9:00am, residential district 9
She never spends this long in the shower. Jeez, what a way to have the mood killed. Seiichi grumbled.
He only had today until he went back on duty, therefore he wished to have as much time as humanly possibly with the woman he loved. And now, any hope of a peaceful day had been wrecked by this fuck nut.
Eiji contentedly sat at the small table, sipping his glass of water and seemingly oblivious to the issues he caused. Of course, he was probably aware and enjoying every damned of it. The tablet had done its work within minutes, so the Akuma driver was now capable of not collapsing on the floor and whimpering whenever a noise was made. Unfortunately that meant he could go back to being his usual crude self.
Seiichi had got himself dressed, having tiredly ironed out the creases in the uniform that had been torn off the previous evening. His black hair was still a ruffled mess, due to the hands which had been through it last night...
"You know...this is a nice place." Eiji peered around, not being used to a residence as comfortable as this. When not on duty, he did have an army apartment back in Kure into which he was stuffed. It was incredibly cramped and basic compared to this place.
But that was to be expected, this was the capital after all.
Seiichi grunted in acknowledgement, looking into the hallway again, still waiting for Mikasa.
Unfortunately, Eiji caught onto this and grinned.
"Can't take your eyes off her can you?" He chuckled before continuing. "She is rather ravishing. You lucky bastard, staring at those legs must never get tiring..." Slumped back into his chair, his expression became one of total bliss as Seiichi started making his usual, albeit more quiet, threats.
Every night they're together, they make love. They're happy. I wish I could be like that...
Bringing his attention back to the present, Eiji noticed Seiichi had stopped swearing and now looked totally bashful.
The reason for this, was Mikasa had walked back into the room dressed in a white shirt and skirt. Upon noticing her boyfriend in freshly ironed uniform, she'd commented on how handsome he looked, causing the shy soldier to blush furiously. Much to both of the lovers annoyance, Eiji was immensely humoured by this.
"Private lover boy, that is your name now!" He laughed, before falling silent quickly as Mikasa shot him a look that would send his Sergeant running for cover.
"Hell hath no fury eh?" Seiichi smirked at his humbled colleague.
"Shut up..."
"Well, as our morning has been disturbed-" She shot Eiji another look, causing the cantankerous git to sink further into his seat. "I quite like the idea of eating out today. I'm sure we can get breakfast somewhere. Besides, it's not like I get you out of bed enough..." She planted a tender kiss on Seiichi's lips, completely ignoring Eiji looking at them both in a gone out manner.
"I'm still here you know. If you're getting it on I can fuck off..." His words were ignored.
How the hell did Seiichi pull a hottie like that? Lucky bastard, no matter how hard I try, of course the driver never gets the fucking girl!
The two were still kissing.
Fuck's sake...kids these days...
9:15am, Sengokuhara high school.
"Now then." Mr Sisata turned around to face his class. "Which one of you fine young ladies and gentlemen can tell me who founded the Empire?" His beady little eyes, swimming with intelligence scanned the room. "Aida-san, can you answer me that question?"
"Um...uh...Emperor Sebastian Vance?" "Aida" stammered, having been daydreaming.
"Not quite right, Aida-san. But if my students knew everything then I'd be out of a job." Sisata chuckled before he began writing on the classroom digital screen. "If you're going to refer to a British Emperor, then you will do so with His Imperial Britannic Majesty, and nothing else. If you get that wrong in front of an Imperial, they might just pull your head off. Also, whilst Sebastian Vance did indeed found the Great British Empire, he was not Emperor at the time, and he did not do it alone. Horaki-san, could you elaborate on that for me?"
Standing up from her seat, Hikari cleared her throat, then began.
"The Great British Empire was founded on the 29th of May 2002. It's founding charter had the names of three men written on it. Sebastian Vance, Terrence Cromford, and Alexander Meadow. Vance was the Empire's first Grand High Marshal, with the other two being High Marshals. Cromford was Marshal of the infrastructure, and Meadow was Marshal of the Imperial Armed Forces. The very first Monarch of the Empire, was Her Imperial Britannic Majesty Elizabeth Windsor." She bowed her head, before sitting back down.
"Wonderful. See class, this is the result of a student who studies." His remark caused a few mumbles of "yes, sensei," and Hikari to shift uncomfortably.
