8:45am, Monday the 18th of July, State of Japan, Tokyo-3, Sengokuhara High
"Why don't you use honorifics, Ayanami-san?" Shinji said as the two walked through the corridors of their school.
After the incident with the 7th Seraph, the weekend had been a welcome and relaxing reprieve from the stress of fighting this war. He himself had spent it by socialising with Rei, Toji, and Kensuke, whilst back at Misato's apartment he'd been really absorbed by Channel Ghibli.
He'd never considered this question before, so wrapped up in his own issues and social anxieties he didn't notice how different Rei spoke. This being highlighted by his encounter with his western colleagues last week, and how differently they spoke. It was entirely understandable Japanese, but they never bothered with honorifics. The strange girl who he cared for was not of foreign origin, she was raised in Japan, yet she had never once used them. Considering what a social disaster it was to use the wrong honorific in Japanese culture, the last thing he wanted was something else isolating her from society.
Her expression remained deadpan, save for the slight knitting together of her eyebrows, and fiddling with the strap of her bag. After knowing her for over a month, Shinji could tell this was her body language for "thinking."
"I am unfamiliar with them. The commander deems such things irrelevant." She mused.
"I see..." He fought back grinding his teeth.
Father...what is this? Why have you kept her so alone? Why haven't you even taught her standard manners? Maybe you throwing me away wasn't so bad after all...
"I presume he may be mistaken?" Rei offered, but not with belief in her words. She merely anticipated what her progenitor's child was thinking. He awkwardly nodded.
"Maybe. I...I'm not the best at being social and all that, but I can tell you a little bit." He offered.
"Elaborate."
"Alright...honorifics designate your relationship with and how you view other people. For example, san, is the basic term of respect that everyone uses. Hell, it's the only one I feel safe with." He chuckled slightly before continuing, having Rei's total attention.
"Sama is one of the most respectful ones out there. You call a person that when they're either socially superior to you by a big deal, or you really respect them. But don't use that one too much. Kun is occasionally used for girls, but it's much more for boys. It's kind of a term of endearment. Then there's chan, which is basically kun for girls, or can be used between lovers and such. There's also Sempai and Kouhai, but I don't really use or care about them. I can ask the class rep to explain some more if you want?"
"Perhaps...but why are they important?" She was still confused.
"Because not using them is either a sign of closeness or total disrespect. Most of the time it's the biggest social faux-pa anyone can make." He added.
The First Child spent the rest of the journey being very quiet, slowly processing this new information. But just as they were reaching the classroom door, it appeared something clicked in her head.
"This knowledge may be useful, I shall implement it." She nodded slightly
Not knowing what to say, Shinji held the door open for her, only to be shocked as she stopped halfway through and looked him in the eye.
"Thank you...Ikari-kun." She said in that beautiful whisper.
His brain broke.
Shit shit shit shit, what do we say!?
I don't fucking know!
Well think of something fast before she walks off!
"Oh...you're welcome...Ayanami-chan..." He said, nervously.
Both of their cheeks had reddened by the time they took their seats.
As usual, the students sat at their desks, with Mr Sisata by his computer, no doubt preparing for the lesson to come.
It was strange how the class had felt so empty not so long ago, with the various students usually huddling around one or two areas. Leaving Shinji and Rei all by themselves. But, owing to the recent birth of his friendship with Kensuke and Toji, they sat directly behind him, and after some negotiation with the class rep, Rei now positioned herself to his left side.
In short, they now had their own little social group. And despite having very little interaction with the rest of his species for so long, even developing an almost pathological fear of engaging people he didn't know in conversation...Shinji took little issue with this arrangement.
In fact he was still getting over people wanting to sit next to him.
"Hey Shinji-san, how are you holding up?" Toji said boisterously, Kensuke giving a quick nod in his direction as well.
"Not bad, I'm still pretty sure I won't be going on a boat again..." He smiled.
