"I do not understand."
Asuka snorted, and ignored Hikari as she tried to hold her back. "Don't give me that crap Wondergirl! I'm sure Gendo told you what happened to Shinji yesterday. Now, I'll repeat the question. WHAT THE HELL DID THAT ASSHOLE DO TO SHINJI?!"
Rei stared emotionlessly into Asuka's heaving red face. It was lunchtime in the class, but with the heavy screaming going on, you'd still expect the teacher to intervene.
Too bad he was cowering under his desk.
His day had started simply enough. It was like any other day. Ms. Ayanami had shown up early and started staring out the window like always. That was fine. Business as usual. Time had passed and people had started pouring in. That was fine too. He noted that Mr. Ikari was still out sick from his piloting duties, something not unexpected. Mr. Aida had been absent as well, and while this raised his eyebrow at yet another absence, he figured the lad was attempting to check up on Shinji, like the two had on Touji, before, well, his passing.
Then came the first sign of trouble. Ms. Langley-Sohryu had come to class twenty minutes late. He had decided not to question her on her absence just by the look on her face. He kept giving her nervous glances during the morning, as her anger seemed to only increase, and she shot angry glares over to Ms. Ayanami and to Mr. Aida's empty chair.
He kept glancing nervously between her and the clock as lunch approached. The moment the bell rang, Asuka shot from her seat, and he dove under his desk, preparing for the worst. And he got it.
"WHAT THE HELL DID GENDO DO TO SHINJI LAST NIGHT, FIRST CHILD?!"
That got the ball rolling. Had he dared peek over the top of his desk, he would have seen the entire class except Ms. Hokari riveted to their seats in fear that if they called any sort of attention to themselves, her wrath would fall on them.
No one wanted that. Lunch wasn't worth it.
That brought the time to the present. Rei's face darkened slightly at Asuka's term for Gendo, but she did nothing, only stared impassively. As the silence held for several seconds, Asuka's face suddenly grew agast. "He… he didn't…"
The class continued to stare, unable to do anything but watch as Asuka's mind melted into a shiny puddle. She started mumbling to herself as she shook off Hikari's grip and turned away from Rei. "I'll bet he did. It's exactly the kind of thing that bastard would pull. He did, didn't he?!"
She whirled back around then, to confront Rei. "I'll bet the bastard did! Shinji had to be out of Misato's today or Gendo said he'd kill him!" The entire class, including the teacher and Rei blinked. "It's exactly the kind of thing he'd pull!" Asuka was in full rant mode now, not stopping for anything. "He had some section two jackass sneak in and kill Shinji last night at twelve-o-one a.m., didn't he? No… that can't be… He'd never let that kind of thing leak by sending our security to do it."
Asuka was pacing now, but the silence of the classroom as they worriedly tracked her every movement made her every mumble audible. "No, he couldn't trust anybody with that, but he wouldn't do it himself either… unless…" Asuka gave Rei a sidelong look as she muttered this. "He got his puppet to do it for him… Yes, the ever-obedient little doll." She went back to Rei, and started yelling again. "You did it, didn't you? You seduced that poor vulnerable boy, dragged him out of the apartment, and MURDERED HIM, DIDN'T YOU?! DIE WONDER-BITCH!"
That was when Asuka leapt at Rei and began strangling her.
It took three section two agents to pry her off, and it was four weeks before she was allowed back for active duty.
Misato Katsuragi arrived at NERV in a state of disarray more pronounced than usual - even after one of her all night drinking binges. She was angry, tired and confused, and it was all grating on her as she stormed through the halls.
She and Asuka awoke that morning to an absent Shinji.
No note, no farewell jotted down on a pad, no nothing. She and Asuka had scoured the apartment, and several of Shinji's favorite places nearby for a few hours that morning, and turned up nothing. He was simply gone. Eventually she had sent Asuka to school, and continued on to NERV, to question Gendo.
No less than five guards scattered out of her path as she strode down the hallways, and she entered the room where the commander and sub-commander were speaking hushed tones conspiratorially.
Fuyutsuki was in her way, so she shoved him to the side with a barely audible 'sorry', not that she meant it. Gendo gazed at her impassively as she stormed in. "What the hell is going on Gendo?!"
The man stared coldly back. "The third child proved unreliable, so I had him removed."
Misato glared at him. That wasn't going to cut it and they both knew it. "I thought he had until the end of today, Gendo."
Gendo glanced down at his paperwork, looking for all the world as if he had much better things to do with his time. It was just to get under her skin, Misato knew. "He does."
"Then where the hell is he, Gendo?"
Gendo grunted, and attempted to wave Fuyutsuki back over, but Misato grabbed his hand. He turned towards her. "I have no idea where he is Major. Perhaps he's hiding under a rock like the sniveling coward he is."
