APRIL 15th, 2015
9:36am
NERV HQ, CAFETERIA:
Kaji took the first sip of his morning coffee, much later than he had expected to. He would've prepared it at home, but had ran out just the night before. He felt relieved when the caffeine gave him the boost he sought after this morning.
'Just another addictive liquid... though I'd rather be hooked on this rather than anything else.' He mused.
'Misato should consider replacing her beer intake with this stuff every morning.'
He was taken out of his thoughts when he saw a beautiful young woman, looking a few years younger than him, sitting further upfront. She was a brunette, and had a shoulder length haircut.
She was NERV personnel, but wasn't high ranking. Just another worker from a smaller division within the organization. With a smirk, he grabbed his cup and headed over to introduce himself.
"Excuse me, may I seat myself next to you?" He asked politely. The woman was a bit intimidated at first, though she didn't feel like she was in any danger. She and her colleagues had seen Kaji around, and had all agreed he was quite the attractive man. She was only intimidated because there was quite a talk about him between the girls in HQ, at least the ones who didn't know of his womanizing.
"Um, yeah. Sure." She replied sheepishly.
He sat down on the seat directly next to hers, surprising her because she expected him to sit at least one seat away. She chose not to say anything though, seeing this as her only chance to be this close to him.
"I don't believe I've seen you around here before." He started, the deepness of his voice only serving to attract her even more. She hadn't heard him talk before, but liked what she was hearing.
"A-Ah, well... I'm usually at the Weapons Department. I don't buy my food here often, but I had to rush over because I was late." She explained.
"And so, here you are." He said, a smirk still plastered to his face.
"I don't come here often either, I just needed the boost, y'know." He said, pointing to his cup.
'Is he making small talk? With me?' She wondered to herself.
"May I ask what your name is? I'm Ryoji Kaji." He said, offering her a handshake.
"Aoi Tanaka, pleased to meet you, Mr. Kaji." Said the woman, shaking his hand.
"So... how busy are you right now? We could just... sneak off somewhere quiet..." He suggested, changing subjects rather quickly. Flustered, she turned her head to avoid her own embarrassment.
"U-Um! W-Wha- I mean- Haha, I-I'm flattered and all, but-" She started, interrupted by Kaji's arm wrapping around her shoulders. This was all happening so fast that she barely had any time to react. She was, however, really enjoying it.
"I never had the courage to go up to talk to you. Sorry if I'm awkward..."
"Don't worry about it, it's cute." He assured her.
"I wish I had noticed you sooner, could've started things off sooner." Said the seductive man.
"I've seen you around so many times." Aoi stated. "You're... kinda hard to miss." She added. He chuckled.
"Why, thank you. Much appreciated, Aoi." He said, his head inching closer to hers. He saw her biting her lip, a smile growing wider and wider. Kaji knew what he was doing.
"You know, PDA is highly unprofessional in a workplace..." Beamed Misato from directly behind them, catching them off-guard. She tried playing it cool like Kaji would, but she was obviously irritated.
"Ah! M-Major! I-I'll... just get going. I have... stuff to do-" She said, embarrassed by Misato's presence. As she left, she gave Kaji a little wave goodbye. He returned the favor with a smirk and a wink.
"You really are a pig, Kaji. HQ is NOT some brothel for you to fuck around in. For god's sake, keep it in your pants!" She said, going a bit overboard on her scolding him.
Kaji's smirk lessened, and he looked back down at his coffee. Misato knew from experience that whenever he got this quiet, he was usually not amused. She sighed.
"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have been that harsh." She kindly apologized. He chuckled.
"I mean, you are right." He said in an attempt to keep her from guilting herself any longer.
"So, what is it that you need, Misato?" He asked abruptly.
"Well, aren't you quite the mind reader?" She sarcastically stated, grabbing a seat for herself across the table from him.
"I know for a fact that you wouldn't come looking for me if it wasn't work-related, best not to beat around the bush. So what's up?" He asked, again showing his need to be direct.
"Well-" She started, looking to see if there was anyone around. Kaji noticed her checking to see if the coast was clear, and leaned in closer.
