Monday, but he had some sort of respiratory problem the day before, so they kept him for another twenty-four hours. I don't know when Shinji and Ayanami are coming back…. But in the meantime, nobody's talking to anybody, and I don't know what to do."
Kensuke's father sits frozen. Only the occasional blink indicates his continued conscious state. Kensuke, feeling a little better for having unloaded his burden, takes a few more bites of breakfast. Eventually, his father shakes off his stupor.
"Um… I'm sure these little problems will work themselves out," is what he intended to say, certain that his suspicions about mundane, middle-school troubles would be confirmed. He said it anyway, well aware that he was woefully lacking in conviction.
Kensuke is unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes this time. Embarrassed by his inadequate advice, his father chooses to ignore the slight and quickly returns his attention to the paper.
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"Hey, Asuka!"
Asuka acts as though she didn't hear Kaagi calling her. She thumbs quickly through her briefcase, shuts her locker, and then heads down the hall, toward Classroom 2-A and away from him. He, like Shinji and Toji, is a walking monument to one of two isolated failures in her usually indomitable self-control, and she welcomes his return as anxiously as she'd welcome another failure. But even pretending he doesn't exist can't erase the memories. She remembers throwing herself at him over painful recollections of her mother. She remembers letting her grief over Shinji's apparent death wear down her defenses enough for Toji to slip in.
What should I do for an encore, hop in bed with Aida? she wonders spitefully. She hears Kaagi's footsteps behind her, increasing in speed to catch up to her. I should really tell him about what I saw his precious little Wonder Girl doing to Shinji on Sunday…. But I can't drop a bomb like that without Hikari finding out, and then I'd never be able to get her to forgive me.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," Kaagi starts again. He's close enough now that he's sure Asuka can hear him. "I shouldn't have walked out on you like I did… after we… you know."
Well, it's good to see someone besides me trying to degrade himself for forgiveness, Asuka thinks. Stupid Toji should take a lesson. Still, she gives Kaagi the cold shoulder.
"You have every right to be pissed off," he tries. But her continued silence irks him too much. "I'm sure that's probably not something you're used to hearing…," he adds. At last, she turns and acknowledges his presence.
"As apologies go, that one really stunk," she observes. Eyeing him with suspicion, she asks, "You're not just apologizing because you're afraid I'll tell Rei about us kissing, are you?"
Of course I am! Kaagi thinks. I mean, I really am sorry, but I'd rather just avoid you and let it blow over than have to do this.
"No!" he says with exaggerated offense.
"Well, I already told her, anyway," Asuka tells him, acting pleased with herself. "She has every right to know how attracted to me you are." Kaagi's jaw hangs open for a few seconds as he stares at her.
"Who's attracted to whom?" he asks. "You're the one who kissed me!"
"You think I kissed you because I was attracted to you?" she asks condescendingly. "You were all bruised up and going on about your dead mother. I kissed you because I felt sorry for you. You should probably be thanking me instead of apologizing."
"Oh, okay," he replies sarcastically. "Thank you, Asuka! Thank you for a week of worrying how badly I upset you, when it turns out you couldn't have cared less. And thank you for blowing it for me with Rei! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do that on my own."
"Oh, I'm sure you would have," she says with mock-consolation.
"Very funny," Kaagi says dryly. He begins to wonder how Shinji might react to hearing about the kiss. He'd deliberately not told him during their trip to America. But it's apparent to him now that Asuka, and possibly Rei, will need some convincing to stay quiet if he doesn't want the secret out. Unless… "Does anyone else know about us kissing?"
"Huh…," says Asuka thoughtfully, "that's kind of a long story." She allows herself a superior smirk as she opens the classroom door.
They enter together, and all eyes turn instantly toward them. A group of whispering girls point in their direction, half-heartedly trying to stifle their laughter. Meanwhile, the boys in the class almost unanimously greet them with hoots and cat-calls. Hikari purposefully avoids looking, while Toji glares angrily at Asuka. Kensuke just looks miserable.
"Would it be a shorter story if I asked if anyone doesn't know?" Kaagi asks with irritation. Asuka delivers him a broad, patronizing smile before daintily taking her seat. Kaagi, in turn, hangs his head with a sigh.
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Shinji Ikari lies in his hospital bed, self-consciously licking and pursing his lips. It's been about three days since Rei kissed him, and he can think of nothing else. Not that there is much else to divert his attention in these drab surroundings. He remembers Dr. Kaiu telling him about the rooms being videotaped, but he can't see a camera. Nevertheless, and despite the effect that Rei's kiss continues to have on him, he keeps his hands to himself, or off himself, as the case may be.
