Creation began on 05-30-17
Creation ended on 07-30-17
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Cells and Circuitry, Life and Choice
There was no denying that Fusei truly loved Genshi-teki…and still loved even after he died and fourteen years passed. Though he mainly survived through past memories and experiences carried by those that knew him deeply, sometimes Fusei's memories of her time spent with her sole love interest manifested in the form of dreams. Her mother and Genshi-teki's mother had deduced it was her brain's subconscious way of reminding her that he was the only man she really cared for romantically, even though more than half her dreams, she had confessed to them about, were of the embarrassing sort and they were random, sometimes just being of when they were in public and other times when they were not seen in public.
"…Aah…aah…aah…" Fusei moaned under her bed sheets, locked in an intense, memory-based about one of her more personal moments spent with her boyfriend.
Shinji, waking up because of her moans, wondered if this was something his mother experienced periodically. If so, then he was fortunate to have lived with Misato when he arrived at Tokyo-3 because he didn't know any other women besides her that made noises of this sort in their sleep.
But…she did say that the only man she was ever with was my father, this Genshi-teki Katagiri, he thought, willing to give Fusei the benefit of the doubt for her sleeping habits. She does think about him a lot…and he was part of her reason for not giving up when she was looking for me.
Deciding to get up, Shinji slipped on his mother's Phoenix charm and redressed in his uniform clothes from the previous day.
Thud! He heard a crashing sound from her room.
"Omfph!" He heard her. "Huh?! Oh… Four-hundred-eighty-seven now."
Four-hundred-eighty-seven times she fell out of bed after an intense dream of her intimacy with Genshi-teki when she was younger, and two-hundred-ten times she had that particular dream.
Getting up and grabbing a bathrobe, she stepped out of her room where she found Shinji in the hallway.
"Good morning, Shinji," she greeted, embarrassed by the possibility of him hearing her as she slept like that. "Um, how are you?"
"Fine," he responded. "Are you okay? I heard a sound, like a small crash, coming from your room."
"Yeah, about that… I just fell out of bed, that's all. It's…past memories in the form of dreams."
"It's okay. Misato does something similar in her sleep. You get used to it after a while."
"Really?"
"Yeah. She probably still loves Mr. Kaji, but doesn't want to admit to it."
"Heh… Well, um, she should own up to it, eventually. Otherwise, she might regret it later. Breakfast?"
"Yes. Breakfast."
Shinji could guess that she was embarrassed to know that another woman with similar sleeping habits lived with her son…and that he had gotten used to it after a while. But he was really fine with it. This was his mother, after all…and he wanted to know as much as he could about her. Even with the threat on her life.
He noticed a picture on the kitchen windowsill that he hadn't noticed last night. It looked like a younger version of Fusei with a boy slightly older than herself, standing outside of a school building. The boy looked a bit similar to how he looked, but with more life in him.
"Um…is that him?" He asked her, pointing to the picture.
Fusei looked at the picture and nodded in the positive.
"Yeah," she answered him. "That's Genshi-teki. That's your father."
"He looks like he was very, very popular."
Fusei agreed with her son. Her boyfriend, while not someone that cared for great positions when it came to social status, was one of the best of men she had ever met.
-x-
Since it wasn't a school day, all the Eva pilots were required to be present at NERV.
"…We may have a problem today," Ritsuko informed Misato and Fusei when they walked onto the bridge in Central Dogma.
"I take it you were still unable to get Unit-01 to function with the Dummy System?" Fusei questioned.
"Worse than that. Commander Ikari returned and wants to test Shinji with it."
Misato and Fusei looked at each other before the latter woman spoke, "Before or after we continue with the Dummy System?"
"More along the lines of 'immediately', actually," Ritsuko explained. "I tried explaining to him what happened when the Eva was involved in the Angel attack and that we don't know what could happen if we tried to test it with a pilot, but he wants to see what could happen."
Fusei wanted to put her foot down on this decision and say that it was a risk that was unnecessary for NERV to take with the pilots…with the children…with her son. But she suspected that Gendo was up to something much worse than just wanting to see what could happen to a pilot that he had threatened just a few hours ago.
-x-
This was crazy, extreme and downright wrong. It was the only way Shinji could view what he had been instructed by Misato less than half an hour ago. He had to attempt synchronization with the Eva after repeated attempts at getting the Dummy System to work with it failed…and the technical personnel were uncertain of what might happen to a pilot because something had happened to the Eva during the last battle. As he slipped into his plugsuit, he worried about his mother being by herself in the presence of Commander Ikari…and what he might do to her.
Something just doesn't feel right about any of this, he thought, pressing the button on his wrist to fit the plugsuit to his body's proportions. If they can't get the Eva to work with the autopilot system, what do they expect from me with my synchronization being so low?
Meanwhile, in the ladies' locker room, Asuka and Rei had put on their plugsuits.
"I'm surprised you didn't volunteer to test Unit-01," Asuka told Rei.
"I did," the albino responded. "Commander Ikari said 'no'."
