Episode: 6 (part 2)
"All Alone Together"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kouzou Fuyutsuki awakes with a mild headache. He wishes he'd been standing closer to his bed, or a couch, when he'd succumbed to the knock-out gas. He lies on the floor awhile, staring up at the ceiling, before deciding that he should get up and look around. He spends the intervening time puzzling over the fact that the ceiling looks just like the ceiling of his apartment.
Upon sitting up, he finds that everything else looks just like his apartment as well. His furniture and belongings are all in place. Not one picture on the wall is skewed. Even the empty bottle and photo album are still on the table where he'd left them. But something doesn't feel right.
He stands and suddenly realizes what's wrong. Outside, birds are chirping merrily. He can't hear the buzz of cicadas and power lines that usually permeates the city. Fuyutsuki rushes to the window and throws open the shade, surprised, and somehow not surprised, at what he finds.
The view isn't of the skyscrapers of Tokyo-3. He stares out at stone-gray buildings ornamented with Roman columns and small, pastel-colored cottages, all clustered around a lush village green. Fuyutsuki turns from the window and notices something that he'd missed before. A tiny, wooden figure is sitting on his desk with a small card propped in its lap. "Welcome to your home from home," it reads. Also, in place of his normal phone, there sits a black, L-shaped device with a single button. Intrigued, he picks it up.
"Number please," asks the friendly operator on the other end.
"What exchange is this?"
"Number please," she asks again, slightly irritated.
"I'd like to make a call to--"
"Local calls only," the operator interrupts. "What is your number, sir?"
"Haven't got a number," Fuyutsuki tells her.
"No number, no call," she says. There's a click, and the line goes dead.
The reality of his situation begins to dawn on Fuyutsuki. A great deal of effort has obviously gone into making him comfortable. Amenities enough for a very extended stay. He goes over to the photo album and flips through it with a sad smile.
I guess Shinji won't be getting these after all, he thinks. I suppose his relationship with the First Child will be complicated enough, even without knowing the whole truth. Fuyutsuki takes another look around this perfect replica of his apartment.
"As prisons go, it could have been worse," he says. The door opens with an automatic hum as he approaches it. With a sigh of resignation, he steps out into the morning sunlight. The door hums closed behind him, and then clicks back into place.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
If anyone had told me last night what I'd be doing this morning, thinks Asuka, I'd have laughed in their face! She's lying sideways on her bed, in her uniform, ready for school, with her legs dangling off the edge. After we picked up Shinji from the hospital, Misato was hell-bent on talking with me about my "feelings". I blew her off with some excuse about homework, but I knew she wasn't going to let it drop. Now, here I am, letting it all out, and you know what? I actually feel a little better…. I hate it when she's right.
"So where was I?" Asuka asks, returning to the here and now after a brief pause. "Oh, yeah…. So after Toji kissed me, I had to convince Hikari that I'm not some horrible bitch. And what could be more selfless than rushing to the bedside of a wounded boy who's desperately in love with me and letting him take me out on a date? It would've been just like a scene from one of those sappy dramas Hikari's always watching. But there was Wonder Girl, sucking Shinji's face and screwing things up for me again!"
Asuka grabs her head roughly with both hands, shutting her eyes with frustration. She twists her fingers into her hair, pulling it hard, and bites her lip to keep from screaming. Since her breakdown, she's lived in fear of the truth she'd seen: that she's worthless and useless and weak. She's been afraid that any second, without warning, she'd start believing it again or, worse, that other people would believe it, too. But she always thought that one person would never see that truth about her. Two people, actually, though she won't admit that even to herself.
"Shin-- I mean Hikari, is the most important person to me," Asuka says angrily. "You probably won't believe this, but I didn't have any friends back in Germany. All the girls in school acted like I didn't exist. Mein Stiefmutter said they were all too jealous of me, and they ignored me so that they wouldn't feel bad about themselves by comparison. She also said that she didn't want dirty little children running around her house anyway, so it was just as well that they were all snobby bitches."
