Evangelion: New Testament
Episode: 8
"Separating Truth from Fiction"
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Nothing but soft candlelight illuminates the darkened apartment. Outside its windows, the night is black and cold. Inside, however, heat radiates from the burning wax as well as the two people seated at the dinner table. They're talking and drinking, as they have been for a few hours, pouring further alcohol on top of the hot meal and wine they've already consumed.
Nanako Asakawa takes another look around her Spartan surroundings. The one word that comes to her mind is "utilitarian". Nothing decorative, no pictures of family, or pictures of any kind, adorn the walls or shelves. But there are books; so many that she can't count them, from Genome Mapping to Jules Verne. The man across from Nanako, however, could be described as the exact opposite of his vast collection: unreadable.
"I have to confess," she says to him, "I was a little taken aback by your offer to have dinner with me. More so, when I discovered that this dinner was to occur at your apartment." Her companion smiles and sips his wine.
"But still, you came," the man adds. He puts his glass down and eyes her seriously across the table. "I thought discretion was called for, under the circumstances. If we were seen together in public, there could be uncomfortable questions for both of us…."
"Oh, I'm sure high-ranking members of NERV and reporters who just raked them across the coals dine together all the time," she says with airy sarcasm. "No conflict of interests there." He smiles at her joke. A warm smile, she notes, without patronization.
"I'll admit," she continues, "I was hoping to get an interview out of this."
"We had an agreement," he reminds her. "Tonight would be off the record." She sighs with obviously feigned regret.
"I guess I'll have to make due with the free meal, then."
"Disappointed?" he asks slyly.
"If I was, it would be stupid to say so," she says, pretending to hide her own smile behind a drink from her glass. She winks, adding, "I'm still holding out hope for that interview." He chuckles softly.
"Well," he says, "I did have something else to offer you besides just a sampling of my cooking skills." He stands, and then holds his hand out for her. Taking it, Nanako allows herself to be led over to a small, functional desk in one corner of the expansive living room. While he's distracted with picking through the contents of one drawer, Nanako covertly eyes the locks on the others.
"Here," he says, handing her a laminated card. She recognizes it as a NERV visitor's I.D. at once. "NERV is issuing an official statement to the Press this Saturday. Attendance is restricted, but if you have this, you'll be allowed in."
"Aren't you afraid that I'll be asking some of those "uncomfortable questions"?"
"Questions won't be permitted."
"Then what's in it for me?"
"I assumed you'd rather be there than not," he states plainly. "If I was mistaken…" He reaches out for the visitor's I.D., but Nanako pulls it away from his grasp. She holds it just out of reach, grinning at their little game. He folds his arms and smiles back. They stand there a moment, remembering their evening together and pondering its immediate future. But soon, Nanako is making an excuse about the late hour and heading for the door. Her companion follows close behind.
"We should see each other again…," he says.
"So you are granting me an interview?"
"…socially," he finishes with a confident smirk. Nanako raises her eyebrows theatrically. Actually, she's not in the least bit surprised. Turning her back to him, she begins fishing in her purse.
"I have a spare key to my room at the Hilton," she says with a coy look over her shoulder. "If that's discrete enough for you, you can act on that desire to see me again… any time." She locates the object of her search underneath a tiny, loaded pistol. She shuts the purse again before turning to face him again.
"That is… if you trust me," she adds, proffering the key-card.
"As much as you do me, I'm sure," he replies. She manages to hide her surprise and disappointment at the seemingly knowing, gallows-humor of the statement. Fleetingly, she wonders who might be playing whom.
But he still takes the key.
Good job, Nanako, she thinks to herself. She studies his face and his eyes, looking for the telltale signs of lust. They're there, certainly, but she also catches a glimpse of something deeper; a genuine respect for her, or perhaps a hint of a longing that's other than physical? Wow, you really have got him hooked. So, the question remains… what is it going to take to reel him in and get what you're really after?