He wrenched his hand out of hers and again motioned for Fuyutsuki. Before the older man could approach, however, she whipped her side-arm from its holster. Cocked the hammer, and placed at a point that settled between Gendo's eyes as her turned to regard her. "GOD DAMN IT GENDO! WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!"
Gendo stared at her, and Misato sighed and slowly replaced the hammer before placing the pistol back at her side. Gendo grunted. "Major, I truly have no idea where the brat is, nor do I in any way care. Now if you will excuse us…"
Misato spun on her heal and barreled out the door. She flipped off Ritsuko as the other woman passed her in the hallway just because of her blind obedience to Gendo before going home for a moment, to decide where else she should search for Shinji.
Asuka arrived ten minutes after she did, and they resumed their search.
Misato called in sick for the four weeks it took Asuka to get over the debacle with Rei.
Hikari Hokari walked home quietly, her body on autopilot, her mind elsewhere.
All her life, Hikari had tried to be strong. Not quite like Asuka, who wanted to be the best, but to be strong, to be there for others.
And she was failing.
First, her hopefully-maybe-one-day boyfriend of someday had died, the Evangelion he was starting up going berserk. He didn't die in the fight, for which Hikari was at first thankful.
But he had died just after she visited, not six hours later. She hadn't noticed it then, but she did now, thinking back on it. Touji had known he wasn't going to make it. He was saying goodbye in their last conversation, but she hadn't seen it. He'd made himself hold on just long enough to say goodbye to her, and then he'd passed on.
It made her feel a little sick. Who was she to deserve that kind of thing? What made her special enough to receive that last goodbye before he passed on. The weight of it was starting to eat at her, until early that very morning she had momentarily wished he had died in the entry plug, and that made her sick - in the literal fashion - with guilt.
But now Shinji and Kensuke missing, possibly dead, so soon after the fact, Touji's best friends…
She couldn't help but feel she'd failed everyone and everything in a spectacular fashion.
Hikari collapsed into an alleyway, curled into a fetal position, and began to sob quietly.
"Don't cry, chu…"
Hikari blinked some of the tears away at the soft voice. She looked up to see… something.
The 'something' was short an furry, most of the fur being a bright pink in color, with a white belly region. Wearing a red headband and a sash over one shoulder, the little, almost ewok-ish, creature smiled down at her and gently wiped away some of her tears with a velvet soft paw. "That's better, chu!"
Hikari couldn't help it. She smiled at the thing, who smiled even more brightly back. Hikari gently gathered the smaller creature up in her arms and pulled it into her lap after getting into a sitting position. If the thing minded, it didn't let her know. "I'm Chu-Chu. Who are chu?"
Deciding that this was a dream, Hikari also decided to answer the question.
"I'm Hikari…"
"What's wrong, chu?"
Hikari spilled the whole story to funny little thing she had deduced as female by the voice, and by the end was bawling again, soaking the little thing's fur.
It reached up with a soft little hand and caressed her cheek. "It's not your fault, chu. They'd want chu to be happy. I'm sure that no one blames chu."
"But, but…"
"No buts, chu! Chu-chu has seen many things. This is not your fault, chu! Chu have to keep going. Chu have to be happy for them."
Hikari smiled a bit and wiped her eyes. She gently lifted Chu-Chu off her lap and stood. She looked down at the waist high little creature. "Thank you for your words. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"
Chu-Chu scuffed her feet against the pavement a bit. "Can I come with chu? Chu-Chu doesn't have anywhere to stay…"
Hikari smiled. "Of course you can! But… can you pretend to be a stuffed animal for a bit? People might not understand if you just walked around by yourself."
Chu-Chu nodded. "I can do that, chu. I've had lots of practice playing doll, chu!"
Hikari smiled. "Good. Then it's settled."
She picked up her new friend and walked home, feeling much better about herself.
Rei sat quietly in Dr. Ritsuko's office while the woman went over he vitals, making sure that the second child had not damaged her beyond what had been apparent.
While her face remained passive, inwardly she frowned. I knew nothing of Shinji's disappearance. Surely there is a good explanation for all of this.
She looked over at the doctor. "Dr. Akagi, did you know of Shinji's disappearance?"
Ritsuko looked up from her notes. "Ah… yes. I had heard that. But not the details. It's no longer NERV's concern."
"…Thank you."
Rei left Dr. Akagi's office and walked down the corridors, which were silent except for her own footsteps. The doctor hadn't known details. That was unfortunate. She would obtain these details from the commander, however. While the details may not be necessary for the doctor, surely the Commander would know the details of Shinji's fate.
She strode quickly through the halls to the Commander's office. Opening the door and stepping inside, she saw him hunched over his desk, pouring over reports. She didn't mind that though. The Commander always made time for her.