"Asuka!" Misato calls out. "Are you ready for school yet?" She pokes her head in from the hallway and looks around the room suspiciously. "Did I hear you talking in here?"
"I had the radio on while I was getting ready," Asuka lies. "I just turned it off."
"Oh…. Well, don't forget, I want to sit down with you and have a talk some time."
"I know, I know," Asuka says. "But I've got a lot of homework and studying to do. High School placement exams are only a couple of months away, you know."
"All right," Misato replies, choosing to see this as progress, however minimal.
"Thanks for listening," Asuka says after Misato leaves. Pen-pen looks up at her from the floor and cocks his head to one side, blinking. She pats the penguin on his beak, which he shakes vigorously once her hand is removed. Asuka turns up her nose at the fishy smell her hand has now acquired. "At least you're good for something…."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
In the hall outside classroom 2-A, a small gathering of boys intently watches a young girl as she stands in front of her locker. There isn't a part of her body that doesn't have one set of their eyes upon it. The boldest of the boys, still demurring as the others boys prod him, makes ready to approach her. It takes him some time to think up a suitable line. Soon, he nods to his friends confidently, assuring them of his intent as well as the outcome, and then motions for them settle themselves down. He runs a hand trough his hair as he swaggers over to stand by the girl.
"So, did you just transfer here?" he asks her, affecting a slightly deeper pitch to his voice.
"No," Rei replies stoically. He looks at her more closely. Appalled, he realizes his mistake. He'd just unwittingly hit on the school's freakish introvert, famous for her icy demeanor. He turns around, laughing it off and shaking his head.
"It's Ayanami!" the boy says, throwing his hands in the air with futility. As he walks back to his friends, he shoots Rei a nasty scowl. They all eye her resentfully as they disperse, as if she had intentionally tricked them into paying attention to her.
When she walks into the classroom, Rei overhears some of the girls in the class whispering to each other. She catches words like "cheap dye-job" and "finally went out in the daylight". Without looking at the girls, she can tell that she's the subject of their discussion. She's put off by their spiteful tone, but she doesn't understand exactly what they're talking about.
Asuka watches Shinji and Kaagi stare at Rei as she takes her seat. She hadn't been one of the girls whispering. Tokyo-3 wasn't as bad as Germany, where the other girls ignored her out of jealousy. She just hadn't bothered trying to make any friends besides Hikari, preemptively taking away their ability to exclude her. It was strangely empowering, but definitely lonely. It's only pride that's keeping her from making further apologies to try to get back into Hikari's good graces. But pride is something that Asuka has in overabundance.
Toji barely notes the return of Ayanami or Shinji to class. He's venting his emotions into his notebook, doodling secret fantasies about Asuka. He draws hunched over, with his arms held around the page like a wall so no one will even glimpse his art by chance. He would die of embarrassment if anyone saw his crude rendering of him impaling the pretty red-head… or the one where he's decapitating her… or the one where he's pushing her off a building.
Kensuke spends his time before the start of class looking sadly at his friends. Toji's too wrapped up in self-pity to even acknowledge the people with whom he isn't fighting. And Kaagi seems just as lost. Every stray look around the room he takes always lands firmly upon Rei. Shinji appears even more reserved than usual, though Kensuke has no way of knowing that he's troubled by more than just his recent brush with death. Hikari's going stiffly about her duties, showing no trace of the satisfaction they usually bring her. And Asuka just looks grimly forward, giving the impression to anyone who might approach her that to do so could be fatal.
We're all here together…, Kensuke thinks, but we're still all alone….
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After school, Shinji slumps on the couch, staring at the television. On his first attempt to find a program, he'd come across a romance, but it was hardly a diversion. The drama on the screen only dredged up memories of the story of Asuka's kissing Kaagi, leading to her fight with Rei, which he'd heard recounted at least a dozen times at school today. On another channel, there was a sci-fi action movie. That one had reminded him too much of work. The third channel that he tried was showing a tale of star-crossed love between a human and an alien, set against a backdrop of interstellar war. In the end, he'd settled on the weather report. Tonight, there's a chance of rain.