He watches Nanako leave, admiring how well her short, tight skirt accentuates her curves. He had enjoyed the evening thoroughly, and despite her droll jibes about her ulterior motives, he knows she did as well.
With one last smile, Gendo Ikari pockets the key-card, and then begins preparing for bed.
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Blinking the haze out of his eyes, Kaagi Chuda awakes disoriented. His memories are incomplete, and the left side of his body feels too heavy. Slowly taking stock, he finds that he's lying in his bed, on top of the blanket rather than under it, but not cold because he's still fully clothed. He tries to move his left arm, but he can't. Before he can panic over this, he yawns and a familiar aroma fills his nostrils. As he exhales the yawn, he ponders the fact that he's never encountered the scent upon waking before. Looking down, he sees the tousled, brown hair of Rei Ayanami inches from his face.
Her head rests in the crook of the arm that won't move. The rest of her sleeping body lies half-draped over his, nestled close due to limited space in his small bed. With his free hand, he fingers the red fabric of the bow around her neck. Then, with just the slightest pause over her breasts, he lays the hand on her side, feeling her ribs move under her shirt as she breathes. The vividness of all the stimuli assures him that he is not dreaming.
Kaagi drinks in the smell of her again as he starts to remember the preceding events. Rei had come over to tell him that she'd lost her pilot status. They'd started kissing. They'd kept kissing. It had gotten late. They'd both gotten tired, but they didn't want to stop. And then… there was nothing more.
"Rei?" Kaagi says, trying to wake her gently. "I think we dozed off…."
He'd dreamed about sleeping with her plenty of times before, but the reality of the situation is starkly different from Kaagi's fantasies. The real Rei is a lot larger and heavier than the one he imagined while clutching his blanket at night. Waking with her beside him is more of a compromise of comfort than some blissfully perfect union. Also, they aren't naked. And in his pretending, he had never conceived of any intrusion.
"Come on," calls a voice from beyond his door, "if you don't get up soon, you'll be late for school." For a second, Kaagi could have sworn that his heart literally stopped beating.
No way! he thinks. We could not have slept that lo-- His thoughts are interrupted by his door sliding back and his worst fears being confirmed. The morning light that fills the rest of the apartment pours into his room around the startled outline of his sister.
"Oh fu--" Ritsuko starts.
"No! We didn't…!" Kaagi interrupts. He rises quickly to a sitting position, inadvertently causing Rei to roll off of him and off the side of the bed. She hits the floor with a dull thud, followed by a groggy, pained moan. Kaagi sarcastically congratulates himself on making an untenable situation even worse.
"Ow," Rei says after a brief assessment.
"You!" Ritsuko shouts at the downed First Child. "Up! Out!" Her blazing eyes turn on the Sixth Child. "And you! What the hell were you thinking?" She glances below his waist and rolls her eyes. "Ugh! Never mind… I know what you were thinking." She pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs through clenched teeth, then follows Rei out.
"No!" Kaagi shouts, bounding out of bed to chase after them. "It's not like that, Ritsuko! We… we just fell asleep. It was an accident. I'm sorry!"
"Sorry?" his sister retorts, wheeling around on him. "A little "sorry" isn't going to magically fix all the Section 2 surveillance reports I'm going to have to intercept and doctor. I told you a thousand times, you have to tell me before she comes over, and she cannot stay so long that her visit straddles a shift-change!"
"I… I'm sorry," he says again.
Rei watches Kaagi shrink under his sister's verbal onslaught. She sees him squint in order to fight back tears. But as Ritsuko's unrelenting tirade continues, Rei sees the shame upon his face slowly bleeding into anger.
"I can't believe you could be so irresponsible!" Ritsuko goes on. "Don't you appreciate anything I've done for you? I'm going to have a hell of a time cleaning up this mess you made!"
"Shut up!" Kaagi finally explodes. "Just shut up! God… you sound just like Hitomi!"