As bad as the airsickness on the journey back had been, along with the constant bragging of his new western colleagues, he found himself more afraid of being out at sea or on a big boat. At least he got home quicker.
Misato had been evidently relieved to see them all well as per usual, but something was still a little off about her, in a similar manner to her grumblings back on the escalator.
That Kaji must really get under her skin...
"Oh come on, it was so cool to see all those fleets in one area. There must have been about a hundred and fifty ships altogether." Kensuke said giddily to himself, the sheer breath taking spectacle of seeing the vast battle group from on high as they sped away, being one of the greatest moments of his life.
"Well yes it was, but I'm with Shinji-san on that. I'm not getting back in one of those metal crates." Toji added.
Setting down all his things, neatly ordering his pencils, pens, paper, and rulers on the sides of his keyboard and mouse, Shinji quietly took his seat with Rei doing something similar.
"Sakura's still talking about you. I think she's got a crush." The jock chuckled, his sandy brown haired friend joining him.
"Casanova Shinji-san, stealing the hearts of girls everywhere." Kensuke said over dramatically, gaining a raised eyebrow and humoured smile from Shinji.
"Shut up, Kensuke-san."
2:00pm, Saturday the 16th of July, Tokyo-3 central hospital
Modern medicine was truly miraculous. Disease was not as much of a problem as it used to be, with HIV, Cancer and the like being almost extinct. Huge leaps were being made with mental health as well, many professionals outright believing that dementia would be a thing of the past by 2025.
And yet no medicine could fix the ruins of a young girl's legs.
Whilst his fellow student fidgeted with impatience as the left went up, Shinji remained nervously at the back, hands in his pockets, fringe covering his eyes. He wasn't truly nervous, like he was when climbing into an Eva or that first visit to Rei's apartment. But his steps felt heavier than they ever did before, due to the sheer avalanche of guilt crashing down on him.
She wants to see me...this person whose life I destroyed.
"Sakura doesn't like emo shit, so cut it out." Toji said irritably, giving him a quick warning look.
"Maybe you shouldn't have brought me then." The elder boy shuffled uncomfortably.
"What my little sister wants, she gets. Now back straight, I've told you she doesn't blame you."
"But I broke her spine!"
"Well maybe if NERV had given you some proper training, then that wouldn't have happened. But it did. It's like Horaki-san said, crying about it isn't going to make it better."
The sound of the lift beeping as it reached its destination cut them off. As uncomfortable as he was, Shinji complied with his friend's wishes and straightened up, removing his hands from his pockets. After all, he was rather good at following orders.
The hospital corridor was spotless, but as natural sunlight washed over them, he found himself preferring this place a great deal compared to the harsh and totally utilitarian nature of the NERV medical ward. A place he'd been one too many times.
Toji himself was not overly fond of hospitals, more than a few bad memories originating from this place in particular. It had been in one of these corridors where he'd sat and prayed as Sakura was rushed into the operating theatre an inch from death. He'd held her hand when they administered the anaesthetic, as she cried and cried in pain, the mangled remains of her legs causing his gorge to rise, and his own tears flow.
But for once in his life, Amaterasu looked down upon him and took pity. For the operation was a success. Granted there were more weeks to come of tubes being constantly inserted in her, but Japanese technological prowess saved his little sister.
Shame father hasn't shown up once...
Eventually they arrived at a room marked 400. Toji pushed the door open quietly just in case she was asleep, with Shinji hanging back, feeling he had no right to intrude. But the black haired twelve year old was very much awake, her expression brightening upon seeing her elder brother.
"Toji-baka!" The girl squealed in delight as the boy in question bolted over to her and wrapped his arms around her delicate frame.
"Sakura..." He whispered fondly, stroking his little sister's hair.
"I heard about what happened with the fleet, are you alright?" She said, worried.
The jock laughed at that.
"I'm fine, I've just gone off sea travel for a while. I clearly don't have my sea legs-" He winced as her expression tightened a little upon the mention of legs.