Asuka is currently making dinner in the kitchen. Misato had left a message on the machine saying that she'd be home late from work. Occasionally, the Second Child peeks into the living room at Shinji. She hasn't talked to him since he came home from the hospital, because she's afraid that whatever she might try to say to him would instead spill out as "I saw you kissing Rei". And while she had secretly practiced scenarios in which she taunted him with that knowledge, every time she said it aloud, it came out sounding as though she was jealous.
I'm not jealous! she thinks. I'm just pissed off that Wonder Girl butted in again. I really don't get what she's up to…. If it's over between her and Kaagi, she sure hasn't told him. If it's on with her and Shinji, it doesn't look like she's told him either. I wonder if that coy little bitch isn't stringing both of them along! I bet she thinks that would really piss me off. Ha! As if I'm interested in either of those two….
Why do I care so much whether people like me? Shinji asks himself. I finally figured out that Asuka doesn't care about me, and it didn't hurt at all…. No, that's not true…. I was just numb from the shock. I'd always hoped that she did like me, in secret. I wanted to hurt Kaagi in that alley, so I could give him my pain before I felt it. Kaagi… how does he feel about me? He hated me, and I resented it until I found out why. Does he still hate me? I won't know unless I ask him, but I don't think I could stand to know that my brother hates me as much as he hates my father. I'm not like my father! I don't deserve that! I didn't take Rei away from Kaagi. She kissed me! And I still don't really know how Ayanami feels…. I guess that means I can still hope when it comes to her.
Okay, thinks Asuka, so everything didn't go as planned…. Does that mean I'm just going to give up trying to make Hikari my friend again? Asuka Langley Soryu is not a quitter!
Nothing's going to change, Shinji thinks. If I just keep sitting here, I'll never know how Rei or Kaagi feel. I can either keep trying to not care, or go talk to one of them. I have to stop waiting around for something to happen.
I mean, what the hell's stopping me? Asuka thinks. I could just ask Shinji out now!
"Shinji, I--" Asuka starts.
"I have to go," Shinji interrupts absent-mindedly. He'd barely even heard Asuka over his own thoughts. Heeding neither her nor the graying sky, he rushes out the door with only the clothes on his back. Asuka watches him go, immobilized by shock. Seconds later, her shock is rammed into by an oncoming freight-train of anger.
"Verdammt!" she shouts. She smacks her own forehead squarely with her palm. Then, thrusting her fists down at her sides, she throws her head back and screams, "Idiot!"
When Asuka looks forward again, she finds a warm-water penguin eyeing her curiously.
"I meant him!" she clarifies loudly.
Pen-pen appears to shrug, then continues on to the kitchen. A thrown couch-cushion misses him by inches.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shigeru Aoba stands on a nondescript street corner, looking furtively up and down each roadway. He checks his watch with undue frequency, as the gathering clouds make an estimation of the current time by solar position impossible. An umbrella is tucked under his right arm. It was tucked under his left, but it'd fallen out the first time he'd checked his watch.
"You're a little late, aren't you?" he asks, once the other party has arrived.
"I'm sorry," is the reply. "I underestimated the time it would take to make these." Aoba is handed a large, manila envelope. After checking the contents, he frowns.
"You're sure this is all it will take?"
"Thanks to you, none of the pilots will suspect a thing. Ayanami and Shinji are conditioned to obey, like good soldiers. Curiosity will drive the others."
"You sound pretty confident."
"I have to be…. I left the hardest parts for myself."
Aoba frowns, shrugs, and looks away down the road. He turns to go, but is caught by the sleeve. His co-conspirator presses a small, yellow envelope into his hand and Aoba looks at it with confusion.
"This isn't the payment we discussed," he says suspiciously.
"I know…. It's a little something extra, to show my appreciation."
Not wanting to argue, Aoba pockets the little envelope and then zips the larger one up inside his jacket. Raindrops soon begin to fall, and he unfurls his umbrella. He turns to go once more, hearing the sound of running footsteps disappearing behind him. Cool and collected, he doesn't look back before heading off in the opposite direction.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Outside Kaagi's window, lightning flashes. Rain beats against it, flowing in rivulets down the glass and distorting his view of the city in the distance. He has decided, however, to not allow the weather or recent events to depress him. Currently, his stereo is blaring and he's dancing to the music, albeit rather badly.
