Chapter 7: New, angry friends.
Eight days after Sachiel's attack. Misato.
"Which is good, because we've been able to start repairing Unit 00 ahead of schedule." Ritsuko replies.
I nod my approval. "Shinji's gonna be released from hospital on saturday. I'm planning on sending him to school on monday. His concussion is already healing, so I suggest we start Shinji's pribnow sim training on wednsday, take it in stages."
Ritsuko taps her notepad, bringing up her day planner. "That will do fine. I would have suggested we push him a bit harder, but..."
I notice Ritz seems to shiver and glance around cautiously. I'd pass it off as a normal 'pause for thought' moment, but I've known Ritsuko long enough to know she's worrying about something. "What's up?"
Ritz looks away from me and starts gathering some papers on her desk. "Nothing, I guess..." She drawls passive-agressively.
Oh, sardonic are we? Alright, back to the topic at hand then I suppose. "You were saying, about Shinji?"
Ritsuko flashes a smile, seemingly grateful for the chance to think happier thoughts. "I'm giving him some leniency. From what we can see, the Evangelion's cranial computer has taken a huge blow, though thankfully it's healing now. Shinji was much better off. The partial synchronization meant he didn't suffer the way Unit 01 did."
Apparently, working on Unit 01 has warmed my best friend's stone heart enough to give a crap about a teenager's war wounds. Or at least that's what I can translate from the science talk and puzzling emotions of the great sphinx Ritsuko.
"Unit 01's telemetry data seems to have been heavily damaged. There were even chunks completely, unrecoverably scrambled. Since we can't get at its hardware, I'm having Maya and the MAGI try and salvage what we can." Ritz adds in a slightly vexed but ultimately laissez-faire tone. The computer stuff was Maya's job anyway, she had bigger things to worry about!
So what does this mean? Does Ritz want that data for anything? Is she tactfully accusing me? Or is she just bored and annoyed out of scientific curiosity. Hrm, at least it imparted on her the kind of shit a brawl to the death can do to a body. Poor Maya, though. Caught in the middle like this, having to cover my ass as well as her own for what amounts to a half-vindicated, half-paranoid hunch.
Still, I regret nothing, 'cuz the Commander hasn't visited Shinji once, and he's been down to check on Unit 01 every day for the last week now. Oh Ritz, you secretive little... Let's see how far I can push you.
"The Evangelion has Hardware?" I grin misschivously. "Don't you mean wetware?" A twitch of Ritz's eye, paperwork dropped and a miffed frown. Here we go.
"Stop it." Ritsuko simply hisses.
Oh... that was more blunt then I expected. I'd hoped she'd go on a tirade about biomechanics and misplace a few big words that I could google for their proper meaning later. ...Usually she's not very tight-lipped around me at all, weird.
"Ritz, why don't you ever give me a straight answer? What is the Evangelion, really?" I ask, trying not to voice just how exasperated I am with her stupid secrecy. For all my prodding and all my poking, she's never told me how they'd built the bastards. I want to decide for myself if I want to continue working with those 'robots' that bleed and roar and flout the laws of physics that keep us from building landcruiser tanks.
Ritz knows she doesn't need to keep the truth from me. It's half the reason why I can coax as much as I do out of her. She feels conflicted and I know it, and she needs to let me in.
But Doctor Ritsuko Akagi SCOWLS at me in a way I haven't seen since I returned from my little... roadtrip... with Kaji. Hrm. Memories. Betrayal-tinged memories, from Ritsuko and Kaji both, but exciting memories nonetheless.
"Misato. Do you or do you not know?" My bottle-blonde and fellow bottle-adoring best friend asks me with an angry scowl.
"About the Evangelion?" I ask dumbly in reply.
Ritz palms her face and shakes her head in disbelief.
"No, dear Captain. Your invisible spy is standing right next to us. Which is one of many reasons I am not crying on your shoulder blurting out NERV secrets at the moment."
"And the other reasons?" I ask hopefully with a touch of playfulness.
"They're as classified as the other secrets." Ritz hisses at me, but with a sly grin on her lips that lets me know all is forgiven.
Okay. Awesome. Next point of order.
"Daniel. Come out." My voice echoes through Ritz's secondary office and out into the hallway. I turn around, swivel my head... can't see the bastard. "Ritz, how did you..."
She chuckles. "When he's around, the ambient temperature drops by a few degrees. Enough to make your hair stand on end. He's practically breathing down my neck at this point."
"So he's still here?" I glance sideways at Ritz. She nods in confirmation. "Okay, Daniel. Come out, now. I trusted you, so please."
And I see Ritsuko's frown deepen. She's looking behind me. So I turn around and there he is. Jacket. Green tee. Stupid grin.
"Dick." I hear Ritsuko mumble.
I actually agree with her for once in my life, so I step toward him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I ask, somewhat loudly, fully aware that the only way I'm gonna affect him is emotionally. But thankfully, I'm pretty good at that.
Daniel seems a little flustered, his arrogant grin has morphed into a strained grimace and his eyes are flitting between me and the walls. Is he considering just vanishing on me? Oh, he should know that won't win him any friends.
"Um, I'm sorry, okay? I am going through your records already, figured what's the harm in hearing out the people too?" He squeaks sheepishly.
"You just didn't expect to get caught." I hear Ritz jab. A veryood point, dear roommate. Oh wait, that's how things used to be. Meh, we're on a roll here anyway, may as well keep the dynamic going.
"I want you to apologize to us both. If you want to keep exploring, I can't stop you, but you don't stalk people like this." What goes unsaid is that I want Daniel to look at the hidden shit Ritz is keeping from me. Shinji and to a certain extent Rei come first. I need to know what I'm dealing with, what I'm sending him... them into, and Daniel can get me that info. As long as he doesn't lurk like this. "It's creepy."
And he seems to have been doing it long enough for Ritz to start noticing.
On a completely different train of thought, Ritsuko is reminded of something the Commander said and adresses Daniel semi-officially, figuring now is as good a time as any.
"The Commander has cleared Misato with briefing you about any info she already posesses or can access with her security clearance. This however does not include technical specifications on the Evangelions, because that would compromise operational security." Ritsuko says, trying to sound like she believes the second part herself.
I see Daniel be suprised by this. Bit suprised myself, too, to be honest. I'm guessing the Commander's reaching out to Daniel in some small way. And in doing so, trying to placate me too. I smile, 'cuz it's progress. "Okay then." I exclaim gleefully. "I'm gonna tell my good friend Daniel all about what I know over a beer at my place. I was going home anyway."
"The words 'good friend' stand out." Daniel remarks dryly, getting Misato's hint.
He sighs, closes his eyes, and seems to mull things over.
"Okay, I may have gotten a little bit desensitized after days of invisble stalking. Sorry about that. But you don't have to worry, I'll stop now. I already know most of what goes on in NERV's upper levels anyway, including, Doctor Akagi, that your MAGI units and the Pribnow Box simulation thingy you're gonna put Shinji into are made of meat."
