I do not own the rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion, or any of the characters, equipment, or locations written in this fanfiction. The purpose of this fanfiction is merely for the non-profit enjoyment of other readers. If requested by Gainax, Hideki Anno, or other parties which represent aforementioned objects in this story, I will remove it promptly.
Chapter XX:
"Your first week," Misato grumbled. "This is only your first week, and you assaulted another student?" I just propped my head up with my left arm against the passenger door of the blue Renault. I was so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" the major shouted. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"It wasn't enough," I grumbled sleepily. "Should have thrown her out the window."
The car came to a sudden stop, my upper body flying towards the dashboard, the shoulder belt doing nothing but limply coiling out. The brakes shrieked, the wear limiters digging into the rotors like fingernails on a chalkboard. Misato was in my face in a matter of seconds. "This isn't funny!" she growled. "All you had to do was put up with it-"
"For HOW LONG?" I hollered. "I've been the subject of sexual harassment, vandalism, and defamation of character since the first day I showed up! I tried talking to the perpetrators involved, which did nothing. I've reported each case to the class representative, then to the teacher, and even to the principal when the chain of command failed to give results. You want to tell me what I should have done? I'm out of ideas."
Katsuragi's face relaxed, the woman leaning back in the driver seat, physically exhausted. "I don't know," she breathed, running her right hand through her hair. "But threats and intimidation are not the answer."
"Why not?" I grumbled. "All through my schooling I've avoided using violence against bullies, and you know where it got me? Even the nerds thought I was a wimp." Clenching my fists, I stared out at the road ahead. "If I don't stand up for myself and show these people there are consequences for their actions, I will never get respect." Misato was about to put the vehicle back in drive, when I pulled the emergency brake handle in the center console. "And tell me how in God's name does Asuka get away with blowing her stack in that school? She does far worse than I've done on a daily basis!"
Misato was left dumbfounded, her lips pulled shut in a mournful frown. "It isn't fair," she whispered. "I know it isn't, but violence will not solve it."
"Maybe I'll just check the student directory, and make sure Unit-04 accidentally walks over every house owned by the students' surviving family," I commented. "If there is some loss of life, it is of no consequence. Civilians are expendable." The major's skin turned white as she stared. She knew I wasn't joking, just as well as I wasn't. I didn't care anymore if I was killed when Tabris arrived or not. While I was alive, I would not allow anyone else to insult me, harass me, or use violence against me. I think the only reason Misato didn't try to slap me that very moment was the fact she realized I would not simply take it. She would take pain in return, as would anyone else who interfered. "I'm tired of these games, Misato," I grumbled. "If the principal doesn't have those vermin suspended by next Monday, I will go back there and settle things my way."
"I... pity you," she whispered, releasing the emergency brake, and pulling out into traffic again.
"Don't!" I muttered. "Pity is for the weak to take pride from the strong. Everyone who has tried to pity me in the past was worthless filth just trying to feel better about themselves. They actually claimed to be better than me because they suffered more, and therefore had more real world experience." I let out a disgusted huff. "Pity is used to punish winners and reward losers. I would rather die than be a good loser."
•••••••••••••
I had two days until the next Monday, when I would be allowed back to the junior high school. Kensuke volunteered to stop by my apartment on Saturday afternoon to give me the latest homework and in-class assignments. It frustrated me sometimes how much trouble I was putting Aida through. "You don't have to do this," I tried to explain to him.
"No one else would bring these to you," he said. "They are afraid."
"But they don't respect me, even if they fear me."
"No," Aida agreed, shaking his head. "They just hate you, and want to tease you." Walking into the apartment, Aida kicked off his shoes in the entry way, and followed me back to the living room. The both of us sat down at the couch, and Kensuke retrieved his notebook. It wasn't until another fifteen or twenty minutes until we spoke again. "How do you understand this subject so well?"
"It's math, so there's really not much to translate," I explained. "Why do you ask?"
"Can you... show me the answer to number three?"
It was geometry, about the same level of complexity as I had in high school. I never did understand why it was considered so tough. It was all just simple rules about congruent triangles. The only difficulties I had always came down to understanding the text. Even with tutoring, I still couldn't read any of the assignments, so the instructor agreed that Kensuke and I would pair up. The one thing I didn't realize was why he had assigned Kensuke and I to work together. That is, I didn't understand until we met on that Saturday afternoon.