But Asuka got the feeling that there was more to it than simply being told 'no'.
"What do you think of Dr. Hitode?" She questioned. "She and Shinji get along well."
"Fraternizing with a pilot is frowned upon," Rei answered. "Doctor Hitode repeatedly breaks this rule by associating with Ikari-Kun…and Ikari-Kun is easily impressionable by playing at his most simple desires of wanting to belong."
"Coming from you, it sounds like you're jealous that he gets to have a relationship with his mother," Asuka told her.
"She is not his mother," Rei iterated. "As I said before, Ikari-Kun is easily impressionable by playing at his most simple desires of wanting to belong."
Right now, the redhead felt intimidated by the bluenette. In a way, it was like she were talking to Commander Ikari in a sense, like both had a problem with the truth that was being found out.
"He cares about her…and I've seen the DNA evidence that confirms their relation."
But Rei didn't accept this as a fact. Even if there was some sort of genetic relation between the Third Child and Dr. Hitode, it didn't change anything between what Commander Ikari thought…or what the First Child thought.
"Anyway, as much as I hated him, I want for Shinji to be able to walk away from all this with Dr. Hitode. She had been looking all over for him for fourteen years. The will and patience it took her to endure that length of time without him, and the constant hoping she must've held onto before she found him. I won't deny that I envy him for what he has that was just suddenly returned to him by a thread of fate, but I wouldn't try to play Gott and hurt Shinji just because he has his mother back and I don't."
As Asuka left out the room, Rei still felt that this was all nothing more than a mistake made by a crazy woman that joined NERV under a different reason that masked her true objective.
Even Commander Ikari refused to let anything as outlandish as DNA evidence or anything he did in the past change his opinion or beliefs.
-x-
The more she looked at Unit-01, the more she got chills from it. It wasn't its appearance as it was its behavior that had Fusei on edge. The bestial savagery it displayed without any synchronization on the part of the pilot, the way it blocked attempts to either activate the Dummy System or eject the Entry Plug, it was like trying to get a crazy, unstable, un-medicated person to cooperate with you, only they were stubborn and unyielding, like they had no reason to cooperate. And the more she thought of it, the more it made her worry about her son being in the pilot's seat.
"Damn it," she sighed, turning away.
"I take it that he wasn't willing to suspend the testing?" She turned to her right and saw Shinji standing on the bridge with her.
"With you, it wasn't up for discussion," she explained. "You do know that he's going to throw a wrench into the situation if he found out we were still talking."
"At this rate, nothing he does should frighten me, anymore. Not after last night. And…he can't really order me to stop talking to my own mother…just because he tells me to. That's crazy. I mean, it is crazy, isn't it?"
Fusei thought about it…and nodded that it was crazy.
"Yeah, it is," she responded. "We have every right to talk to one another, regardless of what others think or feel about us doing so."
It just reminded her that she was taking a risk all the time ever since she found him and discovered he was the baby she had been looking for. That every choice she made, it included him in some way.
"Hopefully, the synchronization test shouldn't take too long," he told her, smiling.
"Yeah, and afterward, we'll…go do something to forget about it," she agreed with him.
As they both walked away from the Eva, above them in an observation room, Gendo was silently furious at his order to the Third Child being completely ignored.
-x-
"…How is he doing?" Misato asked Ritsuko, looking at the screen with all three pilots present in their Evas, wanting to know if Shinji was fine.
"His synchronization with the Eva is below thirty-three percent," she answered her. "It's below acceptable parameters…so far."
"Anything else to be concerned about?"
Fusei checked the graphs showing Shinji's vitals and explained, "So far, everything's still green. Shinji hasn't…sprouted gills or grown horns yet."
If this was her attempt to be a little humorous to the personnel, Fusei was failing a little bit.
"Uh, Shinji, how are you feeling?" Ritsuko asked the boy inside Unit-01.
"Um…enclosed," he answered her. "A chill just went down my neck."
Fusei checked the internal temperature of the plug and noticed that it dropped seven degrees below the recommended temperature…and then another three degrees.
"The internal temperature just dropped by ten degrees," she informed them.
"Try to raise the temperature back up," Ritsuko told her.
"Delay that," they all heard Gendo tell them.
"Sir, if the plug's internal temperature lowers any further, he could develop hypothermia," Ritsuko told him, warning him of the risks that could endanger the pilots.
Fusei, however, because of her maternal instincts and moral judgment, wasn't going to follow that order, and typed in the computer codes to raise the plug's temperature back to tolerable levels.
"What are you doing, Hitode?" He questioned her.
"My job," she simply stated, watching the temperature graphs rise back up ten degrees.
"Lower the temperature back down," he ordered her.
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
Hyuga and Shigeru were surprised that a woman spoke back like that to Commander Ikari.
"Can't…or won't?" Gendo questioned.
"I won't," she answered him, and Hyuga and Shigeru silently gave her props for standing up to the boss. "It'd be a violation of the oath I took."
Even Misato hadn't been sure if she had the guts to stand up to Gendo like that.