Daniel seems to change direction of his thoughts mid-sentence. "Wasn't this supposed to be an apology?" I ask him. But he seems to have focused on Ritsuko.
"The records also told me that you helped build the Evangelions, and your MAGI and the Pribnow box are the... what, leftovers? Sideshows?" While the bile rising in Danny's voice is matched by the bile in my throat, he has no reason to rant at my (mortified and incandescent) best friend like this.
I step inbetween Daniel and Ritz, glaring at the foreigner. Enough is enough.
"Yes she did help build the Evas." I say snidely. "And I design battle plans that send young teenagers into war on the backs of those things, now stop singling out Ritz-...er, Akagi for this. We both do what has to be done. We are no different, so if you piss on her methods and her choices, you piss on mine."
Outside my field of view, Ritsuko smiles briefly in thanks. Before reality catches up with her and the floor falls out from under her: No, dear Misato. If you knew my methods, you would put a bullet in my brain and walk a way shivering in disgust. And I'd almost thank you.
Oblivious to Akagi's little crisis of faith, Daniel seems to consider Misato's words. "Rei did say something similair about the Commander..." He shakes his head dismissively, before sidestepping me and standing in front of Akagi. "I've made it my buisness to know what you're doing here. And I'm not liking what I'm seeing."
He rolls his head back, seemingly looking to the heavens. We're underground, though. "But... In the end, I haven't seen anything unforgiveable. What's more: Eavesdropping was petty and childish of me." He sighs. "As was taunting you. I can say without lying that I'm sorry for the disrespect."
An honest apology if I ever heard one, all though it's more 'sorry I was being a callously psycho stalker' then 'yay go team NERV', but that was to be expected from him.
"Apology accepted." I hear from behind. Seems to me Ritz also means it.
"Then you're coming home with me." I say, grinning at Daniel. "I've got two beers with my name on it."
"Don't you mean our names, plural?" Daniel asks, just before I grab him by the wrist and yank him off-balance.
"No she doesn't." I hear Ritsuko reply, deadpan and bored, as I pull Danny out of her lab.
Misato's place
With a click, the door to my apartment opens. I leap onto the sofa, scanning for Pen-Pen on the descent. Good, he's not on the sofa. Most likely in the fridge then.
My guest closes the door behind me. Operation comfortable uncomfortable has begun. "Daniel, be a dear and throw me a beer, would you?"
The ghostly spy cocks an eyebrow before hesitantly opening the fridge.
"Fridge seems to be... defective. Guess you wouldn't like a lukewarm beer. Might want to get your meat and... How is there only a few beers in this fridge and nothing else?" Daniel asks idly while I scan furiously for a certain flightless and about-to-be-homeless bird. Breaking my fridge, ruining perfectly gooood beer.
"Well, at least there's nothing to be spoiled."
EXCEPT MY BEER! My mind rages. Think, think. Where would he... AHA! To Daniel's dull suprise I silently bolt up, off the couch and into the bathroom.
"Well if you gotta go, you gotta go, I suppose." He says from the other room, but I've already got my hands around Pen-Pen's neck. Bird was trying to cool itself off in the bathtub, racking up my water bill on top of everything else.
Daniel walks in, from the sounds of it.
"Is that an emperor penguin you're strangling?" he asks idly. Yup, he just walked in on a very embarassing relationship moment between me and my flatmate in the bathroom.
"Daniel Fenton, meet Pen-Pen the genetically engineered emperor penguin. Who broke my fridge."
"Wark!-gggllh." Pen-Pen gargles as I squeeze his little throat. "You broke. My fridge." I snarl into his face. "Wark! Warkwark! Sqeep!" the penguin exclaims as he turns toward the stranger.
Danny cuts in reluctantly. "Um, Misato, I think he's pleading for mercy. Or asking for my help. Either way, strangle him later. I'm starting to feel uncomfortable." And then he turns back around and saunters out of the bathroom.
My hands reluctantly let go of Pen-Pen's throat and let him fall back into the bathtub with a thunk and a splash. "All your money, one hour." I hiss. Damn bird must have a stash of lost cash somewhere. And he will spend it on a replacement fridge or he's out of a home, no hyperbole. ...Well, maybe. Poor stupid penguin couldn't survive out on the street for more then a few days anyway.
When I get out of the bathroom and back into the living room, I hear the sound of air freezing behind me. I turn around and see Danny breathe onto a beer can, forming the telltale condensation of frost on its surface. From the looks of it, he's already flash-cooled the other one. With his breath.
He tosses one to me, keeps the other for himself. I catch it. "Eep, cold!" Ten points for Captain Obvious Katsuragi. At least I didn't drop the beer. I snap open the lid and drink. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff. Thanks, Superman!" I quip, grateful like a kid with new toy.
'Superman' just grins, ear to ear. "I prefer if you call me Danny, now that you mention it. SEELE 04 calls me Daniel and he's basically my Gendo Ikari."
"Explains your reaction to him last week." I quip as I take another sip, my mind gracefully dancing around the fact that there's two of 'em out there. Danny leans on the wall opposite me, like Kaji used to do... oh dear god why am I not over him yet it's been almost a DECADE.
"Yeah, about the Commander. Let's talk shop." Danny says, tone slightly... worried?
"Shinji's been awake and lucid for the last few days. I've told him some stuff. The Evangelions being biomechanical. The fact that..."
Danny looks away, I just keep staring, curious. "That he had some kind of connection with the Eva during the fight." A sip from the Yebisu beer, and a satisfied 'aaah'. "He confirmed it. Didn't remember much, but the he and the Eva really did communicate."
"Strangest thing..." Danny murmurs. "He said he felt at home there, in that syrup muck."
A quick startled blink and he's back to reality. " 'Course, Shinji found that bit kinda weird too... By the by, he's calling the Evangelions Evas. I like it as much as he does. Care to join us?"
"Heh, sure." I reply with a shallow chuckle, while my mind is on other things. Yui Ikari. Mother of Shinji Ikari. Events are in motion and I am getting the distinct impression that the... Accident she had synchronizing with Unit 01 has left the purple Eva... heh... Changed. But it might be better to keep Unit 01's... history hidden from Danny a little while longer. He's bound to blab to Shinji right away and he's not the type to break news gently. We'd be down a pilot, permanently. No way I'd ever crawl inside that thing if I knew my father...
...My mind suddenly freezes up. Pulling back from traumatic memories, I reel. I'm a dick for doing this to Shinji. So is Ritsuko. We're all evil, aren't we?
Oblivious, Danny continues yammering. "I also told him some other stuff. Nothing beyond your clearance level. Got most of it from your briefing files... Back before the Commander gave me permission. Come to mention it, you might be interested in knowing some details about the MAGI I found out. Sent them to you by E-mail."
"You telling this stuff to anyone else?" I ask him idly, before downing the rest of my beer.
