Shinji Steel 34
Disclaimer; I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Max Steel. Wish I did, though.
(Okinawa; that afternoon)
As she steps out into the terminal of Okinawa Airport, Rits can't help but smile widely. That wide smile also has sadness within for Shinji's unable to be with her this trip. The sadness soon turns to anger toward Gendo for selecting Shinji to be a Pilot to begin with. If Shinji wasn't a Pilot, then he'd be having a normal life. One that Gendo is so cruelly intent on denying him.
'Damn his ass! Why can't he just leave Shinji alone? Same with Asuka and Rei?' All of a sudden, she feels a pair of hands on her shoulders in a comforting manner.
"Easy, Ritsy. Your rage is starting to show."
"Sorry, Mom. It's just that…"
"Shinji, Asuka and Rei got a raw deal in having to stay behind."
"More like they got a raw deal in general. I mean, why are children the only ones that can Pilot those things?"
"Misato gave me the nutshell version. That the Evangelions will only work for those born after Second Impact."
"Making me exempt." Letting out a bemused snort, she muses, "I don't know whether I should feel glad or ashamed because of that."
"Glad I can understand, but why ashamed?"
"Because I want to show my support for them. They do so much for us and I can't help but feel useless."
"Now, Ritsy, you know full well that when you're done with your education, you won't be useless."
"Done with what education, Ms Takamiya?" Kensuke's eager voice from behind startles both Deidre and Rits before he goes on. "Is Rits learning to be a spy?"
"Me? A spy? Are you inhaling computer cleaning gas, Aida?" Rits lets out an amused giggle as she adds, "I'd make the worst spy ever."
"Oh, I don't know. You might be able to pull it off." Before Rits can even reply, Hikari's voice cuts through to the otaku.
"Aida! Go get your baggage and stop bothering Ms and Miss Takamiya!"
"Yes, Class Rep Horaki!" As Kensuke scurries to claim his baggage, Hikari sighs gustily.
"How Touji puts up with him, I have no idea at all." Next thing she knows, Touji comes up to her. Richard in tow and strangely enthused. Causing Hikari to blink before smiling. "Well, now, Mr. Nez, you're looking like you're looking forward to this."
"Well, I am, Miss Horaki. I've never been to Okinawa before. At all." Touji can only blink incredulously before asking.
"Never, Richo?"
"Never, Touji. Of course, I've heard of how nice it is here, as Mom and Dad told me about how it was from before they got married."
"Oh? And how does your Mother and Father feel about you being here, relatively unsupervised?"
"I'm not relatively unsupervised. We've got you as one of the chaperones, Ms Takamiya. What kind of trouble can we get into if you're around?"
"Richard, you really shouldn't ask that." With that, Hikari strides away, tugging Touji behind her. "Let's go, Suzuhara."
"But, my new little buddy!"
"He'll be alright." As the two walk away, a mildly blushing Deidre smiles softly at Richard.
"Gee, Richard, I'm flattered you think so highly of me. Really, I am. But I'm not exactly the best role model. After all, I'm a single Mother to an adopted girl. What does that say about me?"
"That you've a bigger heart than Shinji's stiff-assed dumbass bastard of a Father." Deidre's jaw can't help but drop at Richard cursing so casually. Perplexed, Richard asks, "Something wrong, Ms Takamiya?"
"Yeah. Do your parents know you talk that way?"
"Who do you think told me about Shinji's old man being a stiff-assed dumbass bastard?" Rits can't help but chortle while Deidre can only shake her head.
"Right, right. I keep forgetting your folks met Shinji from my chats with Mr. McGrath from when Shinji and Ritsy got together." Sighing, she adds, "I can't fault you for that view in particular, Richard. Gendo Ikari is exactly as you say he is. And then some."
"How so, Ms Takamiya?"
"I'll put it to you like this, Richard. If your parents were to be here right now, we'd be having a swear-off about 'Commander Dumbass'. And let no one tell you differently about your parents being colorful when it comes to him."
"Any chance I can get in on it?"
"Maybe you should ask your parents next time you talk to them." Looking over toward the class as it congregates apart from them, Deidre adds, "For now, though, we better get ourselves over there so we can get to the hotel, our rooming assignments and ready for the evening pre-dive lesson."
"Okay, Ms Takamiya."
