Ch 12 A Great Wind Carries Me
Rei Ayanami had learned a lot recently. She now knew what a friend was, with a vague understanding of what it entails for her and the other people she enters into the contract with. So far she'd made two friends with plans on a third. She was also considering the possibility of befriending the friends of her pre-existing ones, more than doubling her total. She hadn't yet figured out if one was supposed to value quantity or quality.
There was another subject that she had been growing more curious of, that being the recent buzz around the school about the upcoming dance. More specifically everyone she's overheard has expressed interest in obtaining a date to bring with them, further investigation revealed a date was another person, typically of the opposite sex, that you brought along to a social function for the potential of a romantic relationship.
She wasn't interested in getting a relationship of her own. She was curious however of the various rituals people took part in to obtain them. They were held in almost worship by most of the people at this school and she wanted to better understand why. There was only one logical solution to answering her questions.
She had to find her own 'date' to the dance. She wasn't sure how to dance but she assumed it was easy to learn. Based on her skill at the synchronization training, maybe she'd be talented at this strange activity. Either way it would be an invaluable learning experience, she'd likely not be able to replicate again anytime soon.
Now to pick a target. It would have to be someone she was already familiar with, as approaching a complete stranger with the proposition seemed beyond her at the moment. She could ask Shinji but she'd heard some of her classmates mention he was already going with the Second Child. She'd have to ask about some of the details from him when she had time.
This however had removed her top two choices for potential 'dates'. There was the Makinami pilot, they had the most in common of nearly anyone else in the school. It wasn't saying much, the mysterious girl and her fascinating way of engaging with others was still mostly a mystery to her. She could go with one of Shinji's friends, she trusted anyone who was close to the brown haired boy, she knew he was a good judge of character even if he wasn't aware of it.
Neither seemed like a bad choice, each of them seemed kind in their own way aside from their accentuating eccentricities. Since her goal was to learn she decided experience mattered, based on her outgoing attitude the Makinami pilot was probably more experienced in social matters than the normally quiet bespectacled boy.
She looked at the clock and confirmed her feelings that the school day was near its end. She kept her eye on the brown haired eva pilot and prepared to speak to her as soon as the bell rang.
"Pilot Makinami, may I speak to you for a moment?"
"Absolutely! Give me a sec to get my things together."
Rei nodded her head at the girl and patiently watched her as she shoved her items into her school bag and snapped it shut. She then found herself studying the girl's cyan eyes with her looking back, it lasted for a few seconds, most of the students had left and those that hadn't were paying them no mind.
"What did you wanna talk about?"
"Will you be going to the school's dance Pilot Makinami?"
"Yes, I shall, I love dancing."
"I see, have you already obtained a 'date'?"
"I haven't as a matter of fact, I was waiting for a cute girl to ask me."
This was not the answer she had been expecting to receive, she assumed with the date to the dance as close as it was there wouldn't be many people who were going whom hadn't already gotten dates."I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Why did you wanna know Rei? Are you going to the dance? The intensity in the girl's two eyes drew her mind back to the present moment.
"I am, I was wondering if you would be willing to accompany me, although if you're waiting for someone else, I'll find a person who is available."
"Rei, the cute girl I was talking about was you. I'd be more than happy to go with you."
"Oh, I think I understand now, I apologize. The reason I am doing this is so I can learn and better understand things like this." She made a small gesture with her hand as the words to describe her point eluded her.
You don't get out much, Do you?"
"You could say that."
Hikari wasn't a boring person. Sure she liked to clean and ensure the places she was in stayed that way. She respected authority figures and obeyed all the various rules imposed on her by Japanese society because she believed she understood their purpose. She was the type of person who couldn't relax until anything and everything productive that she could be doing instead had been exhausted.
She could have fun though, she was doing it right now. Playing against her younger sister Kodama in some weird but fun to watch bright and colorful fighting game, with two humanoid robots smashing themselves against each other as she vaguely directed it with her random button pressed.
She didn't really 'get' video games, she was good at them however. Amongst her siblings she remained the undefeated champion in the only competitive game their family possessed. Both her sister's exasperation at her apparent 'button mashing' not being enough for them to ever manage to defeat her.
Her moment of triumph this time was cut short however, as the blaring of her phone from within her pocket quickly made her lose interest in the ongoing game.
"Sorry, I gotta pause this for a sec."
"Don't even bother, it's already over."
Hikari ignored her sister's distraught look and paced quickly over to her room, snapping open her phone and placing the phone a healthy distance from her ear as she saw who was calling.
"Hi Asuka, How are you doing?"
"Hey Hikari, I'm doing, good, I guess? I don't know."
"Did something happen at NERV? You sound tired."
"Yeah, it was just some training exercises, nothing I couldn't handle." Even over the phone Hikari could sense there was more to the story than what the redhead was telling her but she'd let it be for now.
"Anyways, are you free in the next few days? I need to get a new dress and some of the good conditioner and figured we could make a day out of shopping."
Something was definitely off, Asuka asking her to go shopping with her wasn't strange. In the time she had known the girl she'd never seen her get a new dress, constantly ranting about fabric quality and how everything was overpriced. Something had changed her mind about buying a dress, it took a lot to get Asuka of all people to change her mind so it was something important.
Next week was the dance. She had managed to ask Toji to go with her but chickened out at the last minute and that bonehead still thought they were going as 'friends'. Based on Asuka's ranting about the school's male population she found it hard to believe that would be the reason for her friend's sudden shopping spree. Unless.
"I'm free the day after tomorrow, we can go after school if that works for you."
