Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, it is in fact owned by Gainax. Neither is there any intention to copy the works of any other writers. Any similarities in plot, situations, character dialogue, etc. found between this fic and any other fic is unintentional and purely coincidental.
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Keiko awoke to find Kensuke already gone. The sunlight spilled through the balcony doors. She sighed, feeling the cold empty spot in the bed next to her. She checked the digital clock on her nightstand. 8:30 in the AM. She got up, stretched and headed to the bathroom.
After brushing her teeth and taking a shower, she sat down on the bed, hair wrapped in a towel and she contemplated the morning. She had nothing to do. Newspaper or breakfast? Breakfast. Where to eat? She didn't know the city and couldn't recall seeing any restaurants on the way to the hotel. She could eat at the hotel's restaurant. She could do that. But as she stood over her suitcase of clothes, she didn't feel like getting dressed for a public appearance. Room service was a good alternative.
She perused the menu and called down her order. Miso soup, tofu and salmon. And what the Hell, she decided to splurge on some fresh fruit. She cracked opened her front door and checked the halls. No one to be seen. So she picked up the newspaper sitting in front of her door and took it in.
'PILOTS MAY HAVE BEEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE'
She clicked her teeth in distaste and skipped the headline.
Political news.
'RUSSIA REFUSES U.N. INSPECTORS'
There was a knock on her door. Room service. She quickly pulled on a pair of shorts and answered the door. She sat on the bed and perused the article while she ate. She recalled how one night in college, she lay in Kensuke's bed basking in the post-coital glow, listening to him go on and on about how he wanted to make a difference in the world with his reporting. She listened to him rattle off names of journalists and articles of whom and which she had never heard of before. She listened to his idealist philosophies, feeling excited for him and his dreams. That was before he got his internship.
After breakfast she decided that she'd try to look for a job in the employment ads. But she found scanning the articles to be exhausting. Boring. Dull. She put the paper down and walked out onto the balcony. She gazed across the city, listened to the honking, the rumbles, the screeches, the talking and bustling. And she thought of home.
The Lighthouse
Chapter 2
Rei ripped open the curtains of the bedroom. There were two, simultaneous groans that emitted from the bed. She turned and saw the lumps beneath the comforter twitch and stir. She spotted an open pack of cigarettes on Shinji's nightstand and snagged one. She lit it and stood over the bed. The masses had stopped moving. The hard way it is.
She removed her gun from her holster and banged the butt repetitively on Shinji's nightstand.
"All right! All right!" Asuka called out with a groan.
Rei holstered her gun and waited as the mass once again began to move.
"Shinji," Asuka began, "I love you. But please remove your prick from my ass."
"Sorry." Was the response and Shinji rolled away. He sat up, grabbed his pack and tapped out a cigarette. He patted his bare body before squinting at Rei. "Fire?" He asked.
Rei took out her lighter and lit his cigarette.
Asuka sat up abruptly, also squinting. Her hands slowly went to her head and she seemed to cradle it gently. After a little while she began to unceremoniously scratch herself, seemingly unashamed of her nakedness.
"Hurry up." Rei said and blew smoke. "We're going to be late."
"Mind giving us a little privacy?" Asuka spread her arms, finally indicating her awareness of her lack of clothing.
Rei thought she looked like she was ready to slide back beneath the covers. She looked at Shinji and saw him propped up against the headboard, eyes closed, cigarette dangling precariously from his lips. She plucked out the cigarette and handed it to Asuka.
"Nothing I haven't seen before." Rei told her. "And if I leave the room, you two are going right back to sleep."
Asuka took a drag from the cigarette and blew smoke. She slapped Shinji's arm and said "Wake up."
Shinji stirred and grumbled.
"You shouldn't leave this sitting out." Rei indicated the heroin baggie sitting in plain view on Shinji's nightstand.
"One thing at a time, please." Asuka slowly extricated herself from the bed and stretched, still unashamed.
Rei thought that perhaps her lack of shame was the entire problem.
-------
Toji sat in the waiting room and shifted his prosthetic leg. He gazed as his prosthetic hand slowly curled it into a fist. Prosthetics and cybernetics had come a long way. He had gotten it a few years ago from NERV. Latest in robotics, he had been given one of the prototypes. They had done surgery, placing a cybernetic socket in his shoulder, covering it with skin grafts, attaching nerves to it. From there he could place and remove a cybernetic arm. The movement was stiff and robotic and it couldn't even successfully grip cups, but it gave him a sense of normality which he had lost all those years ago. His leg operated much in the same way.
"Mr. Suzuhara?" The secretary called his name.
Toji looked up and smiled.
"Mr. Nakagawa will see you now."
Toji thanked her and slowly rose to his feet.
He thought that Nakagawa's office was one of the nicest he'd seen. The walls were wooden, or at least a convincing sham, and the floors were carpeted. On the walls hung pictures of construction sites, completed buildings, blueprints, the works.
"Mr. Suzuhara, please have a seat." Nakagawa motioned after the customary bow and introduction.
"Thank you, sir." Toji took his seat.
"I see you have a slight limp." Nakagawa took his seat. "If you don't mind me asking, how did that happen?"
"I was an Eva pilot once upon a time, sir." Toji felt an invisible pain in his missing limbs. "It should be stated in my resume and you can call NERV's Human Resources Department. I am technically classified as a war veteran."
Nakagawa raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Armed service for one's country. I admire that. We have quite a few former military members on our staff. Dedicated group, they are."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Toji bowed his head slightly.
"Refresh my memory so I don't have to search your paperwork. What position are you applying for in our company?" Nakagawa flipped open his file anyway and seemed to peruse the contents.
"On-Site Safety Inspector, sir."
There was a moment of silence. Toji wanted to fidget. It was a little while before he noticed that his nails were digging into his leg. He lightened up.
"It seems that you have a rather glowing recommendation from your last employer. What prompted your move to Tokyo-3 from…Osaka?"
"Yes, sir. My wife recently passed away and I moved with our children back here, where she was originally from. Her family is here and is helping to look after our children."
Nakagawa nodded. "I'm very sorry for your loss. I apologize if I touched a delicate area."
"It's all right, sir."
"Do you…" Nakagawa started slowly, "Know what the first commercial building code is?"
"All people, civilians and employees need to be wearing protective goggles and hard hats while within the site building zone."
"What is the definition of Residential Building Code 302.c?"
"When a prefecture building inspector arrives to check the permit specs, all construction is to cease until the inspector has signed off on the permit."
"What is the definition of Commercial Building Code 201.a?"
"No construction may start on the site of a commercial building project unless the project foreman is present."
"Say, for instance, a company VP arrives before the foreman and instructs the company employees to begin work for the day?"
-------
Asuka put her sunglasses on and adjusted her beret before heading out into the living room to join Shinji and Rei.
Rei stood up and offered her a cup of coffee.
"Thanks, Wonder Girl." Asuka took a long pull. "I'd love you if I didn't hate you."
"Likewise." Rei said and led them out of the apartment.
-------
Kensuke hadn't been looking forward to the meeting. The reporter's office sat on the fourteenth floor of a tall building in downtown Tokyo-3. Despite the newspaper being just a couple of notches above tabloid material, the office was packed with reporters. Kensuke found his cubicle sandwiched between a loudmouth and a chain smoker. Being a newcomer to the office, his space was relatively clean.
"Give it time." Loudmouth had said. "In a few weeks you'll have at least two ash trays and several stacks of paper."
It was only a few months prior that he had been at some skuzzy Sapporo tabloid paper, shopping photos and writing stories on actors' trysts to hot springs and camping spots. When he had requested the time off to go to the funeral, his editor, Aoto, had grumbled and groaned. He had sat through a thirty minute lecture on dedication and priorities. Whose funeral was it? A friend's funeral. What's his name? Her name was Hikari Suzuhara.
The prick had actually checked to see if she had been a real person. A few days later he found himself in the Chief Editor's office, Aoto there as well, grinning like a Cheshire.
"Kensuke, do you mind if I call you Kensuke?" He said through his shit-eating grin. "Why didn't you tell me that she was married to Toji Suzuhara?"
"You never asked." Kensuke replied.
"Do you know who Toji Suzuhara is?"
"Uh…yeah. I went to high school with him. We were buddies."
"Tell me about it."
The Chief Editor remained smiling as Aoto took a seat at the edge of the desk.
"Are…are you serious?"
"Yeah, tell me about your days in high school."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
" 'Cause I'm curious."
