Chapter 10
"Typical!" Asuka cursed next to me as we huddled from the rain.
"And I thought British weather was suppose to be bad" I muttered as I watched the rain strike the floor with excessive force.
"Don't suppose Shinji brought an umbrella?" I asked glancing at Asuka, her nose wrinkled up in disgust as the weather and the knowledge we were both probably going to get very wet indeed.
"Of course that idiot didn't!"
I sighed, the air rushing up from the very pit of my lungs and expelling in a smoky haze of hot air meeting cold.
When I turned to look at Asuka I was smiling.
"What?" she muttered, her shoulders slouching forward with aggression.
"Looks like you're going to get wet darling" I confidently whispered into her ear.
Back-pedalling I easily avoided Asuka's wild punch; my cheeky smile still evident of my face.
"You forget how fast I am German darling?" I taunted
"Stop calling me that!"
"You race me home and I'll stop calling you it" I stepped backward a single step into the downpour of rain, my hair was instantly slick and clung to my face but despite the thick strands I could still see though their dark veil.
"You know I'll win" she announced stepping forward to meet the challenge, her newly damp hair losing its volume and falling frail and weakly about the shoulders.
"Without you're Unit 02 you've got nothing on me" my cheeky smile still refusing to fade from my lips.
Raising a hand for her to wait, I slowly inserted a single earphone from my silver SDAT player and pressed the play button, I loved taking my time…unlike Ms Langley Sohryu the wetness of the weather didn't bother me; swimming on the other hand might be another matter.
"C'mon I'm getting rain in places you don't even wanna know about here"
"Ready?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
Asuka came and stood next to me, she mirrored my body language as we were both slightly hunched over in preparation for the start.
"I was born ready" she sarcastically answered.
The opening beats of "Tamashii no Refuran" started in my ear.
"GO!" Asuka yelled and took off running.
"Silly girl" I muttered before pursuing purposely a few seconds behind.
Within seconds my legs were as wet as my hair, the backsplash from my heavy running steps drenching my trousers.
With a flick of my head my hair flowed behind me; no longer obstructing my vision.
Asuka was already running through the school gates, her hands clutching the front of her skirt to protect her dignity from the ripping wind.
My distraction cost me, my ankles and knees slamming into a bench, I let the momentum take me and flipped until my feet found the floor and I was running once more…now Asuka was nowhere in slight, I had some catching up to do.
Jumping another bench and I was passing under the school gates…Asuka was long gone.
"Shite!" I yelled in English whilst rubbing the bridge of my nose.
After a minute of recuperation I ran.
I knew what route Asuka would take so I had to cut her off somewhere to make up my lost time.
Vaulting down a set of forty stairs I arrived in the shopping precinct, the soles of my shoes barely touching down upon the floor as I dodge and weaved about the crowds with all my weight confined to the outer and inner edges of my shoes.
Converging with the busy high way I didn't even pause to assess the traffic and just launched myself across the road.
My rear touched upon a red civics bonnet but lacked the speed to cause major harm, I merely stumbled upon landing.
Finally after running all out for another two minutes I caught up with Asuka, my shortcut had bought me so close she could practically feel my hot breath on the back of her neck.
"Hurry up Roji, you're hardily a Roger Banister" she taunted from over her shoulder.
"Just getting my second wind darling" I somehow managed to reply.
We were within sight of home now, Asuka taking the stairs two at a time…I look them three at a time.
With one final burst of adrenaline I overtook Asuka, slamming my hand into the elevator call button.
"Bastar…" the rest of Asuka's curse was cut off by the closing elevator doors; only then did I fall to my knees inhaling huge breaths of fresh oxygen that my body craved and screamed for.
One hand supporting my weight on the low concrete wall as I slowly made my way towards the apartment, taking my keycard from my pocket and swiping it into the reader, it emitting a small mechanical beep confirming it had recognised my LV.1 entry card
Without warning Asuka pushed me through the door.