Security had taken her away before he could talk to her. After she'd stopped kissing him, they just stared at each other. He'd wondered for a moment if it really was Rei. Her hair and eyes were different colors, and she'd looked at his face as if she barely recognized it. But it was her. She'd responded to her name as the guards entered, shouted at her, and then dragged her off Shinji's bed. He wonders where she's been since then.
Misato came to visit him last night, and the night before, but he didn't dare ask after Rei directly. The Major seemed to avoid the topic of the First Child as Shinji tried steering her toward it. Misato told him that she'd be back again tonight, this time to take him home.
Where will Rei be…? he wonders. Where will Kaagi be…? Will they be together?
As if there weren't enough of a gulf between him and the First Child, filled with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty, there loomed another obstacle in the form of Kaagi Chuda. Shinji had just begun being able to tolerate the boy when, suddenly, Kaagi was no longer just another boy. As much as Shinji repeats it in his head, it doesn't feel real, like being told about daylight but never actually seeing the sun.
Kaagi is my brother, he tells himself again. He's had all of three days of consciousness to get used to it. Why didn't you tell me, Father…? I've always felt so alone. You left me alone! But I didn't have to be. I could have had a brother….
When he first began living with his teacher, Shinji used to imagine that he had other family, uncles and aunts and cousins, who would come find him and take him away. He didn't want to think that the only person in the world like him was his father. And now there is someone else. Though Kaagi is unlike him in so many ways, at the heart of it, they're both abandoned children of Gendo Ikari.
But where their differences once stood between them, a similarity other than their lineage now threatens to keep them at odds. Shinji, too, has developed an infatuation with Rei, because of a simple kiss and despite what he knows about her unnatural origins. And he realizes that if he ever hopes to feel the touch of her lips again, it will mean turning his back on Kaagi… just like his father did to both of them.
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A soft rapping on her office door stirs Misato Katsuragi from her daydreaming. Before bidding her visitor to enter, she quickly tries to appear busy by spreading papers all over her desk. When Yoshi does walk in, Misato notices the effect is completely ruined by her inability to locate a writing utensil.
"Good morning, Major," he says. Yoshi pauses, unsure of how to broach the subject. "Um… I assume you got my phone messages."
"Yeah, sorry," Misato says. "It's been really hectic lately, you know?" Yoshi agrees, but says nothing more. His brow furrows as he tries to find the words, a task not made easier by Misato expectantly waiting.
"May I speak with you candidly?" he asks finally. Misato nods warily, and he slowly continues. "This morning, Dr. Aida shared with me some things his son told him. A lot of it concerned some rather troubling behavior on the part of the Second Child. I just wanted to ask you how she was handling everything."
"Everything?" Misato asks him.
"Well, I imagine the apparent deaths of two of her fellow pilots affected her somehow. And I was pretty shocked myself when I found out they were actually alive."
"I've only talked to her twice in that time," Misato admits. "Once on Friday, when I told her they'd died, and then again on Sunday, when I found out that they were okay. I had to work Saturday, and Asuka had a lot of homework last night."
"That's all?"
"She's not the sort of person who talks about her feelings easily," Misato says defensively, because Asuka reminds her of herself in that way. "But she's been through a lot worse and come out alright. She's a tough girl."
"She's only fourteen, Major," says Yoshi, trying to keep his emotions in check. "I don't believe she's as tough as you'd like to think. She needs someone to talk to."
"Asuka's been seeing the counselor regularly since her breakdown. That's what we have one for."
"Well, what do you think you're for?" Yoshi asks, his frustration boiling over. "You signed up to be these kids' guardian, and I don't see you holding up your end. Shinji confided in me about how he couldn't talk to you after the Fifth Child died. He said you gave him some sort of speech about how the kid "deserved to die". How could you say a thing like that?"
"You don't know the whole story," Misato says, incensed.
"So you've said. What I do know is that Shinji wanted to reach out to you, but you made him think that he couldn't. And it sounds to me like you've been just as inaccessible to Asuka. You're not just some glorified baby-sitter, Major. These kids don't have any parents that they can turn to. There's just you; you're all they've got!"
"Where the hell do you get off, telling me how to be a parent?" she yells. How could Yoshi presume to know about what she's been through, with Shinji and Toji, or Shinji and Kaworu, or with losing Asuka for a week, only to find her half-dead in the ruins of the Horakis' house?