With that, the three walk over in time to hear that Richard will be rooming with Touji and Kensuke. Deidre, Rits and Hikari are in a room above them together. Thirty minutes later, they arrive at one of Okinawa's hotels and get their key cards. When they get into their room, they see two twin beds, causing one thought to float through Hikari and Rits' heads.
'How're we going to do this with the three of us?' Next thing they know, Deidre spies a couch and plops herself right down onto it.
"I'll take the couch, girls. That way you won't have to worry about awkward goings on."
"You sure, Mom? That couch doesn't look comfortable at all." Deidre can't help but smile warmly at Rits.
"I'll be fine, Ritsy. I've slept on worse things before you came into my life. Compared to them, this is a step up. May not be my futon, but it'll do in a pinch." Upon hearing the room's phone ring, Deidre grimaces and gets up. "Just when I was getting nice and drowsy, too." Picking up the phone, she says, "Takamiya. Uh-huh. Right. Thank you." Upon hanging up, she turns back to Rits and Hikari.
"What's up, Mom?"
"They moved up the pre-dive lecture to tomorrow. So let's go and turn in, girls." As they do so, Hikari gives Deidre a quizzical look.
"Any idea as to why they pushed it back, Ms Takamiya?"
"No idea, but at least it'll give Ritsy and I a chance to go over our testimonies at the hearing the day after tomorrow."
"Which means you can dive tomorrow post lecture. But are you certified, ma'am?"
"But of course. I've always loved swimming growing up. I was even on my school's diving team. When the opportunity to get scuba certified came up, I went for it."
"How was it?"
"It was a lot of fun. Then shortly after Ritsy met Shinji, they went together for their certifications."
"How shortly after?"
"The day after." Deidre's reply can't help but get a giggle from Hikari as she goes on. "Matter of fact, when she first met him, they were sharing his tank. Ms Ryan supervising them."
"Ms Ryan's certified as well?" At Deidre's nod, Hikari can only shake her head and muse, "Now if only she could've been one of the chaperones. But sadly enough, school rules say any time a trip happens, any chaperone has to live within the school's radius."
"Which leaves myself and the decrepit old fossil as chaperones." Glancing over at Rits, she sees that she's bringing out her laptop. "Letting Shinji know we got here safely, Ritsy?"
"Yeah. I at least should let him know. Otherwise he can't concentrate if he goes into battle." Turning on her laptop, she quickly activates the vid-con capability and selects 'Shinji'. When it goes through, Rits smiles widely. Her smile goes wider upon seeing him.
"Hey, Rits. How was the flight there?"
"It was okay. We all made it safe and sound. We even had a colorful discussion of 'you-know-who' if you catch my drift. Richard more than Mom, of course."
"Of course." Rits can't help but find herself curious and decides she wants to know.
"Were you expecting a call from me, Shinji?"
"Well, I regret to inform you I wasn't. Though it might have helped a bit seeing as I was about to start working on the Basic Physics primer at the time you called."
"Oh? What portion?"
"Thermal expansion." Rits can't help but get a sultry smirk on her face and wink at him.
"I remember that time we covered that shortly after we got together. Which was when we had our first sex too, if I remember correctly."
"That you do, Rits. I also remember our experiment."
"Me too. While the experiment failed, it was also quite pleasurable."
"Yep. I know I enjoyed hearing the delicious moans coming out of your mouth while I massaged your breasts." Rits can't help but blush rosily at the sight of Hikari's dropped jaw and Deidre's grin. Shaking herself out of it, Rits quickly changes the subject.
"So what'll you do after you work on the primer some?"
"Well, I was about to start dinner for Asuka, Misato and myself before I started the primer. Then go over the recording of the duet with Hoshi yet again. I'm not exactly sure I'm happy with it." Rits can't help but blink perplexedly at that.
"Huh? Why? It sounded fine the last time I heard it." Shinji can only shrug haplessly, a sheepish grin on his face.
"I can't help but feel I'm missing something. Of course, it's probably just me and I'm being ridiculous." Shinji's sheepish grin gets Rits to giggle at him before she gives her reply.
"I have every confidence you'll figure it out, silly Shinji. So, where's Misato at?"
"Misato had to step out a couple hours ago. Seems NERV got word from a research facility at a volcano that something was detected in the magma."