Aida, for all of his abilities when it came to computers, avoided homework like the plague. What had resulted were bad grades and no grasp of the material. It took another two hours, but we completed the homework easily. "All you really have to remember are the order of sides and angles you can use to determine congruent triangles," I said. "The rest is thinking of ways to interpret the problem to meet your needs."
Just then, someone knocked at the door. It would figure, just when we were being productive. Setting the textbooks down on the couch, I walked up to door, peering through the peep hole. "Is the class representative a hostile?" I asked. Aida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and stared at me like I was out of my mind. "Can she be trusted?"
"You have to ask that?" the boy grumbled. Clearly I wasn't going to get my answer from him. Therefore, I resorted to the only action I could think of. Pulling the Jericho pistol from the holster on the small of my back, I racked the slide, slowly unlocked each deadbolt, and gripped the door handle. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door slowly.
"Why are you here?" I snarled, keeping the door open barely a crack, my eyes peering through the gap. The brunette's eyes went wide for a moment, and then narrowed in disgust. Shifting uncomfortably, Hikari advanced to the door.
"We need to talk," she said.
•••••••••••••
"You did WHAT?" Hikari screeched. It was irritating enough she did nothing when I asked her to stop the punks in class from harassing me, and then for her to criticize the only action I could take to try and put an end to it all. Now she was whining about the weak nine millimeter pistol I held in my hand, as well as the method I had gone to obtain it. "I... I have to go..." she stuttered.
"What is your hurry?" I stated, locking the door. "You came all this way to badger me about how I was just some chick on the rag. Now you come to find out I have a serious grievance, and you won't stay? Doesn't that go against your duties as class representative? Or is it the fact I am willing to do what I said I was going to do to finish this?"
The color faded from Horaki's face as she stumbled to the couch, Kensuke turning to confront me. "Susan!" he barked. "What is wrong with you? She is NOT the enemy!"
"Why?" I asked. "Is it because she holds a higher rank than us, or simply because she'll whine until she gets her way? Regardless, this threat cannot be ignored. She will turn against us at every opportunity. She is female, after all." Easing the hammer on the pistol to it's safe, half-cocked position, I made my way to the phone. "I'm calling a friend. She will escort you home. However, if you do not leave, I cannot guarantee your safety."
"This isn't right," Aida breathed. "We aren't murderers, and Hikari isn't a threat! She just came to talk."
"About what? About how she, the teacher, and everyone in the chain of command ignored my complaints? About how she and the administrators allowed the class to tease me? I took what option was left to me, and I expect the class representative to do the same."
•••••••••••••
Fortunately the steel door could handle a lot of abuse, because Asuka was very impatient when I did not answer immediately. "What are you thinking?"she started screaming, running over to Hikari. The class representative, pale in fear just a moment before, was smiling faintly, rising to her feet in excitement. Horaki was about to embrace the Second Child, before the German retracted in disgust. Horaki looked disappointed, but it was just as predicted. Asuka did not want to get close to anyone. There were no friends to trust, after all. Besides, Soryu had to focus on hating me, not the happiness of comforting a friend.
"You better start talking, Fifth!" the redhead growled just above a whisper.
"I am involved in something, and no one but a select few can know about it," I began. Suddenly the girls both cringed. "No, nothing like that. I can't believe you would even believe that, Second, especially after what I admitted to you."
"You could be lying, or just a sick pervert," she snarled.
"Hardly," I answered. "Kensuke, do you think the teacher's pet and the Kraut can be trusted?" Now it was Aida's turn to pale slightly. "We have two options. They can know now and we risk our cover, or we hope they don't pry. Which is it?"
"This never would have happened if you didn't act like a maniac!" he grumbled.
"I cannot simply allow people to visit," I protested. "Too many people show up, and NERV will start asking questions." The others didn't seem convinced. "If you hadn't noticed, there's a person who lives with me who shouldn't exist. If NERV finds out, we're screwed."
"What are you talking abou-?" Asuka began, just as the casually dressed figure of Ritsuko Akagi appeared in the kitchen. She had changed her appearance, her hair now a dark brunette, and extending just beyond her shoulders. The former doctor wore a pair of white khaki pants and a blue, sleeveless turtleneck top. While she was not recognized on the street from long range observation, anyone who knew the woman and was close enough to her would make the instant connection with the presumed dead Akagi. "Sh-she's supposed to be dead!" the Second Child yelped. When Hikari didn't understand Asuka's excitement, the two chattered in the local language, and immediately Horaki took a few steps back.