"I'm sorry, Sakura that was..."
"It's nothing big brother, really!" She smiled, before, in attempt to take the conversation in a different direction, she noted the quiet boy standing at the back of the room.
"Who is this?"
"I said I'd bring him along didn't I?" Toji smiled as her eyes truly brightened.
"So it's...hello, Shinji-san!" Sakura said cheerfully. Shinji found his body freezing up, his guilt overwhelmin almost every cognitive function. Managing to fight that back, he responded in the best way he knew.
"Um...hello...Suzuhara-san..." He bowed his head as was the Japanese way, receiving the best bow the black haired girl could manage in response.
"You're right, he's a bit of a wuss." She directed at her brother.
"Ah, kind of. His spine always appears whenever its needed." Toji playfully poked at his friend, eliciting a slight smile. Slowly, Shinji walked over to the bedside, quickly slipping a hand into his pocket so that he may clench it out of sight.
"So...how are you?" He asked nervously.
"The doctors said my legs are smashed beyond repair...they'll fix em though..." she gulped in fear slightly before continuing.
"They'll just slap some cybernetics on me and I'll be up and about...they're just having some money issues."
I'm looking forward to running again...but I won't feel it...the wriggling of my toes...my feet in some warm slippers...
"Cybernetics." He repeated, only just pushing down the grief as he looked upon this girl whose like he nearly took. Whose legs he had robbed. The urge to fall to his knees, to weep about how sorry he was, soon overwhelmed him.
"Oh Spirits I'm so sorry..." his free hand frantically wiped away his tears, his fist balling tighter and tighter, a trickle of red emanating from where his nails cut into his skin.
"Please don't cry. It wasn't your fault." Her hand curled around his free one and gave it a squeeze.
He followed orders again.
Taking a deep and shaking breath, the young man nodded and removed his other hand from his pocket, getting down on one knee so as to be at her height and not above her. In his eyes he did not deserve such a position.
"Do I need to get you some tissues?" Toji offered, provoking a quiet laugh from Shinji, and a giggle from Sakura.
"I've always got my sleeve, Toji-san. Cry babies like me are reliant on them." The oldest individual in the room said with an unusual amount of humour, eliciting some more mirth from the bed bound girl.
"I am sorry though. Truly...truly sorry."
"Don't beat yourself up, my stupid brother wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you!" She beamed.
Neither would you... He grimly reflected but forced another smile.
"So he told you about that?"
"Well, Aida-san told me...at about ninety miles an hour."
Genuine laughter echoed throughout that small room.
"Yes, that sounds like Kensuke-san." Shinji admitted. Toji fished out a plastic container, within which resided twelve cookies, from his jacket pocket.
"Before I forget, I made these for you." He handed it to his little sister, whose smile only broadened. Shinji meanwhile noticed them to be a tiny bit burned, but he didn't have the heart to mention it.
"You baked again? Oh my big stupid brother does take good care of me..." Sakura pulled the lid off with gusto. Clearly she was aware of his short comings when it came to cooking, but didn't care and ate about half of them without question. Shinji had one, and Toji had the rest, the former doing his very best at not wincing when he bit into the charred delicacy.
He was no baker, but as an amateur chef he could safely say five minutes less would have done the trick with these.
And yet the two black haired siblings ate together in relative happiness, Sakura complementing her elder brother of three years on the excessive amount of chocolate chips he put into them. The bond this brother and sister had for one another was strong. Stronger than anything he could have predicted, in fact Toji seemed like some kind of surrogate parent for Sakura. It was beautiful in a way.
It also left him pondering, how different was this to his own relationship with one of the closest things he had left to family? As socially inept as he was, even he could see the jock would go to the ends of the Earth for his little sister. And Shinji knew he'd do exactly the same thing for Rei without hesitation.