"-okay, I've been finding Ritsuko and the Commander's behavior somewhat... suspicious, lately." Kaji's eyes narrowed slightly.
"What makes you say that?" He questioned.
"Lately Ritsuko has been very secretive about certain aspects of our work. Something feels weird about it." She answered.
"Well, you know how things are over here. She's probably signed some non-disclosure agreements regarding certain parts of her work. I mean we all know the truth regarding Second Impact, part of our job is making sure that info doesn't spill into public consciousness."
"Yes, but this feels off. Just yesterday, up at the Command Center, the team and I witnessed something that was strictly impossible. Of course Ritsuko didn't tell me anything, and I felt as if..." She said, stopping as she thought more about the incident.
"Felt as if what?" He asked, wondering why she had taken a short pause.
"...I felt as if I was the only one there who didn't know what was going on." She admitted.
"Well you can't know for sure, Misato..." He said, trying to downplay it.
"If you were there, you'd know what I mean. Ritsuko was in shock, but she clearly knew what was going on. Even Makoto, Maya and Shigeru barely reacted. Something feels amiss here... I just don't know what."
Kaji took the last sip of his coffee and put his now-empty cup aside.
"Look Misato, if there's anything I've learned from working with NERV, it's that some secrets are best kept hidden. Trust me." Kaji said to her. She frowned in disappointment and looked down at the table.
"Hmm, should've known asking you would get me nowhere..." She said, sounding rather disappointed.
"Hey, listen to me-" He said, the tone of his voice sounding sweet as it did confident. She looked back up at him, ready to take his wisdom in, just like the old days.
"Don't frown so much..." He said, throwing her off completely.
"...you'll get wrinkles!" He joked. Misato dropped her head and couldn't help but chuckle, albeit in a somewhat irritated manner.
"I hate you sometimes..." She said, also joking.
"Good! That means you sometimes don't hate me. I'll take what I can get." He said before getting up to push in his chair.
"I'll see you around, Misato." He said as he headed out.
"Yeah, see you." She replied. 'Still making those smart ass comments, I see...' She thought as she watched him wink at a group of girls on the way to his office. She rolled her eyes and looked back down at the table.
'I have nothing to do here... better head back up to the Command Center.' She thought as she too began to make her way to her destination.
Many friends and co-workers had greeted him as he passed by, a testament to how loved the guy was. A lot of them wanted to chat, but Kaji had to keep his interactions short, as he needed to work for the day.
As he was making his way over to his office, he noticed that the halls were empty. Looking behind him, he saw that he was alone in that stretch of the hallway. He reached his office and sat himself down on his desk, closing the door behind him and locking it.
He sighed. He had been filled in on yesterday's incident involving the A.T. Field. He knew everything the Commander and Ritsuko knew. Not by word of mouth, not by snooping on them, but by working directly with them.
He hated having to lie to Misato like that. He could tell she was genuinely frustrated. But most of all, she was concerned. That was what hurt him the most, he had to lie to her when all she wanted was the truth. Just like he did.
He rested his face on his left hand, letting out another long sigh. His right hand reached for his pack of smokes, wanting something to ease the guilt he was feeling. There was a lot on the man's mind.
It was as if the overly-confident bachelor had finally dropped his facade for a second. If anyone were to catch him looking this, they'd think he had gone through something utterly devastating.
The truth was that the smooth-talking womanizer persona was just a mask, one of many. It was his most honest mask, as it was more akin to his true self. He only amplified it for effect.
After a few drags got his mind racing, he booted up his computer and started work on today's task; conducting background searches on new recruits. This was what he did most of the time. But even then, it wasn't very often.
*BEEP* "Mr. Kaji, you have orders to report to Commander Ikari's office immediately." Ordered a phone operator's voice through the speaker on his desk's phone.
"Roger." He said, clicking his mic off.
"Well that didn't take long." He uttered to himself, trying to finish his cigarette as quick as he could.
GENDO'S OFFICE:
"Double agents?" Asked Kaji, sounding rather surprised.
"Yes, 3 of them to be exact. There used to be 4, but one of them spotted Section 2 spying on them. They had to sort him out." Explained the Commander.
"So double agents have infiltrated NERV, and not even Section 2 can properly tail them? How embarrassing." Kaji said with a facetious tone.