"You're treading on very thin ice, Ms. Hitode," Gendo uttered.
"Sir, the synchronization has risen up by four percent," said Ritsuko, trying to diffuse the would-be situation that the man was starting.
On the monitors, all three pilots were able to see the control bridge and Gendo's unwavering attitude towards Fusei.
Shinji didn't like this at all.
The first chance I get, I should shove him, he thought.
Suddenly, the alarms went off again, indicating that another Angel was approaching.
Looks like we were saved by the Angel, thought Misato as Ritsuko put up the new threat on the screens. "What in the name of…"
Unfortunately, the Angel was present…but it wasn't anywhere near Tokyo-3. It wasn't even anywhere near Japan…or anywhere else on the planet! It was in space, between Earth and the moon.
"Just how big is this thing?" Shigeru asked.
"It's massive," said Hyuga. "Far bigger than the last one that tried to blow us up."
The Angel was a brightly-glowing creature that didn't resemble anything they were familiar with, but one thing about it that stood out was how it seemed to possess multiple branches of crystallized wings on its body, as though it were made of wings or crystal branches.
"Only Asuka and Rei's synchronization ratios are highest," said Ritsuko.
"Out of the two, who's higher?" Misato asked her.
"Asuka."
"We'll snipe the Angel before it can do anything."
"Send Unit-01 to intercept," Gendo ordered.
"But sir, the Third Child's synchronization is still too low," Ritsuko told him.
"Irrelevant."
-x-
The city was starting to become blanketed by heavy rain as Unit-01 arisen from the streets.
Shinji, despite the protests from Misato, Ritsuko and his mother, was still in the Entry Plug and about to use Unit-01 to arm a sniper rifle to intercept the Angel that remained in space. But he was okay with this order for now; if he could snipe the Angel before it could attack, then that would be it. It would be just another dead Angel. Nothing that would leave that man happy, but would ensure that everyone else would be able to live in a future without the threat it posed.
"Hey, Shinji," he heard Asuka say to him over the intercom. "Be careful, stupid."
"Yeah," he responded, waiting for the sniper systems to sync up with the trajectory of the Angel's current position in orbit.
Within Central Dogma, Misato, worried that Commander Ikari's decision to send Unit-01 out with Shinji was simply the wrong choice out of contempt and spite towards the developing relationship between the boy and his mother, leaned over Fusei's right shoulder and whispered something to her.
"The second it seems like he's in danger, pull him out," she whispered.
"Yes, ma'am," she responded. Genshi-teki, please, watch over our son.
"Target will be within firing range in one minute and twenty seconds," said Hyuga to them.
"Units-00 and 02, standing by to backup Unit-01," went Rei, as she and Asuka were still in the catapults, awaiting launch orders.
Within the plug, Shinji clutched his mother's charm, finding solace in having it with him as he viewed the Angel through the sniping systems. In two more seconds, the Angel was within his scope and ready to be taken out.
"Target locked," he announced, prepared to fire.
FLASH! The purple Eva was suddenly bathed in a bright light…and people within hearing range heard the most horrific of screams.
"Aaaaaaaahhh!" Shinji screamed, feeling like he was being boiled alive by the Fifth Angel all over again, penetrated by sharp objects and ripped to pieces, all at once. "Aaaaaahh! Aaaaah!"
"What's going on?!" Misato demanded from Ritsuko. "What's with that light?!"
"It's some kind of variation of the Angel's AT-Field," the faux-blond explained. "I think it's attempting to examine the human mind."
"It's hurting him, that's what it's doing," Fusei expressed her opinion, typing in the command codes for the catapult beneath Unit-01 to retract the Eva.
On their screens, the bridge crew saw the purple Eva grab its head as the pilot continued to scream in untold, unmeasured agony. Then it moved away from the catapult, just as it retracted back into the ground, surprising them.
No! Fusei gasped. "Shinji, you have to get into the opening beside the Eva. You have to get out of the light right now."
"I can't!" Shinji yelled. "I can't get the Eva to move!"
She checked his synchronization…and it was now less than ten percent, way too low to get the Eva to move even an inch. Her son was just a vulnerable target in the metaphysical clutches of the Angel.
"Asuka, get him out of there!" Misato ordered the redhead.
Unit-02 launched from the catapult and into the city three feet away from Unit-01, and was bathed in the light. Unlike her fellow pilot, Asuka just felt the memories of her painful past trying to resurface.
"It feels like this Angel's trying to violate my mind!" She shouted, approaching the purple Eva. "Sorry, Shinji, but you'll thank me later for this!"
She relieved Unit-01 of the positron rifle and disconnected the umbilical cable, kicking it into the hole beside it, out of the light.
