From the author : Yeah Shinji screwed up , and somehow will bail him out because of course somone will
don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira
Neon Genesis Evangelion belongs to Studio GAINAX and Hideaki Anno
Akira belongs to Kōdansha and Katsuhiro Ōtomo
"this" is speech
'this' is thought
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION HIGHWAY STAR : THE BALLAD OF SHINJI IKARI
Chapter 42: Bailed out
"Allow me to pass"-Subcommander Kozo Fuyutsuki said to the guards who let him pass through the door to NERV's prison block. And as always no people were rotting inside the cells. That wasn't today , as he walked past the cells he reached his destination. Cell 66 , where Shinji Ikari resided since last week after assaulting the Commander who was stuck inside a hospital bed in critical condition. And according to procedures the Subcommander was supposed to take over. Shinji meanwhile nonchalantly laid on his prison bed. with his thoughts coming back to that day
"No worries Asuka ! I'll bail out soon , just call Namerikawa-san and tell her I'm sick"-Shinji said as he was pushed by section 2 into the car. As it rode away Misato only facepalmed
"THAT IDIOT !HOW COULD HE ASSAULT THE COMMANDER LIKE THAT !"-Misato exclaimed as Rei and Asuka only looked at her with Asuka only looking with a not-surprised look.
"I mean it was obvious. He resented his father for years and letting him go completely alone without an escort to see him was a recipe for disaster"-Asuka said as she remembered the plan she and Shinji hatched so that he could bug his father. But she wasn't expecting that the beating would be so bad. And according to the medical report the commander will have a scar from the burned cigarette in the center of his forehead. Misato meanwhile didn't have the same thought.
"Maybe I should've searched through him better , considering he had waterboarding equipment in his backpack. I'll need to see what I can do to get him out"-Misato said, still drunk and tired from the wedding as she walked away much to Asuka's satisfaction. 'Can only hope jail wont be so bad'
"Ikari"-Fuyutsuki asked as Shinji turned around from his bed and got up before standing in front of sub-commander behind the glass door with holes in it
"Oh , sub commander Fuyutsuki ! What brings you to my new place ? Kinda glassy and a little small but working on it , thinking about adding a tv inside"-Shinji joked as Fuyutsuki showed a keycard that allowed him to open his cell. Shinji looked at him before backing away to allow Fuyutsuki to enter his room.
"So , why did you come ?"-Shinji asked as he sat on his bed , Fuyutsuki only threw him some papers before pointing at the camera inside the room and gesturing its been turned off
"I came to tell you personally you are getting out tomorrow , and that the tribunal has cleared all your accusations , again"-Fuyutsuki said as Shinji nodded
"But wouldn't I be executed because of treason or something ?"-Shinji asked as Fuyutsuki chuckled
"Not really , and I believe that Ikari deserved a good beating. He seemed too stuck up with the power he had. And you were right , he needs you. Besides , i know you were just following your assignment"-Fuyutsuki said as Shinji jolted up and turned towards him.
"What ?! How did you know ?"-Shinji asked as Fuyutsuki turned back towards him
"How else would I know if I wasn't informed ?"-Fuyutsuki asked as Shinji immediately connected the dots
"Are you the mole inside ?"-Shinji asked as Fuyutsuki turned back towards him
"No , i'm only of the people working inside , the mole is someone else"-Fuyutsuki said as Shinji now had another question on his mind
"You knew my bastard of an old man wanted to end the world , and you were helping him. What happened that you are now helping the supposed good guys ?"-Shinji asked as Fuyutsuki sat down on Shinji's bed
"Because I saw how selfish it was , and I saw that by looking at you. You have a future ahead , sister , friends , love. Let that be cleared , I know how it will sound. But I "loved" your mother in my own way. And even looking at your upbringing I can see how you grew up and always stand in front of any obstacles. Your father will be locked inside a bed for two months , and you won't be able to visit him alone , but it doesn't seem that you care about it. Major Katsuragi will come for you first thing in the morning , in the papers you have all the inbox and the fax papers. Goodnight Ikari"-Fuyutsuki said as he left the cell. Shinji returned to bed and got back into his stance of a sleeping philosopher. 'Well then , I have an ally. That's nice , but still he's a SELLE lap dog. Or so it seems , need to ask Kaneda about it'-he thought as he finally had fallen asleep
"Wake up Third Child ! You are leaving !"-a guard said as Shinji got up from his bed. And quickly stretched out before noticing two guards and Misato.
