Kaji left Misato's apartment after speaking with Shinji (and plenty of encouragement from Misato.) He walked the streets of Tokyo-3, fairly confident in his destination. Shinji's description wasn't great, but it was enough. He couldn't risk asking anyone at NERV, it would be too suspicious. There was something going on with that girl, and he was determined to find out.
He reached a place that seemed to fit the description, in a run-down corner of the city. Metallic banging rang out every few seconds, and he felt sorry for anyone who had to live near it. Judging by the abandoned state of the apartment complexes in front of him, Rei may have been the only one who did. He felt sorry for her. And he felt his desire to help Shinji go up as well. Shinji seemed to be the only one, himself included, who was worried about her wellbeing.
He stood in front of a row of apartment buildings, stretching out for what seemed like an endless distance. All identical, all abandoned. He remembered Shinji's directions. Fifth building down, number 403. He made his way there, being as silent as he could. Section 2 may still be crawling all over this place. If what Misato said was true, she left basically everything she owned at her house, which wasn't much. He climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, and the building was in worse shape than he saw from a distance. Water pipes were burst, long since run dry, and rusted by age. Newspapers, bottles, cans, and clothing were strewn about on the floor, which was rough, bare concrete.
He reached her room and looked at the door. It was rusting and the mail slot was fit to burst. The doorbell was broken, the once-white plastic gnarled and yellow. He tried the handle and found it was unlocked. In fact, he wasn't even sure if the door had a lock aside from the small chain lock that was so rusted it could likely be broken by a firm push. The door opened with a loud squeak, scaring away the birds that had gathered by the railing behind him. Kaji had his hand on his holster in case he needed it. He scanned the room and found no signs of life. What he did find was shocking.
He flicked on the light switch and was greeted with a complete dump. The floor, walls, and ceiling were bare concrete. A small kitchen sat in the entryway, and Kaji walked into the main room. There were three pieces of furniture in it. A bed, still stained with blood. A metal tray or cabinet of some sort, and a dresser. The light on the ceiling was broken, and the moonlight from the window was the only source of illumination. The floor was littered with bloody bandages. On the tray were a variety of medications. Kaji picked up some of the containers. Ibuprofen, thalidomyde, lithium, tacrolimus, edoxaban. Painkillers, blood thinners, anti-rejection drugs, anti-cancer meds, and… mood suppressants. Kaji scowled. They had this girl doped up and living in isolation 24/7, no wonder she had no social skills. What was NERV doing? This would kill him if he took it, let alone a frail 14-year-old girl. There were far too many bottles for them to only be for occasional use.
He looked around the house more. The dresser was empty, in fact, one of the drawers looked to be broken. The bathroom was tiny, and Kaji confirmed that lukewarm was the hottest the water got.
'Who the hell lets a teenage girl live in these conditions?' he thought in disbelief. Then he pictured the commander's cold stare, and it erased any doubt. He looked around a final time, trying to find anything else of use. He looked in the corner of the room and noticed a small camera. It was barely noticeable, but Kaji had a trained eye. He knew they bugged Headquarters, but houses as well? He made his way out of the apartment, heading back to Misato's.
He called her up before he arrived.
"What the hell do you want, Kaji?" she said. "I'm not gonna fu-"
"Actually, Katsuragi, I needed to speak with you," he said.
"About what? It's 11 pm!" came her response.
"Personal matters," he said. "I'll be up in a minute."
Misato groaned, "Goddamnit," she mumbled, hanging up.
Kaji smiled and took the elevator to her floor. He knocked on the front door, and it promptly opened.
"What do you want?" she whispered.
"I couldn't discuss it over the phone, nor in here," he said quietly. He motioned for her to come with him to the hallway.
She followed, scowling. "This better be good," she mumbled.
"I went to the apartment of Shinji's little crush," he said. It took a moment for Misato to get what he was saying.
"And?" she asked.
