Out of Control

by Mares Guyver

CHAPTER 9 UP! The Three Stooges of Tokyo-3 unite, and a new player emerges from the shadows. A retelling of Evangelion, fused with the world of Bio-booster Armor Guyver. My 1st fanfic, please R&R!

7. Chapter 6: School Days

Standard Disclaimer: "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and "Bio-booster Armor Guyver" are the creative property of Hideaki Anno and Yoshiki Takaya respectively

Other Standard Disclaimer: This fanfic is rated PG-13 (or T) for violence, swearing, and mild sexual references.

Introductory Author's Note: Thanks to James Ray Edwards for pre-reading this chapter.

KEY
"spoken"
'thoughts'

Out of Control
A Neon Genesis Evangelion/
Bio-booster Armor Guyver Fusion
By: Mares Guyver

Chapter 6: School Days

Shinji Ikari woke up early the next morning after a blessedly dreamless slumber. Now used to the apartment's morning routine, he showered, dressed, and made a quick breakfast of toast, juice, and cooked salmon for himself and his two roommates. As was now typical to the boy, Misato eventually stumbled out of her room and chugged her morning Yebisu, giving her usual burping exclamation while he looked on with slight disgust. The ritual complete, a now cheery and bubbly purple-haired wonder offered Shinji a ride to school after she had gotten dressed. Remembering the last few rides in the "Blue Comet of Death" as he thought of it, the EVA pilot carefully declined, saying he would rather mark the way by foot so that he'd learn how to get around by himself. Blissfully ignorant, Misato shrugged and continued readying for the day, wishing her charge "good luck" when he left a few minutes later.

Treading the empty streets of Tokyo-3, with only the endless chirping of the cicadas to break the silence, Shinji contemplated his new lot in life—being an EVA pilot, working beneath his father, and living with the totally unpredictable Misato Katsuragi. A light smile formed on the boy's face as he reviewed the memories of the last few days, between his various jaunts to NERV for poking and prodding. Life in the Katsuragi household was certainly different from the cold, sterile life he had led at his teacher's house. And while Misato was loud, boisterous, and unsettling in her seeming lack of modesty, she also made feel more . . . at home, than he ever had felt before. The events of the early morning had shown too, that in addition to her exuberant exterior, Misato had a more serious, inner face so similar to him own it was as much frightening as it was heartening.

Turning away from these disquieting observations, Shinji focused on the day at hand—his first day attending a local public school. Having been home schooled by his teacher his entire life, Shinji had no idea what to expect from the coming experience—his only taste having been the torturers from his previous life, the same ones that haunted his recurrent nightmare. Living with Misato had given the boy a twinge of optimism however, and as the Tokyo-3 Junior High School finally came into view, Shinji hoped that he would at least be comfortable here, since happiness for him was a total impossibility.

Making his way carefully through the crowd of uniformed students, Shinji entered the looming brick and concrete structure, and following the written signs directed himself to the school's main office. The grey-haired secretary stationed there, dressed in clothes and glasses a few decades out of date, gave the boy a once over before handing him a thin sheet of papers and directing him to a row of plastic seats by the door. Minutes passed as Shinji filled out the requested information, and just as he finished and rose to turn it in the door to the office opened. Striding confidently, a cute, freckled girl with brown hair drawn into twin pigtails entered the small room, pausing to look at the secretary, arms folded, one eyebrow raised in question. Rolling her eyes at the teen's attempt at authority, the older woman pointed one long fingernail at Shinji, who retreated a little, the sheaf of papers held out like a shield in front of him.

Sensing the boy's nervousness, the pig-tailed girl's stern face softened, and smiling amiably, she leaned over slightly and extended a hand, "I'm Hikari Horaki, class representative. I'm guessing you're the new transfer student?"

Nodding, Shinji weakly took the outstretched hand and shook it, "Yes, I'm Ikari . . . Shinji Ikari."

Smiling, Hikari glanced up at the digital wall clock, then back down at her companion, "Well Ikari-san,we've got a little time before homeroom starts . . . would you like a quick tour?" Nodding again, Shinji followed the slender girl out of the office, still feeling the gaze of the old secretary burning on his back.