Kaagi struts around his room, moving his shoulders back and forth to the beat. He jumps around sometimes, too, swiveling and thrusting his hips while bobbing his head up and down. Every now and then, he spins in a circle, coming to a stop with his head held down and one arm pointed skyward.
"If you didn't come to party, don't bother knockin' on my door," he sings, tapping his fingers in the air to mime playing a synthesizer. "I've got a lion in my pocket, and, baby, he's ready to roar…!"
Kaagi's impromptu dancing grinds to a halt when he turns a one-eighty and sees Ritsuko standing in his open doorway. He gasps and then makes wild, vaguely apologetic hand-gestures as he tries to stop the music without taking his eyes off her. He's certain that if looks away at all, she'll be covertly laughing at him. Finally, he succeeds in blindly locating the stereo's power switch.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," Ritsuko says jokingly, "but someone's dropped by to see you."
"Oh," he says, smiling despite his embarrassment. Kaagi rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Uh… okay." Ritsuko takes a step toward him and leans in even closer.
"So," she whispers, "you might want to put on some pants."
Kaagi turns instantly red, trying to cover with his arms what his underwear was barely adequately covering seconds before. Ritsuko smiles politely before leaving him alone to dress. He does so quickly, feverishly wondering who his visitor may be. In his hurry, he manages to fall over twice.
"You won't be running any sync tests tomorrow, like the other pilots," he hears Ritsuko tell someone as he makes his way the living room. "The boys really did a number on your Eva; Dr. Henflick would be would be aghast…. But do report in anyway."
"Yes, ma'am."
The visitor he finds is the one he's been telling himself that he wanted, but when he sees her, his insides clench with fear. Ritsuko sits in another chair, sipping brandy and lounging lazily. She stops talking and turns to look at Kaagi when he joins them, which, in turn, draws the attention of the girl on the couch. Rei Ayanami looks at him, and he feels the clenching tighten.
She follows Kaagi with her eyes as he walks stiffly over and takes a seat next to her. Rei looks forward again while Kaagi stares down at the floor. Periodically, he'll raise just his eyes to look at Ritsuko. Each time he does, his face grows more and more contorted, until she finally gets the message.
"You know," she announces, "I just remembered something that I have to do… somewhere else." Scooping up her drink from a side table, she retires to her bedroom to give the boy and girl on the couch some privacy. It bothers her to leave, but she's hopeful that she can ply the details of the conversation from her brother later.
Lightning flashes again outside the window. Kaagi jumps, startled, but Rei does not.
"I've come to apologize…," she says finally, "for attacking you."
"Oh…," Kaagi says, disappointed. Rei's words seem insincere, issuing forth like she was reading them from a script. "But I guess you still hate me." Rei still doesn't look at him.
"Why?" she asks.
"Why?" he repeats, shaking his head in disbelief. (Oh, she's out for blood, he thinks. She's gonna make me have to be the one to say it…. I guess I might as well get it over with.) "I know that you heard about Asuka and me…. You might not believe it, but I am sorry. I should never have kissed another girl. That was the worst thing I could possibly do to you."
"The worst thing…?" she asks, remembering her own lips upon Shinji's. Her heart drops. "And such a thing would be a reason for hate?" It never occurred to her that anyone except for Asuka could hate her. Desperation claws at Rei's chest. She realizes that she would do anything to prevent being the object of Kaagi's hatred.
"I wouldn't blame you if you did," he says, hanging his head in shame. If he hadn't looked away, he'd see his own guilt and sorrow mirrored upon Rei's face. Kaagi grasps for something to try to put himself in a better light.
"You know," he says. "I didn't tell Shinji about me kissing Asuka, not the whole time we were gone. See, I know how much he likes her, but I didn't want to hurt him any more. We did enough of that to each other on the plane-ride."