"Where do I…?" Yoshi starts. "Of all the self-centered…." He fishes his wallet from his pocket, opens it, and slams it onto Misato's desk in front of her. Inside, there's a worn picture of Yoshi with a little girl, standing in a garden. The girl looks about three years old. They're both smiling, and the girl is holding up two fingers in the V-shaped sign. Tempers cool in the silence that follows.
"Is she…?" Misato asks quietly. Guessing the answer, she frowns and her face flushes with embarrassment.
"That picture's an old one," he tells her. "She just turned six last November. Her name's Fumiko."
"I'm sorry," Misato says. She looks helplessly at Yoshi's naked left ring-finger. "How could I have known?"
"Well, I'm sure you know how everyone from our generation is in such a rush to get married…. I found out the hard way there are some things you shouldn't rush. I've been divorced… about two years now. My ex has custody of our daughter, but she barely spends any time with Fumiko, always leaving her with nannies and sitters. On top of that, she does whatever she can to keep me from spending any time with her either, just out of spite. When I moved to Tokyo-3 to join NERV, she got a court-order forcing me to take my visitations outside the city, because of all the attacks. As if any place is safe these days…."
Misato hands him back his wallet, and he takes it with a sigh.
"Oh boy," says Misato. "Should I just start putting my foot in my mouth before our conversations and save myself the trouble?"
"No, no… I'm sorry, too," Yoshi says, shaking his head. "I probably came down a lot harder on you than you deserved. I have to keep reminding myself, not every woman is my ex-wife."
"Well, any woman would be glad to be," Misato says fawningly. Yoshi forces a smile at the attempted compliment, and Misato turns even redder. "Ugh… that didn't come out right. I meant… you know what I meant…."
"You meant quitting while you're ahead isn't your strong suit?" he jokes.
"Right…."
Outside Misato's office, Kaji listens to the friendly, nervous laughter within. Where ever Kaji might be physically, in his mind he's always miles away or ten steps ahead. Except when he's with her. Something about Misato always holds his interest, keeping him firmly planted in the now. For a man in his position, such a blinding of his foresight is dangerous. But he wouldn't be in his position if he didn't thrive on danger.
"Ritsuko, I'd like you to meet Kaji! Ryoji Kaji." He remembers Misato's unabashed enthusiasm, her child-like excitement, at her best friend finally meeting her boyfriend. Ritsuko shared none of the qualities with Misato that Kaji found attractive, but she also lacked those little things about Misato that had come to annoy him. That, in itself, was dangerously attractive. Throughout college, Kaji thrived.
"A very fateful meeting, as it turned out," he says to the empty hall. He wonders if there's still a chance for things to be like they were. He wonders if having things as they were is what really he wants, or what Misato would want.
"I love you, Katsuragi."
I promised I'd say the words, he thinks. I didn't promise I'd let you hear them….
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The lights come up suddenly in Isolation Room 4. Its sole occupant doesn't wince or blink at the change, only staring straight ahead at the door. Soon, someone enters. Rei Ayanami studies the new arrival's features and clothes in the dim, red light of the NERV logo. "God's in his heaven. All's right with the world," it reads. Rei's visitor takes a moment to re-read the words before turning to her.
"Do you believe that all your memories have returned?"
There's a chair in the room, but Rei crouches in a corner with her knees pulled up to her chin. She sits nude before her interrogator. She'd taken off her plug-suit, because it isn't intended for long-term wear. She glances to the side for a second before nodding in answer to the question.
"Stand up." Rei does as she's commanded, and a satisfied smirk creeps onto the face of her visitor. "Tell me everything you remember."
Rei begins at the very beginning. It takes a long time, even with encouragement to skip less important details, but she eventually comes to the events of recent weeks. She hesitantly relates her encounters Kaworu, his strange statements about Shinji, and the visions he showed her within Unit-01.
"I saw what you did to the Third Child in his hospital room, after you attacked the Sixth," Rei is told. She blushes and looks away.
"Please… don't tell Commander Ikari," Rei requests.
Ritsuko smiles.
She presumes that Rei is ashamed of what happened, and she revels in it. In actuality, Rei's primary concern is for Shinji's safety. She remembers what the Commander did to Kaagi, and she would spare Shinji a similar fate if she can. Underneath that, though, lies guilt wrought by confusion. She can't rationalize her feeling of attachment to all three of them, mixed as it is with pain, shame, and anger of equally unknown basses.
