I hesitate to call this chapter filler, but its basically the going-ons between the attack on the school and the next big fight. So I am posting this Thursday night and you all are going to get the big excitement Friday evening. This is not good technique to me but I told y'all at the start that I am not a good writer.
Trishula: enough crack to make Rob Ford blush.
Chapter 19
"Dude, what the hell happened?!"
Toji Suzahara was screaming into a payphone in the lobby of a hotel in downtown Kyoto-2.
"Okay, so these Russian guys, they looked like spetsnaz but they were a bunch of pussies, attacked the school right? And I mean I don't know what they were thinking with the pilots there. So Rei takes one out, then I grab the guy's gun, then Shinji, Rei and me go kicking ass. Dude, if you had been there it would have been perfect. Then I got hit and it all kinda got fuzzy from there."
"You got hit?"
"Yeah right in the eye, I didn't know anything could hurt that bad. Doc says the bullet missed my brain though."
"Wait a minute, you mean you got shot? In the head?!"
"Yeah, pretty badass right? They patched me up and they are gonna rebuild the side of my head, but the eye was a total loss, nothing but goop in the socket. It was kinda dripping out and…"
"Man, waaaaay too much information. So you only have one eye, was anyone else hurt?"
"No man that was the cool thing. Shinji and Rei took out the rest of the guys in our building and one of their teachers showed up and saved the highschoolers. Anyway, rest of the school year is cancelled."
"Dude… that's heavy shit."
"Indeed my friend. Anyway, how did the tournament go?"
"You got in a gunfight and you want to know how a stupid karate tournament went?"
"Well yeah, when my best friend was all ready to take it!"
"Ugh, I got fucking robbed. Bullshit penalty. I had the guy but they gave him the win, cause apparently laughing when his elbow bent the wrong was unsportsmanlike conduct, whatever the hell that means."
"So what, you get kicked out early?"
"Hell no, that was the final bout! I got second."
"Hey second best under fifteen in Japan ain't bad."
"Dude, under twenty, they stopped letting me in the school kid brackets after last year, remember?"
"Even better. When you going to be back?"
"Leaving tomorrow. How long you going to be in the hospital?"
"Dunno, they want me to talk to a shrink before they decide."
"Oh well, you're doomed then."
"Man screw you… talk to you when you get back, okay?"
"Yeah man, glad you are okay."
As Ken lay in the hospital bed after hanging up the phone, he simultaneously felt very comfortable in his own skin and decidedly not okay. It had been two days since the attack. He spent most of the first day knocked out while they picked skull fragments out and cleaned out his eye socket. When he woke up he asked what happened to his gun and was pissed he couldn't keep it. It was his man, he fought with it, he killed with it, Ken thought he should be able to keep it.
There was nothing left of his right eye but some goop. He had met with a plastic surgeon earlier in the morning. NERV was paying for everything, and the doctor said they would be able to make the shape right again. When he had started talking about glass eyes, Ken had told him he didn't want one. If he wanted one later he could get it made, but for now, he wanted it out for everyone to see. Well not "out" out, he'd wear an eyepatch. He fought alongside the pilots to defend their people. That's what Rei had called them, she used the possessive. She was amazing.
Ken was not sure what he saw in Rei. It wasn't attraction. She was pretty and all, but she was Shinji's and that's not what Ken felt. He admired her. Like he shot guys yeah, but she was flowing around them like water, taking them out with her bare hands. She was something else, like not even human. Like she was noble, but the kind even kings and emperors bowed to.
Ken was roused from his wool gathering by a knock on the door. It felt like he had dozed off.
"Come in." He said as he scooted up to a sitting position on the pillows. A nurse entered, he had seen her off an on while he was there. It was weird, everyone wore blue and green scrubs here, but she was always wearing one of those old school white outfits.
"Hello young man, and how are we this evening?"
"I'm good ma'am. The pain is still there, but its just kind of dull and there not like its flaring up or or anything."