"Well, hopefully, they're just being paranoid."
"Yeah, hopefully." Shinji's expression is positive, yet guarded as he goes on. "I was thinking that when this war's over, we can celebrate by going to Okinawa and have our own private vacation on one of the outer islands."
"Mmm, that sounds like paradise." Rits' voice can't help but take that same sultry tone as she traces Shinji's face on her monitor. "Just you, me and our passions."
"Yeah. We can even try sex underwater with a creampie ending below the waves."
"You know the way right to me, Shinji." She then murmurs, "I just wish you could be here with me right now." Her wide smile goes warm when he makes like he's cupping her cheek.
"Same here. But I'm afraid this will have to do until you all get back to Tokyo-3."
"Yeah. But I think we can mug our way through it." Shinji's smile gets Rits to widen hers up until Asuka can be heard bellowing.
"THIRD! GET YOUR SILLY ASS AWAY FROM THAT COMPUTER AND MAKE ME SUPPER! SCHNELL!" Shinji can't help but roll his eyes at her bellowing.
"It's time for me to feed Asuka, it seems. Honestly, she's like a partially grown baby. All she needs is a bib and high chair." Rits can't help but giggle again at the thought of Shinji feeding Asuka as if she was a baby. "I'll talk to you later, Rits."
"Later, Shinji." At that, Shinji ends the vid-con and Rits sighs. "Too short a time, but at least he'll be able to concentrate better."
"That's good, Ritsy." Deidre turns back toward Hikari and sees the pig-tailed brunette blushing furiously still. "Something wrong, Hikari?"
"Sorry, but I'm not used to that kind of talk even though we're of age." Yet Deidre can't help but hear more in her statement.
"Who's your crush, Hikari?" The girl's blush deepens, getting Deidre and Rits to grin. "Ah, it's more than a crush, isn't it?" Hikari can only clasp her face by her cheeks before sighing. Unclasping her face, she grins over at Deidre.
"How about yourself, Ms Takamiya? I think Mr. Sychola has taken a shine to you. And you him."
"Yeah, he did. And I did." Deidre can't help but smile fondly as she murmurs, "Psycho can be charming in his own way." Hikari's jaw can't help but drop at the moniker.
"Did you just say 'Psycho', Ms Takamiya?"
"Yeah. It's Peter's nickname."
"Some nickname." Hikari can only giggle before looking over at Rits. "Does Shinji have a nickname, Rits?"
"Yeah. It's 'Suicide' for Shinji." Deidre can't help but burst out laughing while Hikari's jaw drops.
"How'd that come about?"
With that, Rits tells Hikari all about it. Deidre starting to hold her sides in raucous mirth while a stunned Hikari can only shake her head. Precursors to giggles starting to rise from her. When Rits' done, Hikari's laughing wildly, Rits right behind her.
"Oh, man! I don't know what's zanier! Peter's nickname or Shinji's!" The three can only laugh for three minutes more before the merriment tapers off. Sighing once it's out of her system, Hikari looks over at Deidre and asks, "Do you wish 'Psycho' was able to come with us?"
"Yeah, I do. But as a member of Section 2, and thus a part of NERV, Peter had to stay behind."
(Tokyo-3; NERV HQ; Psycho's quarters)
Writhing in his bed, Psycho can't help but groan out in agony.
"No, what are you doing? Get away from me with that! No, don't put that over my face! No! No! NO!" Snapping awake, Psycho bolts upward, breathing heavily. "What the fuck was that?"
Getting up from his bed, Psycho rubs his head groggily as he goes into his bathroom. Turning on the light, he looks at himself in the mirror. If he was able to scowl without the mask, he would. Instead, he only shakes his head.
"Could that be how it happened? How I got this whacked-out face and arm? Along with becoming psychotic?" Looking at his arm, he asks, "What could all this mean?" Exiting the bathroom, he gets back into the bed and closes his eyes. Hoping that the dream doesn't come back, along with hoping it would for more researchable material.
(Okinawa; next morning; post lecture dive trip)
As the retrofitted cabin cruiser cuts along the waves, Rits looks around at the size of the group. Twenty-three students, all eager and holding onto their dive rigs. Rits looks down onto the one in her hands and notes the differences in that one from what she's used to.