For despite ruling with an iron fist, the class rep was a humble girl.
"Sebastian Vance became the Empire's second Monarch and first Emperor on the 19th of July 2005, a few days after a nuclear strike carried out by the North American Federation obliterated the then capital London, along with the entire House of Windsor." He kept scratching words of value on the screen, whilst some students, Shinji among them, felt pangs of sympathy for one of the most expansionist nations in recent history.
The children of Japan knew what it was to lose a capital to foreign attack.
"His reign was an incredibly short one, as he was...well murdered...by Federal special forces a week after his makeshift coronation. Ayanami-san, can you tell me why the Federation was so obsessed with the Empire's destruction?" The old man turned his head towards the albino girl sitting at her desk. "Because of your injuries, I'll forgive you for not standing."
Rei blankly nodded in response before beginning. And the moment she spoke, Shinji had to fight his sigh of nostalgia.
Oh Spirits, how I love to hear your voice.
"The North American Federation sees itself as the only nation with the right to rule the Earth. It already considered the fledgling Union of Western Communist Republics a great threat to that ideology. They did not wish for another superpower to arise in the Western hemisphere, especially an expansionist one, lest it threaten Federal dominance."
Mr Sisata nodded approvingly.
"Very well put, Ayanami-san. Yes indeed, the Federation has always seen itself as the world's only rightful superpower, something inherited from the now defunct United States of America. Although unfortunately it seems Federal foreign policy is less policing the world, and more along the lines of ruling the world." He let that sink into his pupils before continuing. "Well, who can tell me the original name of the city that became the Empire's capital after London was destroyed." He quickly raised a hand as Hikari raised her own.
"You've already had a go, Horaki-san. Anyone else?" He peered around for a few moments, eventually becoming tempted to answer the himself.
But then the usually meek and quiet boy at the front of his class, gingerly raised his hand.
"Ah, Ikari-san. Enlighten us."
"Um...it was Bristol wasn't it? They wanted a new trade hub for all the stuff coming in from their overseas territories." A little part of the boy grimaced at his saying of stuff, but his teacher nodded.
Shinji knew this from his time living in Kure. It was after all, the great port city of Japan. Therefore trade ships from across the planet would dock there, including Imperial vessels which had sailed from the port of Bristol.
"Very good, Ikari-san. The city that would become Leopard, the Imperial capital of Britain, was indeed called Bristol in times gone past. Now, who can tell me what Emperor Charles Vance's words were upon ascending the Imperial throne, and what his age was? Suzuhara-san, do answer." He directed at the large boy at the back.
The boy who always sat next to "Aida", who looked like he was the missing link between man and ape, sputtered in surprise before attempting to answer. It was strange to note on that day, the usually animated chattering between the two was silent. Instead, the big one was quiet. At times he'd looked like exploding, and at others he looked like he was on the verge of crying, with the Aida, or "the class geek," having to comfort him.
Not only did this break many of the social norms he'd observed at this place, but it seemed out of character. Clearly something unpleasant had happened.
But he wasn't fussed. He didn't know the boy and probably never would. For Shinji merely observed his fellow man, not usually interacting with them. Mostly because he didn't feel capable of it. Partially because he didn't feel he deserved it.
"I...uh...um...Hail Britain? Wasn't he like...eighteen or something?" Suzuhara managed an even more desperate smile than the one his friend pulled earlier.
The class laughed a little, Mr Sisata chuckling with them. He knew it was a hard question, but it was important to boost his students knowledge whenever he could. And he alternated on whoever would be his hapless victim whenever he felt like giving a difficult question.
In short he struck ruthlessly and at random.
"Not quite, but a good attempt, Suzuhara-san. I recommend that you do some more research on the subject. In the meantime, you can find his full speech on the internet and I expect you to write it in your books."
The class let loose a groan of horror.
"In answer to my earlier question, Charles was only just your age when he ascended the throne. Fifteen years old..." Sisata's voice became twinged with a hint of sadness.
"I suppose that just shows age is no restriction on ability."
11:15am
"Break!" Sisata clapped his hands together, resulting in the scraping of seats and the putting down of pens.
"Horaki-san, I'm going for my coffee break..." He began walking out of the room before giving the taller fifteen year old girl a smile.