"That is good to hear. I thought you might be bored, so I brought you a book. When you came in, Shinji Ikari was with you, right?"
"Yeah, he carried me out of there."
"So you are friends?"
"Yeah, he tells me I was the first friend he made here."
"That is wonderful to hear. I attended to him after the first angels and he was always such a dear. He liked this one so I thought you might too. You are fluent in English, right? The translation is a little smoother than Japanese." She sat down on the bed next to his legs and gave him the little hardbound book.
"Oh the Bhagavad Gita, I saw this when Shinji was reading it. Kept buggin' him to lend it to me but he always forgot." Ken said and flipped through the pages. This edition had double columns on the pages, one in English and the other strange words rendered in the latin alphabet and a script Ken did not recognize.
"Well now you can read it for yourself. Fair warning though, it is a bit of a gateway drug, you'll want to read more after this one."
"Thank you Ma'am, I'm sure I'll love it."
Shinji and Misato were eating dinner in silence. He could feel her looking at him, but every time he looked up to meet her gaze, she looked away.
"Hey Misato, is something wrong? You haven't had much food, I'm sorry if you don't like it.
"N-no Shinji, its wonderful, just… Shinji, I am so sorry."
"What for Misato?"
"For doing this to you."
"What do you mean?"
"This! All of this! I… After Shamshel, I made a suggestion that we find you and Rei a new teacher. I didn't want you to get hurt anymore and the way we were doing things just wasn't working. So I tried to think what would be the best kind of teacher and stupid me, I decided it should be an assassin."
"That doesn't sound stupid Misato, it makes sense. It worked out though, we kicked that last one's stupid blue ass."
"Yeah and that was fine, I mean I was happy, we all were… But Shinji, what happened at the school… that only happened because I brought Mr. Williams here."
Shinji shrugged and swallowed more food. Needed salt. "It all worked out. With Ken's help, nobody else got hurt. Well except the bad guys but that was the point really."
"Shinji, you killed people! Human beings! I saw the bodies, I read the reports. You crushed them, ripped them apart, I don't even know what you did to those ones on the stairs. I… Shinji when I picked you up from the train station, you remember right? I saw you were so sad, but underneath that was this gentle, wonderful soul. You could have been a great doctor, I know you don't think you're smart enough but you could have done it, you have so much compassion." Misato swallowed hard as tears began to well up in here eyes.
"And I took that away and I made you a killer. I took that wonderful, sweet, little boy and turned him into a soldier. Oh my god, I am so sorry Shinji, so sorry. I was supposed to be your guardian, I wanted to keep you safe and teach you the world wasn't a bad place, that it wasn't out to hurt you. Heaven forgive me, I am so sorry. Oh god, and your friend. I mean he isn't even involved in all this and he shot people!""
"Misato, that's not it at all." Shinji said, then got up to stand next to her, one hand on her shoulder. "You're right, when I got here I was sad, but I'm not anymore. I didn't like killing them but if I hadn't more people could have died. They were the ones who started it and tried taking a bunch of kids hostage to get to Remo-sensei, but that's not sensei's fault, its theirs. Anyway, I am happy now, my life is way better than before and it wouldn't have changed if you hadn't had that idea."
Misato looked up at him, tears still in bloodshot eyes.
"So… thank you Misato-san, for changing my life for the better. Thank you. Um, I know this is out of the blue, but there is something I want to ask you about…"
He asked.
Misato felt sick. He was thanking her for teaching him how to kill. He didn't even know what he had lost, it was like he didn't feel anything about what he had done and now he wanted that?! Misato felt her stomach turn and rushed past Shinji to the bathroom. She hadn't had a beer in months, ever since the night Rei told her off. She didn't care that it tasted horrible coming back up, she was emptying her just-in-case stash tonight.