"Go away."
Rei blinked, then resolved herself. He simply didn't know who was here. "Commander…"
His eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he looked at her, and she did not see the warmth that she usually did. These eyes were cold and hard and shocked her with their intensity.
"What?"
Had Rei been the type she would have audibly gulped. The commander was… not acting as he usually did. She decided to get on with it and ponder the unusual behavior later. "What happened to Shinji?"
His gaze got colder if anything. "Get out."
She blinked, but made no move to leave. The commander glared at her. "The Third Child has been terminated from NERV, First Child. Now… Get. Out."
Rei turned and left. She did not run, but her pace was much more brisk than her usual relaxed one. She did not let up until she reached her apartment, where she lay down on her bed, her mind on the Commander's behavior.
As she lay there, her mind turned to Asuka's comments on the Commander from earlier that morning. Asshole… From what she had seen others commenting on, the Commander's behavior that morning was something that definitely defined an 'asshole'.
Then there was Shinji. He had called his father a bastard, and she'd slapped him for it. She frowned. She'd seen some of the things that went on between the two, and she had to admit, looking on it after her own experiences, the Commander did not inspire… affection in others. Only in her.
Her frown deepened. It seemed that she was the exception to the rule. Just why had the commander always been so pleasant to her? Why did he risk himself for her, even though she could be replaced?
Why did she deserve that? It wasn't like she was unique, after all.
She didn't know the answer to that question.
For that matter, she didn't know any number of things, like why she was made in the first place. Certainly she was the first of the pilots, but that meant little. Shinji and Asuka had been born the natural way, and they were pilots as well. Trust issues didn't cover it. Shinji and Asuka had been kept in the dark on many things that she knew.
Then it hit her. The Commander was nicer to her, for the same reason he had explained he was nice to SEELE.
To curry favor.
Those who knew Rei Ayanami would have been startled to see a hardened look cross her face for a moment before it settled back on serenity.
So he doesn't want the others to find out what I know. Why? She paused to consider this. She really didn't feel like she knew anything exceptional, other than the details of her creation, and a few things about Central Dogma, which Dr. Akagi knew about as well. Or do I know more than I think?
I do not know the answers to my questions, but I will find out.
Two days in a row, the school bore witness to historic events.
In the morning before school, the teacher had waited nervously for class to start, and watched in silent horror as Asuka walked in and passed by Rei's desk.
Ms. Hokari was a trifle late, and raised some eyebrows at the large pink stuffed animal she was carrying, but in the wake of everything else it seemed trivial.
When Asuka passed by without even a sneer in Ms. Ayanami's direction, he trembled. Something worse was coming, he just knew it.
When the lunch bell rang without incident, Ms. Langley-Sohryu accompanying Ms. Hokari and the strange pink stuffed animal outside, he promptly went to the teacher's lounge to collapse onto a sofa, and take up smoking at three packs a day.
In the lunch yard, however, history was being made. Rei Ayanami was not sitting under her tree gazing into the distance just as she did during class. She was resolutely approaching the table of Asuka Langley-Sohryu.
Hikari Hokari noted the approach of Rei Ayanami from over Asuka's shoulder and trailed off in mid sentence. Asuka looked over her shoulder as well, following Hikari's gaze. She frowned. "Oh, great. What do you want, Wonder-bitch?"
Rei Ayanami spoke quietly as always. "It seems I have been mistaken about a great many things, Second Child. You are correct. The Comm…" Rei shook her head slightly. "Gendo is an asshole. And I was nothing more than a doll."
As Asuka's mouth dropped as Rei turned around to walk away. Rei did not get very far before Asuka recovered herself, though. "Hey, Wonder-Girl!" Rei stopped and turned back. "You're the slowest person I've ever seen! Taking this long to figure out what's been obvious to everyone else!" Asuka calmed slightly before continuing. "Now get over here and tell me what boneheaded maneuver the asshole pulled to beat the truth into you."
And history was made, as for the first time in anyone's memory, Rei willing ate lunch with two others. She continued to do so for the four weeks Asuka was suspended from duty, and beyond.
ClassicCowboy: can't really say much cause really I haven't done much with this fic, BUT I will say these wise words of wisdom that are wise … give us some reviews, folks! ROCK ON!!Neverwhere: Riiight. Anyways, yes, reviews are good. This chapter was so late because Cowboy has personal issues. Fortunately those should be resolved shortly. This chapter was all me again, so I'm dumping the next one completely on him.
Until I get bored out of my mind with his pitter-pattering extreme slowness/laziness and make it for him again.
But seriously, even if by some twisted fate I end up doing every chapter myself, this fic wouldn't be nearly what it is, or even exist without massive input from the guys.
Enough with the sap. Out.