"My family." He answers. Which is not an answer I approve of. I almost spit out my beer in aghast suprise. Almost. If it wasn't the last cold beer I'd have for the next few days, I'd give into the urge. Instead I swallow, hard.
"You might have heard of the Foley quantum computer?" Danny asks me, oblivious or indifferent to my sudden dread that he's told civvies about NERV secrets. But I honestly haven't about this quantum computer business, So I shrug and shake my head.
"It's a wholly mechanical computer, run by my best friend, Tucker Foley.
Ritz knows him. They're colleagues, both computer scientists.
I've been talking with Tucker and it seems that he and his computer, which he runs with another friend (former enemy) of mine, have been swiping military numbercrunching work from under NERV's nose for years now."
I shrug. "The MAGI is more for simulations. It's made of neurons, after all, not bits and bytes. Different architecture." At least that's what I heard Ritz say when she complained about losing those lucrative contracts to 'some American firm'. Six degrees of separation indeed.
"Yeah, I know." He replies, disgust evident. Which he's odd as he hasn't yet finished his delicous beer... mmmbeer... "I've seen them on the inside you know? Guts and... and LCL." He says to me, sounding more then a little shaken. Can't even imagine what floating bodilessly to towers of neural cable looks like. What it feels like. Ick.
I lie down on the couch, sighing loudly. "I don't know why it's the best way to do it, I just know that it really is the best way to do it." And that's just how it is, disgusting as it may be, we need those machines. The Third Angel, Sachiel as the Intel reports from on high were calling it, proved as much.
"Yeah, but my sister Jazz, who's a physicist... I never got my own doctorate, by the way... But I'm her assistant. We helped build Tucker's quantum computer." He says, swaying the almost-empty beer can around, gesticulating.
"Jazz, Tucker and myself managed to make something the size of a sugar cube calculate Pi to an unprecedented..." Danny scrapes his throat. "Never mind that. What I'm saying is: Akagi didn't need to use blood and guts to build her supercomputer."
I sit back up and stare at him, a little tired. "You're barking up the wrong tree, Danny. I am not... a scientist."
Aaand I fall back down. Why am I so exhausted?
Oh. Right. "Damn. I just realized I haven't slept yet." I say to Danny. "Haven't slept here since... Since the last time I went to go visit Shinji in the hospital." It's getting a bit hard to keep my eyes open. Running final bootup tests on Unit 01, getting Rei out of the hospital, starting repairs on Unit 00, getting the city back to 100%... Things were going great, but they all seemed to be starting or finishing at the same time.
Danny's footsteps on my floor. "Don't worry. I'll hand-lock the door and walk out. Intangible, remember?"
"Hmm, sure." I answer. For what it's worth, I trust Danny doesn't want to kill me. Not in the conventional, boring sense anyway. He's not a threat I can stop either...
Danny's footsteps stop and I hear fabric swishing. "You said you went to the hospital, though. You talk to Shinji?" He asks.
Remember... and talk. ...Talk. Come on mouth, make the words. "...mmmyeah, we.. Shinji said you came by a day before I did. And told him a lot. He wasn't at his best at the time and I was busy... but you.. you told him everything?"
"Yeah, pretty much" I hear Danny say, somewhat distantly. "I even had a little chat with Rei. Did Shinji say anything about her visiting him?"
My eyes snap open in sudden realization. I sit back up. "Yes, yes he did!" My head swivels, drowsiness hovering on the edge of my awareness and I find Daniel.. er, Danny, sitting cross-legged on the floor with Pen-Pen in his lap. ...Stupid manipulative charmer bird.
"About Shinji and Rei..." I say, trying to regain my train of thought. "He said she was the girl he saw when you two first arrived at the train station, when you were waiting for my dashing rescue during the Angel attack."
Danny nods. "That explains that, I suppose. Might ask Rei myself later."
I nod. "You do that."
While I go sleep.
Danny clears his throat again. "Speaking of later."
Hm, that's new. I haven't ever heard him sound relucatant before.
"I'm gonna be gone for a few days. Visit home. I have a wife who'd like to meet you, by the way. Right now though, I miss her, so I'm flying home. Will be back in two, maybe three days."
Aww, poor guy. I chuckle out loud. "That's fine." I mumble. "You go have a good time with your wife. I'll go talk to Shinji soon, if there's anything new." Sleep's really starting to catch me now. Why does beer have to be so relaxing? Or is it just the sofa?
Or is it Pen-Pen, who somehow managed to drug me. I giggle and sputter uncontrollably.
Heh, I never realized my laughter could sound so much like the cackle of an old witch...
"I'm gonna sleep now. Please get lost and gimme some privacy."
"That's okay." Danny says, voice rich in amusement. "But no, I don't really have anything new. Didn't actually go near the Evas themselves. I really do like that abbreviation..."
"Hm, yeah, he's a smart kid." I mumble. "Makes it suck all the harder about Unit... Unit Purple, though." I manage to say, not really aware of myself anymore.
"Er, what does? What sucks?" Danny asks, confused for some reason. Well duh. "That his mom's mind is probably inside his, er, his Eva."
"Oh." Danny says, with absolutely no inflection. What did you think I meant, silly idiot?
"Good night, Misato." He says equally hollowly. Good night, spy man. Now leave me to dream about my spy man and his wild antics.
I don't hear any footsteps. The door closes, is locked, and Danny presumably phases away while I drift off to dreamland.
Two weeks after Sachiel's attack. Shinji.
I've already been awake for a few minutes when the alarm goes off. Those first few nights in the hospital... It got me every time. "Where am I? What is going on? That's not my ceiling..."
But I'm awake now and I'm going through the same thought process again. No, this is not my hospital room. This is Misato's apartment and I'm her new flatmate. I'm under the care of a binge-drinking slob.
I go into the bathroom and try to think on the positives. She's driven, funny, I trust her, she's paramilitary and from what I can tell she's great under pressure. Basically, the ideal big sis.
If only she wasn't so hardcore about her relaxing as well. I go into the kitchen, break a few eggs... add some spices... That'll wake her. Wonder if she's gonna be confused when she smells a decent omelet before she realizes: "Oh yeah, I took the Third Child home with me." Hope she doesn't hose me with the fire extinguisher.
When I was recovering from my concussion... and my broken hand... Torn ligaments everywhere... twisted ankle... hairline fractures in my legs... Misato and Danny came along every so often to check up on me. First few days, I was hallucinating or asleep. But they were there for me. And I managed to get it through my head that I was safe with them.
Then things started clearing up. I can still half-remember a girl coming by. With blue hair. Humans don't normally have blue hair. Or red eyes. I'd seen her before, at the train station. We talked, briefly. Just exchanged hi's and get-wells. Yeah, 'cause she was as wounded as I was, I remember now.
Still not sure if that was just a last hallucination or if she was really there. I told Misato anyway. I can't remember her response.