Kensuke should've seen it coming, but had come off an all nighter, fruitlessly tailing actress Miko Kawada for juicy tidbits. So he didn't realize his mistake until after he had opened his mouth.
"Well, there's not much to it." He began guardedly. "Toji and I hung out with our friends, studied, whatever."
"Was it a close knit group of friends?"
"Yeah, yeah it was."
"Who else was in it?"
"Other friends."
"Who were they?"
"Uh, friends?"
"What were their names?"
"Uh, me, Toji, Shinji, Hikari, Asuka, sometimes Rei…" Kensuke was cut off as Aoto burst out laughing. "Uh…"
"I love this kid." Aoto said to the Chief Editor, who sat with a wide, toothy grin, nodding. "I love this kid."
Kensuke had two wet kisses planted on his face. One on each cheek.
"What the fuck?" Kisses? That was plain weird.
"Kid! You're moving up!" Aoto exclaimed.
"Excuse me?"
"You were good friends with Toji Suzuhara, Shinji Ikari, Asuka Sohryuu and Rei Ayanami!"
Oh shit.
"You were best buds with the top personnel of NERV! Do you know how closely guarded they are? No reporter can get near them! You though, you…" Aoto wagged his finger playfully. "You can get close to them."
"Whoa, whoa, hey." Kensuke raised his hands defensively. "It's been years since I've even spoken to them."
"The funeral would be a good place to catch up, don't you think?"
"I don't know. I don't even know if they'll remember me."
"Make them remember." Aoto got pushy, clipped.
"Excuse me?"
"All right, all right. Listen." Aoto rubbed his hands together. "How'd you like a transfer? Permanently to Tokyo-3? Wait, not a shit paper either." Aoto paused.
Despite himself, Kensuke could feel his interest percolate.
"It's not top notch," Aoto continued, "But it has a popular reader base. The Tokyo Eye. They do some seedy stuff, but they have heavy connections to the Tokyo-3 Times. Many, many writers at the Tokyo-3 Times got their starts with the Tokyo Eye. All you need is a big story and the right connections." He stopped, then spoke slowly, deliberately. "This could be it. Anything on the pilots would be big. You'd be on your way up."
"What's in it for you?"
"My cousin is the chief editor at the Eye. We have an information sharing network. We won't be missing much, if anything at all." Aoto grinned. "What do you say?"
Kensuke had said yes.
"Mr. Aida?"
The voice of the secretary brought Kensuke back from his thoughts.
"Mr. Maeda will see you now."
Kensuke got up and walked into the office. As soon as he stepped through the door his ears were assaulted by loud, obnoxious cursing and swearing. Maeda was a small man, Kensuke could tell just by seeing him behind his desk. Two ash trays sat on his desk were filled with cigarettes. His trash bin was filled to overflowing with disposable coffee cups. Papers littered his desk and floor.
The man himself wore a freshly starched white shirt, a ridiculous bright red bow tie, equally ridiculous bright red overalls holding up dark blue suit pants, and gold rimmed glasses. His hair was slick back black. His eyes were beady. And he yelled in a voice too large for his body at someone on the other end of his phone.
"Your deadline is two fucking days away you cocksucker and you're telling me that you can't get a fucking hold of him? Do you feel this? Huh? Do you know what the fuck this is? This is me pissing in your ear!"
He stopped and mouthed 'stay.'
Kensuke stayed.
"Oh, you want help? You want me to do something? I'll tell you what I'm going to fucking do for you, you no brained twat. I'm going to call the police and send them directly to your location. I'm going to tell them that you have fucking drugs so they'll give you a full fucking cavity search. And I'll fucking bet you that they'll find your fucking head up your ass! And once they're done extricating said paper weight from your rectum you will get the mother fucking interview! I gave you this assignment in good faith that you would not fuck this up! Shut the fuck up and listen to me! Are you listening? Good. You get that fucking interview and you have the fucking report here on my fucking desk two days from mother fucking now. You come back without it and I'll be eating what's left of your career with wasabi and a side of fucking gyoza you incompetent fuck!"
Maeda slammed the phone back down on the receiver and quickly lit a cigarette. He stood up, spread his arms wide and smiled.
"Mr. Kensuke Aida! My name's Kensuke too! We're practically fucking brothers! Sit down shut up and listen."
Kensuke complied wordlessly.
"I'm Kensuke Maeda, Chief Editor of the Tokyo Eye. I think fast, I talk fast and I don't like repeating myself so pay attention. Here at the Tokyo Eye we cover everything. Local news, national news, world news, war, human interest pieces, ads. We also cover celebrities. A lot of celebrities. And we love scandals. Why? People are intrigued by sex, violence and fuck ups. And it sells. I got my bachelors and my masters in journalism from NYU in America. Let me tell you right now, do not fuck with me. I'm gonna repeat myself so it sinks in. Do. Not. Fuck. With. Me.
"Now that we got that out of the way, let me ask you this question. It's okay for you to answer. Where do you see yourself in five years?"
"Uh…" Kensuke felt like he was caught trying to escape prison. "Hopefully…"
"Hopefully? No no no." Maeda interrupted. "I don't do hopes. We don't do hopes. Hopes are for communists, dreamers, idealists and assholes. I hope one day I'll fuck Miko Kawada. Not going to happen. Where are you in five years?"
"Uh…working here?"
Maeda choked on smoke, snorted and laughed.
"Ken, can I call you Ken? Ken, listen, buddy, I tell you what. If you're still working here in five years, I will get you a gun and a bullet, just one, so that you can end your pathetic fucking existence as it were. Let me rephrase. Where do you want to be in five years? Go."
"Working…at the Tokyo-3 Times?"
"Yes! That's what I'm talking about! And I'll tell you something, you do what I fucking say when I fucking say and I'll get you there in less than two. Over half the current writers and reporters at the Times are there through my recommendations. Do you love me or what? Don't answer that. Both options are wrong.
"This is how we're going to get you there. You listening? You report to two people. First, you report to Deina, he's your editor. Second, you report to me, I'm the Chief Editor. Every so often you'll get a very specific assignment from me and you do it as fast as you fucking can to the best of your fucking abilities. In between those assignments and during, you do what your editor Mr. Deina says. And in between that, you can do your own articles and submit them for publication. Priority runs like this: Me, Deina, you. You always come last. Do you know why? Because we already know you're fucking talented.
"I read my cousin's recommendation. Very good. I saw some of your articles and pictures. That one titty shot of that Italian model at the hot springs? Fan-fucking-tastic. But what that means here is diddly fucking shit. We know, we know, we know you're fucking talented. Believe you me, if you were just some fucking reporter you never would've gotten into the building I swear to God. What you're here to do is put in your time, prove you can work under pressure and prove that you do not fuck up. Prove that you're on your way up.
"Now." Maeda sat behind his desk. "Your first assignment is right here in this folder. The worthless cunt that was working on this had the nerve to quit. Luckily for us, he left all his notes right here. When you leave this office, you take this, go back to your cubicle and type up a comprehensive report using the notes here. I want it yesterday.
"Oh! And my cousin told me that you have something for me. Something beautiful, something recorded from that one girl's funeral yesterday."
"Yeah, well, here's the thing…" Kensuke rubbed the back of his head.
"Ken, Ken, Ken, first day on the job and you're fucking killing me."
"No, I mean, I tried. But I lost the tape. The pilot Asuka caught me and tore the tape out of my hands, nearly wrecked my recorder…"
"What? Fuck! I knew should've sent a photographer. I knew it. Maeda fucked up. Take a picture, it happens once in a blue moon. Did she hit you?"
"She…uh…she pushed me…"
"Could you get her to do it again?"
"What?"
"Joking! Joking! Laugh with me! Don't. You've got no time to laugh. You have work to do and it's right in this folder. Get out of here."
-------
The NERV facility was filled with the typical morning bustle. Beige and black uniforms walked up and down the halls, talking, tittering, discussing. Beige uniforms for non-combatants. The engineers, the janitors, the technicians, the doctors, cooks, maintenance. Black uniforms for military personnel. Security, Section-2, tactical officers, defense specialists, soldiers, special operations. Beige or black, Rei, Shinji and Asuka received nods, salutes, acknowledgement.
Rei could care less.
"Hey!" A voice Rei did not want to hear. "Hey! You're late!"
Captain Takeda approached the trio.
"Where the Hell have you been?" The Captain did his best to glare.
Rei always thought he made a terrible commanding officer. When he tried to look authoritative, he came off as an asshole. Such an asshole.