"You do not talk to me like that!" Ritsuko growls. "And never, ever compare me to that woman again, do you understand me?"
Rei exits Ritsuko's apartment with haste, not wanting to witness the older woman's ire any longer. She stands in the hall a while, listening to the muffed shouts of admonishment from behind the door. Deciding that her continued presence can do nothing to help the situation, she turns to go, only to find Maya Ibuki staring at her. If Rei is startled by Maya's unexpected presence, she doesn't show it. Maya's surprise, however, is written plainly on her face.
"Rei!" she says. "What are you doing here?"
"I… I was just leaving," Rei says, too tired to lie or evade the query. She walks past Maya down the hall, knowing that her response created more questions than it answered. Turning back, she adds, "Please tell no one that you saw me here."
"Now hold on," Maya says, chasing after the teen. She jogs ahead of Rei, standing firm and barring her departure. The First Child stops and looks at Maya, uncaring as to whether the young Captain is about to speak or simply move out of the way.
"I know that you're seeing Dr. Akagi's brother," Maya states. Rei's brow furrows briefly though she doesn't reply. "But don't worry… I also know that it's supposed to be a secret. I just didn't think she was letting you--" (Maya drops to a whisper) "--spend the night."
"My staying the night was not intentional… nor permitted."
"Ah," says Maya. Treading carefully, she asks, "Did you and Kaagi…?" Rei had heard Asuka and Hikari ask each other similar, unfinished questions enough times to know what Maya was hinting at.
"No."
"Oh," says Maya, sighing with a relief that Rei doesn't understand. "Well, what you do is your own business, of course… I just… I just wanted to talk to you, actually."
"You knew that I would be here?"
"No! No…. I've been meaning to talk to you since Dr. Akagi told me about you and her brother. I just didn't… I never had a chance to… uh, could I talk to you now, real quick?"
"Very well."
"Whew… okay," Maya says. She fidgets with her uniform as she gathers her thoughts. Rei's implacable stare does not help. "I wanted to tell you a story… about someone I used to date in college…. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say, there were a lot of people who didn't approve of our relationship. Or, they wouldn't have, if we hadn't kept it a secret…. It was my idea to do that. I didn't want to deal with all the ridicule. I didn't want to lose my parents' respect, just because of the person I chose to date. So the easiest way was to not tell anyone."
"Then you sympathize with Kaagi's and my need to hide our relationship."
"No, Rei," Maya says. She chokes back a flush of regret, surprised that she hadn't gotten over this years ago. "I… I was wrong. I loved this person very much, but I let my fears get in the way of that. The other person… didn't feel respected. The whole situation caused a lot of resentment between us, and things eventually ended… badly. If I can spare you the pain of going through what I did…. I mean, I'm sure that you and Kaagi care about each other, but I'm just afraid that I'm seeing you make the same mistakes."
"Why are you sure?" Rei asks after a moment.
"Well, I'm not sure that you're making the same mistakes, it just seemed--"
"No," Rei interrupts. "I meant, what makes you certain that Kaagi and I care about each other?"
"Well… uh…," Maya starts. The coldness of the question shocks her. It doesn't carry any subtext or sarcasm implying that they don't actually care for each other. Rei is apparently ignorant as to what brought Maya to her conclusion. Maya, unable to articulate her reasoning, says nothing else. Rei waits an acceptable amount of time before addressing the dumbstruck woman.
"It was thoughtful of you to offer your advice, Captain," she says in an effort to end the encounter. Sensing Maya's concerned, if unsuccessful, attempts to read her, she decides to add something reassuring. "I will consider what you have said."
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Nanako awakens the same morning, far less pleasantly than Kaagi had initially, and also a good deal later. After her dinner date, she'd fumbled her way back to her hotel. Too much wine, she supposed. But it had tasted so good. Recalling the flavor of the wine isn't easy, now that all she has to remember it by is a throbbing headache. It takes a few moments of clawing at lucidity before she realizes that the rhythmic pounding in her head is, in reality, originating in the vicinity of the door.