Rei was sleeping. Well, kind of. It was a dream state that she reached by meditating. Lakshmi had visted her dreams the night after the attack and introduced her to her dream mentor. He knew Sinanju and was close with Remo-sensei, so Rei was pleased with him.
Sensei, are you there?
Aaaaaaaah, so the jap bitch returns.
He was a little rude though…
Yes sensei, there is much I wish to learn.
Oh yes, bow down and grovel while you plot to put a knife in my back. If you had told me anybody but my arrogant pig-ear of a student had decided to teach the most ancient art of Sinanju to not just a Japanese, but an ugly whore-spawned slut of a Japanese, I would never have you believed you.
You are angry sensei.
You aren't worth my anger girl.
Anger is the result of fear. So tell me sensei, what do you have to fear from me?
His laugh was like a squawking bird. Rei opened her eyes in the dream and found herself on an empty plain of dried mud. Sensei said this is what home looked like. Rei was sure what he had called home was under water now.
He stood before her in a silk robe colored black and white. Stood next to her, he barely came to her chin. A wisp of white hair stood where there had once been a beard and his fingernails looked like talons, long and black with wicked points.
"Oh you do have spirit though, this I like. You have potential, he saw it, but even a stupid white man can be right once in a while."
"As you say sensei."
"Aaaagh, to hear the greatest Master of sinanju called in such a filthy language. Do your people gargle pig swill to make your words sound so ugly? You know my name girl, use it."
Rei slammed her fist into her open palm and bowed before sliding into a fighting stance.
"Very well Master Chuin."
"Thank you for meeting with me so late doctor."
"Of course Commander, I understand a busy schedule."
"I would like to go over the status of the evangelions and the pilots. Lets start with the first child."
"Very well Commander. Since the pilots began training with Mr. Williams, the first child has gained approximately fifteen pounds and her body mass index is similar to what one might expect in a professional athelete. In other words she is in very good physical condition. Incidently, she has also grown about an inch, but that's normal for a child of her age. The first child does not appear to have suffered any psychological trauma as a result of the attack on the school. In fact, as has been the case since her treatment was ceased, her behavior has become increasingly well balanced and, for lack of a better word, normal. I am still very concerned about a possible return of her prior psychopathic behavior, but I will admit, she does seem to be doing better."
"I see. Could this be an indication of her true personality reasserting itself?"
"Commander I… no commander. No, her behavior and interests do not match up with that of Yui Ikari. I'm sorry Commander."
"I see…"
"Gendo, I…"
"Unit Zero, Dr. Akagi."
"Since the end of the battle with the fifth angel, evangelion unit zero has displayed no further anomalous behavior. Examination in the last few weeks shows, if anything, the unit's shortcomings as the prototype have been alleviated. Processing speed and synapse activity are on par with Unit One and the data we have been getting from Germany on Unit Two."
"I see, is it safe to use then?"
"While I would not go so far as to say it is safe, I do believe any risk is very slight. As long as the pilot behaves of course."
"I trust in Rei to do what is right. Moving on, the third child."
"Shinji, like the first child, has put on quite a bit of muscle mass and is in very good physical condition, even better than the first. Emotionally, it is like night and day from when he first arrived. He is confident if not a little socially awkward. He has few friends and spends most of his time with the first child."
"I see, and Unit One?"
"Well Sir, I would actually like to discuss Shinji and the first's relationship. You see we have observed some interesting-"
"Dr. Akagi, Evangelion Unit One, report."
"Yes Commander. Repairs and retrofits were completed three weeks after the attack. We won't have a systems failure like that in either of the active evangelions again, and the necessary design changes have been forwarded to NERV's other divisions, so it won't be a problem in future units either."
"Good. What is the status of Unit Two?"
"Germany was pleased to report the upgrade block designed with the combat data from Units Zero and One was completed and installed over a month ahead of schedule. They anticipate Unit Two will set sail by the end of June and arrive before July twentieth."