"Ha I win" she announced stepping over me; it could have been my imagination but I swear she winked at me.
"Oh hi" Shinji said from the kitchen, patting at his hair with a towel.
"SHINJI!" both me and Asuka yelled in stunned unison.
"Erm…hi" Shinji said again.
Before Asuka could begin to verbally assault him I silenced her by covering her mouth with my hand; despite this she continued to shout despite my muffle.
I raised one hand, my index finger extended:
"Ok Shinji, firstly how did you beat Asuka here? secondly..."
My voice rising slightly
"…how the hell did you beat me?"
A wide smile overtook Shinji's face, raising his finger to his nose and taping it twice he slyly gave this explanation:
"You'll never know"
As the doorbell went, the metallic tune echoing down the small corridor I reduced Asuka from my grasp who promptly went to get changed, I followed suit going into mine and Shinji's combined room to shed my drenched school clothes…leaving Shinji Ikari to answer the door.
The muffled voices of Toji and Kensuke coming through the walls, on top of that I could her Misato moving about in her room.
Shuddering I removed my damp shirt tossing it into the blue wicker laundry basket near the door, it landed with a heavy sodden thump.
Slowly I unzipped my trouser and wriggled left and right until they hung about my ankles and they were also added to the laundry hamper.
"So like where's Misato"
"She must still be asleep"
Running my fingers through my hair I combed out most of the tangles.
Pulling on my light blue jeans and pink t-shirt by the time I was lacing up my boots and shrugging on my NERV issue jacket Misato had already left for work.
"So Misato's a major now?" Asuka asked
"YES!" Kensuke yelled
"Misato's a major?" I asked
"YES!" Toji yelled
"Why don't we celebrate? Throw a party?" Kensuke suggested
"Great idea!" Asuka added, even Pen Pen seemed to agree; I still eyed the damn penguin with suspicion from the corner of my eye.
"We'll we can't do anything outside" Toji said, pulling out a chair from the dining room table, his eyes rolling to heaven as he had to move an empty vodka bottle from it before sitting.
Kensuke, Asuka and Shinji followed suit.
I stood leaning in the doorway, putting as much distance between myself and Pen Pen as possible.
"Why not, it'll be great we could have a picnic, bring watermelon…" Asuka said
"That won't be happening darling because the rain is coming down like all the angels in heaven decided to take a piss at the same time" I muttered
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
The corner of my mouth twisted up into a small smile:
"Make me" I responded.
"P'ah you're not worth my time"
I couldn't help but chuckle to myself.
"You wanna invite Rei?" Shinji asked loud to nobody in particular.
I shrugged my shoulder:
"I'll go" I volunteered, already walking to the door.
"You know where she lives?" Shinji asked.
My hand snatched at a piece of note paper from the note board.
"Do now!" my eyes glancing at the hand drawn map, my hands rapidly buttoning up the buttons of my parka coat.
Nobody told me the three children were having a test, by the time I arrived at Rei's following the erratic directions she was long gone. A neighbour told me that I'd missed her by mere minutes.
"Thanks" I muttered, my ears trying to avoid the cries of the baby inside the cramped little apartment.
Raising the fur lined hoot of the coat I boarded the elevator, the smell of alcohol on the neighbour's breath still irritating my nostrils.
This area was deprived; being so close to the city centre I knew it was one of the oldest areas of the city and despite the many building projects underway it was going to be quite some time till the area was up to scratch.
Merely to kill time I went to the library, its p.c. terminal was unoccupied so without hesitation I slotted in my SDAT player into the port, a quick search of the internet and the tiny or internal writer was already fabricating the music data onto tape.
The corner of my mouth twisted up into a smile as the realisation hit me:
Ten years ago nobody thought technology could advance past MP3 players, how wrong they were, SDAT's became so cheap to manufacture and latter buy that MP3 players were made irrelevant just like CD players before them…Sony failed to get on the SDAT bandwagon and following their crashing stock prices quickly went out of business in August 2012
My hobby of reading history books was quickly paying off.