"Do keep the troops in line would you?"
"Hai, sensei."
Shinji slipped his ear phones back into his ears, the tune of moonlight sonata soothing him. Another thing he liked about his tutor, was whilst the man worked them hard, he did give them plenty of breaks and never overloaded them with homework.
Speaking of the class, he mulled over the people he'd observed in this room for the past week or so. They had been welcoming enough, although he was still usually referred to as either the new kid or Ikari-san by them. The only time the class rep had ever referred to him directly was that incident when he'd had his earphones in for too long.
Indeed, Hikari Horaki was called the pig tailed dictator with very good reason. She commanded authority without trying, and exerted it a great deal. But, according to the older hands in this class, she was certainly not unfair.
Shinji had personally yet to see proof, but he took them at their word.
The two to his right and rear, the geek and the jock, had apparently been friends for most of their lives. As in since they were toddlers. It came as no surprise to him, socially stunted as he was, they were called the odd couple. And they really were odd, with Kensuke Aida being a meek and wimpy geek with sandy hair, freckled face, and glasses, who was obsessed with the military sci-fi genre, and Toji Suzuhara being a muscled and foul tempered jock with black hair.
It seemed that might just have been a front, as Toji had never lost his temper with Kensuke, well, not yet as seen by Shinji. And according to, once again, the older hands, he'd never laid a finger on him.
Taking his thoughts away from them, the brown haired boy started mulling over Rei again.
He really needed to come up with some way of breaking the ice between them if he even wished to befriend, let alone help her.
I don't usually do this much thinking. Damn, how badly did the fight with that...Seraph...thing shake me up?
A sudden beeping on his monitor caught his attention. All desks in the class had inbuilt touchscreen computers, with which students could browse the internet for research or send messages between one another. In this case, it would seem he had a message in his inbox.
Putting his finger on the mail box symbol, he opened whatever he'd been sent.
It wasn't much, only a few words. But they did make an eyebrow rise.
People are saying you're an Evangelion pilot. Is that true?
Yes/No?
He was stumped for a while, his mind trying to recall any point where he was told his role as an Eva pilot was classified.
But he could find nothing, even in that synch test and simulation he did the other day, where he was walked through everything he needed to know about the huge purple monster which had been dropped into his lap.
Thinking he would have been told by now all the things he couldn't talk about, and having honesty beaten into him from an early age, Shinji exhaled, typed yes into the chat box and hit the send button. When the class collectively gasped, the boy realised the conversation he'd had was on the class chat, not a private network.
Oh shit.
Whilst most of the class surged over to the unfortunate Shinji, Kensuke and Toji sat where they were and watched.
The geek was running through the many millions of questions he'd have for the new guy, but the one part of him that wasn't giddy with excitement chastised him.
Seriously, buddy, whatever he knows is probably classified. We aren't getting much out of him anytime soon. After all, he is the pilot of a war machine the world only found out about a few weeks ago.
Annoyed by the fact common sense had ruined his fun, Kensuke looked at his friend, and suddenly felt uneasy. For the larger boy who worked out with weights, had fixed his gaze on the newcomer with narrowed eyes and twitching nose.
"I'll kill him."
12:00pm, NERV quarters.
Misato had never been a person to leap out of bed. In fact, if she could have her way, the woman would try to remain in the land of slumber for all eternity.
Alas, Pen-pen had a thing or two to say about that...
So she sat at the kitchen table in whatever clothes she'd kept on before throwing herself under the sheets last night, unkempt purple hair spilling down over her shoulders. Great dark circles were clear for all to see under her eyes, whilst she rubbed her now red and bruised nose occasionally, having been savaged by the Penguin.
On the other side of the table, stood Pen-pen, his beady eyes watching her every move whilst she mournfully shovelled breakfast cereal into her mouth. On the mornings she didn't get up on time, the bird would always do this. Get her up and get her ready to face the day. Whilst many would be scratching their heads at this display of mastery over a person by a flightless bird, one must understand these things happen when said bird is experimented on and has its intelligence boosted immensely.
Finishing her bowl, Misato leaned back into her seat and sighed. She then grimaced upon hearing a quiet yet threatening wark.
"Oh come on Pen...just five more minutes..." She moaned as the warking got louder.