"Don't worry, I won't tell him," Ritsuko says gently. "I won't tell him any of this. And I want you to know that I truly appreciate you confiding in me. We're so alike, you and I… even more so, since I emptied of the Room of Gaf. Did Commander Ikari tell you that I was responsible for that?" Rei nods, still not looking at the new Vice-Commander. "I thought you might hate me, for taking away your immortality."
"I've only known hate for one person," Rei says. She pauses in thought. "I believe I've escaped him, somehow."
"Good…," says Ritsuko. "I wouldn't want any adverse feelings compromising our new relationship. I am the Commander's right hand, now. You owe me the same deference that you give to him. Do you understand?" Rei brings her eyes to meet Ritsuko's, and she nods once more. The older woman replies with a smile of confidence. "That's fine, then. Oh, and by the way… I love what you've done with your hair…."
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Over the course of the school day, Kaagi had caught snippets of what occurred during his absence. He was at a loss trying to piece together all the conflicting and exaggerated tales of Asuka and Rei's fight, the Angel attack, his reported death, and the animosity between Hikari and Toji. At the end of class, he finally got a fairly accurate account from Kensuke, who had approached the Sixth Child in an effort to avoid an ill-tempered Fourth.
"So, the girls were fighting over me?" Kaagi asks.
"Well, I think there were other issues besides you…."
Wow! Kaagi thinks, completely ignoring the last thing Kensuke said. Rei still likes me! At least, she did a week ago. What happened Sunday… hell, I don't know. I wish she were here today so I could talk to her.
Elsewhere in the room, Toji is preparing to depart. He's so preoccupied with despairing thoughts of Hikari that it takes him quite a while to notice Kensuke and Kaagi talking. When he does, a surge of un-vented hostility causes him to baselessly blame the newest Eva pilot for the pervading air of misfortune. He rudely pushes his way through a throng of other students to approach the pair.
"What are you doing talking to this guy?" Toji asks Kensuke. "We're Shinji's friends, not his."
"But-" Kensuke starts. His words are cut off as Toji hoists him from his seat.
"C'mon, let's go."
Jeez! thinks Kensuke. Toji's really mad at himself for messing things up with Hikari, but he's taking it out on everyone else. He gives a covert, apologetic shrug to Kaagi as he's dragged from the classroom by his friend.
The Sixth Child solemnly searches the room for any remaining bastion of friendship. For three weeks, he's called Tokyo-3 his home. The days spent at NERV HQ and NASA notwithstanding, he's attended school here the whole time. But he realizes that he's spent all of that time trying to become friends with only Rei or Shinji, both of whom he wouldn't blame for hating him right now. He can barely even put names to any of the other kids' faces.
Kaagi puts away his desk-top computer and then gathers his books and supplies. One familiar face does remain as always, overseeing the work of the students assigned to clean. Kaagi shuffles over to her, ineptly attempting to make it appear as if he wasn't going out of his way to do so.
"Hey, Hikari…," he begins tentatively.
"I'm sorry, Kaagi," Hikari replies tersely. "I've got a very low tolerance right now for people who can't keep their lips to themselves."
He keeps standing there a moment or two longer, but Hikari ignores him until he decides to leave. Eventually, Kaagi makes his way out of the school and into the parking lot. Most everyone has left by now, and he starts walking through the empty lot in no particular direction. As he does, a car pulls up on his left from behind him. The window rolls down and Misato sticks her head out.
"Get in!" she says. Kaagi sees Asuka in the backseat, openly displeased by the prospect of him entering the car. Misato frowns with frustration as he disregards her command. "You're coming with Asuka and me to pick up Shinji from the hospital. Then we're all going home."
"I appreciate you letting me stay with you," Kaagi says, "but… I moved out, remember?"
"Oh no. I'm not letting you stay all by yourself in that Geo-front apartment. I'm your guardian, and I say you're coming home with us!"
"Thank you very much again, Major, but… ah… well…." Kaagi fumbles his words, reluctant to get to the point. Soon, the awkward moment is broken by the sound of another approaching car. A gleaming, red convertible pulls up on the other side of Kaagi, and Misato peers around the boy to see the driver. Ritsuko smiles back at her, waving, as the Major's eyes slowly narrow.
"See…," Kaagi says with an apologetic smile, "it's just that… my sister already made arrangements for me to stay with her from now on." He hopes he's sufficiently conveying his regret. Misato's was the first home where he'd truly felt welcome, but because of his misplaced anger at Shinji, he'd left. And in spite of… or maybe because of Shinji… he wishes he hadn't.