It's not a total lie, he thinks. For about two seconds, I actually did worry about Shinji's feelings. It was after Asuka told me you knew about the kiss, but before I found out that everyone else did. I'd been thinking, since the explosion, that he and I might actually be able to get along. Before that, though, I just didn't tell him so that he wouldn't tell you.
"You dislike one another," Rei states, "and yet you were considerate of his feelings." Kaagi squirms as she praises him for his false altruism. He's too anxious to notice Rei's own anxiety. She carefully weighs her next question, hoping to give nothing away. "Do you believe that Shinji would extend you the same courtesy, if the situation was reversed?"
"He'd have to be pretty vindictive not to," Kaagi says, trying to imply that Shinji would be that vindictive. (And I would have been, if I hadn't been afraid of him telling you. Please, Rei, don't figure out that I'm an asshole….)
"The word "vindictive" is not one that I would use to describe him," Rei says, mentally reassuring herself that Kaagi would not learn her secret. Her positive description of Shinji serves to remind Kaagi how much she seems to like the Third Child, and he wishes that he hadn't brought him up.
"All I can say is that I'm sorry," Kaagi tries. Regardless of her having different hair and eye color, he still finds Rei's mood unreadable. So, he has to ask, "Will you forgive me?"
If he had requested, or even demanded, forgiveness, Rei would have given it without question. Following orders has always been the easiest, most natural thing for her to do. But Kaagi has given her the rare gift of leaving the choice entirely to her. It's an empowering feeling that she relishes. And so, with her unbiased logic, she decides.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Shinji looks up as he runs toward the towering apartment building, rain pelting him in the face. He rushes inside, grateful to finally have some extended shelter from the storm. The elevator is out of service, so his long trip is made longer by having to walk up four flights of stairs. To Shinji, however, the most difficult part of the journey will be traversing one particular apartment's threshold.
The closed door to #402 silently challenges his resolve as he stands before it. He feels that old, familiar urge to run away, but he hasn't come this far to turn back now. He doesn't feel like the same frightened little boy who screamed at the sight of Unit-01 six months ago. But he isn't sure who he's become. He's the person who tried to recover the Lance against his father's orders, and he's the person who could love a boy that tried to destroy the world, if only it were possible… but is that the same person who might love Rei if he got the chance, no matter what she truly is?
After trying the handle, he knocks lightly. He rubs his bare arms in an attempt to keep warm as he waits for an answer.
"Ayanami!" Shinji calls, pounding on the door this time. He tries the handle again, unable to believe that it's actually locked. He shivers as the wind picks up, whipping through the exposed walkway. Suddenly, he feels very foolish to be standing here, far from home and soaked to the bone.
What am I doing here? he asks himself. If she actually did answer the door, what would I say to her? What would she say to me? He pictures the scene, Rei opening the door to find him here. Though, in his mind, they don't speak or move further. He can't imagine anything besides the two of them standing frozen, like statues, in front of each other. The fear that she might feel nothing for him hurts him just as much as not knowing.
"You know, pain is something that man must endure in his heart. And because the heart feels pain so easily, some believe that life is pain," he remembers. Shut up….
"You are fragile, like glass… that is, your heart is." Shut up.
"This is worthy of my empathy." Shut up!
"I'm saying I love you." SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!
It's clear to Shinji that Rei isn't even home. His inner turmoil still unsettled, he sees no choice but to return to his own home. The last of the rain stops as he steps back out onto the street. He treks off into the cold, damp night, not knowing that Rei was finally coming back, having waited out the storm.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The next day, Shinji is changing out of his plug-suit for the lunch-break. He still finds himself obsessing about Rei, even after a full night's sleep and a morning full of sync-tests. It only added to her mystique that she was sequestered away from the rest of them, undergoing undisclosed tests, since Unit-07 is still regenerating.
As Shinji reaches into his locker and grabs his street clothes, a small piece of paper flutters onto the floor. He picks it up and turns his back to Toji and Kaagi so that they won't see. His Rei-consumed brain shoots off fireworks as he reads the note. "I need to speak with you," it says, "but not now, and not here. Meet me at the old revival theatre tonight around six o'clock. Please don't mention this to anyone. We'll talk then." Shinji stuffs the note quickly into his pocket, and then starts to dress.