Danny (he told me to call him Danny) left to visit his home home a few days ago, so Misato's all I have to confide in for now, I suppose.
Okay, the eggs are done. And I hear footsteps. "Mmh.. hi, Shinji. Can I have some?" Yup, that's Misato alright.
"Sure." I don't turn around, instead dividing up the egg while it simmers in the pan. "Did I wake you?"
Misato sits down on the sofa and yawns very loudly. "Yeeah... You did."
I smile misschievously. Just as planned. I slide the eggs onto the plate and turn around...
Only to see Misato's still in her nightgown. Slightly too revealing nightgown. I mean, she's not nude nude, but she's definitely not decent like this, and I'm honestly a little uncomfortable here.
Did... is she teasing me on purpose or is she still sleepdrunk? Or hung over, going on the huge stock of beer cans I spotted in the (shiny new) fridge and the garbage can?
I want to swivel away in embarassment, but Misato doesn't seem to have noticed my discomfort. She seems to just be staring distantly out the window. Saying or doing anything rash would probably end up with a chain reaction of some sort, ending up with me dropping the plates of egg on the floor. Modesty or no, wasting an omelet this good just ain't right.
So I just lay her plate on the sofa beside her and look distantly in the other direction at... at the fridge, I suppose! It really is brand spanking new. She must've bought it within months of my arrival here.
"So Shinji..." Misato says, mouth full. "Hhmh!" She exclaims, interrupting herself. "This is a pretty good omelet! Thanks!" I shrug and turn to her without thinking. "It's just omelet, not so h... ohkaay..." And there go my mental faculties, replaced by nervousness and hormones.
"Hm?" Misato asks.
I have to be blushing. At least I'm looking at her facial features, rather then her other, just as lovely features... Her eyes flash down to her... nightgown and suddenly, she starts blushing too. "Oh! am I... Should I cover... ?" She sounds pretty flustered as well. And confused, of all things.
"Sec, I'll get a bathrobe. Sorry, Shinji." And she dashes off. Huh, seems she really wasn't trying to get under my skin. Not what I'd expected. From what I've seen of her, she loves to tease people. Danny. Me. When I started talking about the blue-haired girl...
Let's just say I made a tactical mistake when I called Rei "the most elegant girl I've ever seen, but frail, almost like porcelain." Misato's still holding it over me almost a week later. I was still feverish at the time, damn. Well, maybe I wasn't, but cruelty is cruelty...
So why does she only now get a sense of decency and empathy toward my sensibili...
Ah. Because she's told me about the Evangelions over the last few days and she's worried she'll upset fragile young Shinji even further with her indecencies. Well she's not wrong on that count, I suppose. I really do feel like crap, even after sharing a tearful hug with her last night.
Misato comes back, bathrobe tied tightly around her waist. ...She still looks really attractive, maybe even moreso now. At least this is the kind of beauty I can appreciate without getting an eyeful of way more then I'm comfortable with. "Thanks, Misato." I say warmly. "I hope you don't take offense."
A misschievous smile on her part. "I'm just too hot to handle for you. For now, anyway. I'll get you acclimatized soon enough." And we're back to normal. On the one hand I'm happy for Misato, on the other... embarassed... So let's change the topic!
"Um... while it's a lot to swallow..." I say before taking the last big bite from my omelet...
Yes, she smirks at the visual pun! Good!
Gulp.
"I, er... Thanks for telling me about the Evangelions and NERV." Danny had already briefed me in the hospital, but a repeat from someone who knows, while I had my head on straight... Misato's careful and apologetic explaination did a lot more for me then Danny's half-sarcastic summary of what he'd seen.
Misato is slightly suprised by my expressing gratitude. She turns her head away. Is she embarassed? No.. this is more like being ashamed. There's an important difference. "...I don't know if I did the right thing, Shinji. And I'm sorry for..." Oh, this again? Just like last night.
I shake my head. "I'm grateful, Misato. I thought a lot about what you told me. If... if the Evangelion is alive, If NERV is a place where terrible things are done... to keep people safe, then I am willing to accept that and get used to the scariness. I'm still freaked out... But I'm very happy I don't have to find out in the heat of battle..."
"And like I said last night..." I add with a sideways smile. "I have you, right?"
She smiles back at me, wider then I've seen her smile yet. ...And pounces me into a gleeful hug. I take the gesture for what it is and hug her back.
Okay... that's enough.
Okay, enough. Okay. Misato, stop hugging. I can't... seem to... gently nudge her away. Nope, she's glomping me.
What to do, what to do... AH! Another topic change! That seems to have worked last time."
"I did kinda already have my suspicions." I say with feigned smugness. "I was hooked into the Eva's brain. I could feel its muscles moving! It was obviously some kind of alive" Okay, that was actual smugness. Also, best not mention the fact that Unit 01 bled like a stuck pig.
Sure enough, she lets me out of her death grip and holds me literally at arms legth, frowning all the way. "Good thing you're so perceptive then. Today's your first day of school, so it'll come in handy memorizing all the boring data. I am getting dressed. You are leaving in five minutes, i.e. before I'm done."
She walks off, but turns at me in the doorframe, smiling proudly. "I printed out a little road map. It's on the counter next to your key. Good luck, Shinji."
I... "Thanks, Misato!" I shout, perhaps a little louder then I should. ...But shacking up with Misato Katsuragi is most definitely the best thing that's happened in my life so far.
I pick up my stuff and close the door, locking it with my key. My. Key. With a big grin I pocket it, and the map. I'll fold it back out downstairs.
"Shacking up with." I mumble, repeating the thought out loud. Yeah, I am definitely gonna phrase it that way to my classmates.
From the shadows, a quiet chuckle. I don't notice the air's chill in the corridor as I make my way to the elevator and the stairs.
Tokyo-3 Public High School
The school gates herald a return to normalcy for me. So many students, and I'm just one of many. Even if I'm the new arrival, I seem to blend in pretty easily.
And then, wham. Mop of blue hair in a sea of brown and black. It's her. I am... not dreaming at the moment, nope, I glance at the room numbers. I can read. Dreaming people can't read, so unlike last time in the hospital, there's no way I'm dreaming this.
So I walk toward the girl, try and suppress my... no, no! Why am I nervous? Because the way she picks up her books is so strangely strange and poetry in motion? ...Yes, that's a good reason. Though it would be a little disrespectful of me to appear nervous...
But what if I say the wrong thing?
And of course, my internal monologue prevents me from noticing she's already walked toward me. Her face is blank, expressionless like I remember from our chat at the hospital. She's very... Rigid. I guess that's what comes with the territory of dedicating yourself to being a Pilot and NERV employee. No time left for... Hrm.
"Your father has asked me to introduce you to school." She says quietly, but perfectly audible in the bustle of people arriving. I manage to process that my father has asked her to talk with me. Well, that's one first impression and two weeks of stewing thrown into a new light. I don't quite know what to think. He's trying, and that's good, I suppose.