10:00am, Tokyo-3, National Diet Building, comms room
Hayao Hideaki felt a bead of sweat trickle down her neck, as her practical overlord paced behind her. The general appeared like some kind of rabid dog, ready to spring upon and rip apart whatever provoked her in the slightest. And from more than a decade of experience with this woman, Hayao was more than aware of how dangerous Chiso Motichka was when angry. Although to be frank, she herself wasn't overly happy with this devil who feigned innocence before her.
"I must apologize for my vessel straying out of our waters. I assure you the crew will be reprimanded." The flickering hologram of Cao Xu gave a polite bow of the head.
"Bullshit they will!" Chiso harrumphed.
"Is that not to your satisfaction, General?"
"The only thing that would give me satisfaction is the Chinese Communist Party erased from the earth."
"Please, enough." Hayao said pleadingly, the Prime Minister's words meeting with some success as both held their toungues.
As a middle aged woman whom had been part of the Japanese government for decades, serving in the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan years before Second Impact, she felt both out of her depth and a little infuriated with these young ones who had taken dominion over the Earth.
The subtleties of politics and diplomacy are lost on these people.
"We are here to address a very serious violation of the Sengokuhara treaty, a treaty which we all signed. To uphold peace in Asia." Her tone became stern, but Xu's smile never faded.
"And that peace has been upheld. I assure you, those responsible will be held accountable."
There was something in his voice that made a chill run down her spine. In a way, he was telling the truth. Someone was going to die for this, and they would die very messily indeed.
Spirits have mercy upon whatever poor fool botched it up
"An Admiral vanishing a few days from now isn't enough. I want that ship you ordered into our waters, and I want its crew to face Japanese justice." Chiso continued to pace.
"I signed no such order-"
"Of course you didn't. We all know you're too clever for that!"
"Your accusations bruise me, General, yet you yourself have put multiple submarines in our waters before...is this whole farce not a little hypocritical?" Xu trailed off with a slight smirk.
"President, that is not helping the conversation." Hayao said harshly. Xu mockingly pouted.
"Nothing this smiling devil can say will add to our business here, Prime Minister. I demand an apology and the turning over of the vessel which violated Japanese sovereignty!" The General snarled.
"So you would condemn men who were instrumental in the defeat of a Seraph to death, simply for a piece of paper?"
She paused for a moment, a multitude of expressions crossing her face, one of which being regret, then sighed.
"What those men did was brave, I will give them that. But this was an utter violation of our waters-"
"And there will be many more to come if you press this."
Silence descended upon the room, Hayao wishing she could remove the bumbling General from the conversation, this newcomer and upstart to the game of politics.
"Is that a threat, President?" Chiso raised an eyebrow.
"Not at all. Unfortunately, my good General, you must understand that our press have already reported the crew of the Changzeng 40 as heroes for their action against our mutual enemy. Imagine the outcry if I were to turn them over to the custody of our old foe..." He raised a protesting hand to quieten her.
"We are at peace, and I intend to uphold this peace to the best of my ability. Hence why I must besiege you to spare these good soldiers lives."
A flicker of inspiration crossed Hayao's grey eyes as various plans formulated in her head.
"I understand this President, perhaps we can both gain something from our predicament-"
"No more violations of our sovereignty?" Chiso interrupted.
"Of course." Xu nodded.
"You understand that any further activities will result in our using of force?"
"Transparently."
"Very well. Then this shall be forgotten...for now. Good day, President Cao." Chiso touched the brim of her cap.
"Good day, General Motichka." The Chinese man then did a strange thing. He bowed his head, in the Japanese manner. She and the Prime Minister were frozen for a few moments, with the General tempted to return this surprising show of respect. But then the hologram flickered away, and the two women were alone.
"We could have got concessions out of that, perhaps even territory or a trade agreement-" The Prime Minister hissed as the General walked out the room.
"He was humiliated enough. Besides, I have no interest in extending our borders again. The last time we meddled in foreign affairs..." Chiso frowned.