"Bridger has been in roll call waiting for thirty minu – look at me when I'm talking to you!"
"Now is not the time, Captain." Rei stepped up, placing herself between the Captain and the pilots.
"And take off your goddamn sunglasses!" The Captain leaned around her to continue his verbal lashing.
"Captain, seeing as how Bridger has been waiting for thirty minutes, don't you think that perhaps this conversation should be reserved for another time? Don't you think that the pilots should be allowed to change out so the synchronization test isn't delayed any further?" Rei, once again, stepped into the Captain's line of sight. When he tried to look around her yet again, she yet again kept herself in his way.
"Don't you think, Captain?"
The Captain glared and turned red, but eventually turned and stormed away.
"Ikari! Sohryuu! When you're done changing, you'll be in my office!" He called out over his shoulder.
"Asshole." Asuka muttered.
"Thank you, Rei." Shinji had taken off his sunglasses. Ah jeez.
"Put your sunglasses back on." Rei instructed him. He looked like he was coming down. Bags under his eyes, skin sallow. "You might also take a shower and some of your medication, before making an appearance, that is."
"Right." Shinji put his sunglasses back on.
"I'll see you later." Rei nodded and watched the two make for the locker rooms.
She sighed. The Captain seemed intent on escalating things. She had been planning on getting some paperwork done, but instead turned back and headed for the Commander's office.
-------
March 2016
Shinji grimaced as the doctor peeled the bandages off his shoulder. It hurt like Hell. When the doctor peeled off the final layer of bandages, it felt as though his skin were being peeled off as well.
"Stop being a baby." Asuka sighed and toyed with the bandages over her eye. "I don't even know if I'll be able to see out of this eye again."
"I'm not being a baby." Shinji said through gritted teeth. What did she know? At least it wasn't his right shoulder. Otherwise he'd never get any relief.
"Yeah, that doesn't look too good." The doctor muttered as he inspected the stitches. "With your fever and the swelling…does this hurt?" He pressed against the stitches with a Q-tip.
"Ah, shit, yes." Shinji hissed through his teeth.
"Still oozing too. Hmm." The doctor pressed against another area. "How about here?"
"Yeah."
"More or less?"
"Less."
"Here?"
"Less, but yeah."
"Mm." The doctor put on his glasses and continued to prod. "What's the pain like?"
"Throbbing." Shinji closed his eyes, hoping the pain would just go away. "Always throbbing."
"Is the severity constant or fluctuating?"
"What?"
"He means," Asuka said with a sigh, "Does the pain get worse then better? Or is it always the same pain?"
"The pain's always there." Shinji began to see spots. "But there are times when it gets really bad. It wakes me up and I can't get back to sleep. I'm always exhausted."
"Try and lift your arm up for me." The doctor stepped back.
Shinji tried lifting his arm but he couldn't get it past mid-chest. The pain exploded, but it wasn't even the pain that was holding it down. He just couldn't lift it anymore. This is so bad.
"I can't lift it anymore." Shinji gritted his teeth.
"Could you try?"
"I'm trying, dammit."
"I see." The doctor didn't seem fazed as he wrote on his clipboard. "It's probably an infection. I'm going to have the nurse come in and give you a shot of procaine benzylpenicillin. I'm not gonna lie, it'll hurt like a bitch at first. But the procaine should take effect shortly and you'll have some relief. I'm prescribing you some anti-biotics, some ampicillin and something else."
"Something else?" Asuka perked up. "Like what?"
"A wider spectrum anti-biotic. It'll be fine. Really. We have some blood tests to run to narrow down the infection type."
"And what about after the procaine wears off? What then? He still can't sleep."
The doctor let out and obviously exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll give him some Vicodin. Take one whenever there's an onset of pain and before you go to bed. Okay? Let's schedule another appointment in a week and see how that goes."
The doctor left the room rather quickly, Shinji guessed so that he could avoid any further scrutiny.
"Asshole." Asuka cursed. "That doctor is a fucking imbecile. We're going to find someone else for you."
"Sorry." Shinji tried to touch his shoulder and winced.
"Don't touch that!" Asuka slapped his hand away. "You want to infect it further? Or maybe infect someplace else that hasn't already been infected? And the proper response is 'thank you.'"
She rummaged in the exam room drawers before finding an alcohol wipe. She opened the packet and wiped down his hands.
"Thank you." Shinji said softly, feeling a blush creeping up.
"Whatever. Don't get used to it."
April 2016
"I see." The doctor inspected the stitches and then adjusted his glasses. "Well, your previous doctor sent me the test results. There is an infection, though the anti-biotics prescribed seemed to keep it under control. We're gonna take care of you. It's nothing serious. How're you doing on Vicodin?"
"I'm out." Shinji tried to shrug and winced.
"Really?"
"The other doctor only gave him, like, eight pills. He was a fucking idiot." Asuka snarled from her seat.
"Oh really?" The doctor smirked.
"Shinji told him that the pain got excruciating at times and he was having a hard time sleeping. Even if the pain only got bad when he tried to sleep, the average release for Vicodin is three to four hours. What happens when he wakes up in the middle of the night when the dose wears off and he wakes up?"
"Very true. Well, there's no accounting for personal judgment. I'm going to give you a full prescription. Thirty pills. When it starts to get bad, take one. And take one before bed. It might be a little while before the pain goes away, even when we suppress the infection, so I'm going to give you…oh…three refills on that. Oh what the Hell, four. Here you are." The doctor tore off the prescription papers and handed it to Shinji.
"Thank you." Shinji took the prescriptions. "Last time the doctor gave me a shot."
"Procaine benzylpenicillin. Yeah." The doctor gathered up his things.
"Do I need one now?"
"Oh no, no." The doctor chuckled. "That was in case you had cellulitis or erysipelas. And the procaine for the pain of the deep muscle injection. It hurts like Hell, doesn't it? That was rather arbitrary of him, I'd go so far as to say it wasn't very bright of him. I wouldn't have done it." The doctor seemed to wink at Asuka, who just snorted in response.
"I see." Shinji said softly. It did hurt like Hell. But only at first.
May 2016
"Good news, Mr. Ikari." The doctor adjusted his glasses. "The infection is gone entirely and your healing is back on track." He smiled. "Took care of you just like I said we would." He looked over at Asuka and winked. What a creep.
Asuka didn't seem to notice. She seemed more interested in her magazine. She had the bandages on her eye removed not too long before, and she could, in fact, still see in that eye. Since then she had spent many, many hours reading books, magazines and newspapers. The only permanent damage would be a scar just beneath her eye, which was still red.
"How long before the pain goes away?" Shinji asked as the nurse rewrapped his shoulder.
"You still have pain?"
"That's what he said." Asuka muttered from behind her magazine.
"Well," The doctor adjusted his glasses yet again, "I don't suspect that it's the infection…"
"You don't suspect?" Asuka put down her magazine. "I thought you just said that the infection was gone?"
"Well, the tests showed…"
"The tests showed what? That he had no infection, right, I heard that part. Then if it's not the infection, what is it?"
"Well, it could be…" The doctor began to go red and looked flustered.
"Could be? Shinji still has the throbbing pain, you think you got the infection, so is there something else that we're not aware of?"
"I'll prescribe more Vicodin."
"He still has a refill."
"I'll give him four more."
"Four more? You think that prescribing painkillers will stop the problem?"
"The problem seems to be pain…"
"The problem is that you're an idiot. Maybe the pain might be the symptom rather than the problem?"
"I'm…" The doctor seemed to choke on his words. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say."
"Whatever."
The doctor seemed to become interested in his shoes before taking off as if he were trying to escape the plague.
Shinji sighed and smiled at the nurse who smiled back, obviously nervous that she would become Asuka's next target.
"Fucking morons. Every last one of 'em." Asuka snarled and sat back down on her chair.
"Thank you, Asuka."
"What are you thanking me for? I didn't do anything. The doctor was incompetent. End of story. We'll find you a new one."
"Well, thank you anyway."
"You're welcome." She said softly.
The nurse finished bandaging his shoulder. He tried to shrug a few times and felt his shoulder blow up in pain. Good thing he took a pill before the appointment. He was able to work through it.
"Shall we?" Shinji said as he put his shirt back on.
"Let's." Asuka threw the magazine on the exam room counter and exited.
Shinji sighed. She always made such a mess. He picked up the magazine to put back on the rack and spotted a prescription on the counter. It was for four Vicodin refills. Shinji pocketed the prescription and put the magazine back on the rack.