"That's very kind of him." I reply to the girl after it manages to sink in. "And of you."
Her eyes flick away to someplace behind me. She must have seen a fellow student or a friend or something. But then those red eyes look back at me. "I am simply doing what is asked, Ikari Shinji."
Trying to avoid praise? I do that too. Sorry to make you uncomfortable, mysterious NERV girl, but... "I'm grateful nonetheless, and I would be very happy if you could show me to our classroom." I parry and riposte her politeness with my own. She nods curtly and starts walking down the hall at a swift pace and I follow suit.
Moments later, we arrive in class... To the bewildered stares of pretty much all of my classmates. ...Am I late or something? Why is everyone staring at me and the blue-haired...
Oh. Oh dear. They're gonna think we're a couple, aren't they? And from the looks we're getting, the couple.
"Ayanami, nice catch! Reeled him in before the rest of the girls could even get a chance, huh?" A tall, tanned kid in a track suit drawls. His tone seems somewhere inbetween genuine curiosity and mockery.
"Suzuhara, mind your own business!" The class representative shouts, before moving up to me and inclining her head. "Sorry about that. Suzuhara has... problems." That sounded venomous. As if hearing my thoughts, the class rep shoots a glare at the tall guy in the track suit now identified as Suzuhara, who rolls his eyes theatrically.
"I can tell he's an outlier, I suppose. He's not wearing the uniform, for starters." I answer her, hesistant to assume anything of my new classmates... but... this one is pretty obvious.
The girl's mouth curls into a small smile on noticing my perceptiveness. She sticks out her hand. "Hikari Horaki." Given name first. Odd, but okay. "Shinji Ikari." I answer, shaking her hand.
She points at the... the jock, for lack of a better description, who nods a greeting. "Touji Suzuhara." Hikari Horaki then points at the kid beside Suzuhara, who's tapping energetically into his computer tablet. "Kensuke Aida." The kid suddely snaps at attention, flashing open his eyes. "Eeheh... hi..." He mumbles. Glasses and wild hair.
"You'll be sitting inbetween them. They're the most... lively... members of our class, but they're unlikely best friends, so I'm hoping you three can balance eachother out." Hikari says. She is herself a very adorable young woman. Freckles, black ponytails. Stern but energetic.
I nod at her. "No promises, but I'll try and keep them grounded." I half-joke. Horaki smiles at me and walks off toward her 'post' between the door and the blackboard. But she turns on her heel and steps back to the blue-haired girl and I. "Um... Your Japanese accent is... remarkable." I raise my eyebrow in query.
"Your parents came by to induct you three days ago... they explained you were in the hospital, best wishes on your recovery by the way, but... your father is an American, and he..." As she watches my puzzlement, something in Horaki's head goes click. "Aaand you're not an American at all, are you?" She blushes hard and looks down at the ground, completely flustered. Which, to be honest, looks kind of adorable.
I resist the urge to palm my face, feeling embarassed for the poor girl, and I can feel the nervous sweat forming on the back of my head. "That... wasn't my father." I cough. "That was Danny... He's a... friend of the family. Sorry for the misunderstanding."
Horaki blushes. "Um... sorry... um... my bad. My bad." She repeats, slightly more sure of herself. "You're free to... ehm..." She all but flails her arm toward the school benches, shooing me away from clogging up the door and prolonging the embarassment.
"I suggest you both pretend this went normally." The blue-haired girl proclaims tonelessly.
"Good idea, Ayanami." Horaki replies cheerfully, before blinking and turning to briefly gasp at... at Ayanami. Ayanami never talks. She never talks, unless asked... and now she just interrupted an awkward moment with concise and sensible and very Ayanami (yet funny) advice?
'Okay, that does it.' Hikari Horaki thinks. 'I am going back to my post. I've assumed and made an ass out of myself far too much already today.'
"So your name's Ayanami?" I ask as she walks over to her seat. She turns to me and extends her hand. "Ayanami Rei, pleased to meet you."
"Ikari Shinji. Likewise, though the 'meet' part is a little inaccurate, of course." I reply with a hint of playful sarasm.
It might just have been my imagination or the harsh light of the morning sun, but her impassive and inscrutable face may have briefly revealed a thin smile.
I grin cheerfully at her, before turning away and taking my seat between... what was it, Suzuhara and Aida. No, forget it. Touji and Kensuke! Yeah!
The teacher comes in, an overweight westerner with a ruddy beard. We stand to greet him as is still customary in spite of the post-impact globalization and he starts talking animatedly about the second world war. Ah, it's good to return to the daily grind. With interesting people and a whole new life outside school.
Nobody notices the classroom being slightly chillier then it should be on such a sunny day.
Shinji, Tokyo-3 Public High School 12:20
Lunchtime has arrived. The class representative seems to have been right. Touji and Kensuke are talking very quickly back and forth and... and I'm in the middle, agreeing and disagreeing with every other thing they say.
When we first left class the topic was Kensuke's stupid plan to go out with a camera if there's a new Angel attack. Touji and I teamed up on him and convinced him to... postpone his, er, courageous idea.
Now we're talking about guns. Assault rifles, to be precise. Touji's harping on the importance of a fit mind, quick reflexes... while Kensuke just lists off different guns and their basic features...
We sit down, and just as I go to get my bread, I hear Kensuke say "and what do you think?"
"Um..." I answer, trying to recall or guess just what he'd asked me just now.
"What do you think is more important?" Touji pipes up from behind. "The hardware, or the person holding it?"
Ah, so that's the question. "When it comes to infantry combat?" I specify. "Well... You need both, right?"
Kensuke rolls his eyes at me and groans in annoyance. "Lame answer, Ikari."
"So Ikari," I hear Touji say. "What's with you and Ayanami? Are you her boyfriend?"
Oh, that's nice. Now, most people would get embarassed, being put on the spot like that. I'd admit to liking her. If not for one thing. Ayanami seems to be a very private person. She wouldn't like being the center of attention.
So I don't like it that this Suzuhara guy is making her the center of attention in such a childish way. Especially because I do kinda have a crush on Ayanami, but... But that's immaterial at the moment.
I feel my cheeks go red, but I bite through the embarassment. "That's not very respectful, Suzuhara..." I manage to blurt out.
He just laughs at me. "Aw, are you defending her honor? ...Suppose you have a point, but it's only a question." Touji looks away to Kensuke for a moment, who glares back at him, well aware of how embarassing stuff like that can be.
"Okay, lemme rephrase." He drawls. "Do you or do you not like Ayanami?"
I blink, stunned.
"...Romantically, genius." He adds, voice overflowing with sarcsm.
"Yeah, I understood that much, thanks." I snipe back. "To be honest, I don't know... but she is very beautiful, at least I think so." I'm a bit less nervous.
Touji grins at me. "Yes she is. And she seems to like you too. Hasn't said a single word to me, and she actually talks to you. Makes me jealous, man."