"Ah hello there Misato , it's been a long time since i've seen you"-Shinji said as the guards opened the glass door and Shinji finally for the first time in a week stood out of his cell. The trip from the prison block to the alpine was mostly silent , but since car rides without music or chatting were awkward to say the least Misato decided to begin the conversation
"So , why did you do it ?"-Misato asked as Shinji only lit up a cigarette before Misato pointed at the open window to signal him to not dare using the ashtray , Shinji obliged as after blowing the last cloud of smoke he threw away the cigarette
"Why ? The question is when I would do it. It was the catharsis I needed for so long. Besides i only did what my uncle asked , and as a good nephew i followed his exact command of sending few punches from him"-Shinji said before taking out a piece of bubblegum and putting it inside his mouth
"Maybe , but you still sent your father to the hospital. You don't feel anything ? Like remorse ? Or , any emotion at all ?"-Misato asked as Shinji continued to chew his bubblegum
"You know what ? Aside from letting out my emotion and feeling relieved I did it with a straight face , like simply another task to do. Luckily i don't need to ask him because he will eat with a straw for the next few weeks"-Shinji said smirking before stretching himself out. Misato decided to give up on getting anything out of him. So they simply return to the apartment before Misato gave Shinji a box
"Your stuff that was confiscated"-Misato said as Shinji took a quick look inside of it to see his biker clothes , his gun , another pack of Marlboros and his lighter. Shinji smirked as he walked after Misato towards the apartment. As and she opened the door Shinji noticed Asuka and Rei sitting on the beanbags in front of the TV
"Shinji !"-Asuka exclaimed rushing at him before hugging him tightly not caring about the box in his hands
"Hey there , it's been a long time"-Shinji said returning the hug holding the box between them
"Yeah right you two lovebirds , I'll have to return back to NERV. Asuka and Rei , you two go to school. Shinji can stay behind to get himself settled"-Misato said as both the girls quickly grabbed their bags and finished their instant-breakfast
"We'll see after school"-Asuka said, giving Shinji a kiss before leaving him alone in the apartment. He simply unpacked his stuff and got to work on some wonderful dinner for everyone when they return , a shiver went through his back thinking about how much Misato's "Food" Asuka and Rei had to consume 'Crosses for their internal organs'-Shinji thought as he continued to work on the food. That was until he got a message on his phone
Televideo booth , now
Shinji obliged and turned the food on low fire before dressing up in his biker clothes preparing to leave the apartment. After he left he made his way towards his parking spot and took off the canvas to reveal the Highway Star Finale. Shinji mounted it and made his way towards one of the secluded spots in Tokyo 3 , abandoned by people after some of them moved to the suburbs or out of the city. So it remained a ghost town , but it had its pro's. One of them being that the MAGI automated system that was delivering power continued to power up the district. And that meant that archaic Televideo booths were still powered up. The booths that Shinji used before were decommissioned. Perhaps by his old man to make his life harder. Or at least Shinji thought about it like that. He quickly parked the HS finale before inserting his card and dialed the number. And in a second the image of Kaneda appeared
"Hey there , i've done it and finally bugged the asshole"-Shinji said as Kaneda only sighed