"If any other personnel catch wind of this, then yes, it would be embarrassing. But they won't, because you will handle these agents."
"Who are these double agents, anyway?" He asked, knowing what it was that Gendo wanted him to do.
"Michi Ono, Akihiro Higa, and Sayuri Tanji. They have likely heard of their colleague's disappearance. You must be quick."
"You want them gone?" He asked flatly.
"Erase everything. The targets, their belongings, all of it." Ordered Gendo.
"Even their homes?" Asked Kaji.
"All trace." Replied the Commander.
"I see. Well, this is a new one for me." Stated Kaji, a sinking feeling now in his chest.
"Do you have anything to say about this?" The Commander asked, noticing something in Kaji's expression. "No no, it's just..." He said, thinking about his task.
"I've only ever been sent to retire Angels. This is the first time I'm silencing people who were born." He finished.
"What's the difference?" Gendo inquired, not sure as to why Kaji even brought that up. He looked down, wondering why this was affecting him more than it did when he killed Angels.
"To be born is to have a soul, I guess." He answered.
"Are you telling me no?" Asked Gendo.
"I wasn't aware that was an option, sir." Kaji replied, not trying to avoid any of his tasks.
"Very well. Get on it." Ordered Gendo once more. Kaji nodded and turned for the elevator, his new task awaiting him outside the Geo Front.
'I'll start off with Ono.' He thought to himself. 'I know exactly where he lives.'
About 10 kilometers away from Tokyo-3, Ono's protein and rice farm stood amidst the thick, gloomy smog blocking out the natural sunlight. Kaji was taking a NERV Special Unit Spinner, basically a cop car for NERV personnel.
The auto-pilot led the way as Kaji napped on the pilot seat. A sleeping pilot was a very common sight inside a spinner, so no one feared an accident. As the vehicle approached its destination, an alarm went off to wake up the passenger.
Kaji opened his eyes and mentally prepared for the encounter. He was not looking forward to it. Off in the distance, Ono's house was visible. Alone, desolate, isolated... devoid of any beauty.
Lucky for Kaji, it wasn't raining that day. It was only overcast, as it usually was in that region of Japan. He didn't have to worry about toxic rain drops touching his skin. Discomfort was still present, however, as the overwhelming tropical heat still lingered, as it always did.
Next to the house was what looked like a green house. Inside, Ono himself was busy farming synthetic protein for himself and to sell on the side. The environment in which he grew this stuff was toxic to humans, so he had to wear a special suit to ensure his safety.
The aircraft flew directly above the house, alerting Ono as it did. If it was any other spinner, he would be unconcerned. But this was very obviously a NERV Patrol spinner. His attention was taken from his farming, and he watched the silhouette of the vehicle land next to his tree.
Once the spinner came to a stop, Kaji opened the door and stepped out. He looked around, not finding any trace of people or even a single person anywhere.
'Yup, looks exactly the same since the last time I visited.' He mused. Kaji snapped twice while looking over at the roof of the spinner. A drone detached itself from it and hovered upwards.
"Keep an eye out. Alert officials if you spot a runner." He ordered. The drone complied and circled the area.
His face expressed a feeling of nothingness within him. This was the true Kaji, a melancholic man who focused on his work, even if he didn't enjoy one bit of it. There was no one around to see him for who he truly was, so his 'mask' remained off.
He reached the front door and let himself in, being careful not to alert anyone that might've been inside. Outside the green house, Ono was busy spraying his suit down with water to remove any toxic residue off of it.
Once the water trickled off, he removed his mask and looked over at the spinner. Any chance he had of running away was ruined by the drone's surveillance of the area. There was nothing he could do but head inside.
After he finished removing the rest of the bulky suit he was wearing, he too entered his front door and entered his home. He didn't know where this person was, but he knew he would be waiting somewhere inside.
Ono proceeded to walk over to the kitchen area to finish preparing his meal. He had left a pot of garlic, water boiling inside making way for a delicious scent. He finally got to his pot and reached for it, until a voice caught his attention.
"I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty. I was careful not to drag in any dirt." Kaji stated, out of the blue. Ono turned to his left, finding the ponytailed man casually sitting in his chair.