"Hey, Shinji," Toji calls to him. Shinji puts on his clothes more slowly, imagining that the note in his pocket is shining like a lighthouse. The Fourth Child sidles over, uncomfortably close, to whisper, "So, what do you really think of the new guy?"
"I… I don't know," Shinji says, worrying that Toji had spoken loudly enough for Kaagi to hear. "We only just started really getting to know each other…." The possibility that it was Kaagi who left the note occurs to Shinji. Toji just nods and frowns thoughtfully.
"I had a lot of time to watch TV while I was laid up in the hospital," he says. He sounds as though he's explaining something, but Shinji is completely lost. "So, I had this idea. I asked my Grandpa to bring in some old "Three Stooges" movies, on account of what everybody calls us. I'd never actually seen any. And you know what? There's actually a fourth stooge…."
At last, Shinji begins to see where Toji is going with this. He doesn't like it, but he doesn't voice that opinion. Toji chooses to interpret his friend's silence as complaisance.
"Hey, Kaagi!" Toji calls. Shinji braces himself for what he hopes is a brief conversation.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Hey, Hikari!" a familiar voice calls as Hikari Horaki makes her way inside from lunch. She turns around to see Kensuke Aida bounding up to her. "I've really got to talk to you about Toji! I've been wanting to for days, while this thing between you two has been going on, but I couldn't think of the right words. That is, until today! Well, last night and today. I was up practically all night, figuring out what to say."
"Oh, gosh…," Hikari says, trailing off. She doesn't have the heart to tell him that she'd already made up her mind about Toji.
"Now, I'm not going to take "no" for an answer. I wouldn't consider myself a good friend to him if I didn't at least try to talk to you on his behalf."
"That's really nice of you, Kensuke….," she starts, not knowing where to go from there.
"But not here!" he says. "People might get the wrong idea from us talking together…. We could go somewhere after school, like to eat, or a movie."
"Movie," says Hikari hurriedly. She's just as concerned about what people might think, and, to her, a movie seems less intimate than a meal… with less light to be seen by, too.
"Perfect!" Kensuke says, with a grin that makes Hikari inwardly wince.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A little after six o'clock, Kensuke and Hikari enter the auditorium of the old revival theatre. An usher directs them to seats near the very back, which strikes Hikari as a bit odd. It's already dark inside for one thing, even though the previews haven't begun yet, and she can make out the vague forms of only four other patrons scattered throughout the immense hall. Kensuke tips the usher generously, then looks around uncomfortably. After a few moments, he excuses himself to go to the bathroom.
Outside, Shinji Ikari walks toward the theatre with the note clenched in his hand. He stops to reread it and to check the time on his cell phone. When he looks forward again, his heart skips. Up ahead, Rei is entering the building before him. He runs to catch up to her, but an usher bars his way as he throws open the door. The man reminds Shinji of someone who works at NERV. Not any particular someone; he just has the sort of face that blends easily into a crowd and is quickly forgotten, like most of NERV's staff.
"This way, sir," he instructs. "Your ticket has already been paid for."
Shinji is a little perplexed by all this, and by being seated all by himself. There are about six other people in the auditorium, but he can't tell in the darkness which, if any of them, might be Rei. Not knowing what else to do, he puts the note into his pocket and waits.
Keeping out of sight, Shigeru Aoba watches them all from on high in the projection booth. He wrings his hands, looking fretfully from the window, to the door, and back. After what seems like forever, the door is flung open.
"Are they all here?" the new arrival asks.
"All five pilots have been accounted for and are in position," Aoba reports. "The notes you had me plant in their lockers worked like a charm." Out the window, a small blue light near the back of the theater catches his eye. "Uh-oh…."
"What? What is it?"
"He's been really sweet," Hikari whispers into her cell phone. Its tiny screen lights her face up blue in the darkness. "He just keeps going on about how great you are…. I know! Well, we decided to come to the old revival theatre…. Yeah, we're here now. Why…? You are too?" Hikari stands at the same time as one of the other patrons. The shadowed figure waves back at her. "Toji?"