"Yeah , about that Shin. Kei isn't happy about how you did it"-Kaneda said as Kei quickly jolted him out off the cadre
"Really Shinji ?! Couldn't you just bug him in the back ?! Now we need to wait weeks to get real information !"-Kei exclaimed as Shinji wiped the back of his head in embarrassment
"You know how much I wanted to do it ? Besides, I'm sure the photos spread across 4chan and 2chan because I've sent them to you. And right now he rots in a hospital bed"-Shinji explained as Kei sighed
"Apparently you met one of our people inside and he delivered you some paper info , have you read it ?"-Kei asked as Shinji nodded
"Yep , he is a nice guy. And apparently he is the only one who seems sorry about the whole "We will kill the whole world so I can have my wifey again" shtick. And now since he is the commander of NERV i can feel a bit easy then with my old man holding the cards"-Shinji said as Kei nodded
"Then that means you know that the Dead sea scrolls have written when the next angel will appear right ?"-Kei asked as Shinji nodded
"Yeah , even though some of the descriptions seem a little bit non-distinct , like the 13th angel will be a humanoid. Kinda hard to guess since anything that has two arms and legs can be considered a humanoid"-Shinji explained as both Kei and Kaneda chuckled
"We have your next task , continue to follow with destroying the angels. And you will receive assistance from the T-RIDEN-T group whenever NERV will begin the ceremony"-Kei said as Shinji had another question to ask
"Yeah , about that last angel. What does it mean that it's an angel of free will ? Does that mean he can talk or something ?"-Shinji asked as both of them unfolded their arms
"Yeah , those aliens were not really accurate with what they wrote on those scrolls. Sorry Shin"-Kaneda said as Shinji only sighed in defeat
"Well , it looks like the giant ball is the next challenger. I left the dinner on low fire so i have to go"-Shinji said as both Kei and Kaneda nodded
"Right , say hi to Mana and Rei from us. See ya Shin"-Kaneda said as the call ended. Shinji quickly took out his card from the booth. 'Now i know who they prefer , they could've at least said "Say hello to Rei , Mana AND Asuka". Also where was Mari ? Maybe I should've asked her about the angels ? Also Namerikawa , its hard putting your life together after jail and it was just 7 days'-Shinji thought as he made his way back towards the HS Finale before mounting it and returning to the apartment
"Yatta ta ta ra ta ta , and it's all done"-Shinji said, looking at all the delicious and normally prepared food in front of it and looking at the nearest mirror with pride. The savior of all the internal organs from spiced up terrible instant ramen made by Misato. He then set the table waiting for Asuka and Rei. And after looking at his watch everything perfectly syncs.
"We're home !"-Asuka exclaimed as she and Rei walked inside the apartment
"Hey there , how was school ?"-Shinji asked as Asuka quickly hugged him before kissing him
"Like always , boring. But it seems you weren't wasting your time"-Asuka said looking at the food with Shinji nodding
"Yeah , I also passed a televideo booth. But knowing what you had to endure for a week with Misato running the kitchen"-Shinji said as Asuka nodded
"Well then , I'll go switch this damn uniform for something normal. While you prepare food for us"-Asuka said before leaving the kitchen and walking inside their shared room. But her attention quickly shifted towards several papers laying on the desk. Knowing that those papers were probably from WILLE she quickly hid them under the futon and finally returned back to the kitchen to see Rei and freshly-returned Misato eating the food. Asuka couldn't be different as she also began devouring food from her plate.