"When you've not got a past, it helps to know someone else's" I muttered
Staring at the compact monitor screen was starting to hurt my eyes so after a quick glance to see if the flashing "download" light had finished I logged off and slowly walked back to Rei's apartment block.
The stench of stale vomit and urine seemed to follow me as I approached the elevator:
"Almost like a bad smell" I muttered to myself before letting out a deep throated chuckle intended for my own amusement.
Just as before I pushed the grease incrusted button then instantly wiped the black stain from upon my fingernail upon the back of my jeans.
My hand slowly rose to press the button for Rei's floor, my hand was entirely covered in blood, the thick substance dripped and ran from under my fingernails.
"What the fuck?"
My free hand cradling the damaged one by the wrist, no pain registered but none the less I shook my head in disbelief:
"How'd I manage that?"
Opening my eyes my hand was perfectly intact, no blood stained the white nails nor the dusty floor.
Roji's hand rose to hit forehead, shaking his slightly sweaty brow from left to right he muttered one thing:
"I've got to get more sleep"
The door was ajar.
Cautiously I edged it open slowly with the toe of my shoe, my back hard against the doorframe to conceal myself.
My finger pressing the off button on my SDAT player; the song I was listening to (Last Goodbye) dying in my ears
Lowering my centre of gravity, I crept into the room in a semi-crouch both my knees bent to support the weight.
Concentrating slightly I slowed my breathing and heart rate, I couldn't keep this up for long even when meditating I could only do it for a couple of minutes or so.
I might know Ninjitsu but even I can't stop a bullet…my low position could save me from a random shot fired at standard chest height.
Every one of my senses was on alert.
As I approached the apex of the small T shaped room a shadow struck from around the corner, reacting purely on instructive impulse I flew myself to the floor, rolling onto my shoulder before standing.
My hand shooting behind me I launching onto a throat and began squeezing, mid turn I pushed forward with my shoulders.
Grunting in pain something slashed across my eye, blood seeping from the wound instantly trickling into my eyeball before covering my left cheek; despite this I kept on squeezing till the tendons in my forearm hurt from the pressure.
My attacker struggled; random blows, punches & kicks striking me.
As my vision cleared I realised it was Rei who I held within my grasp and instantly let go.
Rei fell to her knees, hands reflexively going for her throat:
"Get out" she weakly yelled
"Look I'm really sorry Ayanami"
She didn't say a single word in response; just looked at me.
Her red eyes looking at my red eyes.
We both had the signs of battle on us; blood trickling down my face, her throat was covered in the red rash my hand had inflicted, small black and blue bruises were starting of form on my chest and arms.
Slowly I bent down, my hand gripping upon a bandage littering the floor and wiped my wound till the blood staunched before handing it to Rei.
She looked at my claret upon the material then slowly wiped clean her bloody fingernail upon the bandage before tossing it to the floor.
Once more our eyes met; that same bloody colour reflected in one another's eyes.
Time passed it could have been minutes but if felt like hours then Rei left.
Somewhere behind me a phone was ringing, it rang for twenty seconds before Rei walked past me to answer it.
I listened as Rei was on the phone, an infringement of her privacy admittedly but my curiosity seemed to outweigh my conscience.
"Yes, I understand" her voice was neutral and emotionless, I found my eyes drawn to observing her lips as she spoke, trying to read her body language still didn't help me derive any form of emotions from her.
Even without knowledge of my past, to the point of not knowing who I really was didn't scar me or hurt me as much as witnessing his female who seemed to know no emotions… Deep down I pitied her.
Without words the phone was passed to me, for a few moments I looked at the plastic receiver in Rei's hands before taking it and talking:
"Hello?"
"Roji it's me…" Misato's voice on the other end of the line, its tone serious which instantly filled me with dread.