"Susan, I thought I told you no visitors," Ritsuko grumbled. "You are grounded."
Ever since she returned from California, Ritsuko had really put more effort into reinventing herself. She already had her financial situation handled, given a certain donation on my part. We spent the last couple days practicing regularly, and to trick each other, we would sometimes refer to each other by our real names. Whenever we fell for it, the punishment would usually involve practicing English or Japanese, depending on who was the victor.
Sometimes it irritated me just how well Akagi could play her new identity. "Sorry, Aunt Jill, but this is the class representative and her friend," I replied. "They just wanted to check on me, and deliver my missed assignments."
"And the boy?" she grumbled, raising an eyebrow in interest. Staring back at her, I shook my head, hoping she would realize my prior gender would keep me from ever thinking in that way.
"Kensuke is trustworthy," I explained. "We were just studying." Turning back to the class representative and Soryu, I gestured towards the door. "I appreciate the missed assignments, but I really must get back to work, Ms. Horaki," I said.
•••••••••••••
Kensuke stayed for dinner, which consisted of some rice, spinach, and some form of discount meat product Ritsuko had purchased from the local grocery store. I couldn't stand bland, white rice. I prefer to have it with chicken boullion and butter mixed in to give it better consistency or flavor. However, the doctor insisted the rice remain bland. We had gotten into a lot of arguments lately, and I could take a little variety if it meant not getting into another fight.
Unfortunately, the minute Aida was gone, the arguments started up again. "Misato told me about your suspension," Ritsuko sighed. "Did you really think I wouldn't know?"
"You would know eventually," I grumbled. "But it isn't your problem. I'm an adult. I make my own decisions. Also, I am, or I was, a college student. I shouldn't be stuck in secondary school in the first place." Shoveling the rice and spinach into my mouth, I bit down and swallowed the meal crudely, causing a look of disgust to cross the woman's face. "Finally, if Rokubungi were smart, he wouldn't force me into a school when I'm obviously a security risk. That is, unless he already has a covert operative in the class already."
"Can you stop acting like a savage just for once?" Akagi snapped, slamming her fists down on the table. "All you've done since you've been here is try to kill people!" Pushing her chair from the table, the brunette set her dish and silverware in the kitchen sink, beginning to scrub them down. "I can't live with you anymore," she sighed, "not if you are going to play mercenary."
"Where will you go?"
"I'm leaving," she answered without regret. "I have some money and my new identity, so I'll find a place in the United States."
"What about work?"
"I have former colleagues."
Shaking my head, I pulled the flash memory card from my shirt pocket. "I knew you would have to live on more than charity, so I took the liberty of having Maya alter your university records to your new name and identification numbers." Ritsuko nearly dropped the freshly clean dish in her hands. "Misato and Maya are more than willing to serve as references, as am I."
"Why are you helping me?" Ritsuko, or should I say Aunt Jill, asked. "You want to kill Gendo, you want to hurt these people at school, and you want to destroy Seele. Why me?"
"Honestly, I wanted to kill you the minute I arrived here," I replied. "I thought you could not be trusted, as Fuyutsuki and Gendo could not be trusted. Anyone directly involved with NERV's true purpose is a risk to the Children and the rest of humanity. Even Maya was a risk, because she would blindly follow orders without considering the morality of what you people have done." Taking another swig of milk, I set the glass down, thinking how I would explain this to her. "It's one thing if the Children choose to pilot the Eva, but it's another when you trick them into it and kill their mothers to make the Eva work. You also rely on them to fight the war for you."
"You still haven't answered my question!" the brunette growled. She was getting frustrated with my responses, as anyone would. Telling someone who has trusted you for so long that you had originally intended to kill them is not the best way to end a friendship.
"You were kind to me, as was Maya. Misato, I suppose she has to live, even though she's more of a parasite than a guardian." Ritsuko was seething with anger at this point, her whole body twisting into a coiled form, ready to lash out at me for my hateful words. But it was the truth, and I had no problem reciting my views coldly, giving a report on the situation at hand. "I'll offer Fuyutsuki the same chance I offered you, but I will not hesitate to pull the trigger when the time comes."
A single tear fell from the woman's left eye in frustration. "How can you hate so much?"
"Lots of practice," I muttered. "There's too much vermin, and not enough ammo."
End of Chapter XX
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