2.2: SEIGOU (正ごう)
"Hey, hey, you seen her yet?"
"Oh yeah, yeah!"
"Seen who?"
"You dork, you haven't seen the gaijin yet?"
"Gaijin?"
"Yeah, she's in 8th grade, Class A. She just transferred here last week."
"She's hot!"
"Her name's Soryu Asuka Langley, did you know that?"
Jeez…what's with people?
I walked, palm-to-face, past hordes of would-be suitors for the elusive foreign redhead. For some inexplicable reason, there was only one topic of conversation among the entire population of boys at the school. Soryu Asuka Langley. Someone had even set up a business selling photos of her. How they came by said photos I didn't know, and prayed Asuka would never find out. I'd heard rumours that it was Kensuke and Toji, but I didn't think that was possible; even Toji wasn't that stupid.
"Hello! Shinji!"
I cringed and turned around slowly.
Talk of the devil…
"Guten morgen!" she said brightly.
I returned her greeting hesitantly.
"Hey, why so gloomy this early? This is the gorgeous Asuka greeting you!" Asuka said, with all sorts of flourishes and arrogant facial expressions.
She walked right up to me and looked me in the eye.
"Be more happy about it!" she said almost as an order, as she flicked me unaffectionately in the forehead
My God, it's gone to her head. She's ENJOYING this. And I have to be with her every day…somebody help me…
She turned from me, face still brimming with that same confident expression.
"So the other one's here too, isn't she?"
"Who's that?"
"Anta baka? I'm talking about the First Child of course!"
"Oh, if it's Ayanami…"
She turned and looked down the escalator, where Ayanami was sitting at a bench by the tennis court, reading as usual. I heard heavy breathing over my shoulder, and looking behind me I saw that the entire area was filled with people. Asuka was both attracting a crowd and holding up the escalator.
And she's completely oblivious…
She finally started down the escalator, and walked up to Ayanami. She stood over her, looking down expectantly. Ayanami just ignored her presence.
"Hello!" Asuka said, "You must be Ayanami Rei, the pilot of the prototype."
Rei didn't respond; she just looked at her without turning her head, the tiniest hint of irritation in her eyes.
"I'm Asuka! Soryu Asuka Langley!"
The crowd had followed Asuka down the elevator and was now standing behind her, watching.
"I'm the pilot of Eva Unit-02. Let's be good friends!"
"Why?" Rei replied flatly.
"Because it'd be convenient, in lots of ways!"
"If I'm ordered to, I will."
Asuka's face fell.
"Talk about odd…"
Having chosen not to follow the crowd, I had instead walked with Toji and Kensuke to stand elsewhere, looking down on the spectacle.
"I'll say," Toji remarked, "Are only weirdos chosen to be pilots?"
"Heh, sure seems like it," I sighed.
Toji and Kensuke looked at me, and then we all burst out laughing. It really wasn't that funny, but it was good to be able to laugh with someone.
This is…nice. This life.
As per usual, I was shaken out of my thoughts by an external distraction. This time, it was my cell phone. It was Misato.
"Shinji-kun?"
"Yes, Misato-san?"
"An unidentified object has been sighted. It's an Angel. Get Asuka and Rei and hurry to the cages!"
"Understood."
--
We were immediately taken from the cages to an air transport. The Eighth Angel, Israfel as named by the data uploaded to the Eva's viewscreen, was in the water just north of the Kii peninsula. We were being transported to the Angel itself, rather than wait for it to approach us. Ayanami was not with us; she said that my father had something special for her to do. I didn't press the matter. What my father wanted was his business.
Still…I can't help but wonder. She barely knows anything about him, but HE hurt himself trying to save her…what's going on?
I decided it better to focus on the battle at hand, so I put these thoughts aside for now. Misato had just begun briefing us for the battle.
"The recent battle severely damaged the intercept system of Tokyo-3. We've only effected 26 of the repairs at present. And our capacity for actual combat is virtually nil," she explained, "Therefore, we'll crush the target in a single blow at the water's edge, right before it makes landfall!"
That makes sense.
"Units 01 and 02 will mount an attack in a series of waves. In other words, close in and take turns."
Take turns? I doubt if Asuka will be up for that.
"Roger," we both said.
"This sucks. It's my Japanese debut. Why won't she let me take it out myself?" Asuka complained, predictably.
"It can't be helped. That's the strategy," I said.
"Let me tell you something, just don't get in my way!"