"The place was a dump. Shinji's description was too kind. Bloody bandages, concrete walls, pill bottles, no hot water, it was a nightmare. The place didn't even have functional lights."
"Pill bottles? What kind?" she asked. She knew Rei had… issues with her body, but she had never been clued in as to what. She assumed it was some kind of autoimmune disorder, that's why she looked so frail and was always alone. She had looked better since Shinji had started making her lunches, a few weeks ago, though. She was a little less pale and seemed to be gaining some weight. 'God,' Misato thought. 'Cooking her food, offering her his room, he's really got it bad,' she smiled internally.
"Painkillers, blood thinners, anti-rejection, anti-cancer, and the strangest one, lithium, Mood suppressant. And I don't mean every now and then, most of these were to be taken daily."
Misato was shocked. How… what… why? That regimen would kill an Olympic athlete. What the hell was Ritsuko doing? She knew she had disdain for Rei, but… this? This was torture. No 14 year old could possibly need all that.
"What the hell? What could she need that for?" she asked.
"That's what I'm trying to find out. You said she had a doctor's appointment tomorrow?"
"Yeah, with Rit-chan. That woman despises Rei, I can see it on her face every time she's brought up. You don't think… is she doing this as some sort of revenge? Why?"
"I'm not sure, Katsuragi. I'll try and see if I can eavesdrop on them tomorrow morning."
"That poor girl. Having to live like that for god knows how long. I should have noticed, I should have done something before," Misato said.
"Hey, It's not your fault," Kaji said. "She's better now, and you helped make that happen."
"That's bullshit! I took Shinji in when I hadn't known him for more than a day. I've known Rei for years, I should have realized sooner."
"You can't just blame yourself, Katsuragi. If you really feel this way, you need to make things right. Fight for her. Fight for all of them. Give them a future where they can be happy," he said.
Misato smiled. "You always were good at giving speeches," she said.
Kaji flashed her a grin. "That's not the only thin-" he was interrupted by the sound of her pistol cocking. She had it aimed directly at his groin.
"I think that's enough for tonight, Ryou-chan," she said, smiling. Kaji got the message.
"See you tomorrow, Katsuragi," he said, waving and walking down the hall.
Misato sighed once he had disappeared in the elevator. She smiled despite herself. She acted indifferently, but she was happy he was here. He was a good influence for the kids, and though she was loathed to admit it, she still had feelings for him.
She was far too tired to think about it right now, though, and she went back inside to get to sleep.
"A state of emergency has been declared for the greater Tokyo-3 area," came a voice over the city intercoms.
"What the hell?"
Shinji was woken up by the alarms going off through the city, and Misato immediately sprung into action. Still, in their pajamas, the four of them all rushed out of the building and Misato drove them to the nearest car elevator down to Headquarters.
"Ritsuko, what's going on?" Misato said over the phone.
"I, I don't understand. We should have had more time. The MAGI predicted another three days of inactivity. It's now or never, Misato," she said.
"I'd prefer now," she said, hanging up. 'What the hell are we going to do? C'mon, Misato, think! There's gotta be a way out of this.'
"Misato-san, what's going on?" Shinji asked.
"Are you stupid?" Asuka said. "The Angel is back."
"B-but we haven't been able to synchronize ye-"
"I know, I know, just let me think," Misato interrupted. 'Maybe we could send out two teams of two. But then, how would they coordinate the final blow? There has to be some way to do this,' she thought. She was already coming up with a plan. Rei and Shinji would be one team, Asuka and Mari would be the other. Together, each pair could synchronize near perfectly. But when all four attempted it, Asuka would always go too fast or Shinji too slow. The two of them just were not cut out for working together, it seemed. So Misato had to find a way to get two separate pairs of pilots to coordinate together, and she had minutes to do it. 'Just my fucking luck,' she mused. 'Do it for them,' she thought.