Nanako throws on a robe, trying not to think about how awful her hair must look, and shambles over to the peephole. Outside the door stands Mike Okuda, her cameraman, a rotund, jovial man who's smiling as if he can see the state she's in through the door. Nanako grunts out an incoherent reply to his knocking as she undoes the locks.
"Late night, Nanako?" Mike says upon entering.
"You know it, Mike." She walks ahead of him over to the mini-bar. Even fresh out of bed, clad in a worn-out, terrycloth robe, Mike still has trouble keeping his eyes from lingering on her too long. She makes it easier by pouring herself a drink.
"Jeez, Nani," he says, "it's not even noon yet." She peers over at the drawn shade, glowing from the daylight behind it.
"Could've fooled me," she says, gulping down the glass anyway. "After a week of us trying to get access to that Eva manufacturing plant, I think I'm still on Beijing time… which means I was up really friggin' late last night."
"I expected you back a lot sooner," Mike tells her. "You usually say, "always leave them wanting more"…. So does this mean that NERV guy is your type?"
"Come on, Mike, he's just another angle that I'm working. Besides," she adds with a playful grin, "you're my type, and you know it."
"God, don't let Denise hear you say that."
"I'm serious, Mike," she says, stepping from behind the bar, "you want to do something this Saturday?"
"Nanako?" he says with confusion. She grabs something from the bedside table and begins slowly advancing on him. He gasps in surprise as his back hits the wall, forced to retreat there by a woman a foot shorter than him and ten years his junior. "I… I don't…."
"The correct answer," she says, tapping the NERV visitor's badge against his nose, "is "yes"."
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After another morning of endless tactical reviews, Maya drags herself into the locker room for her lunch break. As she opens her locker, eyeing the sack-lunch she'd prepared for herself, she contemplates taking a shower first. The Command Center isn't the coolest place in NERV at the best of times, and Maya's anxiety had made her sweat more than usual. She starts to undress, but quickly stops when she hears someone else enter.
Cassandra strides purposefully over to her locker and opens it, then takes out her street-clothes and begins to undo her uniform. She'd noticed Maya cursorily when she came in. Now, as Cassie's changing, both Maya's inactivity and her failed attempts to not stare become conspicuous.
Timid little thing, Cassie thinks disapprovingly. Probably's never seen a black person before in her life. How in the world did she make Captain…? Though slightly affronted at being cautiously observed like some dangerous science experiment, Cassie does her best to be polite and assertive at the same time.
"Can I help you, Captain?"
"Oh!" Maya starts. "I… I'm sorry. I was staring, wasn't I? It's not…" She stops herself before she says something potentially racist or naïve. "See… I used to be the Tech Department liaison. Guess I'm just curious about my replacement."
"Really?" Cassie says, relaxing a bit. "I didn't know."
"I didn't work under Dr. Kaiu long enough for him to remember me," Maya explains. "I was Dr. Akagi's chief assistant, but I was… underutilized… after she left. Then she came back, there were a lot of upheavals… and here I am."
"Not the career path you saw yourself on?" Cassie asks knowingly. Maya shakes her head. "In my last job, I thought I'd end up at some domestic communications relay station, working the military switchboard and writing code in my spare time. Instead, they put me in the field. I had to adapt very quickly."
"You're very fit," Maya says. She'd only meant to agree with Cassie's last statement and compliment her, but she realizes that it didn't sound quite that innocent, with the other woman in the midst of dressing. Quickly, she moves on. "And your Japanese is impeccable. Just a bit of an accent… British, I'm guessing?"
"That's right… points to you for not saying "South African"," Cassie says with a smile. "I had to learn Japanese, German, Korean, Russian, bits of others…. It was imperative for working in Intelligence."
Great, Maya thinks glumly. She's more qualified for my job than I was.