Walking at a brisk pace, Hikari pointed out the locations of some of the more communal school facilities—the cafeteria, the auditorium, the gymnasium and locker rooms—to which Shinji gave short, quiet sounds of affirmation. Relinquishing the boy of his class schedule, the pigtailed teen then began explaining where each of Shinji's lab and outside classes would be for the term, as well as the best ways to get to each during the short intervals between. Again, Shinji quietly murmured his understanding, barely looking at his companion during the entire tour. Frowning slightly, Hikari pondered the slight child's seemingly standoffish behavior.

'Not really a friendly one, is he?' she thought, 'But then, maybe he's just really shy. I probably would be too if I were in his position . . . new city, new school, new classmates . . .'

Looking down at the blue-eyed boy, Hikari asked, "So Ikari-san, what do you think? Is this anything like your last school?" The question seemed to shake Shinji out of his fugue, and he glanced up at the freckled girl before speaking.

"Ac-actually, Horaki-san, I've never . . . been to public school. I was taught at home before . . . before I came here," the EVA pilot stated hesitantly. Hikari's dark eyes widened with surprise.

'That explains the nervousness . . .' she thought, and aloud she said, "Well, you're lucky to be here then, Ikari-san—this is a really good school." Glancing over at the boy, she smiled and said, "You must be pretty smart too to get placed in a third-year junior high class so quickly. After all, you're what? Eleven? Twelve?"

Shinji's eyes glazed over minutely, and staring straight ahead, he replied in a dull monotone, "I'm fourteen, Horaki-san." Stumbling in step, Hikari stood back up and quickly tried to recover as sweat beaded on her forehead.

"Oh . . . oh, of course you are! My mistake entirely! I guess I'm still not quite awake, it being so early and all . . ." Hikari trailed off as she noticed Shinji not paying her the slightest bit of mind, and looking ahead herself she flushed with embarrassment. 'Idiot! You big dope! It said he was fourteen in his student file! Now you've gone and upset Ikari-san . . . and on his first day at public school too. Idiot!'

Peeking over at the smaller child, the teen frowned as she continued her mental deliberation, 'Still, I could swear he looks no older than Nozomi. Not much older anyway. Poor guy, must be one of those "late bloomers" . . .' Clearing her throat, the pigtailed girl began, "Ikari-san, please forgive me—I didn't mean to offend . . ."

"It's alright, Horaki-san," Shinji cut in, and after a pause gazed up at the taller girl with a sad smile, "Really, it's okay. I understand."

Pausing in his stride, the boy tilted his cobalt gaze up the sign reading "2-A", then turned back to Hikari, "This is our classroom, right?" Not giving the girl time to answer, Shinji entered the room, muttering, "We don't want to be late." For a moment, Hikari just stood in the hall, a mixture of confusion and concern flickering across her frowning face. The twin pigtails flew as she shook her head to clear it, then straightening her back and adopting her "Class Representative" guise, Hikari strode into the classroom.

Glancing around, Hikari noted that everyone except Rei Ayanami and Touji Suzuhara was present. For Rei, this was not an odd occurrence, and as long as she turned in her assignments the teacher did not really care if she was there or not. Shinji had already found himself a seat way off to the side, away from the main clump of students, and oddly close to where Rei usually sat. The other students were just milling around, chatting or sharing various pieces of gossip before the teacher arrived. Hikari sighed nostalgically, wishing she could join in, but knowing that she had duties to attend to first.

Setting her sights on one particular sandy-haired, four-eyed boy, Hikari took a deep breath and marched loudly over to the oblivious lad. Standing straight, hands on her hips, the pigtailed girl gave a quick cough to get the other teen's attention. Lowering his digital camera and model VTOL, Kensuke Aida blinked behind his glasses at the scowling visage before him.

"Oh, hey Class Rep," he said nonchalantly. On her forehead, Hikari could feel a vein begin to throb.

"Aida-kun, have you delivered those homework copies to Suzuhara's house yet?" she asked snappily. Again, Kensuke blinked, but then laughed lightly and put one hand behind his head.

"Ah, I'm sorry, Horaki-chan, I keep forgetting. I'll make sure to take them over to his house tonight, I promise," the boy stated with a sheepish grin. Hikari huffed at Kensuke's seeming carelessness, and crossing her arms across her chest, she glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"You'd better, Aida-kun, or you'll be on cleaning duty so long that—" her words cut off as the track-suited teen in question barged abruptly into the room. Not even looking around, Touji strode to a desk beside Hikari and Kensuke and plopped right down atop it. Finally noticing his surroundings, he raised a thick eyebrow at the near emptiness of the classroom.

