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 XXVI:
The first week of being officially deceased was quite interesting. I left the apartment, and instead spent those first five days at my safe house, the abandoned auto shop. The Grand National needed work, anyway. With what funds I had left, I ordered the parts for delivery.
The vehicle was fairly well maintained, but whoever thought a Grand National GNX should ever be run naturally aspirated was out of their minds. I managed to find a Grand National turbocharger with a ceramic turbine assembly, while I scrapped the exhaust manifolds for smog control equipped headers. While I neglected the smog pump and other emissions control equipment, the oxygen sensors were important to keep the electronic control module operating properly. I wasn't going to sacrifice parts I didn't need to, and there was no way I would switch over to a carburetor. The Bosch style 24 pound per hour fuel injectors would solve my fuel delivery problems.
The computer had to be adjusted. I can only thank the almost miraculous survival of the late eighties General Motors cars through the Second Impact salvage operations for there to still be a market for parts. Being an OBD One system, I needed a completely new chip. That would take about two months, but I kept myself busy with other tasks. Suspension, tires, electrical, and weatherstripping were minor tasks compared to the engine work.
By the end of that first week, the car had been torn down, and the plans made. Any shorts or damaged wiring had been repaired, while the t-tops were awaiting the new rubber. Polygraphite bushings would solve all the problems of joining the chassis and suspension components. It had been eight hour days just working on that car, while the rest was devoted to beginning my exercise regimen and sleep. It was a week of dirt, grime, and fatigue, but it was also a week of pleasure.
The joy ended as I returned to my apartment on that Saturday night. Ten o'clock at night, you would figure no one would bother you. That assumption was wrong, as I found Hiroshi Suzuki standing at my doorstep, arguing with the apartment manager. I was within five feet of them when they noticed me. "You... you're supposed to be dead!" Hiroshi squeaked.
"I get that alot," I hissed in return. Then I noticed the injuries to his arm, bruises and cuts mostly. Though through his movements, I could tell Hiroshi might have a broken bone he was trying to hide. "What's wrong? You wouldn't come here unless you-" Then it dawned on me. "It's Yuki, isn't it?"
"You just had to make enemies at her school, didn't you?" he snapped, charging me. I reached out for his broken arm, and twisted it. The eldest Suzuki sibling yelped, and stumbled to the catwalk floor. "Those girls!" he shrieked. "They put her in the hospital!"
"How bad?"
Hiroshi finally looked me in the eye. "Intensive care," he breathed. "They didn't hold back."
"Five girls, I take it? A fat one, four-eyes, two pedestrians, and a girl with an improvised haircut?" Hiroshi nodded. I looked at the apartment manager. "I can pay rent tonight if you care to step inside, but this gentleman and I have some business to attend to."
The manager shook his head. "Get it to me... when able..." he stuttered, running for the elevator.
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The Suzukis were furious when I arrived at their doorstep, both at Hiroshi for bringing me, and at what had happened to Yuki because of me. "I cannot do business with you anymore!" Mr. Suzuki shouted. "You know what you did to our daughter? And how am I supposed to explain to everyone at the bank that my best, deceased customer is making withdrawals?"
"You forge some cosigned papers in my alias's name," I explained. "As for your daughter, I'll settle that tomorrow."
"You think we're going to trust you?" Mrs. Suzuki cried. "You're a criminal! You've attacked people!"
"If you're going to complain," I hissed, "then get the story right." The sawed-off twelve gauge Ithaca Model 37 was the only weapon with enough stopping power I could conveniently hide under my green jacket, since I had changed into the pink t-shirt, black mini-skirt, and white sneakers. However, the implications of my gestures and the weapon I was carrying were not lost on the Suzukis, regardless of my attire. "I've killed nearly an entire platoon of soldiers, vaporized a city block, and threatened the most powerful men in the world. By the time I'm done here, I intend to kill a hell of a lot more."
While they were about to shut the door on me, Hiroshi, to his credit, held his parents back. "I can't make it right," I explained. "Nothing will ever make it right. It's done, and I'm sorry I couldn't stop it before it got to this." I pumped a round into the shotgun. "But I can get even."
"What's that going to do?" Mr. Suzuki yelled. "Violence leads to more violence!"
"Violence only continues if there's more than one side standing!" I snarled. "After tomorrow, there won't be!"
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The eldest Horaki sister opened the door to their small, well-kept house. Apparently midnight visitors were not unheard of for this girl. "Speak English?" I asked.
"...Some..." she said. She held up her finger a moment, and closed the door gently. A few minutes later, and one very tired, very frustrated Hikari later, the conversation began. "She speak very good English." Hikari cringed at this last sentence, and then cringed when she saw me.
"You-why are you alive?" the class representative began. I studied both of the girls and the surrounding area before responding. Both Hikari and who I guessed was Kodoma were dressed in pajamas, the class rep in a very conservative night gown, with her sister the basic shirt and pants outfit. Her sister reacted very oddly to Hikari's question. It was about then she must have recognized my face in the newspaper, the front cover no less. Later on for graduation, I took a picture of myself holding up the article titled "Junior High Student Slain!" as a joke for the graduating class.
"Yuki Suzuki," I began, thinking about how stupid a name her parents chose for her. I pulled the right flap of my jacket aside, showing the shotgun dangling by the short tactical sling from my shoulder. "Tell me about her."
Now Kodoma was shaken. Hikari, however, simply glared. It was nice to know someone who didn't respond to threats, even if she did hate me. Grudgingly, she let me in, although her sister protested the entire time. "The parents have already removed her from class, and want her transferred to Tokyo-2," Hikari started. "But it will be a while before she will attend a class again."
"You know far more than I expected. I just wanted to know who did it."