"Hikari?" shouts a confused Asuka, rising from her seat elsewhere in the auditorium.
"Asuka?" Hikari and Kaagi say, both surprised by Asuka's, as well as each other's, presence.
"We've been made!" says Aoba glumly. "Should we abort the mission?"
"Negative, soldier!" comes the reply. "Roll the tape… I'm going in."
Before the six teens can say anything further, a familiar image appears on the giant movie screen. Misato Katsuragi, her face stuffed with pizza, says something unintelligible that she obviously finds outrageously funny. The scene pulls back, revealing Misato's living room, then whipsaws around to show a blur of faces before settling on the face of the person holding the camera. That same person is now rushing up onto the stage set below the screen above. He clears his throat, preparing to speak.
"That was us, almost four weeks ago," Kensuke narrates as the film continues. "There's me, and Toji and Shinji. We're all laughing about bad hospital food, even though I can't relate…. And there're Hikari and Asuka…. Asuka's calling us "stooges". Hikari's telling her not to be so mean, but she's still laughing, anyway…. Over there in the background, the new kid is talking Ayanami's ear off…. She looks like she doesn't mind it, though."
He lets the scene play without interruption for a moment, looking up at it himself. The sound is low, so he can talk over it, but it fills the theater with murmurs of enthusiastic conversation. Everyone on the screen is eating, laughing, and enjoying themselves.
"Well, I want to know what the hell happened," Kensuke says, in a tone both frustrated and pleading. "Obviously, all of you want to talk to someone here, or else you wouldn't have responded to the notes that I left for all of you. I don't know if you're all too stubborn, or scared, or whatever to actually say anything to each other. But I decided that if none of you were going to fix this, then it had to be up to me." He takes off his glasses to wipe dampness away from his eyes. Resolutely, he puts them back on.
"So, here goes…," he says, and then pauses takes a deep breath. "I love you…! Yeah, you heard me right…. I love you. You're all my friends, and I love all of you." Up in the booth, Aoba turns off the projector and brings up the lights. In the silent theatre, the five pilots and Hikari move to cluster together, staring at Kensuke as well as each other.
After thinking hard for a moment, Toji looks to his friend on the stage. He brings his hands up and then slowly begins to clap. Kaagi soon starts as well, followed by Hikari and then Shinji. Finally, even Asuka joins in the applause. Only Rei refrains, not comprehending.
"Didn't you guys already work things out?" Shinji whispers to Toji and Hikari.
"Yeah, after school yesterday," Toji says as they all continue clapping.
"Same with me and Rei," says Kaagi. With all eyes on Kensuke, no one sees Shinji's face twitch with a fleeting frown.
"And Toji told me that you three had a talk today," Hikari says to the boys. "You're all getting along now, too?" They all nod, including Shinji with imperceptible reluctance.
"But we're not telling him any of that, are we?" Kaagi asks, indicating Kensuke, who'd heard none of it over the clapping.
"Oh, hell no," says Toji, smiling wider.
"So, are we all friends again, or what?" Asuka asks impatiently, her clapping rapidly waning. Her question was directed at everyone, but only one person's answer matters.
"Yeah," says Hikari quietly. Her eyes meet Asuka's, and the Second Child lets a sincere smile slip onto her face before chasing it away with an arrogant smirk.
"But we better make sure we get that message through to Ken," Toji says with a devilish twinkle in his eyes. "I think he might need some more convincing." Without further warning, he scoops Hikari into his arms and kisses her full on the lips. Everyone else's eyes widen with shock, including Hikari's. Shinji's hands hang in the air, frozen mid-clap. Kaagi and Rei glance tentatively at each other, blush, and then look at the floor.
"Pervert," remarks Asuka.
Once Toji finally releases her, Hikari fans her flushed face with her hand and unsuccessfully tries ridding herself of a manic grin. Kaagi reaches out stealthily to take Rei's hand in his. Asuka, meanwhile, watches Shinji run down the aisle to join an approaching Kensuke and whisper something to him. Kensuke's already glowing smile grows wider, and he hugs a very surprised Shinji Ikari.