"Excellent, what of the second child?"
"As ever, Asuka is enthusiastic in her training and studies and very eager to join the fight here. Her latest synchro scores are lower than the other pilots, but having not seen combat yet, I am hesitant to judge those numbers side by side."
"Um Misato, are you alright?"
She could hear Shinji's voice through the bathroom door. She was still clutching the bowl of the toilet. What the hell had she done?
She sent him out to fight. She asked for better training. So they could win. And so he wouldn't get hurt as badly, but she was not going to kid herself that what she really wanted was for those kids to kill more of those things. Dammit though, she wasn't expecting him to like it.
She had seen child soldiers while on peacekeeping missions, as part of JSSDF units seconded to the UN. They were one of the most horrifying things in the world to her. And she had made one. Out of all the good intentions in the world, she had turned that sweet little boy into one of those monsters.
Misato vomited again. She didn't know what she was more disgusted with: What Shinji had become or herself?
She had, deep down, aspired to be a mother to him. What a load of bullshit, what kind of a mother could ever do this?
"Misato, I'm coming in."
She tried to reach out to keep the door closed but she hadn't the strength after crying and upchucking for the better part of a half hour. She didn't object when he gave her something to drink and a hair tie either. The drink was clear soda. Misato had had enough hangovers to know it was good for calming the stomach. Once you start, whatever the reason, its difficult to stop. She stayed hunched over the toilet, even as her back screamed at her. He sat down against the wall with one leg out and the other bent at the knee.
"I'm sorry Misato."
"N-no Shinji, don't be… its not your fault."
"I'd thought you would be happy, I mean its going down the same path you have. I didn't mean to upset you."
"You didn't Shinji… I'm mad at myself. I feel like I shorted you your childhood to make you fight the angels and all the adult problems of the world. Like I forced you to grow up too fast. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, I get it."
Misato reached her hand across the floor and grabbed his.
"It's a hard life you know. I know you don't like school, and like you said you only have another year before you could be done anyway, but… if you get an order you don't like, you can't say no."
"When have I ever refused an order Misato?"
"you… you're right."
"I figure it would just be more training like we do now, maybe a little more in the evas. Not like there would be much point to doing boot camp at this point. You know I can outrun a car? Rei and I were racing to school and I didn't even realize how fast I was going until I saw the car go by…"
Misato squeezed his hand. "We can talk about it, okay? I think Rei should be there when we do."
"Yeah… Misato… I want you to know, before I met you, its not something I had ever thought about. But I saw how strong you really are and I... I mean I'm strong now, like my body is, but I still don't feel like I have the spirit to match, you know?"
Misato smiled and nodded. "I understand Shinji, I think I understand better now… I am sorry I forced you to be a soldier, but if that's what you really want to be then I am proud that I set a good example."
The next day, Shinji invited Rei over. He had lunch made by the time she arrived. Misato had taken the time off to be there with Shinji. They all sat at the kitchen table and, unusually for when company was over, Pen Pen made his presence known, sitting in the fourth chair and eating sardines from the can.
"Your nervousness would indicate you wish to discuss something of great importance Major. I would know that even if I couldn't read Shinji like a book."
"Am I that transparent wildflower?"
"Yes."
"Rei, Shinji has a very important decision to make and I thought, given your relationship, you should be here so we all talk about it together."
"I see. What would you like to discuss warrior?"
"That's actually it… Why are we part time fighters? Why are we wasting time in school when we have a planet to save? Rei, I think I can accomplish what we need to do better as a full time soldier. I want to enlist with NERV. Besides, they would finally have to pay me this way, stead of dumping me off when they don't need me."
"Hey nobody had dumped you off anywhere…"
"I agree."
"Wait, what?"
"I agree with Shinji's logic. I will enlist as well."
"WARK?!"
"Oh Jesus Christ…"
Remo Williams did not agree.
"What the fuck are you two morons thinking?"