August 2016
"Yeah." The doctor leaned back and stroked his mustache. "That's gonna leave a mark."
"You think?" Asuka sniped.
"All I'm saying is that there is definitely going to be a scar. It has healed well though." The doctor put on a rubber glove and pressed down on Shinji's scarring wound. Shit, that hurt. "Sorry." The doctor gave an 'oops' smile.
He continued to poke and prod. Shinji winced every time.
"Let's take a look at this." The doctor began to raise Shinji's arm.
Jesus fuck!
"Ow! Shit, shit, shit, ow!"
"Knock it off, you baby." Asuka grumbled.
"Sorry." Another 'oops' smile from the doctor. "So it still hurts like a mother, eh?"
Oh, he had no idea how unintentionally appropriate that statement was.
"Yeah, it does." Shinji winced as his arm was slowly lowered.
"Well, it is in the final stages of healing. Pain should be minor, but understandable if it still hurts to move your arm. Can you shrug?"
"Yeah." Shinji shrugged. It hurt, but not so bad. But then again, it could be the pills.
"Good. Everything is moving right along then. I think I'll give you a number for a physical rehab therapist here in the hospital. She's really…nice." The doctor gave Shinji a 'nudge-nudge' smile. Oh brother. "It's a good time to start rehab. It'll be tough, but you're young, you can get through it. I suspect in four months you'll have full use of your arm back. Wouldn't be surprised if it happened sooner. Like in three. Okie?"
"Thank you." Shinji pulled his shirt back on.
"All right. Take care now."
"Wait, doctor, could I get some refills on my Vicodin?"
"Vicodin? What are you taking Vicodin for?" The doctor stopped and looked through the file. "Oh, right, that whole infection thing you had a few months ago. I heard you encountered some setbacks. Well, we can't all be Einstein." He scribbled on his prescription pad. "There you go. One prescription. And here's the therapist's card. Trust me, you'll like her. Bye kids."
Asuka stopped glared at the doctor as the door closed. Then she turned her glare to Shinji. Oh shit. What now.
"Uh…what's wrong Asuka?" Shinji tried to smile.
"You'll like her?"
"I don't know. He was probably just…talking."
"Of course he was talking." Asuka rolled her eyes and collected her things. "Let's go."
As they rode the elevator down from the doctor's office, Shinji heard her mutter: "How would he know how nice she is?"
September 2016
Shinji sat in the exam room alone this time. Asuka was over at Hikari's place for the afternoon. She didn't know he was there. No one did. No one that mattered, anyway.
"Mr. Ikari?" The doctor stepped into the office. "Hi, I'm Takamori. How are you today?"
"All right, all things considered." Shinji tried his best to smile. Shit. It was probably coming out forced and insincere. Play it back.
"Ah, yes." Dr. Takamori laughed. "So what brings you here today?"
"I have pain in my shoulder." Was that too general of a problem? Be more specific?
"Well, let's take a look at it."
Shinji winced as he took off his shirt. The pain was genuine. It still hurt to raise his arm. Better make it more severe. He made a full faced grimace.
"Ouch, looks bad." Takamori winced before he even looked at the shoulder. "Let's see. Did you recently have surgery?"
"If you mean recently as in this year, yes."
"You might be experiencing residual pain. It looks like it's finished healing, if not that then almost. When your muscles are inactive for so long then they kinda die out. Not really, but I'm dumbing it down for you, sorry."
"No, really, I couldn't understand the technical stuff anyway."
"Well, it sort of dies out. I mean, believe it or not, your muscles need activity all the time to keep strong. If it remains inert for extended periods of time, your muscle severely breaks down. It can be very painful to work back up again. Do you have a physical therapist?"
"Yes."
"How long have you been working with him?"
"Her. I've been working with her for a few weeks now."
"Good. Keep it up and the pain should eventually go away. It's a natural part of rehab, unfortunately. Go home, pop a couple of Advil or something equivalent to it, Excedrin, and walk it off."
"I see. Walk it off?" Shinji felt his heart sinking.
"Well, you know what I mean. Generally speaking, suck it up."
"Advil doesn't always work. I've been trying that. The pain throbs. It keeps me up at night." Shinji tried to look pathetic. "My therapist thinks the same thing."
"Hmm." Takamori raised his eyebrows. Shit. He was on to it.
"Well, thank you for your time. I'll go home and try that." Shinji felt himself go red and he tried to pull on his shirt. He must've tried too quickly. He felt his shoulder pop. "Ow! Shit!"
"Whoa! I heard that from way over here. Stop, stop. Let me see." Takamori pulled Shinji's shirt off. "Easy. I'm gonna have a feel, okay? It'll probably hurt real bad, but I'm gonna see what's up."
Shinji nodded.
Dr. Takamori pushed down into the joint. And it did hurt. Real bad. But…not too bad.
"Yeah, this feels ugly. What happened?" Takamori finally asked.
"It's a strange story." Shinji grimaced. "You'd be better off reading my file."
"I did. Didn't tell me much other than something pierced…Jesus, it feels like it pierced right through the joint…I'm surprised you're not screaming."
Ah, shit. Shinji felt his heart rate pick up.
"Not really." Takamori added and smiled. He went back to Shinji's file and opened it up. "I see you have had an infection there. Infection gone, pain remains. All three doctors have prescribed Vicodin. I'm not surprised. It looks like the last one recommended rehab and prescribed Vicodin as well. I guess you really do need it. Why didn't you go back to him?"
"Ah…uh, well, I just didn't feel a connection there. Any sense of caring. You know?" Shinji felt his heart kick into overdrive. Buy it. Buy it. Buy it.
"Ah." Takamori picked up his prescription pad and began to write out a prescription. Then he stopped. "Wait. Are you a drug seeker?"
Shinji's heart exploded. "Uh…ah…wh…what?"
"I'm yanking your chain." Takamori laughed. "Relax kid. Here's a prescription. Same as always. I think I'll give you sixty to a bottle and cut your refills to two. Save you a few trips to the pharmacy."
"Yes. Thank you." Shinji tried to tone down his smile.
"Here you are." Takamori handed him the prescription. "Do we have a connection?"
Shinji shared a laugh with Takamori.
"Take care, Mr. Ikari. Hope that shoulder heals up."
"Thank you."
Once alone, Shinji looked at the prescription. 'Refills 2.' Shinji took out his pen and carefully changed it. Connected the point of the top loop to the base. Then drew a line from the top curve on the right, down through the base.
'Refills 4.'
January 2017
"His rotator cuff is practically destroyed." Dr. Hasegawa looked at the x-rays. "What on Earth were you doing?"
Shinji couldn't answer. He couldn't even think of a good excuse. He just felt himself turn red.
"We were having sex." Asuka spoke without exasperation, without embarrassment, as if it were just a fact.
Thank God Misato was on a business trip.
"Well, sex doesn't do this." Hasegawa frowned, seemingly unfazed.
"It was kind of rough. He was on top and was using his left arm to brace himself against the headboard." Asuka elaborated. Again, just facts.
"Still, the strain shouldn't have been that severe. Realistically. No, these look like the results of continuous and prolonged aggravation." Again, he didn't seem to care.
Shinji was just a little creeped out by the whole exchange.
"You sure this is the first time you've experienced this pain?"
"Well…" Shinji bit his lip. "In a while, yes. I had surgery last year…"
"I know, I read your history and I have your file." Hasegawa waved it off. "And you went through physical rehab just fine?"
"I went through the progressions. It was tough at first, yeah, but by the end it felt fine."
"You should've been feeling something." Hasegawa shook his head. "I don't know how you couldn't have. You weren't taking anything like steroids?"
"No."
"Well, assuming that you're telling the truth, and even if you weren't, here are the facts. There's a lot of damage there. You have a rotator cuff that now is practically non-existent. We can try and build something in there, something artificial, that goes without saying. But, you will have to go through more physical rehab when you're done. Mr. Ikari, I'm sorry to say, but you're going to be in pain for a very long time." Hasegawa stopped and had a look as though he were ready for Shinji to go ballistic.
Shinji…didn't feel much, actually. His shoulder hurt, yeah, but other than that…
"Well," Shinji finally said, "Could you prescribe me some Vicodin?"
-------
Shinji opened his locker, grabbed his pill bottle, popped a Vicodin and swallowed. He grabbed a hold of his left shoulder and rotated it in a full circle. He winced. Fuck. Could be worse. He stripped naked and hung his uniform nicely in the locker. His first destination, the toilet. He figured that if he were going to be sitting in an entry plug for a few hours, it would be better not to get the shits then.