I grunted a sound of agreement and closed the visual connection channel.
"Why did someone like him get chosen to be a pilot?" Asuka muttered.
I heard that. Only the visual connection was closed…audio connection runs all the time. What's wrong with you? This isn't a game.
I didn't speak up however, having no wish to provoke a fight. Instead, I just waited for the air drop, which came shortly. We landed cleanly on the beach, just as a pair of external power cables were rolled up to us. As I picked one up, I heard Asuka complain yet again.
"Two against one isn't a fair fight. I don't like it. Not my style."
Will she ever stop whining?
"We don't have the luxury of choosing our means to survive," Misato said.
Exactly.
Both of us picked a weapon that had been brought with the weapons. I chose a standard rifle; Asuka picked an Eva-sized spear. We stood at the ready, looking off into the ocean. The area we stood at had once been part of a town. The Second Impact had raised the water level; every coastal town in Japan ended up completely underwater. Tops of buildings poked up from the water randomly. It didn't take long for the Angel to make a move. It stood up, accompanied by a large splash of water.
"Here it comes!" I said.
The Angel rose completely out of the water and began moving straight for us. Its green body, roughly the size of the first Angel I fought, glided quickly across the ocean. Its face was similar to a yin and yang symbol tilted on its side, except this was red and blue. Its grey arms were raised, three sharp claws on each.
"Commence attack!" Misato ordered.
As I expected, Asuka immediately began running for the Angel, spear in hand.
"OK, I'll go first! Back me up!"
"Back you up?"
"Ladies first!"
"Sheesh, don't order me around!" I said, irritated, "You're the new one!" Grudgingly, I provided cover fire as Asuka charged in. The shots had no effect, as per the usual. Asuka took a crouching position closer to the target.
"I can take him!"
"Eh?"
She leaped from her crouching position to another half-submerged building a few yards closer. She went from this one to another, then leaped high into the air. She raised her spear high above her head, screaming a battle cry.
Show off…
She sliced the Angel down the middle, cutting it cleanly in two. It didn't even try to fight back.
"Amazing!" I said, mostly to myself, hoping she didn't hear. Despite her annoying attitude, she did have skill.
"Well, Third Child?!" Asuka boasted.
Oh great. Here she goes.
"A fight should be elegant and without waste," she said.
Hang on a second…all the other Angels exploded in a bloody mess when they were killed. But this one didn't bleed a bit…something's wrong.
As if to confirm my suspicions, the Angel's body began to twitch. First slightly, then more and more. Its face twisted back into its body, to be replaced with a nondescript grey one. I gasped, as did Asuka. The two halves began to stand up, and their old skins fell off, healing the damaged flesh. The Angel had divided into two, separate but entirely alive, Angels.
"That's CHEATING!" Misato yelled.
--
"Today at 10:58:15 AM, Unit-01 was attacked by Target A, which split from the target submerged 2 km off Suruga Bay."
I slumped forward in my seat, embarrassed. The Angel had beaten me easily. I was humiliated in front of every adult at Nerv. A picture of my Eva, upside-down in the water, was projected on the screen. I heard Asuka chuckle at the sight. My face burned with irritation, but I hid it.
"At the same time, plus 20 seconds, Unit-02 was halted by Target B."
A picture of Eva-02, upside-down in the ground, appeared next to the old picture. I had to stifle a laugh. It was even more pathetic than my loss. At least it's easy to be submerged in WATER.
"We have a comment from the chair of Project E."
Ritsuko's voice replaced that of Maya.
"This is pathetic."
Asuka stood up promptly, to complain at me as per the usual.
"This is all your fault! You totally screwed up my debut battle!"
I couldn't take it any more, I had already suffered a loss, I wasn't going to let her pin it on me.
"What are you talking about? Soryu's the one who did something stupid!"
"Stupid?! Where does a lamebrain like you get off calling me that? That's just shameless!"
"What do you mean?! We got in this trouble because you were in such a rush to defeat it!"
"What was that? You look like a drowned rat! How lame!"
Maya's voice started again over Asuka's, but she kept going, and I kept retorting, oblivious to the ten-odd other people in the room.
"At 11:03 AM, Nerv abandoned the operation…"
"Like you can talk!"
The pictures behind us changed with a click. I turned to look at the screen.
"…and transferred command to the UN Secondary Force."
"You've humiliated us…" Fuyutsuki muttered darkly.