Misato had gone with Shinji and Rei to speak to their teacher about the matter. She figured she could be emotional support. She hadn't even seen Remo's hands move when both pilots went crashing to the floor after telling him. She felt that at this time it was best to let them stand on their own before the wrath of Remo. She would give what support she could from a safe distance.
"We are not soldiers, we are assassins! A soldier is as much a weapon as the gun he carries. He fights who he is told to fight, regardless of his thoughts on the matter. And you know what his master does with him when he is finished? He disposes of him! Even if I would let you two willingly put yourself at the beck and call of that self important little twit commander Ikari… sorry Shinji."
"No offense taken sensei." Shinji said from the floor. He was not confident enough in the floor to stay where it was at to attempt sitting up yet. Best he could tell Rei was of a similar opinion.
"Anyway, even if I would let you, which I won't, you can't."
"Why not?" Rei asked and regretted it when Remo gave her the world's worst charliehorse using only his big toe. Oh yes, knowing who she did now, she could see the similarities.
"Because you are already members of the house of Sinanju. The commander signed you both over in the service contract when he hired us. I can't have trained students running around working for a third party. You are part of us and we have been hired as a group. I understand, however, your points about putting all of your effort into this mission though. I will speak with the Commander this evening."
That evening…
"I did no such thing." Gendo snarled out, his brow furled over his glasses, just above his steepled hands
"Commander, if memory serves, you signed the service agreement and the provision was clearly outlined."
The "service agreement", a ten meter parchment scroll rolled across two cylinders, sat on Gendo's desk. While he had signed it, he was not about to admit he had not in fact read the whole thing. He had had Kozo look at it and come to think of it what proof did he have the old man had read it? Or that his eyesight was any good, he was always squinting…
"Very well, then show me, Mr. Williams."
Outlined in black and white, in section three, sub-section two, post script roman numeral five, addendum B, beneath the provision for adequate bathroom facilities, read the following:
In order to protect the knowledge and intellectual property of the most ancient and noble house of Sinanju, all students trained to standard outlined in… Gendo didn't know there was such a thing as superscript on superscript before now… are ceded to the most ancient and noble house of Sinanju and provision for their services are considered to be included in this contract, pursuant to section one, paragraph one.
"So you see Commander Ikari, the pilots are clearly subordinates under myself who you have hired. I am just looking for accommodations to be made in order to make them more effective. Really it is about getting the most service for your money."
Gendo Ikari thought on it. Then he thought some more. Remo was sure he could see the steam coming out from the scruffy bastard's ears. These spies were all the same. They get good at all that secret squirrel crap and suddenly they think they are geniuses.
"Very well Mr. Williams, I do believe we are not getting our full value from the agreement and would like to know what you could do to give NERV more. With no increase in compensation of course."
"Of course Commander."
What a maroon.
"I like it. Never did like the dress anyway, I mean what kind of pedo has girls running around in school uniforms anyway? You know when they aren't wearing skin tight rubber."
Viral was eyeing up the pilot's new clothes. Remo's little talk with the commander had yielded some official recognition for the pilots. Apparently the original plan had been to keep them as unofficial as possible to avoid any accusations of using child soldiers. The commander felt satisfied that if the pilots were not NERV personnel at all, but instead employees of an outside contractor, it cleared them of responsibility not just for their actions, but for their care and feeding. Because of the training clause in the contract though, this only applied to Shinji and Rei, not this new girl who was coming over from Germany or any other pilots they had stashed around the world.
It had been a fairly quick process thanks to the NERV budget and priority it could demand. The day after he had spoken with the commander, Misato had brought Remo a catalogue and the next day the uniforms had been delivered. Despite having the choice of any equipment across all the nations of the world, Remo had chosen a simple olive drab battle dress uniform, not too different from what he himself had worn in Vietnam. The pants were plain with big pockets and the blouse was relatively spartan, having only four pockets instead of the ten or more common on more modern uniforms. A plain green t-shirt went under the blouse. For shoes, the pilots had black 'tanker' boots with velcro straps instead of laces. The belt was green nylon with characteristic blackened ALICE grommets all around.