"…I need you to get out of the city by any means necessary"
"What? Why?" the mixture of confusion and anger in my voice was audible down the phone line, I didn't know it then but this was exactly what Misato wanted to avoid; me asking questions, as she knew she'd have to give me the answers.
"Its an Angel, I haven't got time to explain I just need to know you're going to be safe"
I could sense sadness in her voice, an emotion I'd never witnessed from Misato Katsuragi before.
"WHAT! You can't just expect me to leave my home and…" I yelled down the phone before Misato interrupted me with a voice just as loud and fear inducing as my own.
"That's exactly what I expect!"
"So you want me to go running scared? Abandon everything I fucking know and run?"
"Yes…" Her pausing sigh levelling her head until she spoke with her sympathetic almost motherly voice:
"I know you're scared but please do this for me"
She wants me to go, to run from something I don't fear, to run from my only connection to this world, from my only family, from my only home
"Ok Misato I'll do it for you" my voice was like Rei's, dry and placid.
"Promise me" she'd said, as if knowing I was lying, knowing that I'd betray her wishes.
"I promise" I answered dryly
"Good luck" she said before hanging up, that one tiny comment drew the point home that this was indeed serious.
I turned to look at Rei to gage her reaction but she wasn't there, I was alone in her room, she'd left during my telephone call as she'd been summoned to pilot her Eva while I was left alone with nothing but silence.
Gently I put the receiver back upon the body of the phone, the tiny sound of plastic rubbing upon plastic the only sound within the room for the briefest of seconds.
I stood looking about me, the bed with its soiled and bloody mattress I couldn't even comprehend, the bloody bandages and thin layer of dust upon everything reminded me of my forgotten past; of my forgotten purpose in life.
As I walked the streets searching for the Angel I found myself once more alone, in a city of thousands only I walked the streets like the sole survivor of so many zombie movies.
While I was strong and fast I still wasn't on the same scale as that of an Angel my encounter with the 9th Angel had proved that.
"If only I could pilot an Eva…" I muttered aloud "…if only I had that kind of strength and speed"
Before I'd shown no interest of desire to pilot an Evangelion, but now I had finally encountered the enemy and a battle lust was filling up inside me, I want to be useful, to help defend Tokyo-3:
"Not be some expendable asset to Misato"
When I helped defeat this Angel I'd make my intentions known to Major Katsuragi and pass whatever tests I had to pass to become an Eva pilot…I would become the fourth child!
"The target has been sighted! Maximum magnification!" Aoba yelled within the command centre, his heart pounding in his chest but outwardly he showed no fear even if in the next few moments he could be dead.
"Disaster twenty five thousand!" Hyuga shouted in confirmation following a glimpse at his workstation and the apparatus upon it, he was also fearful but being in such close proximity with Major Katsuragi helped him keep it under control and not inter fear with his work; after all he had a job to do!
"The falling Angel has been sighted, all Eva's on your marks"
I trust the three of you with our lives; please show that my trust is well placed
Misato felt no fear, unlike the others within the darkened room. She'd witnessed all the previous battles with the Angels firsthand and knew that this would be another battle the children could win but despite this justification she still clenched tightly the medallion around her neck;
Just in case
Meanwhile
Roji ran about the streets of Tokyo-3 his pattern random and without destination, with no eyes to watch or restrain his actions he leap over parked cars, hitched over spear like railings and ran to the fullest extent of his body without caring that his sweat soaked hair trailed behind him or that he's dropped his jacket in some unknown place.
His black converse boots echoing his heavy step as they ran through street upon street of possible targets, his choices based on assumption until as his lungs rapidly requested to draw breath he found himself overcome with a sense of fear and depression that ended with him looking skyward.