Was the pacific war.
"With respect, General, that was then, this is now. The game of politics requires an almost limitless amount of tact-"
"Well I don't play your game, Prime Minister. I refuse to." Chiso's eyes narrowed.
"Indeed you don't." Hayao could only just hold back her derision.
Hulking, bumbling monkey. Why were the Spirits cruel enough to place you in a position of power?
No more words were exchanged between the two, as they made their way to the House of Councillors, and after that the House of Representatives, for another day of party politics.
An hour beforehand, NERV Central, Commander's office
"You have done well, Agent." Gloved hands clasped behind his back, Gendo looked upon the now open briefcase, his lips pressed into a small grin. Along with himself, two figures stood around that table. To his left, his loyal subordinate Fuyutsuki, and to his right, the newest piece he had on the board in his ever more perilous game of chess.
"Their security was hardly the best. A drunk FSS operative could probably have sneaked in and stolen this." Ryoji muttered with some distaste, standing on the other side of the table, e-cigarette in mouth.
"SEELE have confidence born of knowledge. But most certainly not of wisdom..." Gendo conceded, looking down on the strange thing within the glass capsule.
"Kind of underwhelming isn't it? Adam, the first human and cause of Second Impact, is a tiny and ugly foetus with one eye." The Agent said with some derision.
"Not at all, Agent Kaji, not at all. This is much more than you could possibly imagine." The commander murmured cryptically, his hand tenderly curling around the capsule and lifting it up to gain a better look at it.
"Don't drop it..." Ryoji said sardonically.
"Hmmm."
"And our agreement?"
"The files you requested have been emailed to you over a secure connection. You may leave." Satisfied with what he'd seen, Gendo set the contained god back down in its briefcase. Nodding his head, Ryoji slid his hands into his pockets and began walking away.
"You know a lot of people died for that thing. I hope you can do some good with it." He called out.
"It will serve our needs." Gendo put, bluntly as ever.
"Thank you for your services. Welcome to NERV, Agent Kaji." Kozo politely offered, gaining an appreciative nod, before the Agent in question disappeared through the door, with it closing behind him. Now with only the two of them in the room, Gendo let out a quiet sigh.
"Fool. Has he not heard the old adage? Curiosity killed the cat." The Commander's cerulean eyes narrowed, clearly annoyed by the man's impudence and intelligence. But nevertheless, every man had his price, and with Ryoji's fixation on finding the truth he'd had his leverage and yet another valuable pawn. One that could be disposed of if the danger grew too great.
"Hopefully it will not come to that, Commander." Kozo said, hands held behind his back.
"Whether he lives or dies is irrelevant, sensei. We are but a few more steps from the scenario's completion...December 31st 2017 AD is not far now..."
As always, the way his superior spoke of their plan's culmination, of the scenario's ultimate goal, made Kozo's skin crawl. He of course wanted the outcome just as much as Ikari...but the cost was sometimes too much to bear. Occasionally, he really did curse his own desires and how they ruled him so.
These are mankind's last days as it knows itself. Spirits forgive me...but I have to see her again...
9:00am, Monday the 18th of July, Sengokuhara High
"Jeez buddy, it must be hell to work with those two." Toji shook his head after Shinji regaled them with his tale of woe from the previous Sunday.
"It's not easy. Soryu-san treats everything as a some kind of competition which only she is allowed to win, and Meadow-san...he isn't as confrontational but that's because he probably thinks he's better than everyone else." He leaned back in seat. Just the way they held themselves, with such dignity but no humbleness whatsoever. Misato had explained this as "their breeding" coming through, and this wasn't at all unusual for aristocrats.
Upon making some snide comment about the rudeness of the westerners, his guardian had been quick to remind him that Japanese nobility, the old Samurai warrior class, would cut down people in the street if they were so much as looked at the wrong way.