-x-
The Angel had only seen a past full of pain in its first target and an equally-painful past in its second target that got rid of the first target. It nearly had gained some measure of understanding with the first target, understanding words like "neglect", "abandonment", "mother" and "disgust", even if such an understanding came at the expense of the target's life. Except now it had to make do with the mind of the girl, which was different from the first, more unstable, more chaotic than the hurt and mending mind of the boy. Images of loneliness, manipulation, even grief were explored by the Angel…until…
PIERCE! Something red shot from the blue sphere that was the Earth…and penetrated the Angel's AT-Field, putting an end to its assault for good.
The last thing it ever saw in the girl's mind…was a scene between the boy and another woman that was with him. A happy scene.
-x-
Shinji, feeling like he had experienced his first hangover from drinking too much alcohol, awoke to the white ceiling of the trauma ward and wondered what happened. The last thing he recalled was seeing the Angel, but then…nothing.
"You're finally awake," he heard someone say to him, though his hearing was a little off so he couldn't make out just who the voice belonged to until he turned to face them.
At first, he was expecting to see Ayanami again like before. Instead, he was greeted by Fusei, who looked restless from a lack of sleep.
"Doc…" He almost went professional in his response. "M…Mother."
"You had me worried for a while," she told him. "You were unconscious for eight hours."
"Eight…eight hours? The Angel?"
"Miss Ayanami defeated it when Ms. Soryu was unable to."
"Are they alright?"
"Miss Soryu came to an hour ago and described what happened from her perspective. Do you remember what happened to you when you were bathed in that Angel's beam of light?"
Shinji tried to think back to what he had experienced, but could only describe it as immense suffering.
"I felt like I was being boiled alive, impaled by sharp objects and ripped to pieces, all at the same time," he explained his experience. "It was many times worse than with the first sortie against the Fifth Angel. A lot worse. Oh?"
He noticed that his left hand was gripping something and opened it up, revealing his mother's Phoenix charm, still contained in its plastic wrapping to keep the LCL out.
"Doctor Akagi said you held onto that with such force, the doctors were afraid of tearing your fingers off," Fusei explained to him.
"It was the only thing that made piloting the Eva tolerable for me this time," he confessed. "Even after what happened to me in the most recent battle. Though, it wasn't much of a battle."
"No," she agreed with him, "it wasn't."
Then, just because of a random thought in his head, Shinji looked away from Fusei and towards the door to the room, seeing Commander Ikari with a cold frown. Before he could say anything, though, the man walked away.
"I just saw the lunatic," he told her.
"He's been more cold and incorrigible than ever before," she explained. "He actually revealed the truth of our relation to the entire bridge when he demanded that you be sent back out against the Angel…and I told him that you were in no condition to go back out there."
Although he was surprised to hear this, he made no expression of shock. He only ever told Kensuke one other thing, and that was to explain how he was not related to the Ikaris in the slightest degree. He feared what could happen if the whole of NERV found out the truth and didn't want to risk losing his real family and being by himself again.
"You mean…everyone knows now?" He questioned.
She nodded in the positive.
"How likely are rumors of this going to spread?" He asked.
"Between what he said…and how I responded…a lot of people are going to be wondering exactly what is going on."
Shinji reached out to her left hand with his right hand and grasped it.
"Who do you suspect they'll believe more?" He wanted to know from her. "Him…or you?"
"The one with the most credibility is the one that people choose to believe the most," she answered him; blood may have been thicker than water, but only the truth would set them free from the cruel and corrupted web of lies.
"What credibility does a man like him have?" He expressed.
-x-
Decisions and Consequences
"Send the Third Child back out there," Gendo had ordered the bridge while Rei had gone to retrieve the Spear of Longinus to dispose of the Angel.
"Sir, he only has a ten percent synchronization," Fusei had told him. "What's more, he was just psychologically assaulted. He'd just be a target."
"He'd still be useful to distract the Angel!" Gendo shouted.
"Well, I'm sorry," she responded, not truly sympathetic to his belief. "He's not going back out there until he's recovered."
"So says the delusional woman that thinks she's the Third Child's mother."
Everyone within an earshot of what Gendo said found themselves confused by what he said.
"If you want to take me on and question whether or not this is the truth, fine, Gendo," Fusei responded. "I will take this as far as you want to go. Until then, sit down, shut up and back off."
Most would've probably paid to see a showdown between Gendo and whoever was brave enough (or foolish enough) to go up against him. Others would've probably killed to see it. But Misato and Ritsuko, they would've argued over who was superior: Their superior…or the recent employee, both with a connection to the Third Child. One with a legitimate link, the other a false link.
One thing was fairly certain as Gendo, who rose from his seat, sat back down as Rei resurfaced with the Spear of Longinus to take out the Angel, and it was if there was going to be fight between this man and this woman, it was bound to be epic in its own way.
-x-
"…Man, this is messed up," Shigeru expressed, looking at the DNA results Ritsuko showed him and Hyuga after they demanded an explanation for why Commander Ikari said what he said and why Dr. Hitode didn't seem surprised. "How did nobody know this? How did nobody bring this up?"
"It explains why it's hard to compare the two of them," said Hyuga, unable to disbelieve this. "There's no way to compare them to begin with. Still…it's quite the shocker."