"I hope I've got enough time left for lunch after having to change first," Cassie says. "Can't go out in the uniform with the Press situation as it is. I'd ask you along, but you're not changed, and I really must dash."
"I usually don't go out… until after work," Maya says, hastily adding the last part.
"Well, maybe after work then," Cassie says as she finishes lacing her shoes. "Is there a local pub you all fancy, or was that just Aoba's sad chat-up line?"
"Aoba asked you out?" Maya asks, blushing. She's surprised by the tiny twinge of jealousy that he'd never tried such a thing on her.
"I told him that I don't date co-workers… because I really don't," Cassie finishes for clarification. She pauses thoughtfully as she reaches the locker room door. "Shame, though. He seemed decent enough…. Well, cheers, Captain."
Maya sits alone in the locker room pondering the encounter, almost to the point of missing her own lunch. Later, she'll wish she hadn't skipped the shower. But after her earlier talk with Rei, and now this exchange with Cassandra, she's had her fill of feeling vulnerable enough without getting naked on top of it.
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"No, really… what do you want to do this Tuesday?"
"Rent a karaoke room."
"Don't you have any ideas?"
"Rent a karaoke room."
"Dinner and a movie might be nice… like our first date."
"We could… rent a karaoke room."
"Kaagi!" two voices shout in unison.
Toji and Hikari turn their heads to glare angrily at the unwanted interjector. Kaagi, only a pace behind the couple, shrugs innocently. He'd followed them out of the school after the lunch-time dismissal, unsubtly dropping his suggestion into even the slightest pause in their conversation. Hikari had actually been considering the idea, but the Sixth Child's insistence is starting to annoy her to the point of being prejudiced against it. She's above something as petty as un-inviting him and Rei on their joint celebration, but she's sorely tempted to assert her control over their plans.
Before Kaagi can say "karaoke" yet again, Toji takes the bento that Hikari had made him and drags his overzealous friend to the picnic table where Kensuke is already waiting. The three sit, Toji with Kensuke and Kaagi across from them, before beginning to scan the area for signs of Shinji. They spy him in the unlikeliest of places, amongst a group of girls, talking animatedly with one of their number.
Toji whistles loudly, beckoning Shinji over to the table. The Third Child makes hasty apologies to the young lady and then heads to join his friends. Shinji is beaming and Toji mirrors his friend's expression, while the other two sit staring.
"You dog!" Toji teases. "You did it, you actually called her up! Way to go, Romeo."
Shinji's friends assail him with questions that overlap into a garbled mess. Random words reach him as he sits down next to Kaagi, and he's able to get the gist of their curiosity, though he could have guessed anyway.
"It was great," he says. "We talked for… I don't know. It seemed like hours. She mostly wanted to talk about Eva…," Shinji trails off as his friends' eyes widen. "Don't worry! Her dad is a maintenance engineer at NERV. She knows not to repeat anything."
"They're really serious about this Press leak, Shinji," Kensuke warns. "I haven't dared hack into the system since that reporter's story aired. I don't want to get my dad in trouble."
"Don't be such a wet blanket, Kensuke," Toji says. "Just be glad we've got the old Shinji back." Shinji looks up from his lunch.
"What do you mean, the "old" me?" Shinji asks. Toji points at him with his chopsticks while he finishes chewing and swallowing.
"You know," he says as if Shinji should. "The last few months, you've been all down. I mean more than usual. You'd just go around not smiling or even talking. You never visited me in the hospital or called…. Hey, I'm not blaming you. I probably wouldn't have either. But it started even before all that. Look, I'm just saying that you're more like you used to be."
I am? Shinji wonders. But… I feel completely different. I've done and seen so many horrible things since I became a pilot, but it was worse after you left, Toji… I just can't tell you. But there were good things, too…! I defied my father. We lost the Lance anyway, but I did it. And Yuriko… oh gosh! Yuriko….
Toji regards his friend's prolonged silence.