A full-face mask with communications capability. The mask is attached by tether to a torso-plate, blue in color, that covers both the front and back of the upper torso. The front plate has a large compartment for underwater cameras and the back plate holds a medium-sized air tank, red in color. All further musing ends when the dive-mistress gets their attention.
"Okay, everyone, get your rigs on. Just like you were shown. If you need help, let myself or my associates know." Rits slips her rig up onto her torso easily, getting the lady's attention. "I take it you've used this kind of gear before."
"Nope. First time. I'm used to the older generation."
"I know how you feel. Yet the older generation gear didn't have transponders like the current generation does." Smiling, she adds, "I still can't believe you're here again, Miss Takamiya. Certified through my shop, no less. But I can't understand why Mr Ikari can't be here as well."
"Like I said Yumiko, Shinji had to stay behind in Tokyo-3. All because his old man's a prick. His birth one, that is."
"Ah." As the boat comes to a stop, Yumiko Hagarashi adds, "Well, this will be your first time being this far from shore. So keep track of your bearings as much as you can."
"Okay." Slipping the mask into place, Rits tightens the straps before speaking. Her voice sounding somewhat digitized on the outside. "Sound check okay?"
"Good to go." Turning to Deidre, Yumiko asks, "You all set, Ms Takamiya?"
"I'm ready to dive. Kensuke and the others are still setting up, though. Ritsy, you wanna dive with me?"
"You bet, Mom."
Deidre gives Rits a nod before they take their fins into their hands and amble their way to the dive platform. Once there, they lean on each other, one at a time, to put their fins on. Once on, they step off and into the warm waters below them. As they kick along, they descend to twenty feet before leveling off. Rits' brown eyes can't help but go wide at what she sees.
"Wow! Look at all the fish! I don't think Shinji and I saw this much fish when we got certified!"
"True, yet you two weren't this far out when you got certified." Deidre's voice has a soft chiding to it, along with a hint of humor. "So, you wanna take pictures to show Shinji when we get home? So he'd have something to look forward to when the war's over with."
"Oh, do I ever!" Opening the compartment, Rits gleefully brings out the u/w digital camera and starts snapping pictures. "Smile for the guppy!" Taking five pictures with different kinds of fish, Rits looks over at Deidre and shrugs. "You never know when you'll come across something interesting."
"Oh how true that is." Kensuke's voice behind them gets their attention, causing them to turn back in time to see the youth's glasses behind his mask lens. Touji, Hikari and Richard alongside him. Rits can only blink before asking the first question in her mind.
"How the heck are you able to wear your glasses under that thing?"
"I took off the side-stalks and then positioned the main piece into place. I've got my side-stalks in my pocket."
"Yeah, that's Kensuke for you." Touji's voice gets a giggle from Deidre, Rits and Hikari before going on. "Believe it or not, Kensuke made the release for the stalks on his glasses as a proto-something."
"It's 'prototype', Touji." Kensuke's voice is filled with exasperation before he goes on. "In any case, the field test is a resounding success! No leaks and no complications in visual acuity."
"That's great, Aida!" Hikari's voice gets his attention as she asks, "Are you going to submit it?"
"Yep. At the next inventor's convention. Far as I know, no one's done this yet. Well, aside from lenses permanently mounted into the mask. This, however, can work in any mask and can go from one mask to another." At that, Richard chimes in.
"Wow, you'll make a killing, Kensuke! With how many people that wear glasses in the world and like diving, this is great news indeed." With that, they resume their movement. Softly kicking along as they move forward, their conversation ongoing.
"Thanks, Richard. Like I said though, it's only a prototype and while it's an idea whose time has come…"
"You think some glasses manufacturers will find it ridiculous, right?" Deidre's question gets a light nod from Kensuke before she goes on. "You know that Josh McGrath is in charge of the N-Tek Corporation, right?"
"Yeah. My Dad even has the autograph that Shinji had managed to get from him. Why?"
"I'm thinking that if you submit it to N-Tek, you'll get a far better deal. After all, N-Tek is a sporting goods company and your prototype falls well within the category of diving applications, along with optometry."
"Alright." All further talk ends when Rits screams.
"AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!" The scream is filled with agony. An emotion quite foreign to Rits. "NNNNOOOO!" They all look toward her and see the remnants of a yacht on its side. A hole in the hull below its waterline. Deidre looks at the side of the vessel and has only one thing to say.
