In the Mind of a Child Chapter 2
Truth
The names on the faces and places, they mean nothing to me. The streets and the thousands of colors all bleed into one. I fall down, heaven won't help me. I call out, no one will hear. All of the sudden I've lost my way out in the city. Stand tall, stand proud. Every beginning has broken its promise. I'm having trouble just finding my soul in this town.
-A poem by Asuka Langley Sohryu
"Hey don't worry about it Asuka, we'll get her at the game tonight!" Lavi exclaimed as the gang started on their way home.
"Yeah Lavi's right, she's toast." Kaname and Sakura agreed.
They all turned their attention to Shinobu to see what she had to add. After waiting in silence for her response; Lavi, the only other red head Asuka knew, grew impatient.
"Shinobu!"
The volume of Lavi's voice was enough to shake her out of her daydream. "Huh…oh…oh yeah go get her."
"You guys will do no such thing!" Asuka stared down each one of them to make sure they understood correctly. "I don't need your help to handle Ayanami. I'll break that twig-girl in half." That comment got some sly grins from the girls. "Besides, if she wants to hand Shinji over to me I figure why stop her?"
"Wow, so you planned this entire thing?" Sakura, the most loyal one of the group asked innocently.
"Of course I did." Asuka lied. "You think I'd let Ayanami get away with everything she said unless I had a plan?"
Everyone looked convinced except for the class vice president Kaname Chidori. Out of all the other girls she was the only one that had the ability and desire to challenge Asuka's authority. She was surely popular enough. Kaname was second smartest in the class according to her GPA, which followed Ayanami's, albeit by a large margin. She was also gorgeous. Her long flowing hair billowed behind her back in the slight wind and her stunning azure colored eyes glistened in the sunlight filled with the prospect of dethroning Asuka.
Though Kaname had the potential to be in charge of the clique, Asuka knew there was no immediate danger of her being overthrown. This was largely because of the other girls. Shinobu wasn't really interested in who lead the gang. She was in the cheerleading squad for the extra credit and kind of just fell into place with the crew. She would most likely follow whoever wanted to be chief. Lavi, easily the most aggressive of the group was there because she liked mouthing off and fighting with cheerleaders from the other schools. Sakura however had been her friend for a long time, and was completely faithful. She was also involved in some kind of secretive ninjitsu training school. In stark contrast and possible violation of the Dojo's guarded reputation however, she wore its symbol etched on a metal band and set into a piece of cloth in her hair.
As they neared Asuka's residence Sakura spoke up. "You know Asuka, Kaname may have the biggest house but I love yours because it's so stylish and modern. It's a shame your parents are so strict with you having guests over. I'd really like to see the inside sometime."
Asuka only smiled in response as she walked slowly into the front gate and began to walk toward the back yard. If you only knew.
"Bye Asuka, we'll see you at the game tonight!" Kaname said with a smile. Even though she was competition, Kaname was still a friend and was there to help if necessary, and Asuka knew it.
She waited until she thought her friends were a safe distance away and then hopped the fence and began the long walk to her real home which was located in a strikingly less glitzy part of town.
Arriving in her front yard she noticed that her father's car wasn't in the driveway. That was no big surprise. He hadn't been home in years. The lawn had not been mown since the neighbors she borrowed the mower from moved to a nicer part of town. Her tiny home was in various states of disrepair. Everything from the roof to the wooden steps leading to her door needed fixing. She stepped in her living room and could still smell the light stench left by the kerosene heaters they used when the weather turned cold. Asuka remembered sleeping in her room with the heater off so she wouldn't go to school the next day with odor stained clothing. She figured being cold was a small price to pay to maintain her popularity.
Her mother worked two jobs and wouldn't return until later that night. Asuka had begged her mother to let her try and find employment but she flatly refused saying she'd rather work two jobs than have Asuka waste her after school time working for some convenience store.