"Well, maybe I spoke too soon," he says, drawing snickers from Kaagi and Kensuke. He flicks some rice at the Third Child. "Hey, Earth to Ikari!"
"What…? Oh, sorry, Toji," Shinji says, laughing at himself a little. "I was thinking… I was actually thinking about this Saturday. Morisa… um… Yuriko and I are going out on a date."
Instantly, Shinji is bombarded by congratulations. Kaagi playfully elbows him in the ribs, raising his eyebrows up and down with comic suggestiveness. Even Kensuke, initially frowning over his sudden status as the only dateless one at the gathering, manages to break into a grin and reach across to muss Shinji's hair. Toji, who in the back of his mind had been waiting for a moment such as this, decides to take the opportunity to speak.
"Shinji," he says, "I wanted to tell you something." There's seriousness to his tone that his elated friend misses completely. A smiling Shinji turns to Toji, and the Fourth Child clearly sees the prospect of ruining his friend's mood. Under the table, he runs a hand over the hard plastic of his left "leg". Shinji waits expectantly while Toji searches in vain for his nerve.
"If you score with Morisato, you owe me big-time!" Toji says finally, grinning like a madman. Shinji turns red as Kaagi and Kensuke crack up over Toji's comment. Their laughter draws the scrutiny of some of the girls, among them Hikari. Shinji stays speechless while Toji settles himself, but Kensuke pushes on unabashedly.
"So, Shinji, are you thinking about what Morisato looks like naked?"
"Wha--? I… no!"
"C'mon, that's really disrespectful," Toji interjects.
"Wow, Toji, when did you become such a prude?" queries the freckled boy.
"A month ago this Tuesday," Kaagi laughs. He pantomimes cracking a whip above his head, and the Fourth Child punches him solidly in his whipping arm. "Ow! Lay off, man. You picked her, not me." This comment earns his shoulder another pair of blows.
Shinji watches the two of them trade insults, plus shoot a few his and Kensuke's way, as they vie for the Alpha-male position in the group. It never occurs to him (as it does to Kensuke, who doesn't mention it) that if such a position were chosen solely based on the number of Angels killed, it should be him hands-down. He's content whiling away the time, sitting back and listening to the others.
Content? the thought occurs to Shinji as he makes his way back inside. Kensuke had gone in already, and Toji is still finishing everyone's leftovers. I guess I am content… for right now. Could I have said that before Yuriko agreed to go out with me…? No, probably not. It's not that I wasn't, but I just couldn't admit it. Though, there is still--
"Shinji, wait up," Kaagi calls out. Once again, Shinji's reverie is broken as the Sixth Child comes bounding up to him. "I wanted to know… can you come over tonight? I mean… it hasn't been that long that we've been cool with each other, but we are sort of "family"…. I just thought we should hang out or something, you know?"
"Yeah," Shinji says vaguely, the prospect of going to Kaagi's apartment in no way appealing. Since Ritsuko's return, he had been avoiding her out of fear. He can't help still being unsettled by her manic behavior the last time he saw her, in the Room of Gaf. He tries to think of an excuse to placate Kaagi, but the other boy quickly moves on.
"Or, hey," Kaagi says with sudden inspiration, "if you want, Rei and I can come along on your date Saturday with Morisato. It was a lot of pressure off me, when all you guys came on our first date."
"Um… no, that's okay," Shinji replies. He had resolved to avoid Rei as well, more recently for different reasons, but it had begun after that same encounter with Ritsuko. Before the question can even fully form in his mind, it finds its way out of his mouth. "Do you… what do you know about Rei? Like, her past?"
"Well, you know that her parents died when she was nine, right?" Kaagi asks. Shinji nods numbly, lying to Kaagi as he wonders if there is any truth in that information. "It was so traumatic for her that she has no memories of her childhood from before that. You-know-who took her in afterward…. She and I don't talk about him."