Ten minutes on the toilet and nothing. Well, shit, all he could do was pray.
The next destination was the shower. Two steps below scalding. When he was done, he went back to his locker. He looked at himself in the mirror in his locker. Skin wasn't so sallow because of the shower. That was good. Heavy luggage beneath the eyes. Not so good. He grabbed his salve and applied it to the bags. Lighter, but still there. Good enough.
-------
"Tell me, what the fuck is this?" Takeda flung the day's paper on his desk. "What is that?"
"It's called a newspaper." Asuka couldn't help herself. She waited for a response and only got a glare. "You want instructions on how to use it?"
Takeda picked up the newspaper and flung it at Asuka. She was barely able to dodge it.
"What the fuck?!" What got up his ass? And as usual, Shinji remained silent. Sometimes that guy…
He stood next to her, at attention, staring straight ahead at the wall.
"Read the fucking headlines." Takeda leaned on his desk.
"Up yours." Asuka sniped back. Who did he think he was?
"It says pilots may have been under the influence. Next to the column is a picture. Do you know what it shows?"
"No."
"Do you want to know? Or are you just gonna let it sit there on the floor?"
"Well, I was planning on reading it later but since you already gave the plot away…"
"Stop being cute. It shows you and your pseudo-boyfriend next to you leaving a night club, looking very inebriated."
"That's horseshit."
"Oh really?"
"I go to bars, not clubs."
"Maybe you're not concerned with how this makes NERV look, but I am very concerned." Takeda moved around the desk. Perhaps to try and look menacing, but to Asuka he looked like someone who's never fought before getting ready to be in a fight. "The two of you are a disgrace."
"Ouch. That'd hurt more but you've been using that word to describe us from day one. You need to expand your vocabulary. Try reading things without pictures of me and Shinji."
Takeda stepped right into her face. He had to look up at her to make eye contact. He balled his hands into fists. She almost laughed.
"Take a swing at me and I'll break your arm." Asuka smiled.
"Pilot Ikari, Pilot Sohryuu, thank you for your time. That will be all."
She turned to see Rei, Fuyutsuki and Misato standing in the office.
"Please report to Dr. Ibuki in the muster room. I'm sure she's anxious to start the synchronization tests." Fuyutsuki waved his hand in dismissal.
Asuka looked back at Takeda. He looked ready to burst. She had to suppress the urge to spit in his face. Instead, she opted for a half-assed salute and a smile.
-------
June 2022
Toji stood outside of his apartment door. He wasn't quite sure how to feel. He was so terrified of disappointing her. He adjusted his prosthetic arm which had come loose in the socket. He didn't think he'd ever get used to it. Better than nothing, he supposed. He took several deep breaths to calm his nerves. Then he stepped into his apartment.
There was the sound of running water from the kitchen. The light clacking and clanking of dishes being washed. He moved carefully, trying to keep his prosthetic leg from making too much noise. He peered into the kitchen and saw his wife, shirt rolled up to her elbows, working hard, cleaning. The Baby-Mate walkie-talkie sat on the counter, volume turned up high. The other one was probably in Sho's room, on the stool right next to his crib. Ryoko sat in her pen nearby. His daughter smiled and gurgled.
Toji smiled and waved. Their apartment didn't have much. No dishwasher, no private washing machine and dryer. They needed to take their laundry to the laundry room down the hall. They had small love seat which Toji had nearly thrown his back out trying to fit through the front door. Not large enough for two people, but Hikari would sit on his lap. They had no TV, they had no dining room chairs. They had a small, fold-out table and cushions to kneel on. They didn't have a bedroom, but of course their children did. They had a futon they kept in the hall closet, and Toji would pull it into the living room when they were ready for bed. Their children didn't have any toys. But they had all of Hikari's old child hood dolls. Ryoko was particularly fond of the purple plushy dolphin.
"Hi, honey." Toji said softly.
Hikari turned sharply. Her smile could have lit the whole apartment. She quickly turned off the faucet and jumped at Toji, her arms held him like a vice. She gave him a peck on the lips.
"How was the interview?" She asked, waiting with bated breath.
Toji couldn't answer. He felt weak in his knee. He fell back against the wall.
"Oh, honey." Hikari's face fell. She was disappointed. Not with him, but for him. He knew. "It's all right." She hugged him. "There'll be others."
"No." Toji finally said. "No, there won't."
"Baby." Hikari tightened her hold. "Of course there will."
"No, there won't." Toji lifted her chin up. "Because I got the job."
Hikari squealed and kissed him deeply.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her as close as he could. He could hear Ryoko giggling from her pen. When he finally broke the kiss she pulled him right back into it. When they broke a second time, she whispered in his ear: "That's so wonderful, honey."
She wasn't happy with him, she was happy for him. He knew.
"It pays three times as much as this job." Toji felt breathless. "I'll be able to…"
Hikari kissed him again.
-------
Toji stood outside of the front door. He adjusted his prosthetic arm which had come loose. He wasn't sure how to feel. He opened the front door and stepped into the house. Soft music played through the house. Mixed with it was the soft sound of running water. Both came from the kitchen. As he walked toward the kitchen, he heard the clicking and clanking of dishes being washed.
His son, Shotaro, sat at the dining room table, legs dangling from the edge of the chair. His feet couldn't yet touch the floor. Sho didn't seem to hear his father come in, and only continued to color in his coloring book, humming to the tune of the music. Off key and terribly, but similar enough.
Toji looked into the kitchen and saw Hikari…no, not Hikari. Nozomi. She turned toward him, brushed a few stray hairs out of her eyes and smiled.
"Hey there. How did it go?" She asked, almost indifferently.
"I got the job." Toji sighed and dropped his briefcase to the floor. "I think the boss likes me."
"Very good." Nozomi smiled.
"He seemed impressed. He gave me a load of paperwork to read up on though. You won't have to worry about the kids until next week. He's allowing me to telecommute this week, giving me time to read up on company policies and this big building project downtown I'll be supervising." Toji ruffled his son's hair. "Hey, champ."
"Hi daddy." His son giggled and smiled without looking up from his coloring book.
"Sorry Toji, but I'm going to have to take off now. I have class in an hour. I'm gonna go change and get going. Congratulations on your job." Nozomi let down her hair, shook it out and ran upstairs. "Don't worry about the rest of the dishes! I'll take care of them when I get back!" Her voice echoed from the second floor.
Toji sighed. Well, shit. He pulled a chair up next to his son and watched him color.
-------
Reading the notes was mother fucking impossible. Kensuke sighed and squinted through his glasses to try and read the chicken scratch this asshole called writing. Loudmouth in the cubicle next to him spoke as if he were trying to finagle a loaded interview out of some politician. At least Chain Smoker had left his cubicle to flat foot it out in the city someplace.
"Listen, shit heel, I'm sorry if I offended your boss' delicate fucking sensibilities but I have half an interview here with plenty to skew. Either I get the full fucking interview or I print what I have, which needless to say isn't very fucking flattering."
It seemed that everyone in the office picked up stevedore style swearing from the big man in the office down the hall. He only briefly wondered if he would eventually end up talking the same way. His thoughts were interrupted by his cell phone ringing. He silenced the ring and went back to reading. A few moments later it began ringing again. He sighed and answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey hun." Keiko.
"Hey, is something wrong?"
"Oh, no. No."
"Then what's up?"
"Oh nothing. I was just wondering how you were doing. Are you out of the meeting?"
"Yeah, babe, sorry, but I can't talk right now. I have big assignment to get done by the end of today, I'll probably be back at the hotel late." Kensuke checked his watch. Almost lunch. Did he even have time for lunch? How was that handled?
"You have an assignment already? Isn't this your first day?"
"You know how this fucking job is. Always fucking something to do."
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry." Kensuke kicked himself. It was starting. "I didn't mean it honey, everybody here talks that way. I'll call you later. Promise. Kisses. Bye."
He hung up and took off his glasses. He wondered if smoking really did help. He heard Loudmouth finish his phone call and hang up. Kensuke stood up and peered over the top of their shared cubicle wall.
"Sorry to bother you." Kensuke began.
"What the fuck?" Loudmouth looked up. "Jesus, don't scare me like that. I thought you were the boss. What's up?"
"Yeah, sorry."
"Don't have time for that shit man. Talk to me. I have stuff to do."
"Oh, nevermind." Kensuke felt himself go red in the face.