"All of you, as soon as we get to headquarters, change and board your Evas," she said. "Shinji and Rei will be one team, you two will be the other," she said. "Got it?"
"Yes," the three of them said in unison.
Misato peeled down the empty streets and finally got to the car elevator, slamming the emergency button to get them down as quickly as they could.
Kaji headed to NERV early, waiting in the break room before Rei was scheduled to come in.
Makoto Hyuuga walked in, heading to get a cup of coffee. He saw Kaji and immediately snapped into a salute.
"Inspector Ryogi, sir!" he said. Kaji chuckled.
"At ease, lieutenant. Kaji's fine, alright?"
"Alright, Kaji," he said. Was he… blushing?
"What are you doing here so early?" Kaji asked. He nearly dropped what he was holding.
"I-I'm just, uh, I thought I should get some extra work done today, that's all," he said. He was beginning to sweat.
Aoba Shigeru walked in as well, giving Kaji a nod. He walked up to Makoto and they exchanged some words. Makoto handed Shigeru a cup of coffee, and the two of them walked out of the break room chatting about some new manga or something.
Kaji waited for a little while longer, until the time for Rei's appointment. He made his way to Ritsuko's office, getting there shortly after Rei had arrived. He tried to listen in on what he could.
"-he new dosage?"
"Have you had any changes in your mood recently?"
Silence.
"Describe the changes in your mood."
"I feel… overwhelmed at times. The change in living conditions has played a factor as well. I find myself wanting to be alone much of the time."
"That's just nerves. Anything else?"
"I find myself wanting to spend more time with Ikari-kun. I want to be alone, but whenever I am alone, I find myself wanting to talk to him."
Kaji smiled. He was right.
Klaxons blared, and Kaji jumped as the Angel alarms sounded. 'Shit,' he thought, heading for the bridge.
Shinji got his plugsuit on in the locker rooms as quickly as he could, trying to keep his thoughts in order. He had let a lot off of his chest yesterday, and he had no idea where to proceed. He thought about telling her, but it was too scary. Not to mention, he had bigger problems right now. He hated this feeling. Why couldn't he stop thinking about her? What she told him the other night was more than she had told him in the whole time they knew each other. She was his friend, right? Nothing more. He liked her as a friend. He told himself that for the time being and headed to the Eva cages.
Technicians rushed through the halls, not at all prepared for this outcome. Shinji wasn't either. They had done okay on the sync tests, but he only ever really did well when he was working with Ayanami. His mind once again wandered to her. When they trained together, it was like they were one person. They moved and jumped and twirled in unison, and it was actually fun when they did it together. With Asuka, it was like she was determined to make him cry by the end of it. But with Ayanami, it felt so natural, and exciting, and-
'C'mon, snap out of it,' he thought to himself. They were friends! And he liked her as a friend, nothing more. Yeah, she was pretty, and he cared about her, a lot, and he liked her, but not like that, right? He was having a hard time understanding his feelings. Sure, he liked her as a friend, and he liked talking to her, but he also wanted to be closer with her. But she would never like him that way, so all he could do was ignore it for now. He already gave Kaji and Mari the wrong impression. The last thing he wanted to do was say something stupid in front of Rei.
"Shinji? Are you even paying attention? Misato said. He realized he was already in the entry plug and synchronized. He had daydreamed through the whole thing.
"Listen, all of you. As I said, I'm sending you out in two teams. Mari and Asuka, you two go first. Your job is to draw two of them away, and fight them by yourselves. Rei and Shinji will go up soon after and fight the other two. Once you've gotten them back into two pieces, it's all up to you. You need to merge the last two and strike the cores simultaneously.
"Roger," came Mari's reply. "C'mon, princess, let's get out there!"
Asuka smiled a little. The two of them cut off their comms, needing to stay isolated to get synchronized.
"Eva-02, Eva-08, launch!" Misato said.