So he doesn't know… and if he did, would he still like her? Would they break up? Dangerous thoughts flit through Shinji's head, and the memory of Rei's kiss breaks the surface of his consciousness like a drowning man gasping for air. How much had his resolution to avoid her meant to him as he ran desperately toward her apartment in the rain? He tries to force these remembrances away by continuing to question Kaagi.
"Did you tell her about what really happened between your mom and--?"
"I said," Kaagi interrupts Shinji harshly, "we don't talk about him."
The abrupt statement has served to stop the two boys talking as well. They walk through the halls of the school, hushed by the shadow of their father hanging over them. As they reach classroom 2-A, they spy Rei by the lockers talking with a group of boys. Shinji watches the already-dour Sixth Child's face harden further and his eyes narrow.
"I'll see you in class, Shinji," he says, heading over to Rei.
"Uh… yeah, sure," Shinji says, retreating quickly to avoid the pangs he knows seeing them together would bring.
"I do not have carpeting in my apartment," Kaagi overhears Rei answering a boy. "Though if I did, I see no reason for it to match the curtains." The gathered boys laugh uncontrollably while Rei stares blankly at them. Kaagi marches up and pushes the boy Rei was talking to into the lockers.
"What the hell, asshole?" he yells furiously. The shove was meant only to daze and rile the boy; Kaagi is prepared for retaliation. But before any can come, Rei interposes herself between them. Unhurt, and unable to get to Kaagi without going through Rei, the boy brushes himself off pointlessly and starts walking away toward his own class.
"Jerk," he mutters. To Kaagi's frustration, Rei moves as the boy moves, maintaining her obstructing position. His impotent anger ebbs as he waits for the boy and his friends disperse.
"You shouldn't have done that," he says to Rei once they're alone. "Me standing up for you, that's just chivalrous. If you get all involved, people might figure things out. Most of these kids' parents work at NERV; it'd just take one of them saying something for this to get back to… you know."
"I only wished to prevent someone else from being hurt as a result of your actions," Rei says. Kaagi hears the word "else" louder than any of the others she speaks.
"Sorry," he says with little conviction. Bitterly, he remembers his attack on the Commander and his fight with Shinji on the plane. He regrets having told Rei about that. "But that ass doesn't need you protecting him, Rei. What he needs is a lesson in manners."
"In this case, I was referring to you," she says matter-of-factly. Kaagi is both infuriated by the implication that he wouldn't have won the fight and disarmed by the sweetness of her sentiment.
"Eh… I could have taken him," he says, laughing it off. Rei feels her heart jump as he removes his glasses and regards them. "I might have needed another pair of these if he'd gotten a lucky shot in, though." She has no time to consider the odd feeling as he puts them back on and continues, "This reminds me… Captain Ibuki rode with my sister to work today. Did she see you leave?"
"Yes," she replies. Rei sees the worry creep onto Kaagi's face. "But she already knew of our secret, presumably from Dr. Akagi."
"Well…," he starts. He gives her hand a quick, stealthy squeeze before they enter the classroom. "…just try to be more careful, okay?"
I do not understand his rationale, that these incidents are somehow my fault, she thinks. But she says:
"I will."
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Heat from the lights and the buzz of recording equipment fill what little space remains in the already cramped meeting hall. This Saturday afternoon, deep within the Geo-front, select members of the Press have gathered, eager to hear NERV's official answers to Nanako's report from earlier in the week. Each of them is shocked when they see that Nanako herself among those in attendance.
"I know I've got nothing better to do this afternoon," she says with a smile to anyone bold enough to ask her how she'd gained access. This flippancy usually sends any would-be inquisitor off grumbling, wondering how NERV's number-one critic had wormed her way inside. And, Nanako doesn't doubt, it serves to bolster her journalistic clout in the process. After setting up his camera on a tripod, Mike sidles over to her and whispers conspiratorially.
"Get any good dirt yet?"
"I'm working on it, Mike," Nanako says as she touches up her makeup in a compact. "Patience, huh?"
"You've seen that NERV guy three nights in a row already."