"What is?" Misato, who was in the lab with them, asked. "That Shinji's mother is still alive and came to find him…or that she went and stood up to the commander?"
"Both," Hyuga and Shigeru answered.
"If these two have a showdown, it's going to be epic," Shigeru expressed.
Why does everyone here think they're going to have an epic battle? Ritsuko wondered, unsure how any type of battle between Gendo and Fusei was to be considered epic. It's not even like he can fight fair when he'd rather use foul methods to end a situation in his favor. I should know, he's done so many times before.
"The hand that should've rocked the cradle is the hand that should've ruled the world," went Misato. "I hope that Fusei lives to walk away from this with Shinji."
Though, I doubt that anyone ever rocked Shinji to sleep when he was a baby, thought Ritsuko, but decided that if there was to be a fight, she would have to root for Fusei, who gave her some advice on how to deal with her strained relationship with her mother.
"If you and she were of similar goals, would she really not consider your personal feelings over her own interests?" Fusei had asked her. "Mothers are supposed to be understanding to their children and have a positive influence on their behavior. I'm sure she loved you…even if she didn't say it or show it like she was supposed to. If you think you live in her shadow, then get out of her shadow. Do something you want, something that people will remember you for. My mother was a masseuse, and my sister and I pursued different careers."
-x-
"…Hey, idiot," Shinji looked up from the book he was reading and saw Asuka in hospital garments. "They're keeping you here tonight, too?"
"Yeah," he answered her. "Their MRI machine is down, and they say I need to have my head scanned, just in case of the attack on my mind left any side-effects."
"Your mother told me the same thing."
"How long until it's fixed?"
"Should be ready by tomorrow afternoon."
"We could've done this at a regular hospital."
"That's what I said, too."
Shinji closed his book and set it down, allowing Asuka to see the title of what he was reading.
"Didn't realize you were into those cheesy stories," she told him, seeing that he was reading an old book called Looking for Home.
"I just found it one day at a library when they were throwing out their old books," he explained. "I never finished it, but it's a really good book so far."
"You're such a simple person."
-x-
Rei Ayanami never said anything, but if anyone was able to see it clearly enough, they'd know that she was clearly pissed. The defeat of the Angel using the Spear of Longinus did nothing to change the fact that Shinji still spent time with that Hitode woman. It made her very disgusted, even as she was attending her appointment with Dr. Akagi, that the boy smiled for a woman he'd never seen before, and shouldn't have had any attachment towards.
"What's gotten you in a mood, Rei?" Ritsuko asked her, sticking her in the left arm with a syringe and drawing blood.
"I think you know," she responded, surprising the faux-blond with her choice of words with which to respond. "Ikari-Kun, despite orders from Commander Ikari to stay away from Dr. Hitode, still spends time with her. His fraternization with her breeds only potential instability. Her fraternization with him breeds only disaster and encourages continued disregard for protocols."
"That sounds a lot like jealousy, coming from you," Ritsuko told her, extracting the needle from her and giving her a cotton swab to staunch the blood flow. "Since everyone here is starting to spread rumors and only some of them have come to me for clarification on the truth, there's no point in hiding behind half-truths. Fusei Hitode and Shinji are related by blood, the boy's real father died when he was only three days old, he was taken from his mother by the Ikaris, as far as anyone can determine, and one can't deny that the fourteen-year gap between mother and son has been bridged to a degree after their reunion. Shinji does care about her and wants to be with her."
"It isn't right," Rei said. "Ikari-Kun is easily impressionable and influenced by others that appeal to his desire to belong."
"Which sounds just like jealousy. I thought Commander Ikari had your undivided attention, not Shinji."
"Isn't that the same for you, Dr. Akagi?"
Ritsuko thought about it…and answered, despite there being some truth to it, "Not anymore."
Maybe it was because of Fusei, but Ritsuko couldn't deny that for a moment, she wanted to strangle Rei, right then and there and make it look like a suicide. The girl looked so much like his wife, which aided in the confusion of why she said Unit-01 was angry. She was probably the only one to realize that Fusei's presence and her influence on Shinji was driving a wedge between Gendo, his wife and the First Child, resulting in an instability within Unit-01 because Shinji was unable to address the soul inside it as his mother, who really wasn't, and it infuriated them that the woman wasn't dead as they had believed her to be.
"We're done for the day," she told Rei, and the girl got up to leave. "A word of advice, Rei."
The albino stopped and turned to face the faux-blond.
"Just because they don't accept that he and his mother are building their relationship, it doesn't mean you have to agree with them. Shinji loves her and deserves to be with her, no matter how illogical or odd other people see it. If I hadn't met Fusei, I would've looked the other way if it involved Shinji. But things have changed. A lot has changed. A hidden secret was uncovered."
Rei then left the room.
Ritsuko got the feeling that Rei was impervious to this revelation that was getting around faster than the fear of the measles and flu virus did in earlier years.
"Excuse us, Dr. Akagi," she heard a man say to her as he and two women came in. "We're sorry, but we had to know the truth. Is Dr. Hitode really the Third Child's mother?"