Asuka took a deep breath. This was her time to shine. Four Eyes was the best choice for her to partner with, she was the only other person she could stand to be around. The music started playing, and the two of them burst forth from the Eva catapults, streaks of red and pink streaming through the blue sky. They both picked a target, throwing down their spears to box them in. The two minions were trapped, and they slammed down on top of them, shaking the earth and ripping the pavement beneath their feet like paper. The Angels were not prepared for this.
Asuka and Mari both grabbed one, tossing them far outside the city limits. They leaped forth, chasing after their flying targets.
"Eva-00, Eva-01, launch!" Misato ordered, and Shinji and Rei were thrust towards the heavens as well. Blue and purple merged into one as they performed a similar motion to the A-team, throwing their spears to box in the two remaining Angels. This time, however, they came in from opposite sides, slamming the Angels into one another and forcing them to merge. Shinji grinned, the plan was working! All they needed to do was merge the two remaining halves together.
There was one problem, however. One that everyone quickly realized. The larger Angels were far too bulky and strong to throw. Asuka and Mari were miles away at this point. They would not have time to meet up and defeat them together. That left them one alternative.
"All units, you still need to destroy all four cores at the same time," Misato said.
"What? How?" Asuka said, cutting into the channel.
"Use the music," Misato said. "When it crescendoes, be ready to hit your target. You all have 60 seconds of power left," she said.
"This is impossible," Shinji said.
"Hey! I don't need any attitude! Get ready to strike," she snapped back.
All four pilots nervously returned to the fight. Shinji and Rei were laying down suppressive fire on their Angel, Mari and Asuka were retreating to escape their Angel's attacks. A ballet of movement and violence ensued. Rei and Shinji delivered a flurry of strikes to the Angel, sending it barreling backward and falling to the ground. They proceeded to pummel the Angel some more, trying to ensure it stayed incapacitated for the final blow.
The music built up, and Asuka and Mari were dispatching their Angel in a similar fashion, slamming it into a hillside so forcefully it sank into the topsoil.
Misato and the bridge crew looked on anxiously, anticipating the worst. They had failed to even do one successful run, but this strategy may just work out fine. They knew how to do it individually, and that's what they were doing now. It was all up to the kids.
Rei and Shinji leaped into the air, launching themselves high above the tallest skyscrapers in the city. They reached their zenith, the sun glinting off the metal armor of their Evas. They came hurtling back down, legs outstretched and touching. Mari and Asuka were in a similar position, moments away from crushing the Angel's core. In the final moments before delivering the blow, both Shinji and Asuka got a little… distracted. They could feel everything the Eva could, and that included the legs of the people they were currently fighting alongside. They both lost their concentration, and Shinji even blushed a little. Asuka didn't understand why she was losing her concentration, there had been no issues before.
It was too late for either of their slip-ups to matter, though, as they triumphantly met the Angel's cores with their boots, obliterating both in two spectacular flashes of light. An earsplitting boom radiated around the city, shattering windows and cracking tree trunks.
After a pretty fireworks show, the smoke cleared and the results of the battle were revealed to the bridge crew.
"All Evas accounted for," Maya said.
Accounted for, but not exactly in flattering positions. The momentary loss of concentration may have not affected the battle, but it affected the landing. Both pairs of Evas were a tangled mess of limbs, sitting in the smoldering craters their slain foes left behind. They could still feel everything inside the Evas.
"Sorry, I-I'm sorry," Shinji said, embarrassed and more nervous about this than about the battle.
Mari simply laid back and enjoyed the warmth Asuka was giving her, as the redhead glared at her through their commlink.
"If you tell anyone about this," she started, and Mari blanked the rest out.
Misato looked at the scene, halfway between amusement and terror.
"Ah, jeez," she said. The stack of paperwork she would be expecting for this made her stomach lurch.
"Appaling," Ritsuko stated.
Fuyutsuki put a palm to his face. "Those damn kids are making a fool of us again."