"Wow, class has really cleared out, hasn't it?" he asked off-handedly. Still sitting at his desk, Kensuke nodded.

"Yes, it's because of that giant monster attack—people are leaving the city out of fear," the boy said as he toyed with the settings on his camera. Off to the side, nobody noticed as Shinji cringed slightly at his desk.

Touji snorted, "Cowards. As if any other place is safe . . ." Hikari sulked slightly at being totally ignored, and adopting her Class Representative stance, lowered her eyes at Touji.

"And where have you been the last few days, Suzuhara?" she asked pointedly, though she faltered slightly under the intensity of the brief glare that Touji gave her.

Looking away, Touji said quietly, "My little sis was hurt in the attack. Pops and Granddad are busy at work, so visiting her was left to me." Both Kensuke and Hikari gaped in astonishment, and the pigtailed girl instantly lost her bearing and placed her hands over her heart.

"Suzuhara-kun, I'm so sorry . . . I didn't know," she said softly.

"How did it happen, Touji?" Kensuke asked with an equal amount of softness. Touji sneered slightly with anger, and at his side, his hands curled into fists.

"The people in the shelter where Mari was at just couldn't wait for the fight to stop—they had to see it for themselves, the jerks. The squirt got caught up in the crowd and, well, the buildings around the shelter had been hit pretty hard. They began falling, and my sis got trapped in the rubble," Touji sighed and bowed his head, "If it wasn't for the pilot of that mecha, she might have died."

Hikari blinked confusedly, "Mecha?"

Kensuke glanced at the pigtailed girl, "It's still pretty hush-hush, but the UN has these giant, bio-mechanical robots called Evangelion—one was used to fight the monster last week." The boy then frowned slightly at Touji, "But what do you mean? Isn't the pilot at least partly responsible for your sister getting trapped in the first place?" The fair-haired boy immediately questioned his words as the bigger teen glared at him witheringly.

"Smart as you are, Ken, you don't know nothin'," Touji said, shaking his head before continuing, "After the fight, the pilot of the Eva-whatsit came back and got most of the trapped people out before the whole building caved in. Mari would have had a lot more than broken legs if it weren't for him." At the desk beside him, Kensuke smiled and held up his hands in mock surrender.

"I stand corrected," he said apologetically, then leaned over and whispered, "Though you know, I've got a theory that our new transfer student over there might in fact be the pilot of the EVA." Touji and Hikari both blinked simultaneously—Touji with confusion, and Hikari with incredulity.

'It couldn't be,' Hikari thought, glancing over at the slouching, brown-haired boy, 'Ikari-san seems so timid. How could he be some sort of giant mecha pilot?'

'Transfer student?' Touji thought, and then followed his friends' gazes over the slumped form of Shinji Ikari, his dark eyes widening with recognition. 'Oh shit, what's he doin' here?' Touji thought, though out loud he asked, "Wha-what makes you think that?"

Pushing his glasses up so that they flared slightly in the light, Kensuke grinned conspiratorially, "Well, for one, his transfer order to our school came in just before the monster attack. Who transfers schools after the term's already started? Then there's his name—Shinji Ikari. I did some digging, and I discovered that the head of NERV, the UN organization that controls the EVAs, is named Gendo Ikari. Coincidence? I think not." Sitting back in his chair with a satisfied smirk, Kensuke folded his arms behind his head and waited for his classmates' eventual and futile rebuttal.

Now, no one would attest to Touji Suzuhara being one of the brighter bulbs in Class 2-A. Gifted athlete? Sure. Prideful and stubborn? Most certainly. But grade-A brainiac? Not a chance. Still, despite his shortcomings in the academic arena, when it came to the real life situations, the track-suited teen was a lot smarter than most gave him credit for. Take right now, for instance. As soon as Kensuke had indicated Shinji as the probable EVA pilot, Touji's mind had begun whirling out a solution to the potential problem at hand. That problem, of course, was whether or not he should reveal what he knew about Shinji's little after school job. And if not, how could he divert Kensuke off Ikari's back?

Several factors weighed heavily for the negative solution to the former. First, the massive breasts and the lavender-haired babe attached to them had commanded that he keep Shinji's status secret. Second, Touji himself had promised Shinji that he wouldn't tell, and Touji Suzuhara never backed down on his word. Third, the secret spilling might upset Shinji, which in turn would upset Mari, because she always got upset when people she liked were upset, and she definitely liked the Ikari kid. The thought of upsetting his baby sister in any way clinched the first decision for Touji, and thinking about her quickly gave a solution to his secondary dilemma.