"You're a damned dictator, you know that?" Removing herself from the surprisingly comfortable wooden chair, Misato began trudging over to the bathroom to have a shower.
She couldn't help but smile though when Pen-pen made a few warks of satisfaction, before he padded back off into his fridge.
Having washed away her drowsiness with a warm shower, Misato began clothing herself. Today was an average day at NERV, therefore she would put her uniform on. As her role was rather unique, Misato's uniform had been designed to her specification. There was of course the classic white trousers with red stripes going up the side, with black knee high boots. But from the waste up, that's were the similarities ended.
Firstly, she had a crystal white shirt, upon which she would put a button upped red military shirt with a black neck tie. Of course the jacket had NERV's classic black cuffs, and insignia on the shoulder. Upon sliding her red beret on top of her head, Misato looked into her bedroom mirror, making sure everything was in place. Including the holster for her Hitokuchi.
Unlike the party dress she'd worn when first picking up Shinji, this was a soldier's uniform, and she slid into it perfectly.
She had decided not to wear her cross that day, as to be frank it wasn't something she did all the time. It was a reminder, not a garment after all.
But still, as always with her morning routine, Misato picked up a very old picture with the date on it being 1995. There she was, a little girl with black hair being held by her loving mother, with a distant father standing next to them.
A cross around his neck.
...would you be proud of me now?
Gently setting it back down on her dresser, the only part of her room she kept tidy, Misato walked back out into her lounge and slumped down on the sofa.
Turning her television on, she flicked through all the various crap that was on it these days.
Fortunately there was one of the Studio Ghibli films on as they were advocated by the Defence Board, cultural importance and all that, so she watched that for a while, with Pen-pen eventually coming back out of his fridge and snuggling up to her. Unfortunately, their peace was interrupted by her mobile ringing. Harrumphing, the purplehead had to push Pen-pen off her lap so as to reach the phone in her pocket. He warked in a disgruntled manner, with his pet giving a swift look of apology.
With the phone flashing up with Rits-chan, Misato pressed the answer button and held it to her ear.
"Please tell me I'm not being called in, I've still got another four hours." She groaned, hearing her friend chuckle on the other end.
"Hey, don't I get an opportunity to chat with my old college room mate?" Ritsuko used her shoulder to keep the phone to her ear as she stood on the observation deck, her hands occupied with sheets of data from the synch test they'd done a few days ago.
"Out with it, Rits-chan, what do you want?"
"How's Ikari-san doing? Apparently he started school last week?"
"He did. I...I think he's enjoying it, and his grades are good, but no friends yet. Or at least I think."
"That doesn't come as much of a surprise. I read his file last night, he hasn't even been near a school in twelve years. Apparently, the kid was educated at home. By a friend of the family by the sounds of it..."
The file had been correct, but also very vague. Why he was kept out of education and interaction with fellow human beings for so very long, was a mystery to Ritsuko.
"He...he never said anything about that. Jeez, how weird must all this be to him?" Misato said in disbelief.
"Incredibly. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even start talking to other students for weeks. Well...maybe Ayanami-san but that's sort of different."
Before she could even respond, the Sub Commander sighed.
"Oh well, at least he's doing alright. On a lighter note, want to go out for drinks on Saturday? It's a day off for both of us, and we don't do it enough." Ritsuko had switched to her earnest mode, one that was difficult to pick up even if you knew her.
"Sounds good. Usual place, 12ish?"
A few years ago, this wouldn't have been possible. Back then, Ritsuko was getting fucked every other night by Commander Ikari, a relationship which she was totally ashamed of these days. Despite a great deal of psychological damage being caused, enough to prevent her from ever forming a relationship again, Misato could tell her friend was happier these days, after leaving that creep some two years ago.
"That's fine-" Ritsuko's voice was cut off by the blaring of alarms in NERV central. An alarm she knew practically off by heart.
"Shit. It's a code blue!" The line went dead.
By that point, NERV's combat operations director was already running to her door, slipping phone in pocket and fumbling for key card, with only one word going through her mind.
Seraphim!
11:55am, Sengokuhara high school.
Despite the heat, Shinji liked this.