"Damn it, Mike," she hisses, slamming the compact shut, "I may be the best reporter here, but I'm not the only one. A sound-bite like the one you just dropped is blood in the water for these sharks!"
"Sorry, Nani," he says, looking around. He moves away from her, back to his equipment, having to edge around a couple of other people to do so. Over the din, he calls to her, "Let's set up the angle of the shot, okay?" Nanako nods and checks her watch.
"Four-thirty," she says thoughtfully. "I see what they're doing. They don't care about international P.R., as long as the home front is happy. We won't even be in time to make the late local news on the U.S. West Coast."
"Still got your ace in the hole, though," Mike says as he checks the light levels.
"Mike…," Nanako begins. She holds up her microphone, practicing her most pleasant smile for his camera. Through her affected veneer of zeal, she continues, "…shut your mouth before I shut it for you."
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At the same time, in an apartment on the outskirts of the city, Shinji Ikari is preparing dinner for his two housemates. Neither has yet come home, with Asuka on clean-up duty at school and Misato staying late again at NERV. Even if Misato had mentioned the reason for her overtime today, Shinji doesn't remember it. He just smiles contentedly at the simmering vegetables, assured in the fact that both of them will be home in time to eat.
With nothing besides the broad, omnipresent worries of a teenage Eva pilot to concern him, his thoughts turn to his date tonight and Yuriko in general. He wonders what she'll wear, as he's never seen her in anything but her school uniform. He wonders if she'd like what he's cooking right now. What sorts of foods does she like? He makes a mental note to ask before deciding where to take her to eat. He also hopes, after all the talking they've already done, he hasn't exhausted everything of interest that he has to say.
In his pocket, Shinji's cell phone begins buzzing excitedly. He moves out of the kitchen, away from the sounds of cooking, before extracting it. The caller-I.D. readout tells him that it's Yuriko, but he stands in the living room without answering through another two buzzes. Raw emotions course through him, but no actual thoughts or words. He'd rather find out later than sooner that he can no longer carry a conversation. On the other hand, he'd rather hear her voice than not. Anxiously, he answers.
"Yuriko, hi," Shinji says. He waits for her to reply, but she doesn't. He can hear sporadic whimpers quietly breaking through on the other end of the line. "Yuriko?"
"Unh…," she starts, sniffling a bit, "…I can't… I can't believe you lied to me."
"What?" Shinji breathes. He'd been called many hurtful things, mostly by his father or by himself, but never a liar. "Lied? Yuriko, I never--"
"Stop!" she shouts in angry despair. "It's all over TV, Shinji; you're not fooling anyone anymore…. I thought you were nice, and brave, and sensitive, but you're just… you made everything up! I don't know you at all…." There's a click, and the line goes dead.
Shinji is left to imagine the sound of her completely breaking down. He's punishing himself but also flattering himself with the thought of her crying over him. He see-saws between guilt and elation, crushed that he'd somehow hurt her, but so happy that she'd cared enough about him to be hurt. Despite this inner turmoil, one thought pushes to the forefront of his mind… Why?
He bolts for the television, skipping the inevitable search for its remote to hammer on the buttons on the front. The machine comes to life on a random channel, but he's sure that he's now seeing what Yuriko saw. Either he was lucky enough to alight on the correct station, or she hadn't exaggerated at all about it being all over TV. He suspects the latter, as he is definitely not feeling lucky.
He'd almost gotten used to the world turning into a surreal nightmare in front of him, but he'd also be the first to say that it never gets any easier to take. Shinji sits down stiffly, unable to turn his eyes from the screen. The kanji superimposed over the picture indicate that he's watching a live press-conference being held at NERV. A balding man in a business suit stands before a podium adorned with microphones, addressing the crowd. But Shinji's gaze is intent on the five people standing behind him… five people dressed in plug-suits, nervously smiling and waving at all the cameras… five people that Shinji has never seen before in his life.
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Episode Midpoint