"Oh dammit to Hell!" Looking over toward Hikari and Richard, she says, "Get Ritsy up there, slowly, and stay with her."
"Okay. Come on, Rits." Rits doesn't say a thing for she's in shock. Her lack of response makes it easy for Hikari and Richard to get her to the surface.
"Aida, Suzuhara, you're with me."
Without waiting for them to reply, Deidre moves over toward the vessel that had caused Rits' distress. While she doesn't like to see her daughter suffering or in distress, she holds no ill will toward the vessel.
'So the remainder of "Perseus" has been here all this time.' When she gets close enough to 'Perseus', she examines the hole and figures it to be 30 inches in diameter. 'No wave did this. That's for sure.'
"Ms Takamiya, do you know why Rits flipped out like that?" Touji's voice gets Deidre's attention, causing her to look back at him and Kensuke before giving her reply.
"This is 'Perseus', her late birth parents' yacht." Looking over at Kensuke, she asks, "You have your camera handy, Kensuke?"
"Yeah." His tone is serious, as opposed to his usual demeanor, as he goes on. "I feel like a CSI, yet I'm not feeling excited at this at all."
"If you were excited, I wouldn't be worried. You are who you are."
"I'll keep that in mind." Making his way to the yacht's side, he whistles. "Whatever hit the hull did a number on it. I'm thinking bomb."
"A bomb? You mean…"
"Yeah. We may have a double murder on our hands here. Of course, it's just speculation and…"
"What is it, 'Suke?" Kensuke pays no mind to Touji as he moves closer to 'Perseus' and reaches his left hand down. Only to bring it back up two seconds later holding a large orange object. "What've you got there, 'Suke?"
"A 'black box'. It seems to have been adapted for maritime usage."
"But how can it be called a black box if it's orange?"
"It's just something they called the data recorders on airplanes. Evidently, Rits' birth Father wanted to see if a 'black box' can be used on seafaring vessels."
"Is it any good?" Deidre's question gets Kensuke to look over at her before replying.
"As long as its seals are intact, the information should be intact still. I won't know, however, until we get back to shore." Peering into the hole, he looks down and adds, "But we can most certainly rule out accident."
That gets Touji's attention while causing Deidre to silently clench her fist. Yet Touji doesn't notice it as he shrugs before asking.
"How so?"
"The blast point's in one of the storage bins in the galley. With the proximity to the hull, right about where the waterline would be, any explosion within non-explosive items would result in the damage we're seeing here."
"So my baby's birth parents were assassinated?" Deidre's voice is level, yet Touji and Kensuke can easily hear fury in the woman's voice.
"It's not a slam dunk, but that's what it looks like. I'll find out more when we get back to the hotel."
"Then let's get back so you can get started."
"Right."
With that, they start their ascent. Within ten minutes, they reach the surface. Along with Hikari, Richard and a recovering Rits. All without their masks on. Deidre peels off her mask, goes to Rits' side and takes the girl into her arms.
"It's okay, Ritsy. I'm here, baby. I'm here." Rits can't help but break down into sobs in her Mom's arms.
"WHY? WHY ARE THEY DEAD AND AM I ALIVE?" Deidre has no answer for the girl. She only holds her close to her form. Just as the cabin cruiser pulls up to them, Rits looks up at Deidre and asks, "They were murdered, weren't they?"
"It looks that way, Ritsy. Kensuke found a 'black box' at the wreckage. He intends to start on it when we get back to the hotel."
"Then we'll turn it over to Ms Leeds when we get the information. She undoubtedly has contacts in the L.E. community. All I want is five minutes alone with the responsible party." Deidre can only smile indulgently at her as the dive platform stops five feet from them.
"We'll see if Ms Leeds can arrange something for you on that."
Rits gives Deidre a nod as Kensuke quickly clambers up onto the cruiser. Intent on getting the 'black box' into his bag. However, this doesn't go unnoticed by Yumiko who stays silent. Yet, at the same time, she wonders how best to word her report.
As the cruiser makes its way back to shore, Deidre holds Rits close as the latter trembles in fresh grief. Her eyes dripping tears as well, Deidre can't help but wonder what had happened to Mr and Mrs Takusona. Along with why.
Author's Notes; How's that for a twist? Sorry I took so long, but things happen. Later!