"He's Dr. Akagi's brother?" hisses Asuka, indignant over not having been told.
"Yeah," says Misato. What else are you planning on taking from me, Ritsu? she wonders.
Kaagi hesitantly waves good-bye to Misato and Asuka, then enters the passenger side of Ritsuko's car. Misato sits watching the red car drive away. But then Asuka coughs pointedly, in order to remind her that they have places to go as well.
"This is going be fun," Ritsuko says as she and Kaagi zip through the streets of Tokyo-3. He's looking away from her at the buildings whizzing by. The wind whips his hair, and he clutches his school books tight to his chest, keeping them safe as well as trying to hide his uneasiness. "We've got a lot of catching up to do."
"Uh-huh," he says, giving no indication that he'd actually been listening. Unfazed, Ritsuko tries another tactic.
"Ayanami will be back in school tomorrow," she says brightly. "You still like her, don't you?"
"Smart… beautiful… tried to kill me… what's not to like?" Kaagi says, laughing sadly. Ritsuko looks at him with soft pity, but he bristles and falls deliberately silent. She glances at the brooding teen once or twice more, then turns her eyes to the road.
What have I gotten myself into? she wonders. She remembers Misato, leaping at the opportunity to have Shinji live with her. Damn her for making it seem so easy….
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The light from the late-afternoon sun reflects off a page in a weathered photo-album as it's turned. Fingers trace the image of a woman's smiling face. The hand they belong to intentionally obscures the severe-looking face of the man at the woman's side. Another gulp of whiskey is taken, and another page is turned.
"If you're running away, you've still got a long way to go," Kaji says to the man with the album.
"Not really," says Fuyutsuki. He grabs the nearly-empty whiskey bottle and sloshes around its meager contents. "I'd say I've got less than half a glass left to go."
Kaji walks closer to the chair where the older man sits. It's a hard, wooden chair, set in front of the table where the whiskey and photo-album lay. Kaji wouldn't imagine that it's very comfortable to sit in for long, but Fuyutsuki looks as bound to it as the chair to which he was tied when Kaji rescued him from SEELE.
"You've lived quite well, thanks to NERV," Kaji remarks, glancing around the former Vice-Commander's apartment. "Are you sure you're ready to give all this up?"
"My departure has been a long time in coming," Fuyutsuki tells him. He turns another page in the book of photos. "I wish I'd given Shinji these when I had the chance. I don't think he even remembered his mother's face. Gendo threw out all of his old photos, you know, after…." Fuyutsuki trails off. He finishes his current glass of whiskey, and then pours himself the last of the bottle.
"Well, what if I told you that Shinji was alive?" Kaji asks. He lets the possibility linger for a moment. "Or what if I said that Ayanami made it out of Unit-01? Would any of that change your mind?" Fuyutsuki thinks for a while, then smiles down at the glass in his hand.
"No…," he says finally. Then he laughs. "And it's funny, because I actually believe you. Maybe I'm just an optimistic old fool…. But no; I'm not going back."
Kaji watches Fuyutsuki finish the last of the whiskey. Afterward, the older man closes the book and stands to face the younger. His resolute posture defies any presumption of drunkenness.
"SEELE intercepted your e-mail to the Press," Kaji tells him. Fuyutsuki is unwavering, betraying no disappointment. "They're not about to let you expose their secrets."
"I know…," comes the even reply. "Just like I know that you're here to correct the mistake you made when you freed me from them, all those weeks ago."
"It wasn't a mistake," Kaji says. "At least… not one that I regret." He turns away and walks over to the apartment door. After opening it, he steals a look back. He thinks about where he might find himself in the days… weeks… years ahead, if he ever even reaches Fuyutsuki's age. But the thought passes in and out of his mind too quickly to take root.
The former Vice-Commander watches the door close behind Ryoji Kaji. He's not a bit surprised to see greenish-yellow smoke begin seeping underneath it, seconds later. Fuyutsuki breathes deeply of the thick fumes and soon falls to the floor, unconscious.
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Later that night, Kaagi is squirreled away in his new bedroom with the muffled sounds of his music filling Ritsuko's apartment. She sits at a small desk, signing forms and sipping coffee. She almost doesn't hear the doorbell ring. Bidding her paperwork a frustrated farewell, she gets up to answer it.
Behind the door, she finds Kaji leaning against a wall. His casual posture is suited to the slightly wrinkled shirt and slacks he's wearing. Ritsuko imagines that he sheds his security uniform each day as soon as he's able. Putting a finger to her lips, she ushers him inside. She motions for him to follow her, and they make their way to the sliding glass door that opens onto the terrace. As Kaji passes near Kaagi's room, he can hear the boy singing along with the music.