Hikari sighed. "You know who it is already, or you wouldn't be carrying that."
"Oh come on! I've carried weapons far more dangerous than this around town dozens of times!" Hikari plugged her ears at this, and started shaking her head. "Oh, right, you don't want to know." Kodoma looked at me, then the weapon, then back at my eyes. "Something wrong?"
"N-no..." she lied. it wasn't until I looked in a mirror on my way out that it made sense. My eyes were still black, and now it appeared the whites were starting to lose their brightness, fading to gray.
"I need to know everything," I said. "Their friends, family, phone numbers-"
"You wouldn't!" Hikari shouted "You wouldn't dare try that, would you?"
"That's Misato's line."
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I decided to hold back on the attack for a couple days, until I had time to absorb everything I learned from the class rep. She probably gave me false intelligence, anyway, so I needed time to confirm it. There was only one other thing I could think about doing before I went from being a colorful side character to one of Japan's most wanted serial killers. "When you come out of this, if you come out of this," I said, "I have something for you." The girl's eyes shifted slightly, but then went back to their glazed appearance. "It's called a future. I've got some starter money in your name, and some for Rei. You can do whatever you want with it, either go back to Germany and get yourself a house, keep living here, or..."
I thought for a moment that I shouldn't make the suggestion, but I should have at least offered. "Or, you can stay with me. I gave Ritsuko the option as well, but she was smart and left. I have a place and an identity to help me disappear if things get rough, and I'm certain they will. I still need to actually visit the place and build a house on the land, but Ritsuko assures me it met my requirements. I'll live 'off the grid', with my own water, electricity, and no way to be traced back to NERV."
Turning my hand to view my watch, the face on the inner surface of my wrist rather than the conventional method, I noted my time was up. "I'll visit again after, if they don't catch me."
•••••••••••••
I was still wondering if I could resolve the problem with less than lethal means two days later when one of the suspected girl's older brothers drove by, and threw a rock in my general direction. It was just a short walk from Rei's apartment to mine, but it was obvious they were observing me. The rock was about fist-sized, and struck me hard in the left calf.
It was then I pitied being female. It would have just been a bad bruise had I been in my original body, the result of a strong skeletal structure from birth, and excessive consumption of calcium from various sources. As it was, I wasn't in my original body, my bones being more slender, more fragile. Just tapping my shin with my index finger was proof enough it was more than a bruise. I could hardly stand just lying there.
In typical Tokyo-3 fashion, everyone who was walking nearby suddenly bolted, or turned away. I was smart enough to remember the Japanese word for "help", but no one came. Then things got worse. The car was backing up, and turning around. Driving the wrong direction on the road, especially at a much slower speed than what is the posted limit for that particular commercial district is usually a bad sign.
At least I got a good look at the license plate number.
•••••••••••••
Maya, again, was the first person at the hospital, but Misato was a close second, and only because she was clear across town tending to the garden Kaji left behind. She had been taken off of active duty, much like her rogue boyfriend, all for helping me defeat the enemy which threatened mankind. That was one of the few thoughts that kept running through my head as the morphine worked it's way through my veins.
How could the people in this city be such bastards? I did my job, didn't I? I only fought back when someone delivered the first blow. Even while I refused to take risks, and kept myself armed to the teeth, I was at least polite enough to deserve polite treatment. You don't run someone over with a car for retribution when your own sister started and lost the fight.
"Susan?" Misato whimpered, brushing my hair from my eyes. "Please, talk to me! Tell me what I can do to help!" Ibuki stood beside her, a weak, tear-stained smile on her face. I must have been clenching my fists, because they knew I was angry, and they tried their best to keep me calm. "We thought you were dead! Why didn't you tell us anything?"
"Unit-04," I began. However, Misato shook her head, and put her index finger to my lips, trying to silence me. "But that is what I want! Get me Unit-04, unarmed if necessary, but equipped with a palette rifle if you can manage."
Maya walked out of the room, giving me one last glance, while Katsuragi stayed behind. "Why are you doing this to yourself?"
"ME?" I ground out through clenched teeth. "Why am I doing this? Did you just miss the part about someone deliberately running me over with a car? Did you miss Shinji and Kensuke being assaulted because they knew me as an acquaintance? Did you miss the platoon of soldiers in Nevada who killed and raped anyone they could in our task force?" She reacted visibly when I recalled the last two incidents. That was when I used my only good arm, my left, to swat her hands away. "They started it, not me! I just finish it, and if you don't get me Unit-03, I'm going to find another way to finish this."
"Why should I help you?" she shot back. "You can't do anything from this bed, anyway." The major was right, of course. I had left my weapons back at the apartment that day, except for the folding knife, which was quickly confiscated. My left arm was practically the only thing not strapped down to the guerney, either because everything else was fractured, or my reputation preceded me. "You should be thanking me that I've kept the rest of NERV from finding out you are here. Not even Section Two knows what happened."
"If you even listened to Kaji before they put a bullet in his head, you would know I am the only ally you have!" I always have a habit of knowing precisely the most painful thing to say to a person, and having the nerve or lack of good sense to say it. Misato's mouth quivered just for a moment as she held the rest of her face blank, expressionless. Though the damage had been done. I could have been stuck in this hospital bed until Third Impact if she wouldn't cooperate.
She walked calmly to the door, opened it, walked through, and closed it gently. It was only after she was a few feet from the door, out of my field of view that I could hear her run down the hall, crying. Of course, I would just have to do it. But I didn't feel bad at all about hurting her, or anyone else. The only thing I really did feel was anger for being so helpless, when I should have crushed my enemies with brute force by now.
"I'm going to hell, aren't I?" I spoke aloud.
"Yes, you are," the woman in the blue dress answered in my head.
End of Chapter XXVI
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