Standing out in the fresh air with no one to bother him, he closed his eyes and inhaled the humid air of which he wasn't very fond but all too used to. With the sun beating down on everything save the shade he was standing in, he'd stayed put for the past ten minutes. It would only be twenty more before he'd have to go back to lessons.
He'd noticed however, that whilst he'd walked out of the class room, no one else did. Instead they sat there and talked to one another. Now there was a concept far more alien to him than the Seraphim could ever be.
However, so focused on this simple interaction between human beings he was utterly incapable of, he'd failed to notice the odd couple get up and slowly follow him out...
"Hey, new kid!" A gruff voice called out, causing him to turn and face its point of origin.
He wished he hadn't.
For at that moment, Toji Suzuhara was stomping towards him with nothing but murder in his eyes. The geek wasn't standing too far behind him, with a look of concerned nervousness on his face.
"H-hello. Can I help you?" Shinji felt every single one of his cowardly instincts yell at him to flee, but the jock's fist closing on his shirt put an end to that.
"Yeah, you can help me..." Toji snarled as he slammed his fist into the boy's gut. Gasping in pain, the Eva pilot felt himself being dropped on the floor, his head banging against the concrete putting stars in his eyes.
"Stand up, baka!" The jock yelled, snatching a tuft of Shinji's brown hair, hauling him to his disorientated feet. Another fist slammed into his mouth, leaving him with the taste of blood on his tongue. This wasn't as bad however, as he was used to this pain.
Collapsing on the ground again, sprawled on his back, he felt Toji's shoe stamp on his chest, causing him to cry out pain from the pressure of it.
"You feel that!? Now you know what it's like to get crushed you stupid bastard! This is how my sister felt when you collapsed her shelter!" The jock was practically screaming now, with Kensuke moving over to diffuse the situation, deeming it to have gone too far.
Spirits, Toji, you only said you were going to rough him up, not fucking kill him!
But Shinji didn't notice any of that, as a few words he'd heard a few weeks ago rang in his ears like an artillery bombardment.
Damn right. Three hundred people were in that bunker, and they only pulled out one who was still breathing. A little girl if the news is right...
"Your...sister?"
"Yes my sister!" Toji threw off Kensuke's attempts to restrain him and planted a kick into Shinji's already abused gut. "Sakura Suzuhara, my little sister! You nearly killed her and you'll be damned lucky if I don't do the same to you!"
"I'm sorry...I'm so so sorry..."
I hurt a little girl!
"Sorry doesn't cut it you snivelling little shit!" Toji roared as Kensuke frantically restrained him.
"For, Spirits' sake, Toji stop! Calm down...that's it...just calm down." Somehow, miraculously, the jock went limp in his weedy arms, sobbing uncontrollably. "Come on, let's go. You okay down there, new kid?" Kensuke offered, with Shinji putting out a pained groan of "I'm fine."
"Sorry about all that. Toji here is usually soft as a teddy bear...but his sister means a lot to him. So...no hard feelings right?"The bespectacled boy said earnestly
Slowly rising to his feet, hand clutching his stomach, Shinji shook his head.
"No. I deserved it."
Had he not been wallowing in his own self loathing, he might have noticed a quick look of shock on the distressed Toji's face.
He's not even excusing himself...
"Okay...see you around, Ikari-san. Come on, Toji, let's get something to eat." Kensuke looked at him, confused, before hauling his much larger friend off to elsewhere.
Noticing some blood dribble down his chin, Shinji wiped it away before turning back to face the sun. Only to be confronted with the red gaze of Rei Ayanami.
Leaping out of his skin, he fought to compose himself as the blue head stared at him.
"Ikari-san, you are bleeding." She stated.
"What? Oh! Oh it's nothing, really!" He frantically wiped away any and all evidence of the assault. Meanwhile she kept watching him. "Um...so...can I help you with anything...Ayanami-san?"
"There has been an emergency. We must report to NERV." She said before taking off, leaving the meek young man looking stumped.
"Emergency?" He said aloud, only to feel his heart plummet as sirens screamed across the city.
"Attention citizens, attention citizens! A state of emergency has been declared in the Kanto and Chubu regions surrounding the Tokai district. All residents must evacuate to their designated shelters immediately. Garrison troops will assist with evacuations. All those who refuse will be forcibly moved to a safe location. This command will loop every fifteen minutes."
"Oh...please no."