And again, the curious ones come seeking clarification on the rumors.
-x-
Again, SEELE was upset with Gendo for his actions. It wasn't just the fact that he had used the Spear of Longinus to defeat the Angel without their authority, but the fact that he had, more or less, threatened Dr. Hitode after sending the Third Child out against the enemy when he had a low synchronization with the Eva and tried to send him back out there when the woman defended her child against facing the Angel a second time. Somehow, they found out about the incident and decided that enough was enough with Gendo if he couldn't follow the simplest orders.
"If his synchronization is below usable parameters, Ikari, then you had no right to send him out there to begin with, useless or not," SEELE 04 told him. "And the Spear of Longinus has entered lunar orbit. Recovery is impossible."
While Gendo claimed that they had no other means to dispose of the Angel, none of the Committee accepted his excuse.
"We've decided to send the Fifth Child to replace the Third Child," SEELE 01 announced to Gendo. "And there's something else you should know. He's coming to question this personal matter you have caused. Do make him feel welcomed."
This, of course, had Gendo wondering why someone like…this man would bother with this matter. Unless he was told about it and desired an explanation for why the problem existed and was instigated with intention.
-x-
An old picture was all he really had of his family from before Second Impact. It was his reminder of how life back then was more…subtle…and before the subtlety was undone by choices that were better thought of than performed. In it were his wife, himself and their two daughters, the eldest of whom followed the path of a homemaker while the youngest chose the path of science.
If I had known they were going to get in this much trouble over a choice one of them made, I would dragged them both back home by their heads and make them fix their mistake through legal channels, he thought, sitting on a plane and looking out at the water below, now looking at a different photo. I can't believe that you would do something like this, Yui. What the Hell were you thinking?
The photo depicted an older Yui Ikari, holding a baby boy in her arms. It never crossed her father's mind that the boy wasn't really his daughter's. He felt disgraced by Yui, that she had disrespected their family by committing this vile act that was her second mistake in her life; her first was marrying that Gendo Rokubungi who was just bad road. But even after discovering that she didn't really have a son, that he was someone else's child, he couldn't bring himself to destroy the picture.
My family has disgraced and disrespected another family beyond any reasonable measure of doubt, he thought, putting the photo away. This isn't about what drove them to do the cruel things they did to people that did them no wrong. This…is about rectifying the problem they made and seeing that the ones responsible are punished for their actions.
This was simply how the aged man felt towards the last of his family after this discovery was brought to his attention…and he wouldn't forgive them or be allowed to go quietly to his grave without ensuring some form of closure was gained.
-x-
"…We'll be ready to begin the MRI scan momentarily, Ms. Soryu," said Fusei to Asuka the next day after the required machine was fixed.
"Alright, just get it over with," the redhead responded, laying inside the repaired machine.
It was all because of a simple coin toss that Shinji and Asuka decided who would get their head scanned first. Because Asuka called tails, she won and got scanned. Even though he had been exposed first and probably got it worse, Shinji decided to be a gentleman and let the redhead go first.
Fusei couldn't fault him for being a gentleman. It was something she wanted to believe his father would've done, too, when he was alive. In fact, as memory serves her, it was something he had done something like this when he was still alive.
"Ohh…" She groaned, feeling the subtle discomfort from the small pins in her left leg.
"Are you okay?" Shinji asked her, noticing that she was rubbing her leg.
"Yeah, it's just a subtle pain that comes and goes every now and then. You?"
"I'm feeling fine for now."
They both looked at the MRI machine and Asuka.
"Asuka, you do realize that you're allowed to speak during your scan so long as you don't move," Fusei told her.
"What is there to talk about?" Asuka asked her.
"Life?"
"That's everything."
"What you intend to do after the Angels are dealt with?" Shinji suggested.
"Isn't that obvious? Pursue Mr. Kaji."
Mother and son looked at one another and the son merely gestured that the girl was obsessed with the unshaven man that was once Misato's old flame.
"Best of luck to you, Ms. Soryu," Fusei told her, checking her head scan. "Well, based on your scan, there's no apparent harm to your brain that can be seen. No damages or signs of tumors. I'd say that for the time being until your next scan, you're in the clear, Ms. Soryu. But if you find yourself seeing or hearing things you know you shouldn't, you'd best inform someone."
"Danke," Asuka said to her, but then realized that she probably didn't know a word of German. "Thank you, Dr. Hitode."
"You're welcome. Bitte."
"When did you start speaking German?" Shinji asked her.
"I never learned a day in my life. Thankfully, there's a service tool online called Google Translate. People that want to know how to pronounce words in different languages use that, even if the translation isn't perfect."