Asuka checked her watch and saw she had two more hours until the game. With no television or phone to keep her busy she walked into her room and reached under her mattress to retrieve one of the many books she kept hidden there. Spread out on her bed she turned to the cover page of the book and read the title "Voices of Wisdom". In the margin of the book was the name Rei Ayanami written in blue ink to mark ownership. I'm sorry, she thought to herself before flipping to the dog eared page where she had last stopped reading.
Two hours was plenty of time for Rei to compose and post her daily essay with the online philosophy magazine she published to. Rei had worked out a deal with Misato where she would use her instructor's bank account to deposit her paycheck so as to avoid the unreasonable underage discrimination.
The problem was that she couldn't seem to focus, her thoughts kept wondering to the events that had taken place this afternoon. I really hurt her today, Rei thought to herself. It doesn't have to be this way, why can't she just leave me alone? Never mind the fact that I'm using that new kid Ikari like a pawn in some juvenile game of chess. Today had been the first day Rei had to deal with physical violence. She was severely disappointed in herself because she could think of no other way to escape the situation with Asuka besides involving an innocent like Ikari. Rei made up her mind then that she was going to do her best to make friends with the new kid. She remembered what she had promised Asuka, and would follow through with everything she could. Rei would not however stop talking to him. And if Asuka attempted sadistically forcing her, she would be ready.
After an hour of staring at the screen of her laptop the only thing she had managed to type was "Revenge is a dish best served cold" She laughed to herself and shut her computer down, opting to type up her essay sometime after the game tonight. Rei looked at the piece of paper in her hand and debated whether or not to call the number Ikari had written on it. She knew that high school boys perceived plutonic friendship as an invitation to sexual misconduct. If she called him she may very well be opening the flood gates.
After three rings an older man picked up the phone identifying himself as Ikari's father Gendo. "Is Shinji available?"
"No, I'm sorry. He's currently at work."
"Would you mind informing me of where that is?" Rei wouldn't normally have been this intrusive but she had set out to do something and wanted to accomplish this mission as soon as possible.
"Um…I don't see why not. He works for a man named Mr. Toriyama at a website design company downtown. If you had planned on visiting him I can give you directions."
"I already know the way." Rei said before she hung up the phone.
For a reason unknown to her she was nervous, very nervous. It started as soon as she had left her apartment and grew progressively worse as she neared the company. She was out of her element. She would have to deal with too many unforeseen circumstances when she arrived. What if Shinji disapproved of her being there? What if the manager was rude? I shouldn't be here, Rei thought as she stepped in the glass entrance of the dome shaped building.
"Welcome to Capsule Corp." A middle-aged, man behind the counter greeted her. His platinum dyed hair standing on end from unimaginable amounts of gel. He wore a black tank top inscribed with the words "Knowledge is power" and a picture of a blue overweight cricket donned in sunglasses.
Rei immediately felt that she could keep her distance from this man. "You must be Mr. Toriyama." She said still standing by the door incase she needed to escape quickly.
"Please, please call me Akira. How may I help you today my azure princess?" He said through a mouthful of pocky.
"I…uhh…I'm here to see Shinji." Rei explained checking behind her to make sure the exit was still clear.
"Ikari? Oh sure he's here." Mr. Toriyama stepped halfway through a double door that was behind him and yelled out Shinji's name announcing his girlfriend was here.
Ikari stepped through the doors clothed in a white collared shirt and tie, slacks and a shined pair of dress shoes. He also wore a thin framed pair of eye glasses that she hadn't seen him in earlier. Wow
"Hey Shinji, ask her if she has any friends!" Mr. Toriyama called out covering his mouth in a mock whisper.
"She's like sixteen Akira."
"I mean the older friends of course."
"Pervert" Shinji said with a smile shaking his head. "Hello Ayanami" He greeted her with a wave.
"H…hi…Shin…I mean Ikari. You look rather overdressed considering what your supervisor is wearing." Rei said as she partly covered her reddening face with her hand.
"Yeah I know. I dressed like this for the interview and he just gave me the job on the spot."
There was something different about him, Rei thought. His posture and demeanor had changed. He had more confidence in his voice when he spoke. If she didn't know better she would have thought this was a totally different person.