Kaji would never let himself be this vulnerable around an Angel, since their enhanced strength would easily put him in danger. But Ono was no Angel, he was just another human like Kaji. Just another agent, also like Kaji.
"I don't mind the dirt." Replied Ono as he reached for his glasses.
"I do mind unannounced visits." He added, looking very displeased at Kaji.
"Hello Ono." Kaji greeted awkwardly.
"Kaji." Ono replied unenthusiastically. There was a short silence between the two, both knowing what the problem was.
"The Commander send you himself?" Asked Ono.
"Good guess... Yes, he did." Responded Kaji.
"Gonna follow all his orders? Even if you're one of us?" Ono asked aggressively.
"I'm just doing what I can, Ono. Some of us were bound to be caught."
"Yet you could easily spare the rest of us and fib to Ikari about it. You don't have to do this..." Bargained Ono, thinking of ways to convince Kaji not to do him in.
"You didn't see the drone outside? They're watching us, Ono... this can't end well for the both of us." He said.
Ono looked down, trying hard to accept the fact that he had reached the end of the line.
"I'm sure you knew it would be someone in time. I'm sorry it had to be me." Kaji added.
"Good as any." Replied Ono, turning at an angle to hide his right hand from Kaji. He reached into his small utility pouch and grabbed ahold of a tiny, sharp combat knife.
"Ono, this isn't personal. If you were sent to snuff me, I'd have to accept my fate. So... let's make this easy, yeah?" He said as he began to unholster his PKD pistol.
"Let's." Said Ono as he swung his knife at Kaji. Ono's knife was stopped by Kaji's quick reflexes as he grabbed his arm to block to attack. Ono tried giving Kaji a kick on his side, but his opponent was quick to dodge it.
Kaji reached for his gun but Ono managed to slap it out of his hand, dropping it on the floor. Ono tackled Kaji, both landing on the dusty hardwood floor. Ono continued to push his knife towards Kaji, but he was able to keep it from stabbing him.
Kaji managed to kick at Ono's foot, tripping him over. He also was quick to grab the knife and throw it across the room so that it was no threat to him. Kaji proceeded to punch Ono's face multiple times, trying to disorient him enough to be able to finally take him out.
Ono was able to sneak one good punch at Kaji's face, hitting him below his right cheekbone and giving him a noticeable cut. Kaji grunted loudly, but was quick to repeatedly hit the man again. Finally, Ono was too exhausted to fight back.
Kaji stood up, his left cheek now bleeding, staring Ono down as he breathed heavily.
"Please don't get up." He said, his heart beating at a rapid pace. He glanced around the room looking for his pistol, finding it was lying on the floor just a few feet away.
He went over to grab it, and stood in front of Ono again, waiting for him to say something.
"How does it feel? Killing your own peers?" Asked Ono through heavy breaths, slowly standing up.
"Horrible. I don't want any part of this." He answered.
"And yet you still do Ikari's dirty work, simply because you want to survive? You're scum, Kaji. Fucking scum." Spat Ono.
"I may be dead soon enough, Ono. There's no ensuring my safety. I'm simply trying to uncover the truth." Replied Kaji.
"We all are... why stop us from doing the same? WHY?" Ono asked.
Kaji didn't answer, and stared at Ono with a frown. The anger inside Ono reached its boiling point, and he stepped forward to attack Kaji again. His gun was raised and two shots were fired.
Kaji watched Ono collapse onto the ground. Blood oozed from his body, and the life was drained out from this once-living being. Kaji sighed as he holstered his gun. He turned for the door and headed back outside.
He looked up at the grey sky, as if trying to communicate to the dead.
'Forgive me, Ono.' He thought. He turned his attention to the drone and snapped twice at it again.
"I'm burning the joint. Have a demolitions team clear this area after I'm done." He ordered as he went to the trunk of the spinner. After opening the back of his vehicle, he took out a canister of gasoline. He was going to burn the house down with Ono's body inside it.
After a few minutes of pouring the flammable liquid inside the house, he poured some more in a trail outside so he could safely light the whole house up. He pulled out his zippo lighter and the fire was set ablaze. He also lit a cigarette. The spinner's door opened and Kaji sat down on the pilot's seat.