"Does it matter?" I hear Kensuke quip behind me. "You're into the class rep, what do you care?"
Oh, that's fun to know. Should've seen it coming a mile away, really. I chuckle softly in reply to Kensuke's little revelation. Touji makes a face at us, but then looks away, seemingly in thought.
...No, he's checking out Horaki, I see as I follow his line of sight. I blush again.
"I suppose not, Kensuke." Suzuhara chuckles. "But it's just an ego thing, you know?"
The three of us all burst into snickers.
"So Ikari..." Kensuke asks. Is that nervousness I hear? "You wouldn't happen to have arrived in town before the Kaiju attack?"
Eep! "Ehehe..." I stutter. Then I look up into the sky, trying to decide what to do.
No point lying now that I freaked out I suppose. "Yeah... arrived the same day. Friend of the family came and got me from the train station. Almost got stomped flat by the Angel. Then almost nuked."
Kensuke shakes his head. "Don't worry. N2 mines aren't nukes. If they'd thrown a real nuke onto Tokyo-3 the entire city would have been made uninhabitable."
Dude, I just told you I had not one but two near death experiences two weeks ago and you talk terminology with me?
Touji on the other hand seems to have overreacted. He seems to have stopped breathing and is just... staring at me.
"Um, Touji?" I prod.
"Okay, gimme a sec here, I need to process this." He swallows whatever he had in his mouth, washes it down and then starts staring at me again.
"You survived the... eh, the Kaiju attack, yeah? It arrived when you arrived, and you ran." He says. His voice seems to be tinged with an edge of insane anger.
"That... would be the gist of it..." I say hesitantly.
Kensuke leans inbetween Touji and myself, trying to calm his friend down.
Touji looks at Kensuke, then back to me. "Tell me honestly, did you have anything to do with the..." He looks pleadingly at Kensuke, almost begging for a better word to use. "Did you have anything to do with the giant robot that fought the Kaiju?"
I frown at him. Too far past nervousness to be scared. There's a chip on Touji's shoulder, that much is obvious. "Why do you want to know?" I ask defensively.
Touji suddenly jumps up and grabs me by the collar of my shirt. "Because my little sister's legs got broken when that stupid robot fell onto her hospital!"
Oh fuck. "I..." I can't talk. Did I really do that to his sister?
Well, I suppose the Angel was chiefly responsible, but... I was dazed... Damnit.
"Don't bullshit me, Ikari. You're involved." Touji continues, barking in my face. "You said 'Angel'. To most people it's just a giant monster, a Kaiju. You said: 'Angel' and I never heard that term before. That means you know what's going on here!"
By now the entire schoolyard has turned toward us. Toward Touji and myself. I can see Ayanami approach from the crowd.
I'm sorry Touji, I really, really am, but... "Let me go. Do you know why I'm only going to school now, two weeks after the Angel attack? Because I almost got stepped on. Almost got nu-" damnit... "BOMBED!"
By now, I'm shouting back at him "I got a concussion trying to survive the attack. It took me two weeks to recover, two weeks of confusion, fear and pain!" By now, Touji is still red-faced. But I can see his eyes. He's doubting. Okay Shinji. Calm down. I have no right to take my frustrations out on this guy.
I'm lying by omission after all. "My custodian? She's with NERV. That's where I got the term 'Angel' from. From her. Now let. Me. Go." I emphasize my statement by pushing his arms apart with my hands a little harder with each word.
And he does. Rei walks up to me. She glares at Touji. Touji and I both stand up and I look him in the eyes.
"Okay..." He says with a sigh. "Sorry for freaking out."
I sigh deeply. "It's understandable. Your sister was hurt. You have my sympathies."
And my deepest, deepest regrets. My eyes go over the crowd. It's already dissipating. We'll probably have to explain ourselves to the teachers later. That's okay, I suppose.
I look at Kensuke. He's smiling, glad to see stuff resolved I guess.
I look at Rei. Nope, still nothing.
And at Touji... is he... feeling sorry for me? Oh damnit.
Still, it's better in the long term that they don't know what Ayanami and I really are.
We return to lunch. Only now Rei sits with us. She's quiet and none of us bring up her presence. She eats quietly, efficiently, glances at us every once in a while... Even nods in agreement with one of us one or two times.
Should really focus on my new buddies at least half as much as my new crush.
And then the conversation gravitates back toward the giant robot that fought the "Angel." The boys are of diametrically opposite opinions on it, of course.
Touji excuses himself. Something about "going for a lap on the track". Yeah, I get why he's not entheusiastic about praising the idiot machine that broke his sister in half.
Goddamnit.
"So I figured, it's obviously a NERV machine." Kensuke says, grinning at me. "So what do you guys... er, I mean they, call it?"
"What you call a giant robot is known by NERV as an Evangelion." Rei suddenly says. Kensuke and I both turn to stare at her. Kensuke with vicious glee on his face, myself? I'm panicking again. Kensuke's gonna wanna know...
"How do you know what NERV calls those giant robots?"
Rei blinks, throws me a brief, seemingly confident glance (hold on, was that Rei gloating?) and then turns toward Kensuke. "Young Ikari and myself are both currently under the care of a Captain of NERV while our biological parents deal with the Angel, or if you prefer, Kaiju, threat."
Technically true. Except for the part of Rei being under Misato's care. Or is she? I honestly don't know.
News reports have stated that this won't be the last Kaiju in the coming months. I suppose NERV knows more then I know, and they're feeding the news so that the populace will be ready.
At least I'll get an update when Danny comes back. Internally, I smile. Both at the comforting certainty of that last tought and Rei's suprising skill at lying.
Not only did she make her knowledge of the Evangelions plausible, but she also wove together the eccentricities in my story and tied herself into it, giving us both a chance to cover eachother in case things get hectic.
But Kensuke isn't satisfied. "Is it piloted?" I flinch at that, but before I can even open my mouth, he's already started speculating. "If it is, then the person inside is a hero! They killed the Angel!"
I glance to the sports field. "Whoever was inside broke Touji's sister's legs." I whisper sadly.
"Don't blame the pilot for that!" Kensuke says, fire in his voice and in his eyes.
I blink, incredulous.
"He was at war! What would have happened if there was no Evangelion?" Kensuke adds passionately.
Rei turns to Kensuke. "Presumably, the Angel would have killed all four of us and all our loved ones."
"Yes it would have!" Kensuke replies entheusiastically. "Whoever is willing to prevent that is a hero, and anyone who doubts that spits on the courage and accomplishments of their sacrifice!"
Okay, that one got my attention. "What sacrifice?" I ask cynically. "They were sitting in the safest place there was while the Angel attacked! Inside the giant block of metal! (And meat, but I'm not telling him that)."
Kensuke raises an eyebrow in curiosity at me. "You two haven't seen the video?"
"Video?" Rei asks with audible interest, scooting up closer to Kensuke.