Before she could say anything else a man in his early twenties ran up and began speaking feverishly with Ikari.
"Shinji, I can't find the coding to place tables on the page. You gotta help me this site has to be done in half an hour!"
Shinji crossed his arms, he face turned serious. "Firstly, it's impolite to not introduce yourself. Secondly, it's especially rude to interrupt a girl, particularly if she's as pretty as Ayanami. Lastly, I just started. You've been working here for months. Why are you coming to me for help?"
Who is this guy? Rei thought to herself as she stared at Ikari.
"I know Shinji, but you've gotta help me!" The man pleaded.
Ignoring the boys begging, Ikari turned to Rei. "Ayanami, this is Keitaro Urashima and he's rude. He does however need my help, please excuse me."
Rei simply waved her acknowledgement. Is this the same person as this morning? Rei thought to herself. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, it's like he had gone through a complete transformation. Not a necessarily bad transformation at that. Rei found herself strangely attracted to this new personality, but forced herself to dismiss the feeling.
After criticizing his coworker for a while longer he spat out some kind of technological jargon and sent the young man away.
"I apologize for my friend." Shinji said returning his attention to her. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit?"
Rei giggled to herself and was immediately embarrassed. She mentally punished herself for acting like a little schoolgirl and attempted to regain her composure. "I came to apologize for earlier today. I wasn't very sociable and I'm sorry."
"No you weren't very nice were you" Shinji said in a gravely serious tone as he seemingly stared through her.
Rei had a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. She almost felt like running away.
His face broke and he started laughing. "I'm just kidding around Ayanami. Do you think I'm blind? I saw what was going on between you on Asuka. I'm sure I just made it worse. Anyway for whatever its worth, I'm sorry and I also forgive you as well." Shinji said with a smile as his put a hand on her shoulder.
Rei felt her knees go weak. Unconsciously, she ran a hand through her hair and pushed a few stray locks out of her face. What the holy hell I just preened myself. She took a step back and searched her mind for something intelligent to say. "D…did you know Asuka likes you?" Rei felt the need to massage her temple for the idiocy of the comment.
"Is that so? Well she is pretty hot, gotta love the cheerleading outfit." Shinji said rubbing his imaginary beard.
But you sat beside me, Rei thought as her heart dropped a little. Wait, what the do I care?
"I don't know though, she seems pretty obnoxious." Shinji said.
"She is obnoxious and she steals my books!" Rei replied before she could stop herself.
"Oh a bad girl huh? I kinda like that."
Rei's face showed the disappointment she felt. She still couldn't understand why she was feeling anything in the first place.
"I'm into the intellectual girls though, and she doesn't seem like that type."
Her heart jumped at that comment. Make up your mind. This was too much for her. She couldn't comprehend why it seemed like her feelings were attached to a rollercoaster. The highs and lows based merely on what he said. "Yes well she seems to like you a lot and I just came to tell you that it would be beneficial if you took her out on a date."
"So she got you to come all the way down here to ask me out for her? Wow you two must be great friends."
She forced her hand into a thumbs up. "The best"
"I guess we'll have to see at the game tonight. You are still going with me right?"
I don't really have a choice. "Of course I'm going, I said I would." Rei snapped.
"We could walk there from here but I don't get off work for a while. You could use one of the computers over there if you like." He said pointing to a small group of public access laptops. "This place doubles as an internet café."
"Fine" Rei said.
After Shinji had returned behind the double doors she logged on to her magazine's website. When she was done typing her essay, she looked it over and realized it was the most sexually biased report she had ever composed. She did feel better however.
Suddenly cast in someone's shadow she could smell the gel before she could see the person.
"Hello my sapphire doll. Want some pocky?" Mr. Toriyama offered as he licked the icing off his pudgy fingers.
She less than politely thanked him and refused; after he left she logged back on and began searching the nets for personal defense classes available in her neighborhood.
End Chapter 2
Thanks for reading everyone. Just so you know, there are five different anime series that have cameo parts in this chapter, special prize goes to whoever can find them all first.