As Asuka got out of the machine, Shinji accepted her explanation and left the room to get into the machine; he was hoping that his head scan would be just as normal as Asuka's had been. There were times, just small periods of random thoughts based on what NERV did that revolved around using teenagers in the Evas, where he had to wonder how safe it was for them to spend various hours within a cybernetic construct made to fight the Angels. They might've done this with Asuka and Ayanami for years and months, respectively, but history has come to show that people, due to the fact that everyone was different from one another, react to things differently than others do. His concern, which he had shared with his mother, was that the LCL smelled constantly like blood; while he tried to question this with Dr. Akagi once, she shot him down, saying that it was all in his head. Except it didn't feel like it was in his head, not when he smelled it every time he was in the Eva…and it bothered him to have no answer for why.
"We'll begin in two minutes, Shinji," his mother told him as he lay down in the platform.
"Okay," he responded.
-x-
"…So, your younger daughter's boyfriend was named Genshi-teki Katagiri?" Fuyutsuki asked Mrs. Hitode, pointing to young man in the photo that was with Fusei.
"That's right," she answered him, pouring herself another cup of sake. "He was two years older than her, but they got along faster than I did when I was still dating my husband."
Fuyutsuki looked down at the photo again on the living room table. It was taken at a beach near Tokyo, and the young couple were near the water. The young Fusei was wearing a dark blue one-piece with a white trim around the neck area and a lighter green skirt piece, while her boyfriend was wearing blue trunks and goggles; even at such a young age, the elder was able to see a lot of Shinji in the two people that would eventually become his parents.
"Did he have any family? Before Fusei and Shinji?" He asked her.
"His parents and younger brother, Tetsuo," she explained. "He and Fusei were best friends since they met in elementary. Tetsuo was the one that introduced her to his brother. It was love at first sight…even though it was most likely unexpected and unintended. You can't fight against who you find yourself becoming attracted to…so long as the feeling is mutual."
"But…they didn't get married?"
"They were going to after Shinji was born. Even though it meant he'd be illegitimate, that would only be temporary; as long as they both recognized Shinji as being their child while they were still a couple that had every intention to get married, that would change his illegitimacy to legitimacy, even though his father was going to marry into our family."
Fuyutsuki found this to be the only similarity between the Hitodes and the Ikaris, but the men that married into these respective families had different reasons for doing so.
Fusei's boyfriend loved the girl and had no hidden agenda or a history of being unlikable by others.
Yui's husband sought to replace the unseen and ancient force he called God and had a history of being unlikable by various people during college, and Fuyutsuki had nothing but apathy and pity for him, knowing that he was beyond forgiveness.
"Mister Fuyutsuki?" Fusei's mother asked.
"I'm sorry," he responded. "Just old memories. Fifteen years worth of sadness."
"You said you saw Shinji as a toddler, right?" She asked him. "What was he like back then?"
"Full of life and happiness. Again, it never occurred to me that he wasn't my former student's son. I used to admire her research theories when I was a professor at Kyoto University. Ever since I found out the truth, I'm not sure how to see her."
"If she was unable to have children of her own, then desperation breeds unforeseen actions that lead to unexpected consequences."
"But…I don't know if she was unable to have children of her own. I never tried to bring up her reason for dating her husband after she explained her reason."
"Did you ever wish you should've?"
"Only recently."
She sighed and looked at another picture of her younger daughter and her boyfriend. It had been taken a week before Second Impact happened. The pair had been at this late-night dance party…where Fusei and Genshi-teki most likely went and sparked the flame that was Shinji afterwards.
"You once mentioned that Fusei had gotten injured prior to her son's birth," Fuyutsuki expressed. "How did she get hurt?"
"One of the buildings in what was left of Tokyo had become unstable. An earthquake came and it fell over…along with sixteen other buildings. We were in one of them and had to evacuate. She lost her footing going down a flight of stairs and Genshi-teki caught her before she could fall. But the banister he grabbed came off and they fell almost two floors to the ground. Genshi-teki hit the ground first…and broke most of Fusei's fall. Her leg got broken in three places and his abdominal cavity was ruptured from the impact. It was a miracle he was still conscious because my eldest daughter swears she saw him hitting the remaining banisters before he hit the ground."
"I'm sorry."
"We were able to get to the hospital, but it was overwhelmed by the refugees and understaffed because of the aftermath. All they could do for my daughter and her boyfriend was put her leg in a sling and wrap his sides in bandages. Even when most were taken care of, the hospital was still in shambles. Fusei was one of eight women that had children being born at the time, but she was the last one to deliver because her doctor believed she was overdue."
"What did you think?"
"I thought Shinji would decide when he was due…and he did just that, two days after Fusei had pins in her leg to straighten the bones as they mended back together."
-x-
"You just have some minor swelling on the right side of your brain, but it should go down in a few days," Fusei informed Shinji of his head scan after he was done. "If you feel any pain or find yourself unable to sleep or relax for a few days, I'll scan your head again and see if the swelling persist…and we'll go from there."
"You mean, operate?" He asked her.
"Only if it comes to that."
"Thank you."
Then, mostly because she heard his cries of pain in the Eva and it made her concerned for his welfare, she held his left hand.
"Are you…feeling shaky?" She asked him.
"No, ma'am," he answered.
"Chills?"