Crossing his arms with mock seriousness, Touji slowly shook his head at the bespectacled military otaku. "Sorry Ken," he said simply, "but you've got the wrong guy. I know for a fact that the kid over there isn't the one you're looking for." Kensuke's confident grin fell a few millimeters.

"Oh?" he asked, "And what's this 'fact', pray tell?"

Grinning like a Great White off Amity Island on the Fourth of July, Touji replied, "Because he was in the same shelter as my sis was during the attack. Even went to the hospital with her." Turning around, the black-haired boy cupped his hand around his mouth and yelled, "Yo, Ikari!"

Shinji raised his head from his arms, looking around the classroom as he pulled the headphone buds to his SDAT player from his ears. Eventually his lidded blue eyes settled on the triad of two boys and one girl just a few rows over and behind him. Said eyes widened instantly as they recognized the signature black, white, and purple-collared tracksuit in the middle.

"Ah! Suzuhara-kun!" he said with a bright smile. Across the rows, Touji chuckled lightly while Kensuke scowled in defeat and Hikari tried to hide the light pink of her cheeks.

'He . . . smiled,' the pigtailed girl thought with wonder, 'Ikari's actually pretty cute when he smiles . . .' Still holding her flushed face, Hikari made a hesitant sidelong glance, 'He's almost as cute as . . .' but immediately broke off the thought as her face grew even warmer.

Still chuckling, Touji stood and walked over, saying, "What'd I tell you the other day—call me Touji." Locking one strong arm around the smaller boy's neck, the darkly tanned teen guided Shinji over to where Hikari and Kensuke still stood, "I was actually just telling these two how you and I met at the hospital. You know, after that weird monster attack."

As he spoke, Touji minutely tightened his grip around the other boy, just enough to hopefully give Shinji the hint to stay quiet. Struggling not to asphyxiate, Shinji nervously smiled and nodded, and Touji loosened his hold on him.

Still seated at his desk, Kensuke sighed disappointedly, "Darn, I guess you aren't the EVA pilot after all . . ." Cobalt orbs widened at this statement, and Shinji began to speak but was cut off as Touji once again tightened his hold on the boy.

Sweating a little, Touji laughed nervously, "Heh, sorry Kensuke, but like I said you've got the wrong man. Shin-man here don't know nothin' about that freaky robot, right?" Glancing down at Shinji, who was now fuchsia from oxygen deprivation, the taller boy asked through gritted teeth, "Right?" and then loosened his hold on the brown-haired child.

Taking in delicious gulps of air, Shinji nodded and finally spoke after his lungs had filled, "R-right, I don't know any-anything about that." It wasn't a lie, technically. After all, Shinji did know next to nothing about the Evangelion, other than turning it on and off, and sending it on violent, destructive rampages. That little fact however didn't ease the guilt he felt lying like a stone in the pit of his stomach.

Ignorant of the other boy's despair, Touji clapped Shinji on the back as he chuckled at the success of his gambit. "See Kensuke, I told you so—this kid here ain't the guy you're looking for," he said, before looking down at the slight child next to him, "So what're you doin' here, Shin-man? You're in the same class with us?"

Nodding, Shinji sheepishly put one hand on the back of his head, "Y-yeah, I guess so. Small world . . ." Touji laughed at Shinji's continued nervousness.

"Yeah, yeah it is, isn't it?" he said, then grinned wistfully, "Still, I can't believe you're here with us third-years. You must've skipped a bunch of levels to get here so fast!" Hikari's eyes widened at Touji's statement, and looking to his side she saw Shinji's dark blue orbs take on the same dull, disappointed glaze as they had earlier in the hall.

"Ano . . . Suzuhara?" she began quietly.

Not hearing the freckled girl, Touji continued, "I keep tellin' Pa that we should do the same for Mari, what with her photogenic memory and all. But no, he tells me, it'll cost too much to put her higher up . . ."

"Suzuhara-kun," Hikari tried again, her eyes fixed on Shinji's visibly growing gloom.

Still oblivious, the tanned teen continued his monologue, unaware of its unintentional, confidence shattering effect, "Oh, and don't you worry none about the other guys our age. If they give you any grief, I'll give 'em a good knock to the head!"