Fear consumed him in an instant, this was one battle he couldn't win, and he indeed was no use against this Angel. His body already wet with perspiration became slick with the new sweat of fear, his forehead shone with the glossy oil, his armpits wet and t-shirt damp and stained, sweat trickling down the curvature of his spine before slowly seeping into the waistband of his underwear…for the first time in Roji's life he felt absolute fear.
"Holy shit…" I muttered to myself.
With each second of stunned disbelief it came closer and closer, plummeting like a living bomb with that sort of speed the impact would totally desolate Tokyo-3 and thanks to my foolish heroism I simply didn't have enough time to escape the impact are; I was a fool for thinking I could help.
Tearing my t-shirt from my torso I began running once more, I saw an apartment block, easily the highest building around and ran towards it, my wet hand slipped upon the railing as I grabbed onto the rusty metal but thankfully my feet found purchase and I began ascending. With each footfall metal reverberated and clanged around me as the ancient fire escape couldn't support my weight and could succumbed at any moment but still I threw my body upwards; unconsciously closing the distance between myself and the Angel with every step.
Once upon the roof I looked at Tokyo-3 around me, the majority of it securely locked down within the Geofront.
The Angel loomed above, the red hue of it breaking the atmosphere dissipating from its body. With a heavy thud I feel to my knees, my arms hung limp in defeat at my sides as sweat still continued to seep from my pores.
One minute I was looking up at the coming Armageddon then I found myself talking but for once I spoke not to myself, no I spoke for another set of ears:
"God in heaven, I've never been a religious man but please I beg of you spare my home, I have nothing to give for I am nothing…"
Tears poured from my eyes, the salty fluid running down my cheeks before striking the hot tar covered surface of the roof under me.
"…please God I beg of you….save my ci….save me"
My eyes stung from crying but nonetheless I look one final look at the city I called home. That's when I saw our salvation, when I rose to my feet and paid heaven no more attention; I spoke no longer to God:
"Miracles don't just happen, people make them happen…"
I saw the giant robot I had never witnessed before, over the distance I knew it must be an Evangelion and as my eyes noticed the sun brushed purple I knew it was Unit 01 and Shinji.
"…MAKE IT HAPPEN SHINJI!" I yelled
Unit 01 ran, I watched as it ran very much like the human inside, the speed however was like nothing Shinji could ever ascertain nor myself for that matter as it was indeed superior.
I didn't know the plan was to catch the Angel, I didn't see any weapons upon the purple robot or I'd have assumed that the idea was to blast it out of the sky.
"Come on Shinji run!"
Even from the distance that I watched from I couldn't breathe as I witnessed Shinji's expanding AT field, despite failing to find oxygen I still watched with awe as Unit 01 reached up to stop the falling Angel.
My own muscles twitched and expanded as if my strength were being sapped into the Evangelion even though I knew this were not happening.
"Come on Shinji" I muttered to fill the void of silence about me; once again I was talking to myself.
Finally I drew breath as Asuka and Rei arrived to support Shinji, from my distance I couldn't witness the subtle difference between the three Evangelion units but to give me credit it was the first time I'd seen the Evangelion's I'd merely heard them mentioned or talked about them at home.
So this is what I'm going to be piloting
My eyes refused to blink at the Angel exploded, for a full two minutes I didn't more and no thoughts were within my head.
Then slowly a huge hand emerged from the newly formed crater, and then another and another. Slowly Units 00 and 02 climbed out the crater, the bright red of Asuka's Eva clashing with the tones of white and blue of Rei's Eva. Eventually Shinji within Unit 01 was pulled from the crater with the assistance of the other Evangelion's.
We had survived, another battle had been won.
Only then did I let myself celebrate.
"FUCK YES!" my fist being thrown into the air high above my head.
Authors Notes:
For this chapter I ended up watching the episode several times and I believe I've spotted a chronological mistake in Evangelion, I'm setting up a forum on the subject so feel free to check it out.
Metaphorical prizes also awarded for correctly recognising the small video game references used…just for fun.
Note to self: Never write the ending first then work backwards ever again!