Oh I've seen it. It displays in 4k definition my total smackdown at the hands of that big green monster. First time I watched it was when Misato shoved the YouTube version in my face to show me how I did. Felt guilty then, feel guilty now.
Five billion views. Comments disabled.
But apparently Rei hadn't seen it. So Kensuke pulls out his computer and looks it up. While it's loading up, he elaborates. "A bank security camera was knocked loose during the blast, but kept recording. People managed to clean the footage up enough to see most of what happened in a wide-angle shot. It's still being run on the news, and not just here in Japan.
"So why is this relevant to the supposed sacrifice of the supposed pilot of the Evangelion?"
Rei asks, seemingly disinterested.
"I prefer to call it an Eva." I interject. I know it's banal, but those two are locked in their own little exposition world. A world I've already visited with Misato a week ago.
Rei and Kensuke glance at me briefly, both seemingly discarding my stupid comment at the exact same moment before resuming their little staring contest. No normal person can keep this level of intensity up for long before getting uncomfortable.
...I wonder when Kensuke will realize he's inches from a very elegant girl's face.
"Well, the footage shows that the pilot of the Eva..." Annoyed look at me from Kensuke. "Seems to have gotten dizzy when the machine was knocked on the head. See, before?"
He puts the video to the moment where I catch Sachiel's swing.
Kensuke elaborates. "He's nervous, probably because this is the first time he's actually fought a real Kaiju..."
Oh you don't know the HALF of it...
"But he's methodical. Then he gets hit in the head. Or, the robot does, but that's my entire point..." Kensuke's voice tapers off.
Rei nods as she studies the footage, her cheek inches from Kensuke's... He still doesn't realize?
"...After the Evangelion is struck here, it acts... erratic. Confused." Rei adds helpfully.
"Exactly! Gesticulating, falling down... Malfunctioning controls would have painted a totally different picture. Implying..." Kensuke's gaze flits from Rei to myself and back a few times.
"Implying the pilot was wounded by the Angel's attack..." Rei once again finishes Kensuke's thought.
Kensuke starts smiling again, his glasses catching the sun's light "And who would willingly put him- or herself in mortal danger, piloting this Evangelion thing, other then a true hero out to save us all?"
Oh lots of people, Kensuke... But... I guess he has a point..
I look to Rei. She... wait, why is her mouth agape.
Kensuke also notices. His brow furrows. "Um, Ayanami... are you alright? Was it something I sai- ...Urk." Oh, and now it hits home for poor Kensuke that he's huddled in front of the computer screen alongside Rei 'elegant alabaster exotic' Ayanami.
He literally turns around and curls in on himself. But Rei gently puts a hand on his shoulder and sighs deeply. "I suppose you are correct, Aida. An individual willing to die for others while piloting an Evangelion is a true hero who deserves respect." Ayanami sounds almost suprised at the sudden realization. Pleasantly suprised at that.
I look into Rei's eyes and see the start of tears sparkle in the corners of her eyes. We're talking about you too, aren't we Ayanami?
I stand up and walk over to her. She looks back into my eyes. "...The pilots should respect themselves, for their seflessness is... admirable." She whispers, almost more flatly then usual. To both herself and to me, I suppose.
I can't really agree with that point of view just yet. She is a hero, that much I can certainly agree with from seeing her injuries.
But me? I didn't want it... If it wasn't for Misato and Danny...
So we just stand there, staring at eachother, tidally locked.
But Kensuke isn't an idiot. And he's not quite as emotionally upset as either of us at the moment. His unconcious mind starts to connect the dots. "Wait a sec..." He exclaims slyly. "The purple Evangelion's pilot was hit in the head!" He exclaims.
O crap.
Dread crawls up my spine and I turn to my new friend, who's staring back at me with a weird mix of startled awe and hurt. "Shinji, why were you hospitalized again?" he asks icily, clearly having put two and two together.
He stands up and frowns at both Ayanami and myself. "Well..." I start, trying to find a way to lie my way out, before the bell interrupts me. Ayanami seems to be ignoring the situation. Looking up at a tree, of all things.
"Can I answer you after school?" I nervously ask Kensuke, who shakes his head. "You just gave me my answer, 'friend'." He snarls, perhaps a little more melodramatically then most people would, but he's getting the point across. "And you can bet I'm telling Touji!" He spits angrily.
Damnit. We should have kept our stupid mouths shut, but instead, Ayanami and I went hunting for compliments.
Needless to say, the afternoon in the school benches was not as cheerful as the morning.
Later that afternoon
School's out. I walk outside and see Kensuke and Touji standing at the bike sheds, some distance away from the front gate.
Reluctantly, I make my way over to the duo. Kensuke still seems to be nervous, upset. After returning to class, Touji and I both got a stern talking to from the teachers for turning a new student's first day into a public spectacle. Apparently Kensuke and Rei put a good word in for us... Kensuke too... Even after...
Well he did indirectly call me a hero, I suppose.
To my suprise, when I walk up to Kensuke, the bespectacled young nerd is looking extremely guilty. "'I'm sorry, Ikari, but he has the right to know." He sighs, looking away.
"It's okay..." I whimper. "I shouldn't have lied to you." Kensuke gives me a crooked smile, then steps away to watch the stream of students leaving for home.
I spot Rei a few meters away, standing just around the corner of the school building that's hiding Touji and me from the teacher on overwatch. She's looking at... not at us, but at the roof of the bike shed, above Touji's head. So basically at the clouds.
"Let's get this over with." Touji snarls. He pushes himself up from the shed's wall and balls his fist.
I flinch back. ...Suddenly, I notice I've got my own hands squeezed tightly into fists too.
Immedeately, I relax my hands. I'm not gonna fight back, even though I did technically win my last- No. I'm not turning into a violent oaf just because I've had to resort to violence in the past. Fighting back against Touji won't solve anything.
Still, if I'm perfectly honest with myself I'm propped upright more by nervous panic then anything else at this point One fight with an Angel can't undo years of fear. "D...do you want to fight me?" I ask Touji, half-annoyed at my own stammer.
"Hrm." He answers with a mumble, looking around the schoolyard. Most people have already left. He glares at me. "Here's how it's gonna go. My fist hits you. You hit the ground. All is forgiven." I nod hesitantly. I can do that.
"Are you gonna be a man and let me avenge my little sis?"
Again I nod. "Yeah.. Yeah I deserve as much for..." For hurting his little sister. Damnit.
Touji rolls his shoulders. "No, Ikari. What you deserve is to have your legs broken with a crowbar, but my sister would disown me if I tried, and Kensuke..."
He rolls his eyes in frustration, glaring at the zoned-out nerd from the corner of his eye. " Kensuke sort of made a case for you, that we needed you and that Sakura would be dead if it wasn't for that stupid Evangelion of yours."
Rei hasn't moved, but her eyes are flitting between Touji and the bike stand.