"TOUJI-KUN!" Hikari called out with exasperation. The girl's shrill cry had the desired result of shutting the track-suited boy up, along the rest of class 2-A. Heavy silence weighed down on the classroom, and Hikari turned maroon as she felt the eyes of every one of her classmates turn to her. The creek of the class's wooden door broke through the quiet air, momentarily diverting attention away from the pigtailed girl to the elderly, white-haired teacher slowly shuffling to the main desk. Blinking behind thick glasses, the balding man gazed around the unusually still classroom, settling his unfocused sight on the blushing girl in the room's center.

Now nearly purple with embarrassment, Hikari uttered a small "eep" and then rushed to the front of the classroom faster than you could say, "I want my hagoromo!" Pivoting on her heel, she came to attention and shouted, "STAND! BOW! SIT!" with a shadow of her former authority. The students obeyed with habitual precision, but many still snickered as they finally took their seats, much to Hikari's dismay. Behind the freckled girl, the teacher blinked at a bold-faced notice that had been taped his desk, then stood straight as his arthritis would allow and faced the class.

"I have been informed that we have a new transfer student . . ." he said with a croaking voice, peering a few times around the room with his nearsighted eyes before finally giving up, "Would the new student please rise and introduce themselves?"

With flushed cheeks, Shinji rose from his chair and nervously stuttered, "I-I'm Sh-Shinji Ikari, an-and I'm ne-new to To-Tokyo-3." Already hearing some of the comments being whispered around the room, Shinji bowed his head and finished with a simple, "And I'm fourteen years old." At these words, the whispers around the room grew in both number and intensity, while their subject sat back down and forlornly covered his head under his arms.

Mixed reactions could be seen on the faces of four people not participating in the brutal gossip spread. Hikari's face was crestfallen, her heart going out to the poor, young-looking boy. Kensuke was frowning, still troubled by his apparent miscalculation about the transfer student's identity. The elderly teacher was, well, half-deaf in addition to half-blind, and had already started rambling on about how peaches tasted so much better before Second Impact. And last but not least, there was Touji.

The dark-haired lad was sitting back in his chair with arms folded, eyes fixed broodingly on the desk in front of him. Internally, his mind was raging with self-disgust and recrimination due to his unintended insult to Shinji's self-esteem. And as his inner anger and shame grew, so did his need for some form of external release. Suddenly his large ears twitched as they picked up a sliver of conversation from a few desks to his right. They twitched again as they picked up a few more comments around the room, all very negative and mocking in nature, and all regarding the slight boy whose face was still buried on his desk. Having found an outside substitute for his self-directed irritation, Touji allowed his anger to grow unheeded at the nastiness being tossed carelessly from student to student. After several minutes of listening to the malicious statements spreading like pollen around the room, the track-suited teen could finally take no more.

Slapping his hand on his desk, Touji growled out loudly, "You all got no right to be talkin' about Ikari that way—no right! If it weren't for him, you'd all probably be dead right now!" Eyes around the classroom widened in surprise, but while the majority was simply in shock, fear was clearly evident in one deep-blue set as Touji continued, "Yeah, that's right—you heard me. You all keep talking like you are, and you'll see how grateful Ikari is the next time he pilots his . . . mech . . . a." Touji's own dark eyes now widened as he became aware of exactly what he had just uttered. 'Aw crap . . .'

Animated conversation erupted around the classroom, despite Hikari's best efforts to silence it. Still by the front window, the old teacher continued to go on about the effect of Second Impact on the price of grapefruit, unaware of everything else due to his hearing aid having died three decades prior. And at his desk, Mari's own words about her brother came back to haunt Shinji as he slowly, rhythmically, began pounding his head against the wood surface.

END CHAPTER SIX

TRANSLATION GUIDE
Otaku: A person with extreme devotion to a particular subject or hobby, sometimes to the point of social isolation and public ridicule.
Ano: Sound of uncertainty; equivalent to "uh".
Hagoromo: A sort of feathered robe worn by Tennyo (celestial maidens or goddesses); the item sought by the character Ceres in the manga/anime "Ayashi no Ceres".
-san: Equivalent to Mr./Ms./Mrs.; used when formally addressing an individual, and almost always when a subordinate addresses a superior or elder person.
-kun: Used in causal/friendly relationships, typically with males, and most often as a sign of light affection from a superior to a subordinate. Also used between people of the same age who share friendly relations.
-chan: Similar to -kun when used between individuals who share a casual relationship, and typically used with females. Can also be used to express deep affection between two individuals, where the word becomes the equivalent to "Darling".