"I swear to god , maybe you committed several acts of treason but that food forgives everything. Hell maybe if you started a Third Impact at least people will have this food"-Misato said as Shinji frowned
"I wouldn't be an idiot like that to do it. But i can imagine how the world would look , and you would wear an eyepatch"-Shinji said as Misato lifted up her eyebrows
"Eyepatch ? Really ? At least you could've imagine me with some cool shades and a colonel top hat , or something"-Misato said as Shinji quickly lifted up his finger
"Fine , cool shades. But post-apo requires eyepatches , maybe i would wear one and become like Heero Yuy and only talk about completing the mission"-Shinji said in a ruff voice with Asuka chuckling
"Better , I would rock an eyepatch. And someone would wear a black plugsuit"-Asuka said as everyone sitting at the table aside from Rei chuckled and continued to talk about many things. Was it sports , school , NERV or even politicians. After the dinner everyone returned to their daily tasks. Misato returned to look through paperwork , and drank beer. Rei continued to marvel at the tv shows on random channels showing tokusatsu and anime. And Shinji and Asuka , were focused on themselves
"So , mind telling me what are those papers ?"-Asuka said laying in his arms with Shinji kissing the side of her neck
"Oh , those papers ? Given to me by the inside man , well one of the inside men"-Shinji explained as he then looked at the desk before quickly tensed up noticing that they weren't where they are supposed to be
"Right here , this what you get for leaving conspiracy documents on your desk"-Asuka said reaching out for the papers under the futon and throwing them on the floor
"So do you want to know who the inside guy is ? Or at least one of them ?"-Shinji asked as Asuka from looking over the documents turned back towards Shinji
"Well , am I supposed to expect a surprise ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji took a sip of the "time-out" soda sitting on the bedside table
"Sub-commander Fuyutsuki"-Shinji said and if Asuka took a drink she would've probably spit it out
"Are you shitting me right now ? That man who could be my grandfather ? And the guy closest to your old man ? Why would someone so late in the plan back off like a few months before realization ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji unfolded his arms
"Apparently because he saw me and thought how selfish it was to kill the whole world and all that self-reflection bullshit"-Shinji explained as Asuka nodded while taking one of the papers from the pile and looking over it
"So , is this the guide for us to get through the rest of the angels ? 'A floating sphere , and a shadow' really inductive"-Asuka said as Shinji chuckled
"I asked Kei about it. Apparently it's what their intel could provide us with. Even though those people have a mole on the second position in the chain of command. The problem is that we don't know when to expect the next move on the giant chess board. I kinda hope that i'm a queen and not a pawn"-Shinji said as Asuka nodded before quickly cleaning up the papers and putting them back under the futon before jumping onto Shinji
"Yeah , but now we have different things to focus on"-Asuka said as it was the last thing the couple said for next few hours
"Hello school ! And a girl harem coming in 5 , 4 , 3 ,2 and 1"-Shinji said as he jumped off the bike and looked at the swarm of fangirls coming to him
"Ikari ! Where have you been ?"-One of them said as Shinji was surrounded by his fangirls
"Well , jail"-Shinji said trying to scare them off but it only caused the girl's eyes widened , and in the same time numerous fantasies were formed
"Wow , for what ?! Where you fighting a group of punks and came out victorious ?"-Another of the girls asked as Shinji begun to felt uncomfortable around the swarm
"Maybe he saved a hooker from being attacked ?"-Another girl asked as Shinji looked at his right shoe and quickly stomped on the ground to release a little fiend to scare the girls off with Shinji running off towards his class.
"Im sorry !"-He exclaimed before entering the school building. Normally a girl would be pissed about such a prank. But not the Ikari Fangirls , who only squeaked about how much ingenuity he has. Even though it's been a few months since he came here Shinji's popularity hasn't come down. Especially in the photography club. Shinji opened the door with a kick to reveal himself to class 2-A
"Ikari ! How many times have I said no kicking doors !"-Hikari exclaimed as Shinji wiped the back of his head
"Yeah sorry , i need to get used to not being able to kick my door"-Shinji said sitting at his desk before sending a glare at Kaworu who only waved at him
"Speaking of that, where were you ?"-Kensuke asked as Shinji smirked
"Jail"-Shinji said causing Touji to spit out his drink
"Oh , and it's a record. Normally you sat through 24 or 48"-Mana said as Shinji smirked before looking towards Asuka
"Lets just say that i kinda screw up and connections in high places didn't help me"-Shinji said as the teacher walked inside the classroom beginning the lesson
A/N : And done , we have 6 angels left and 6 angels to the le grande finale. Sorry about that two week break but I still have another story to write. See ya around