"No. What about you?"
"I've been tense ever since I said what I said to that man on the bridge in Central Dogma. I might've given too much into my maternal instincts just to sound intimidating."
"He should be intimidated now. He's not a scary person, anymore."
"Hey, I'm not scary."
"But what's that saying that means not to infuriate a mother? Something about Hell without fury?"
"You mean, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. Yes, I am a woman, but I don't fit the criteria for being scorned. But I fit the criteria for two things that I refuse to pretend didn't happen: I am a mother…and I have been disgraced by an unforgivable crime."
Shinji nodded in agreement on that.
"Say, are you free tonight?" He asked her.
"I have an open schedule, why?"
"Misato and Asuka suggested once that I invite you over for dinner."
"If you think you can handle me there, I'm game."
-x-
Rumors started spreading across the base like a virus, and Gendo had no control of what the people were saying to who, where, when or why. It got to the point of infuriating when he returned to his office and found "BABY SNATCHER" spray-painted on his door in bright yellow.
That little bitch, he thought as he wished Fusei was disposed of.
It was like the woman was aiming to bring him down and take over (even though he knew that wasn't true), but he had other plans for dealing with her and the Third Child. There was no way he was going to lose everything he had sacrificed so much on just to watch a pathetic doctor and computer expert walk away with her bastard child.
I'm the one in control here, regardless of personal views and opinions, he thought, sitting at his desk. I will be rid of any problems that interfere with my scenario.
-x-
Fusei stood outside of Misato's apartment and hesitated before ringing the doorbell. She wasn't worried about anything, but rather nervous. This was the first time she had been to the commanding officer's home where her son lived…and she really just wanted to make a good impression.
Ring! She pressed the doorbell and waited for a response.
The door slid open and revealed Asuka.
"Hello," she greeted the redhead.
"Welcome," the girl responded, stepping aside so she could enter the residence. "Your son's nervous about this."
"Nervous? Shinji, too? I'm surprised that he's nervous."
"Well, he did invite you for dinner. I don't know why he'd worry about his mother being over for dinner going bad."
"Even the slightest degree of embarrassment isn't so bad."
"Well, beware of Misato, for she's good at that."
Fusei stepped in and removed her coat.
As the door slid closed, neither woman was aware of the fact that they had been watched from a distance by an albino girl with blue hair and red eyes…and a temperament.
"This must be Pen-Pen," Fusei said as she looked down at the penguin that came out of the second refrigerator she noticed. "Hello, there."
Pen-Pen looked up at her…and immediately took a liking to her. She felt just like the boy that fed him better than his owner did.
"Squawk," he went.
"I guess he likes you," Asuka said, leading her to the living room, passing a door that had a sign reading, "Shinji's Lovely Suite".
Eh-heh, Fusei mentally chuckled at the sign.
In the kitchen, Shinji was finishing up dinner for everyone when he heard his mother's voice; she was speaking with Misato in the living room.
"…Knowing Shinji, he's going to cook something delicious," he heard Misato say; he was thankful that she wasn't drinking right now, but he got the feeling that his mother knew enough about the signs of alcoholism when she met with the commanding officer.
"I know my primary medical practice has been in pediatrics, but I've studied the altered chemistry of the human liver," he heard Fusei say to her. "Some people, such as yourself, Ms. Katsuragi, have developed enzymes that fight against the defects of alcohol for longer periods. You'll most likely have to be close to fifty or past eighty before you feel what drinking over fifty gallons of it could do to regular people."
"Really? Whoa… Thank you…and for the record, I had to limit my alcohol intake after the Unit-03 incident. Even before that, the situation involving the Sixth Angel gave me stress."
"Stress? The Angels? You? I thought it was that ex of yours that gave you stress."
"Kaji? No, he doesn't give me stress. He gives me headaches with his behavior."
"Just so that you know, if he tries to hit on me again, I will not hesitate to devastate."
"Oh, I think after you tasered him the first time and with the revelation of your relation to Shinji being public knowledge, he knows better than to hit on a single mother with a Taser."
"Thank you again for looking after Shinji."
"Don't mention it. He really looks after Asuka and I."
Shinji finished the primary dish and cut up the salad side dish before going into the living room.
"Dinner is ready," he announced.
-x-
As she walked back to her apartment, Rei Ayanami looked less antisocial and more angry, like any wrong move made by those around her would set her off. She had followed the Hitode woman to Major Katsuragi's apartment and felt more anger towards her for getting closer to Ikari-Kun…and wanted her to stop…permanently.
Fusei Hitode… There is a price to pay for your arrogance, she thought, deciding to take this matter into her own hands. You are no longer necessary. You are no longer useful.
If only she knew that not to long ago, she heard and repeated those cold words to someone else before.
To be continued…
A/N: Uh-oh, just how messed up do you suspect Rei to be because of Gendo and the revelation of the nonexistent blood ties? At first, I thought of having Shinji losing his sense of taste due to the Angel attack on him, but decided against that since something a bit worse is bound to happen later.