"At 11:05 AM, the UN forces made an attack with an N2 mine."
The pictures showed a slide show of the bomb exploding, ending with a map of the area. Various pieces were blown out of it by the bomb's blast radius.
"We'll have to redraw the map again," Fuyutsuki said.
"They succeeded in burning off 28 of the target's structural substance."
"Did they kill it?" Asuka asked.
"This is merely temporary relief. A second attack is a matter of time." Fuyutsuki replied.
"At least it bought us time to regroup, so we got something out of it," Kaji commented brightly.
Fuyutsuki stood up.
"Listen up, you two."
He paused.
"Do you know what your job is?"
Piloting Eva?
Asuka said the same aloud. I was glad I didn't.
"No! Your job is to defeat the Angels," he corrected, "Nerv does not exist to make grotesque displays like this. Therefore, you two must cooperate."
"Why should we?!" we both yelled at each other.
"Enough already," Fuyutsuki sighed, and took an elevator down to a lower level.
The lights turned on, and people began to file out.
"Why's everyone so touchy here?" Asuka asked loudly to Kaji.
"It's because adults don't like to be embarrassed," he replied.
Neither do I…
"Where's Misato-san?" I asked.
"Cleaning things up. The person in charge exists to take responsibility."
--
"I'm home!" I said as I walked in the door, "Not that anyone's here, of course, but…" I trailed off and just walked inside.
I walked down the hallway to my room, either not noticing or registering the piles of boxes stacked in the hallway. I did, however, notice the ones stacked all throughout my room.
"What is this?!" I yelled.
"Don't be so rude!"
Oh no. No…COME ON! HERE TOO?
Sure enough, I turned around to see Soryu Asuka Langley, standing in my bedroom, drinking a soda, dressed as if she lived here.
"These are my personal belongings!"
"What are you doing here?!"
"It's more like, why are you still here?" she replied simply, as if talking to a servant.
"Still here?"
She smiled, false pity all over her face.
"You've been dumped for the new model!"
Eh?
She walked up to me, and looked me straight in the eye. I cringed.
"Misato will be living with me," she said slowly.
What the…you come here, you share my school, my job, and now you're taking my HOME too?
"Well, it's the logical choice when you consider whose abilities are superior," she said, "Although honestly, I'd rather live with Kaji-san!"
I couldn't even manage to articulate a reply. I was stunned by this new, irritating turn of events.
"But why are Japanese rooms so small, anyway? Not even half my stuff fits!"
Even now she can compla—WHAT'S THAT?
I turned around slightly, only to see all of my few belongings thrown haphazardly into a box which sat in the kitchen. I walked slowly over there, still stunned.
"On top of which, why don't the Japanese have any sense of privacy?" she continued, obviously beginning a whole rant on why the German way is so much better than ours. "How can they live in rooms without locks? Unbelievable!"
"It's because the Japanese way is to consider the priorities and needs of others before one's own," Misato said, having just walked in the door.
"Misato-san!" I said, as a greeting.
"Welcome home!" she said, "Looks like you're getting along well already."
"What do you mean?" I asked at the same time as Asuka.
"This is all preparation for the next operation."
"How's that?" I (we) asked.
--
"The Eighth Angel has one and only one weakness!" Misato instructed after grabbing a beer and changing her clothes.
"A simultaneous two-point attack on each target's core while its components are separated."
Simultaneous?
"In other words, an attack by two Evas with perfectly synchronized timing."
Synchronized?
"For that, we'll need cooperation and perfect coordination from you two."
We turned to look at each other.
Cooperation? Perfect coordination??
"Therefore, I'm having you two live together."
LIVE TOGETHER??
Asuka obviously had the same reaction, as we both shrieked at the same time. However, she was the one to protest.
"No way! It's always been said that boys and girls shouldn't sleep together after age seven!"
THAT isn't the issue. It's that I don't think I can survive even one day in close quarters with THIS girl.
"The Angel is currently restoring itself. It will begin its second assault in six days, so there's no time."
"But that's crazy!" Asuka moaned, slumping in her seat.
"So here's how to make the crazy possible," Misato continued, "In order for you to master perfect unison, you'll memorize the attack pattern that's been coordinated to this music," she instructed as she pulled out a tape.
"In six days, as soon as possible."
We turned to look at each other again, both wearing dismayed expressions. Asuka immediately looked away, defiant.
This…is going to be hell.
--