"Call the Commander." He ordered to the built-in monitor inside the vehicle. Gendo answered the call and a live feed of the man himself appeared on the screen.
"Hello again, Kaji. You're hurt." Said Gendo, noticing the cut on Kaji's cheekbone.
"Barely, I can manage." He coolly replied.
"Is it done?" The Commander asked.
"Yes, Ono's been taken care of." He said as he snapped toward the drone to show Gendo the burning house.
"Perfect, that will do for today." He said.
"What about the other two?" Kaji asked, having been ready to take them out too.
"I've decided to bring them in for questioning first. Ono was just one factor in a bigger picture, so we didn't need him anyway." Explained Gendo.
"Return to HQ. You're done for the time being." He added before hanging up. Kaji was unsure of what to think of himself now. He had just killed his ally, all because he was ordered to. He wondered if he should have even done it in the first place.
Before leaving the area, he took a few minutes to sit down in the patrol spinner, watching the fire quickly engulf the rest of Ono's old home.
'We'll see each other soon enough, Ono. I promise.' He mused.
He put his smoke out and brought both his feet into the vehicle. The drone re-attached itself to the roof of the spinner and the door closed. He was on his way back to HQ.
NERV HQ, KAJI'S OFFICE:
The door remained locked behind him as he was resting face down on his desk, cushioned by his arms. He wasn't crying, but was really was feeling the guilt loom over his head.
He felt like an imposter, having gone over to kill Ono. They weren't really friends, but were both very passionate about uncovering the truth. Out of all the double agents that had been planted at NERV, Kaji was the most dangerous.
He was a triple agent; NERV's special inspector, the Japanese Ministry of the Interior's fly on the wall, and a sort of 'gun for hire' for Gendo's affairs with SEELE. They all searched for the truth, but Kaji had a different way to go about it.
Ono and the other agents were doing this in hopes of seeing justice being brought forth. They wanted to expose NERV for what it was; a shady organization. As shady as SEELE, who Gendo was secretly working with this whole time.
Kaji, on the other hand, was doing it for himself. He wasn't seeking justice, he wanted the truth for himself. No organization held him down, this was all for him and him only.
He thought back to Misato's concerns regarding the Commander and Ritsuko. She just wanted the truth, like he did.
'Should I let her in on it? What if harm comes her way?' He mused.
For the first time in a while, he felt the need to leave HQ. He often stuck around to flirt with random women or to chat old friends up, but he was spent. After what he had to do, he didn't feel he deserved anyone's attention.
He packed his suitcase and made his way out, turning off all lights before locking the door with his keys. Down the hall, a woman's footsteps could be heard. It was Ritsuko, and as she continued making her way down the hall, she saw Kaji for the first time today.
"Hey Kaji." She started. "May I ask you for a favor, actually? I have to run upstairs to run some tests with Maya, can you take these papers and make copies for me? You can leave them on my desk when you're done-"
She stopped talking upon seeing the thick band-aid on Kaji's cheek after he looked over at her. His expression was strange, something she had never seen from him before.
"Um, nevermind... I can take care of it." She said, not wanting to bother him. Kaji nodded, only allowing her to see him in such a state. Had he known she was passing by, he would've donned his usual smirk.
He trusted she wouldn't say anything about it, though. She knew it was something Gendo had sent him to do, so she didn't touch on it. He appreciated her leaving him alone very much.
He took a minute to regain his composure, and finally felt ready to deal with the world again. He took the elevator down to NERV HQ's main floor. As he stepped out of it, many familiar faces began to pop up.
It was a barrage of hellos, compliments, girls giving him the look... the usual. His cool attitude returned, and he was back to being the usual Kaji. At least, what people thought to be the usual Kaji.
People asked him about the band-aid on his cheek, to which he replied it was just a cut from when he was shaving. Everyone bought it, of course. Not realizing there were bruises on his body from the fight he had with Ono.
He made sure to cover the bruise forming on his cheek with some makeup, so no one was able to tell it was from a fist fight. On his way out, he made sure to wink at the pretty women around HQ.
The mask was back on.