"Stop, stop. Sorry. I forgot that you're new." Loudmouth kicked back in his chair and lit a cigarette. "Something you oughta know, if we seem curt or obnoxious, it's not personal. It's just that everything here moves at, pht…" He slapped his hands together, "Light speed. You don't need to ask permission or apologize, just ask. You'll usually get a direct response. So what's up?"
"I was just wondering how lunch is handled around here." Kensuke felt a little better. Just a little.
"Everything is on your own time. There is no clocking in, no clocking out, no overtime whatsoever. You work on your at your own pace, which better be fucking fast, 'cause work comes at you bam, bam, bam. Take lunch when you want, as long as you want, as long as your work gets done. Cool?"
"Yeah, thanks." Kensuke nodded.
"Are we done?"
"Yeah."
"Good." Loudmouth turned away and went back to his computer.
-------
Keiko looked at her cell phone for a moment before sighing and hanging up. She supposed she shouldn't be disappointed. It was the nature of the business after all. Things would settle down once he got himself established. She should probably start her job hunting. She tried to peruse the job wanted section yet again. Yet again, it bored her to tears. Well, it was only one newspaper. And it was the Tokyo Eye that Ken had only ordered to the room so he could get a feel for his new employer.
She pondered her options. Well, it was almost lunchtime. Why not hit the city, go sight seeing and familiarize herself. She would have to do it sooner or later. And while she was out, she could pick up a Tokyo-3 Times and look at the job wanted ads there.
So she got up, got dressed and headed out.
-------
"Captain." Fuyutsuki sat behind his desk. "I'm worried about you. It seems that everyday we're having this conversation now."
Rei had to hold back a smirk.
"How do you mean, sir?" Takeda looked just as pissed as he was in his office, except more restrained. He looked like a red balloon ready to pop.
"I'm worried about your blood pressure. I want to stop worrying about the pilots."
"I wish I could do that, sir."
"And why can't you?" Fuyutsuki leaned in.
There were four people situated in the commander's office. Rei, herself, stood by the door. Misato over the shoulder of Fuyutsuki and the commander in his chair. Takeda stood in front of the desk as if he had a stick up his ass.
"Maybe you can ignore the shame that those two bring upon our organization, but I can't. Sometimes I feel ashamed to be seen in my uniform…"
"Why?" Fuyutsuki cut him off.
"Maybe you can turn a blind eye to their degenerate habits, but I can't! For God's sake, commander! They killed innocent civilians! One of their friends! Because of their fucking habit!"
"All of our plans take into account the possibilities of civilian casualties. That is the nature of modern warfare. If you cannot handle civilian casualties, then I suggest you find another line of work."
"I understand that civilian casualties are unavoidable, sir. But people are dying when they don't have to. They're dying because of our negligence…"
"I want you to listen very carefully to me, Captain Takeda." Fuyutsuki spoke low. "This is the last time I will tell you this. You are not their guardian. You are the tactical operations director. The pilots are adults and shouldn't need guardians, but apparently they do. You are not it. Rei Ayanami and her team are. Whether or not the pilots' habits are detrimental to our operations is her prerogative. And if you can not deal with that, then resign. Because should any further outbursts happen, I will discharge you. Am I being clear?"
"Crystal, sir." Takeda deflated.
"Dismissed."
Rei watched the Captain skulk out of the office.
"Sir." Rei saluted and turned to leave.
"A moment, Ayanami."
"Sir."
"Is he right?" Fuyutsuki asked. "Are they that far out of control?"
"No, sir."
"I hope your judgment isn't clouded by…anything." Misato added.
"No, sir."
"Dismissed."
-------
"Director Yamashita?" Rei entered the office of the Director of Section-2.
"Yes, there you are." Yamashita, a rather twitchy, older fellow paced the room. A younger man stood off to the side in uniform. "Ayanami, meet Yousuke Yamazaki. We just picked him up from the remnants of the JSSDF's 113th battalion. I'm assigning him to your unit."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, ma'am." The young man bowed deeply.
"Likewise." Rei couldn't help but furrow her brow. Why a new member? Her team was large enough, with fourteen field agents and at least four always on the clock.
"I know, I know. You're wondering why. I'll be absolutely honest with you. His mother is my sister-in-law." Yamashita shrugged.
"I see."
"I'm assigning him technically as your aide. I just need him to be doing something. His battalion was disbanded. You want to put him in the field, fine. You want him to file your reports, he'll do it. You want him to fetch your coffee, he'll do it and he'll like it. Isn't that right?" Yamashita eyeballed the young man.
"Yes, sir." Yamazaki looked uncomfortable. Rei didn't blame him.
"Sir, if you don't mind me saying, this is rather unusual." Rei realized that she, too, was quite uncomfortable.
"Yes, yes, I know. I apologize, I do." The Director bowed deeply. "Please excuse my presumption. But please, take him under your wing."
"Yes, I suppose…" She needed a cigarette. "I suppose I can find something for him to do."
"Thank you, really. I am humbled. Yamazaki! From now on you report to her."
"Yes, sir."
"Well," Rei lit a cigarette, "I actually have a meeting to get to. Part of a field assignment. Yamazaki, would you like to accompany me?"
"Uh…ma'am?" Yamazaki looked back and forth, between her and the Director.
"Go with her." Yamashita instructed.
"Sir." Yamazaki saluted.
Rei left the office, Yamazaki in tow, still wondering the why's of the whole situation. Was it the Captain's doing? Was he sending someone to keep an eye on her? Was it the Commander or the Sub-Commander making sure that she remained unbiased in her assessment of Shinji's and Asuka's capabilities?
"So, um, ma'am." Yamazaki tapped her on the shoulder.
"Mm. Cigarette?" She offered the young man.
"Oh, no ma'am. I don't smoke. Gets in the way of my calisthenics."
"Mm." Rei took a drag. Or maybe he was just some kid whose family connections landed him a job.
"So, um, I'd like to thank you for giving me a job…we're walking awfully fast."
"I didn't give you a job. Your uncle did."
"Oh, well, uh, regardless. Thank you."
"Mm." Rei took out her cell phone and dialed one of her field agents.
"You know, I had a sergeant in my old unit. He was very quiet, didn't say much. You remind me of him, except, you know, not the guy part, but the uh, quiet part."
"Shut up for a moment." Rei listened to the ring tone.
"Yes ma'am."
"Hello." The voice on the other end spoke.
"Status report." Rei took another drag.
"Subject left the office building, he is on his way downtown. We guess for lunch."
"Location."
"Inconclusive. We'll call when he gets there."
"Do so." Rei hung up and stomped on her cigarette.
"So, uh…"
"Yamazaki."
"Yes ma'am."
"I'll be honest with you. This entire situation is off putting for me. On the whole, this is highly irregular. Are you a plant?" Rei stopped and turned to him.
It was the first time Rei actually got a good look at the young man. He wasn't attractive, but he wasn't ugly either. He had a sharp nose and eyes that seems a bit too far apart. His hair was in the military buzz cut style.
"Uh, no, I'm a human?"
Shit. Difficult to read.
"All right, let me tell you something about my unit. We are not a normal unit of Section-2. I don't usually report to Director Yamashita. I usually report to the Commander and Sub-Commander directly and no one else. We have a very specific objective, and that is to protect the good names of the pilots. Do you know what we do a lot of in this unit?"
"Uh…what?"
"We read a lot of newspapers. I'm going out to work the field for a little bit, but you stay here. You go into the break room and read all of today's papers that are available and you find and mark every article that even mentions the names of any of the pilots, even if it's in passing. Do that until I get back."
"Yes ma'am." Yamazaki clicked his heels and saluted, smiling wide.
"Don't do that."
"Yes ma'am."
-------
Kensuke felt his stomach flip flop. God, it was past lunch hour and there was still a humongous line. After talking to Loudmouth he looked at the time and determined that he'd wait until about 1:30 to get lunch. He'd get a sandwich, go back to the office, eat and type. Take no more than thirty minutes. But no. He had been waiting at least ten minutes in line. He hadn't even placed his order yet. Goddamn it. He checked his watch. Almost two in the afternoon.
"Mr. Aida." A soft voice spoke from behind him.
It took steel nerves he didn't have to keep from jumping out of his skin. It drew a few stares and he tried to laugh it off. He glanced back, caught red eyes and thought, Ayanami.
"Holy shit, Ayanami. Don't do that to me. Damn." Kensuke tried some deep breathing to recover.
"How are you?"
"I'll be all right once I get over this heart attack."