"When they speak to us, it is with courtesy but not true respect." Rei added, herself having something approximate to mixed feelings on the matter.
"Really? They'd both be dead if it weren't for you two. All of us would!" Kensuke sounded legitimately angry, his sandy eyebrows furrowing.
"Maybe...but they're really good. What were their synch rates again, Ayanami-chan?" Shinji found it strange how natural it was to refer to the ethereal girl in such a manner.
"Eighty percent or more. Regardless of their attitude, it is...impressive." She conceded, despite taking some issue with their treatment of her progenitor's son.
They owe their lives to him. Surely they must understand that?
"Is that high?" Kensuke queried.
"The highest you can get is one hundred percent. Out of us two, I'm the highest scoring and I can barely push seventy." Shinji said disbelievingly. He really wasn't looking forward to those combat simulations which were meant to occur later that week.
I'm going to get destroyed.
"Hate to butt in, but could I have your attention for a moment?" Hikari's voice disturbed their conversation. She stood before them, arms wrapped around her book of offenders.
"Oh...of course, class rep." Toji nodded nervously, choosing to focus on her forehead instead of her doughy brown eyes...
"We've got two new students coming in today. So let's give them a warm welcome." She said.
"Sure. Where are they from?" Kensuke tilted his head.
"I'm not sure. I just know they're going to be here in a few minutes. So best behaviour." She added, then walked off to her desk.
"Received and understood!" Toji and Kensuke called out.
Oh great, more new people... Shinji's grey matter mumbled to itself. It seemed like he could only just get used to his fellow human beings before yet more were dropped on his plate. A few minutes later, the sound of the classroom door swinging open, footsteps on the floor, and Hikari's command of "stand" caught everyone's attention.
And here's the new guy-
A flash of golden red hair stopped every single one of his thoughts in their tracks, as his soul spiralled into an oblivion of horror. Having finished writing her name on the board in the Latin alphabet, the "new" student whirled around to face them all, right hand firmly placed on slightly thrust out hip.
"Guttenmorgen! I'm Asuka Zeppelin Soryu. Charmed I'm sure." Asuka smiled sickly sweetly.
Shinji and all his classmates stared back, his eyes nearly popping forth from their sockets in horror.
Oh...Spirits why!?
The customary bow followed, to which Asuka gave a polite nod, before taking her own seat a few desks away from his own position. Upon sitting back down, Shinji slowly and quietly massaged his face, his very being contorted in dismay. As much as he respected the girl, he felt he could only take so much of her. And now...
"This can't get any worse..." Toji shook his head with despair.
"Don't say that...just don't say that..." He leaned back in his chair, almost expecting a Seraph to attack right then and there.
"I would agree with Ikari. Although there is no such thing as luck, I have noticed disaster often follows such words." Rei said, she herself not overly elated at the prospect of sharing a classroom with Soryu. And then, as according to her calculations, things increased in their awfulness.
Exponentially.
The sound of boots clicking echoed throughout the outside corridor, as a blonde Caucasian boy in full Imperial military regalia strode through that door, gloved hands held behind his back. With the posture of a soldier on parade, he stood in front of the board and cast his blue gaze over his new classmates.
The command to "stand" was given again, although Shinji and his friends did it with a great deal more reluctance. This stranger to most of the class opened his mouth to speak, and the introverted Japanese boy began inwardly screaming for the next few hours straight.
"I am Major Samuel Meadow of His Imperial Britannic Majesty's Army. Owing to my duties to my glorious home land, I find myself stationed here with you. I am not here to be your friend, but show appropriate respect and I shall tolerate you." Samuel said harshly.
His little speech left many astounded, with Hikari stammering out a surprised "bow" which was obeyed, and Mr Sisata raising a grey eyebrow. Samuel merely gave a "hmm" then assumed his seat next to Asuka.
All whilst the redhead in question held her forehead in the palm of her hand.
And the Empire makes another good impression upon another society...oh gott I've got my work cut out...