A shiver goes down my spine. "Fine." Let's get this over with. "If you want to hit me, then go right ahead." I say in a defeated tone.
Suzuhara nods gravely at me. "Okay then, Ikari. At least you're taking this like a man. Now don't flinch." He spits on the ground to the side of us and takes a step back. He pulls back his fist, then steps into the blow. He's really going for it.
The punch slides toward my face. I don't even have to suppress my urge to flinch very much. Time slows.
And a large hand closes around Touji's wrist and his arm is forcibly pulled aside. A weight on the left side of his back causes his momentum to turn on him and he falls to the ground in front of me.
And like an old vinyl record needle falling back into its groove, the world comes jarring back into focus. "What... just..." I whisper, dumbfounded, before I see Danny's red-faced glare. "Have you LOST YOUR MIND?" He shouts at me, in English, at the top of his lungs, before suddenly realizing.. oh, yeah, school. He doesn't waste any time on being flustered, however, going straight from 'irate' to 'seething'.
"You are this city's only line of defense." He whisper-snarls at me (in Japanese) as he picks up Touji by the scruff of his neck. "You have a concussion! Were you trying to to get on this dumbass's good side by letting him give you a brain hemorrhage?!"
He gets out of my face and glares at Rei and Kensuke in turn. "You two." He snarls disdainfully. "I've been watching all day, and I've bottled up what I'm about to say for just as long, so listen up!" Kensuke's mouth hangs open like a fish on dry land. He must've turned his attention back onto the action at some point or other.
Danny points an accusing finger at Rei. "You can see me, or at least sense me." He animatedly mimes the hand motion for 'psychic'. "That's no excuse not to intervene in Ikari's stupidity!" Rei doesn't respond. She blinks, then inclines her head. "Noted." She says flatly.
Seemingly satisfied for the moment, Danny turns on his heels and steps toward Kensuke. "And you, sherlock. Did it slip your mind to tell your jock buddy that Shinji had a concussion? I bet you could talk paragaphs about how a concussion affects a person, yet you failed to realize your buddy was about to hit your other buddy back into the hospital."
Too blitzed to ask how this man suddenly appeared in front of them and too plum scared to reply, Kensuke stammers incomperehensibly.
Touji groans as he gets up from the ground. "Yeah, that was really stupid, Kensuke... And it was no excuse for me."
I almost expect Danny to shut Touji up, but he doesn't. Instead he just frowns impassively at 'us stupid kids' while a cloud passes in front of the sun and the wind picks up.
"I heard Hikari say you just got out of the hospital..." Touji continues, facing me. "So I shouldn't have tried to hit you." Touji looks at Danny. "Thanks for stopping me, dude."
Danny in return just breathes out in frustration. "Just be friends, damnit." He drawls, Rolling his eyes. He's probably so exaspirated because he wasn't much better as a kid. Or that I need to be babysat like this. Both, I suppose.
I half-smile at Touij and hold out my hand. "Friends?" I ask hopefully.
He grins right back at me. "Yeah, sure. We're square."
And we shake on it.
Danny frowns at the sky. "Still overcast..." He mutters in English, sounding almost confused, before shaking his head dismissively. "Ehm, guys. How about you disperse, head home? Shinji, Rei and I are gonna..." He jerks his thumb over his shoulder and smirks wryly.
Touji smiles gratefully, pleasantly suprised the angry man's sudden coolness, and grabs Kensuke by the wrist. "Sure, thanks..." A moment and he gives a grateful nod at the tall westerner, before looking back at me. "See you tomorrow Ikari, Ayanami. Pleased to meet you, freak-Sensei."
A dark chuckle from Danny. "That's Daniel-Sensei, you brat."
"Sure, sure" comes the amused reply from the departing jock.
And then Kensuke reactivates, immedeately squealing. "You... you can turn invisible? How? Is it a cloaking field? A mutation? Oh, are you a supersoldier!? Does it have to do with the Evang-" But thankfully Touji has already dragged him past the front gate and around the corner by this point.
We set off toward home. I glance over to Danny, who is himself looking at Rei. "You really are very good at spotting me..." He sing-songs, studying her with a puzzled expression.
Rei nods in confirmation. "I have not yet told the Commander I could sense you, nor that we have spoken."
Danny scratches his goatee. "Yeah... About the Commander... This morning, did I hear you say he's encouraged you to socialize with Shinji?"
"He allowed me to. The choice was... mine." Rei clarifies flatly, but with a hint of frustration on the last word. Danny nods thoughtfully "Your Commander seems to be trying his best. Maybe I should go talk to him again..." Danny muses.
"I would recommend it." Rei replies.
"Do you really think he's... trying? Or is he just pretending?" I ask, almost suprised at my own thoughts. ...But I have no illusions about my father's character. He's inscrutable, and ruthless.
"Maybe he really is just pacifying me... " Danny mumbles thoughtfully, before giving it a nonchelant shrug. "It's a start. Good deeds can be suprisingly addictive. Can't expect the ice king's cold heart to defrost within a week or two, right?" He asks us cheerfully.
Rei raises an eyebrow. "I am aware that my body's color pallette and my behaviour would qualify me for the title of 'Ice queen', yes?" She asks with seemingly genuine curiosity.
I blush. "Umm..." Danny shakes his head, but can't help but break into a grin. "I guess telling me what's up with the cool phenotypes is still classified?" He asks playfully, looking down on Ayanami with a big misschievous smile.
"It is." She confirms a little too crisply. I can't help but suspect she's having as much fun chatting with us as I am with her and Danny.
And so we walk through the streets of Tokyo-3, the three of us. Danny and myself to Misato's apartment, Rei most of the way there, before she says her goodbye for the day and splits off into a side street.
"She lives near the hospital I..." I say to Danny, who nods silently. "Chin up, Shinji." He says in English, before scratching the back of his head with an embarassed chuckle. My reply is a confused frown. After a moment's contemplation, he elaborates. "It's a saying.. it sorta means... be positive so you can see and fix the problems ahead. I think..."
I smile at him. "That makes sense, I guess." I reply hesitantly, but the meaning unfolds in my head. If there's things I regret, I should try and make sure they don't happen again, otherwise, what's the point of feeling bad about it? Okay, let's try!
"If there's a new Angel, I'm definitely going to try and not fall into any hospitals." Terribly specific example. Let's try and make that 'not fall into any buildings at all, if I can help it'.
"Only one hospital left in Tokyo-3 anyway..." Danny replies sardonically.
We continue on to Misato's place, where Danny says his goodbyes. He says wants to take a look at Unit 01 and whatever else is beyond the keypass machines, the super secret stuff he hasn't checked out yet.
He asks me to not tell Misato quite yet, unless there's an Angel attack, in which case he'll come right back up to help. I (profusely) thank him for saving Touji and I from our own stupidity and I pull the key Misato gave me this morning out of my pocket. When I turn around for one last 'bye' Danny seems to have already left.