"Sorry," Kensuke says as he joins the rest of the group. "There's actually no real movie tonight. And I feel kinda bad about tricking all of you."
"Hey, it's okay," says Toji. "Somebody had to have the guts to tell us that we were all being dumb. Somebody other than her, I mean." He points his thumb sideways at Asuka.
"Well, why don't we all go out for some pizza?" Kaagi suggests speedily, before Asuka can respond to Toji's jab. The seven teenagers agree on that plan, and they exit the theatre together. On his way out, Kensuke gives the projection booth a friendly wave.
Later on the street, whenever he thinks that no one is looking, Shinji lags a bit in order to stare at Rei and Kaagi walking hand in hand. He feels ashamed to let his unresolved feelings for Rei rule him like this, but his urge to gawk at the couple can't be suppressed. One time, Rei had looked back at him and lingered when he caught her eye. But Kaagi's hand in hers had jerked her forward, and she didn't look back again, after that.
Shinji's staring is more overt than he realizes, though only Asuka actually notices where his attention lies. Her perceptiveness is perhaps due to her knowing about the secret kiss that's causing him to find Rei so captivating. It irritates her immeasurably to possess that secret, but only because she has yet to figure out how she might use it to her advantage.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The following afternoon, Shigeru Aoba lies back on his bed, smiling at the ceiling with the satisfaction of a job well done. He takes the small, yellow envelope from his nightstand and looks at the card within once more. "Thank You!" it reads on the front. Inside, carefully written by hand, it continues, "Without your help, this mission could not succeed. Thank you, in advance, for everything. Kensuke Aida."
"Better than my last performance review," Aoba muses.
A grunt, a helpless shout, and the unmistakable sound of empty aluminum cans toppling over rouse him from his reverie. Before responding, Aoba carefully places the card back in its envelope. Then, he pulls himself out of bed, stretches, and makes his way at a leisurely pace to the kitchen.
He reflexively starts to step over his dirty clothes, when it dawns on him that they're gone. His guitar is on its stand, rather than lying on top of them. Up until this morning, he couldn't have said where the guitar-stand was if his life depended on it. He looks over and downward with curiosity at the spot where an entire bottle of leave-in carpet cleaner silently battles the mysterious stain. He doesn't want to take odds on that bout.
The kitchen is still in a state, but a far better state than it was. Walking in, it looks as though he's caught a group of sentient garbage bags having a secret meeting. Given how long he's let it sit around, Aoba wouldn't put it past the trash to have developed some cognitive ability. And through the middle of it all wades a weary teen.
"I'm sorry," says Kensuke. "I knocked the beer cans over, trying to get around all these bags. If only I could take them down to the front…. Ugh! Why did burnable trash day have to be yesterday?"
"Your plan, not mine," teases Aoba. The sweat-soaked boy collapses into the sole kitchen-chair. He slides his fingertips up under his glasses to rub his eyes tiredly. When he takes his hands away, he sees the mountain of work still ahead of him. And he hasn't even started the dishes yet.
"So, was it worth it?" Aoba asks him. Kensuke sticks out his lower lip to blow dangling hair from in front of his eyes. He thinks back on all the effort that he'd gone to, and all the effort he'll have to go to, repaying Aoba's favors. He remembers Shinji running up to him swiftly, so that no one else would hear.
"Thank you…," Shinji said, "for saying the things that I feel… but can't say."
"It was worth it," Kensuke replies positively.
With a smile and renewed energy, he promptly returns to his cleaning.
To Be Continued…
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Next Episode Preview:
A new face joins NERV, and a new danger looms. This time, the threat is not to humanity, but to NERV itself. At the same time, Rei and Kaagi, along with Hikari and Toji, prepare to celebrate their one-month-dating anniversaries. Next: "Perspectives/What Do You Get for the Girl Who Has Nothing?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
End Disc 1.
Please press "Stop" or select "Special Features".