"I see. Late lunch?"
"Yeah." Kensuke took one last deep breath and turned to her. Christ she could be terrifying. She was like a ghost. And…she wasn't in uniform. Well, damn. She looked pretty good.
Rei's hair was her usual style, but she had actually put on some blush to give her cheeks more color. She wore a blue pleated skirt that went down to her knees, a white blouse and a brown jacket that seemed perhaps one size too large. And she was smiling.
"Oh, hey. You look, uh, different."
"Thank you." Ayanami bowed slightly.
"You look…nice." Kensuke felt himself go half-a-rod.
"Thank you." She brushed her hair back with the tips of her fingers. Damn. And then she pointed forward.
"Next!" The person behind the cash register called out. Shit, that was him. "You, uh…" He briefly turned back to her. "You getting lunch here too?"
"Yes." Rei nodded.
"I was gonna grab a table…" Such a liar. "Did you want to join me?"
"Oh, thank you. Yes, I will." Rei bowed slightly.
As Kensuke ordered his meal, he felt like such a scumbag. There was a stone at the bottom of his stomach. Remember Keiko. Remember Keiko. Keiko had been his first. He'd never had anyone else. Well, having lunch with someone wasn't cheating. It'd be fine. He'd catch up with Rei and he'd go back to work. If Maeda asked where he was, he was tape recording Ayanami. Did he have it? He felt for the micro-cassette recorder. Yes!
"Are you going to order?" The kid behind the cash register asked, raised eyebrows.
"Spicy teriyaki chicken sandwich." Kensuke picked a name right off the board.
The cashier gave him an empty cup and a straw.
"I'm a…" He turned back to Rei. "I'll grab a table over there."
"All right." Rei held her hand up to her mouth and seemed to giggle.
Wow. Easy Ken. He got a drink from the fountain and sat down at an empty table near the far wall. He watched Rei order and caught her glancing over at him. He half felt like a cheating turd. A stone sitting at the bottom of his stomach. But only half. After all, nothing was coming of it. Right?
He fingered the micro-cassette recorder in his pocket. As Rei approached, he hit the record button. If Maeda wondered where he had been, oh, he'd been talking to Rei. Should work.
"Please, have a seat." Kensuke tried to smile without looking like an idiot.
"Thank you." Rei nodded and sat across from him.
"Fancy meeting you here. Day after the…uh…you know."
"Yes, what a coincidence." Rei propped herself up on her elbows and drank her soda through a straw.
"Sorry about freaking out back there, you gave me kind of a fright." Kensuke laughed.
"I apologize. People always say I should announce my presence better, but I never know what they mean." She had such a cute smile.
"Yeah." Kensuke realized he had nothing to say. And panicked. Shit. "So, uh, you know, you look much different today."
"I have the day off from work." Rei shrugged. "How I am at work and how I am on my own time are different. Aren't you the same?"
"Oh, of course. I understand. It's just I'm a little surprised since you seemed so completely different yesterday. Oh, and by the way, the whole tape recorder thing, it wasn't what it seemed." Kensuke felt himself go red. Why bring that up, you idiot? Because you care what she thinks, asshole.
"I didn't think so. But Sohryuu can be unreasonable sometimes."
"Tell me about it. She'll always have that temper. Uh…" Think. Think of something. "I thought I heard Shinji say you're now with Section-2?"
"Yes." Rei nodded.
"That's a big change. What's that like?"
Rei held up her finger placed in front of her lips in a 'shh' gesture.
"Oh, right." Kensuke kicked himself. "It's not like I'm…but I understand, yeah." Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
"Relax, Aida." Rei smiled. "I'm not going to bite."
God help him.
-------
Keiko walked up and down the aisles of the bookstore. Nothing really caught her eye. It was depressing. Everything was manga or chewing gum. She mourned her nation's declining rate of literacy. It had been ages since anyone wrote anything resembling avant-garde. Too bad. Too bad. She might have to brave an English bookstore. She recalled going to bookstores on her last trip to America. Nothing but manga and chewing gum. Except in English. Plus romance novels. Let's not forget those literary gems.
She sighed. Depressing. Her stomach gurgled. She needed lunch. Maybe that's why she was so irritable. No! She was going to find something worth reading if it killed her. She enjoyed the novel she was currently reading, but she liked to space things out. She found if she rotated through two or three books at the same time, it kept things from becoming boring. Unless, of course, the book was oh my goosh excellent. Like 'Out' by Natsuo Kirino. She was actually disappointed when she finished that novel. Ho hum.
Up and down the aisles. Up and down. She needed an intellectual oasis. With muffins. Or sandwiches. Where would she find a good place to eat anyway? There was that ramen shop she passed on the way over…that was all the way back by the hotel. Ugh. She couldn't bear walking that far. Too hungry. Textbooks? Ai-ya. She couldn't suffer textbooks. Too boring…no story…and was that girl talking to herself?
"Amazon…sixty-four hundred. Here…seventy-two hundred. Shipping and handling…five hundred. But seven days? There's a quiz next week…" The girl looked familiar.
The girl had light brown hair, freckles, and wore glasses. She spoke to herself as she chewed on a finger nail, looking at the price on an English language textbook.
"I could cram…but it's only a three hundred difference. Hmm." The girl pouted.
The sister. One of them. Uh…Nozomi! That's where she saw her before!
"A three hundred difference isn't much of a difference at all." Keiko ventured.
"Oh! Shit!" Nozomi turned and dropped the textbook. "Oh, sorry." She laughed strangely, it jumped up and down. "I…uh…klutz." She bonked herself on the head with her hand.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. How very rude of me, I'm so sorry." Keiko tried to stop herself from giggling but failed horribly. That only seemed to make Nozomi laugh more. She picked up the textbook and handed back her.
"Thank you, I just talk to myself sometimes. Nervous habit. Makes me look a little loopy, I know." Nozomi smiled and her eyes drifted away. "I'm making it worse, aren't I?"
"No, no. I just, I shouldn't have. I just saw you and recognized you from the…uh…funeral. You're Nozomi Horaki. I'm so sorry for your loss." Keiko grimaced as she saw Nozomi's smile falter. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I've been terribly rude and insensitive, it's just, I've been having a hard time finding my way around the city and I thought maybe you could point me to nearest place to eat. That's any good."
"Oh certainly." The young girl said mechanically. "Well, there's…"
"I'm sorry to be an inconvenience." Keiko interrupted. "But make it up to you, if you haven't had lunch, I'll buy for you as well."
Nozomi looked startled.
"Oh." She sounded surprised. "Really?"
"Yes, of course." Keiko bowed.
"Well, okay." Nozomi beamed.
Inwardly, Keiko breathed a heavy sigh of relief and smiled.
-------
As Rei walked back to the parking garage, she could feel that she was drawing the looks of many men. She hated it. She hated the attention and she hated the way they looked at her.
Once at the parking garage she skipped her floor and went one more up. It was empty save one jet black sedan. She made for it and got into the back seat. Two agents sat in the front.
"Well?" The one in the driver's seat turned to look at her.
"Cigarette." She said, her pleasant demeanor completely gone. She took the offered cigarette and the other agent lit it for her. "Crack the windows."
They rolled the windows down a few inches. She inhaled and blew smoke. She enjoyed the cigarette for a few moments before speaking. She needed to collect her thoughts. The assessment certainly wasn't what she was hoping for. It's not like she wanted to hurt him. It's not like she wanted to hurt anyone. But they were all the same.
"I want an agent on Mr. Aida at all times." She finally said.
"So it's confirmed?"
"Yes." She took another drag. "I heard the tape stop when it reached the end. He was recording me. We have to assume he'll record the pilots if given half the chance." She inhaled and blew smoke. "He's living in a hotel at the moment. Do we know where he'll be moving?"
"Some apartment downtown." The agent in the passenger's seat leafed through a report. "He's moving in at the end of the week."
"As soon as the phone company enables service to his apartment, I want his phone tapped. I want you to use our previous cover for the Tokyo Eye. Have the phone company cut service to the entire floor temporarily. Send in our crew as a repair team and bug his office phone and his cubicle. Here's his card. On it is his cell phone number. Get it to tech and see if they can catch his number bouncing off the satellites. Consider Mr. Aida a Class A threat. Every time he contacts the pilots, I want to know about it." Rei tossed her cigarette out the window.
"Roger that." The agent in the passenger seat wrote furiously. "You want fries with that?"
"Funny. Cigarette."
They handed her another and lit it.