Remo had chosen this uniform for several reasons, some good, some bad, but mostly for two specific ones. First, it looked NOTHING like anything NERV wore. All of the NERV officer uniforms were either blue or tan, and their combat uniforms were black or dark blue. Second, Remo saw making the kids wear school uniforms for what it was: an effort to keep them children. They wanted to use these kids to fight their war without having to treat them like adults doing an adult job.
Remo had forgotten one small detail however. They spent a week teaching you how to wear a uniform in the Marine Corps for a reason.
"Haven't either of you worn a uniform before? Don't they have boy scouts or girl scouts or something here?"
Shinji shrugged, making the hanging jacket look even worse. He had put the duty belt on as a pants belt when it should have been over the blouse. Rei had made the same mistake and neither had bloused their pants.
"Okay, look, first of all, the green belt goes on the outside, like this…"
By the end of the week, Toji was back in town and Kensuke was out of the hospital. With no more school until August, the four friends decided to meet up in Tokyo-3's small entertainment district. It was a kind of outdoor mall with various arcades, a theater, food, etc. The wide boulevard was vehicle-free and filled with people. With the strange passing fashions of Japanese youth meant two children in military uniforms, one in athletic gear, and one in short sleeves and khaki's wearing an eye patch didn't really stand out.
"Dude, you guys look so awesome." Ken had been only slightly gushing over the pilot's new uniforms. He hadn't gotten any drool on them yet. Shinji and Rei had their cuffs tucked in and their belts on right now, and had their sleeves rolled above their elbows.
"Says the pirate." Toji quipped. Toji was wearing shorts and a jersey with his tennis shoes.
"Dude, I don't look like a pirate. I totally look like Big Boss." Ken was right in a way. Without glasses, he had brushed his hair straight back. So yeah, if Big Boss's voice hadn't cracked yet, he might have a point.
"Who?"
"Dude, the ultimate soldier of the twentieth century? Metal gear, outer heaven? Come on I know you played that game, I lent it to you."
"Metal gear?!" Toji said, recoiling in faux shock.
"Oh whatever man."
End
Author notes:
My comments on this chapter:
-For those unfamiliar with the Destroyer series, Chuin was Remo's teacher. He was a caustic, racist, horrible little man who could kill you with his little finger and laugh at you for not being Korean as you choked on your own uvula. He most likely would have done this because you interrupted his soap operas. I would hesitate to call him awesome, except I fear what would happen to me if I didn't. All hail to the greatest master of the most ancient and noble art.
-Ooooooo foreshadowing *spirit fingers* what is the deal with Ken and Toji?
-Next episode: Gaghiel, Asuka, and Ryoji Kaji, agent of BANNOUYAKU, and plenty of fanservice!
Unnecessary information, but stuff I would like to know at this point:
-Rei is about 5'0" at this point with Shinji maybe an inch shorter. I wrestled starting in middle school and I would describe their builds as the kind of boys and girls I saw in the lower (90-110 Lbs) weight classes. Not bulky with muscle but very very little fat. For comparison, Toji is a muscular 5'6" and Ken is just skinny at 4'11".
-Ken switched to a single contact lens in his remaining eye.
-I have no idea how Japanese karate competitions are actually structured. Toji had to compete in young adult groups after incidents in which he totally overmatched his own age group (and two more above him) due to his size, skill, and strength.
-ALICE was the method of attaching pouches and such that predated the current generation MOLLE system of stitched nylon straps. It made use of evenly spaced grommets on load bearing equipment with special hooks and straps on accessories to attach. Despite its age, still around and in use around the world. I am sure some of my military readers have "fond" memories of ALICE and/or MOLLE.