"…So I'm sailing for tomorrow, my dreams are a-dyin'. And my love is an anchor tied to you, tied with a silver chain. I've got my ship, and all her flags are a-flyin'. She's all that I have left, and Music is her name…."
Out on the balcony, Ritsuko fishes a pack of cigarettes from their hiding place behind a potted plant. Kaji shuts the door as he joins her. She offers him a cigarette, which he declines, before pulling out a lighter and one for herself. She lights it up and takes a long drag, the smoke curling around her head as she exhales.
"The Commander will be back to work tomorrow," Kaji tells her.
"That's alright," she replies. "It'll be more trouble to him than it'd be worth to undo any of the changes I've made. Three days of sick-leave was more than I could have hoped for. Have you had enough time to get your own house in order?"
"Mostly…. I have tabs on the Section 2 agents whom I've discovered have loyalties to Ikari. Eventually, I'll find them all."
"I trust you'll be quick about it…."
"Indeed…. And Fuyutsuki's been dealt with."
"You've been to see old Kouzou already?" she asks. Kaji nods, frowning.
"As we thought, he was no threat to us. But he wouldn't be made our ally either."
"That's unfortunate."
After that, there was nothing more to report. Kaji gazes into the distance as Ritsuko flicks her ashes over the balcony's edge. As clandestine meetings went, it was somewhat lackluster.
"So what should we do now… make out?" Kaji asks brazenly.
"We can if you'd like," Ritsuko replies coyly.
"Oh… no thank you," he says. "I dislike kissing women who taste like cigarettes."
"That's right; you prefer women who taste like alcohol." Ristuko takes another drag off the cigarette. "Speaking of which, how is Misato?"
"It seems as though your replacement, Dr. Kaiu, is doing a good job of replacing us both," Kaji replies. Ritsuko looks at him, wondering how that statement was supposed to answer her question. He looks back at her. "I thought you quit smoking."
"I did," she says, allowing Kaji to change the subject. "I'm still in denial about having started again, though. That's why we're out here…. You know, my mother always insisted that I shouldn't smoke, even though she used to do it. Most of my bad decisions have come from following her example, doing as she did but not as she said."
"I think children learn the most by seeing the mistakes of their parents and then learning not to repeat them."
"I must not be a very quick study, then," Ritsuko says with a bitter laugh. "And the Commander should probably be nominated for "Father of the Year"…."
"I'm surprised the Committee didn't just oust him and make you the Commander."
"Considering everything he's done against them…," Ritsuko agrees. She takes one last puff of her cigarette before stabbing it out on the patio railing. "Still, I don't plan to languish beneath him for long."
"If I recall, you used to rather enjoy being underneath Ikari," Kaji says with a smile.
"Don't you ever stop?" Ritsuko groans.
"Not if I can help it…."
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The strains of an electric guitar echo through his small apartment as Shigeru Aoba practices. His eyes are closed, and he can hear the rest of an imaginary band in his head as he jams along with them. He's just begun another riff, when an insistent knocking at his door breaks through the chords and interrupts his meditative state.
He gently lays the guitar down on a soft pile of unwashed clothes, then begins to make his way to the door. He takes a side trip, stepping over piles of empty pizza boxes to shut off the amplifier, before rounding a mysterious stain on the carpet to arrive at his destination. Tiredly, he opens the door.
"Mr. Shigeru Aoba?" asks the person behind it. Aoba nods bemusedly. "May I come in, sir?" There's another nod, and Aoba's apartment is entered.
"I'll get right to the point," says the stranger. "I need to recruit you for a covert mission. The plan is outlined here in detail." Aoba grabs the offered notebook. He takes his time, carefully reading the numerous pages. Shaking his head, he hands it back with a smile.
"You must have plenty of contacts on the inside to gather this kind of information. What do you need me for?"
"The mission requires our quarry to be taken completely unawares. I have no previous ties to you, and I intend to keep our contact to a minimum. Besides, I was led to believe that you were the sort of person who would be most likely to agree to help me… without alerting your superiors, of course."
"Are you implying that I'm the sort of person who'd sell out his access to NERV to the highest bidder?"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Aoba. I didn't mean-"
"Hold on now," Aoba interrupts. He rubs his chin thoughtfully and grins. "I didn't say that I wasn't that sort of person, now did I?"
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Episode Midpoint