"You doing all right?" The agent in the driver's seat raised his eyebrows.
"Of course. Mr. Aida presents a unique kind of threat is all. We need to play him soft. He's still friends with the pilots, of course, namely Shinji. The last thing we need is to press too hard an end up stepping on him. Aida, that is. The loss of yet another friend might make Shinji…unstable." Rei took a drag and exhaled. She half wanted to execute Aida before he became a serious threat.
"One last thing." She continued. "Spread the word around, but carefully of course. We have a new member in the unit. A man named Yousuke Yamazaki. Tell him nothing of our ops. He very well could be a plant. His arrival is suspicious. Forced on me by the Director. Who's sitting idle?"
"In our unit?"
"Yes."
"Harada and Kuriki haven't had much to do lately."
"Have Harada look up the Director's history of phone calls. Both his office and his home phone."
"Our Director? As in Section-2 Director Yamashita?"
"The same. Have him take the history back a full month. And have Kuriki heavy hand our contacts in the Prefecture Attorney's Office. I smell a rat. Tell them to report to no one but me." Rei blew smoke.
The two agents breathed in heavily and exhaled sharply.
"Roger that." They said in unison.
Rei thought back on her conversation with Kensuke.
Watch your step, Aida. Lest you trip and fall.
-------
One synchronization test, one hot shower and one case of the shits later, Asuka found herself in the de-briefing room next to Shinji and Henry Bridger. They sat at a long table. At the head sat Captain Takeda, looking considerably peeved. Fuyutsuki must've torn him a new one. Takeda hadn't said a thing all through the synchronization test and hadn't said a word to them since they entered the debriefing room. Asuka couldn't help but smirk.
She lit two cigarettes and handed one off to Shinji. Near the head of the table was Dr. Ibuki, going over her notes from the synchronization test. Also at the table were a few tactical officers. Takeda's people.
"Now that we're all here," Takeda finally spoke, "Shall we start with the results of the synchronization test? Dr. Ibuki?"
"Of course." Dr. Ibuki shuffled papers. "Pilot Ikari holds the highest synchronization score at seventy-two percent. Down four percent since the last test. Pilot Sohryuu finished with fifty-eight percent. Down ten percent from the last test. Pilot Bridger is at forty-three percent. A one percent gain since the last test." Dr. Ibuki sighed. "My analysis is as follows. It comes as no surprise to me that Ikari's and Sohryuu's scores have declined. Emotional states have, in the past, been solid indicators of a pilot's overall effectiveness. Though I would be lying if I said that such a sharp decline in Sohryuu's score didn't worry me at least a little bit. My final recommendation would be that I do not advise any measures be taken until we can run another test to determine whether or not this decline is a fluke. I will be scheduling another synchronization test for Tuesday of next week."
"Thank you Dr. Ibuki." Takeda shuffled through his papers.
Asuka waited for his snide remark. But none came. She chuckled.
"Something you'd like to share with us, Pilot Sohryuu?" Takeda looked up from his papers, red.
"Nothing, captain."
"All right then, why don't we go over the footage from the last battle."
Asuka closed her eyes and willed the memories of the last battle away. Far, far away.
"Do I need to be here for this?" She asked.
"You, of all people, need to be here for this. Yes." Takeda said levelly.
Oh God…Asuka could see it all…every moment…
The door burst open. A black uniformed officer lunged into the room.
"Code 9! Code 9!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Shit!" Takeda jumped out of his chair, causing it to clatter to the floor. He raced to the communication box on the wall of the debriefing room and grabbed the phone. He punched in several numbers. His voice echoed through the entire base.
"Code 9. I repeat. Code 9. All primary military personnel report to central command. Once again. I repeat. Code 9. All primary military personnel report to central command. Immediately."
-------
NERV went into red alert.
Central Dogma had exploded into activity.
Tactical officers and military technicians flew about, yelling status reports, screaming orders.
"We are under attack! I repeat! We are under attack!" Outside audio boomed through.
"Do we have visual!?" Takeda called out.
"No sir, we're still trying to connect to the fleet cameras."
"I want satellite imagery up ASAP!"
"Satellite imagery coming on now!"
"Live footage from the fleet coming on now!"
Several screens opened up. A fleet at sea flying U.N. flags was under fire. Ships were rocked by missiles, cannon bombardment and torpedoes.
"What are we looking at Captain?" Katsuragi called from her command station. Fuyutsuki occupied the chair Gendo once had.
"This is the U.N. fleet that was carrying Eva parts to our ports. The shipment from America. They've come under attack. The identity of the attackers is as of yet unknown." Takeda responded. "Let's cycle through the visuals! Right now!"
The screens began cycling through feeds. One angle then another.
"Hold the feed on screen four!"
There it was. A nuclear ballistic missile sub retrofitted to carry a Mass Production Eva. The beast harnessed a missile launcher and fired round after round at the U.N. combat fleet.
"Get the pilots to their cages and launch!" Katsuragi commanded.
"Belay that order commander!" Takeda whipped around. "We don't know if we're looking at an isolated attack or a full assault! If we send out the Eva they'll be moving before our forces are able to mobilize! They'll never get there in time and will only be overextended and exposed!"
The pilots looked back and forth between Katsuragi and Takeda.
"Belay the launch order!" Katsuragi finally called out.
"All right! I want screens five through seven cycling through our outpost feeds! I want contact with all foreign embassies! What's going on in the world, people?!"
"Sir! Reports are coming in that the U.N. outpost in Manila has come under attack by Pan-Asian Insurgents!"
"U.N. patrols up and down the East Asian coast are coming under fire!"
"We've lost all contact with our embassy in Bangkok!"
"Our forward base in South Korea has come under heavy fire!"
"Our forward base in Manchuria reports that they've come under heavy fire!"
"It's been confirmed that the military forces attacking our Manchurian forward base are organized army regulars of General Fong!"
"Sir! It's been confirmed that the navy attacking our fleet to the north is flying the colors of General Qiang!"
"So, Qiang and Fong have allied, have they?" Fuyutsuki said softly.
"We've always suspected that." Katsuragi snorted.
"But the Pan-Asia Insurgents?" Fuyutsuki frowned. "And who's attacking our Korean base?"
-------
Keiko took a big bite out of her sandwich.
"This is fantastic!" She exclaimed.
Nozomi giggled and took a sip of her soda.
"Hey! Hey!" One of the waiters came running from the diner kitchen. He toted a large radio. He slammed it onto one of the tables and plugged it in to a power outlet.
A woman's voice filtered through the radio.
"Unconfirmed reports indicate that this is an organized attack…"
-------
"Sources say that U.N. forces were ambushed…"
Rei turned up her car radio. She came to a stoplight and lit a cigarette. Well, shit's hit fan.
-------
"We interrupt your broadcast for this breaking news report. Two major Chinese factions have declared open war on Japan and the U.N. General Fong of the People's Army of China and General Qiang of the Chinese Nationalist Army attacked Japanese and U.N. forces throughout Asia. This attack is unprovoked. Our viewers may recognize General Qiang as the man who led an unsuccessful strike on a military base stationed outside of Osaka not three weeks ago…"
Toji's hand trembled.
"Daddy? What happened to Doraemon?" Shotaro wondered about his kid's show.
Toji couldn't answer.
-------
Kensuke walked back into the office to find everyone away from their desks. He looked around and saw the entire office congregated in the break room. He jogged up. The TV was cranked up loud.
"We bring you a statement made by Prime Minister Takashita."
"What's going?" Kensuke asked Loudmouth.
"Don't you listen to your fucking radio?" Loudmouth spoke softly. "You thought we were at war before against one military madman and a group of bumfuck revolutionaries. Now we're officially at war with all of mother fucking Asia."
-------
"Wait! Hold screen two!" Takeda called out. "Block A-3! What's that! Zoom and clarify!"
The technicians worked their magic. The command center went silent.
The image in question was of the initial attack at sea. From the camera feed of one of the U.N. ships, in the far corner, a ship in the distance, firing its guns at the U.N. fleet. In block A-3 of the frame, the blurry, distant image of a national flag could be seen. Zoomed and clarified…
"Oh fuck me." Takeda was the first one to speak. "That's the Russian flag."
End Chapter 2
Writer's Notes: Chapter 2. For your enjoyment. Or not. This came out actually relatively quickly. I'm surprised. Anyway, all forms of criticism are wanted and appreciated. Special thanks to Fresh C. And check out evafics dot org. Cause I'm constantly whoring that site. Could it be because I work there? I don't know...