"Yeah that day works, I'll see you then Hikari.:"
"Wait, Asuka?"
"What!?"
"Have you talked to Shinji lately?"
It took almost a full minute for the girl to answer her question, she had to check the phone multiple times to make sure the line hadn't dropped.
"Yes, why are you asking?."
"Oh no reason, just curious I guess."
"You know already, don't you?" She had never heard the girl sound so defeated, or speak with such low energy.
"Know what?"
"It was your idea wasn't it!? That's what you were scheming on the roof about when I caught you!" The familiar fire in her friend's voice wasn't gone for long.
"Okay, I don't know what you're talking about, Shinji was just asking me for advice, we were not scheming and you did not 'catch' us."
"What would that idiot need advice from you about? He forgot how to tie his shoelaces or something?"
"Asuka you know that's not what it was. I can't tell you, it's private."
"Ugh, but that makes me wanna know even more!"
"Maybe I'll tell you, if you tell me what I'm supposed to already know. Did Shinji do something?"
"Yeah, he asked me to go to the dance with him." Hikari felt her mood instantly brighten at hearing these words, both glad that she was proven right and of course at imagining how happy her friends would be.
"That's great Asuka! You have to tell me everything! What did he say?"
"See that's actually kind of funny, when we were training together we made kind of like a bet or something, it was stupid but the winner could ask anything from the loser and they'd have to say yes."
"Anything!?" Hikari was both astounded and concerned by her friend's apparent boldness.
A loud sigh emanated out from the small phone's speakers. "Not that, he won and he used it for that so I said yes." Hikari sympathized deeply with the boy, knowing how hard it was to ask out the person you liked, that bet idea was smart she wished she'd have thought of it.
"What else did he say?"
"Some stupid crap about how Toji told him that he was 'too nervous to go alone', so he wanted to get his own date to support his friend."
"That doesn't really sound like Toji, he had told me he was the only one of his friends." Hikari felt herself smiling into the phone as she imagined the boys' worried expression. She knew why she was nervous about going, if he felt the same way then maybe he really did like her. The next step was just to get that numbskull to figure out she was asking him out
"The story he gave isn't adding up, It's a weirdly specific thing to lie about. He's usually honest." She had almost never heard the girl sound this concentrated. She could practically hear the gears turning in her friend's brilliant friend's head even through the crappy cell connection.
"So you're going as friends?"
"Yes."
"With Shinji?"
"Yes! I already told you that."
"Well you also already told me that 'Nobody goes to a dance as friends Hikari, just tell the doofus you like him already'.What happened to that girl?"
"Eh, What are you gonna do? Life happens, he asked me and it was an offer I couldn't refuse. Are you trying to say that idiot likes me?"
"I'm not saying anything, I'm just repeating your own words."
"Whatever, I spilled my beans. Now it's your turn. If you really weren't conspiring, then what was Shinji asking you about?"
"Well I don't know if I can tell you."
"Oh come on! That's not fair!" Hikari was struggling to find a balance between giving too much information while trying to lead her to the obvious conclusion. She ignored the girl's pouts while she thought over a plan of attack.
"I don't even know what could've sparked this. You can tell he's not a dancer. I guess it's just a social status thing so he can pretend to be popular for a day."
"Asuka, that's not why he asked you to go with him."
"Maybe not, I don't know if logic can explain it, it defies all common sense."
"It's really not that outlandish."
"Why? Do you know something I don't? Tell me!"
Hikari sighed deeply into the phone. She'd have to apologize to Shinji but hopefully he'd thank her in the long run.
"All that Shinji and I talked about was there was this girl he was talking to who he was trying to get along with and wasn't doing very well at it. He said she was really pretty, smart, strong and not the best with people. Sound like anyone you know?"
"I'm great with people, thank you very much. Is that all he said?"
Hikari chose to step over that particular minefield. "That's all I'm gonna tell you."
"So there IS more."
"Asuka, let sleeping dogs lie, I'm sure you'll know sooner or later, at least I hope so."
"Ugh, I hate not knowing things, this sucks, at least don't tease me about it."
"You'll be fine. You know what we should do? Make it a double date with the four of us!"
Hikari heard the beginning of a refusal come out of the redhead's mouth before she suddenly changed her attitude completely on the subject to one mirroring her own. "Okay let's do it, Do you have to bring Monkey-boy though?"
"His name is Toji, he is my date to the dance, Yes I have to bring him."
"Won't two more people make it that much harder for you to finally get it into his blockhead that you like him?"
"I don't know, Maybe, I've never been on a double date before, it sounds romantic."
"Ugh, What have I gotten myself into?"
"Wouldn't you like to know. I'll plan everything, don't worry I already have the perfect restaurant in mind."
"It better have open booths. Luckily now we have each other as backup if either of those morons tries anything."
"Well we're not gonna hurt them."
"Why not!?"
"I'm gonna be wearing heels! Do you know how hard it is to fight while wearing those?"
"Oh yeah, heels, I've worn loads of heels, you're right, that makes sense." Hikari considered herself a bloodhound for the truth and always considered herself capable of telling whether someone was telling the truth to her or not. It also helped that both the pilots she'd talked to in this case were terrible liars.
"So, shopping in a couple of days. Get you a dress to dazzle Shinji, and some heels so you can learn how to wear them. You probably won't need any for Shinji so it'll just be for fun."
"I've worn heels!"
"I'm very sure you have, I'll see you later Asuka."
"Later Hikari."
Hikari snapped her phone shut with a satisfyingly loud click. Her mind was already racing with possibilities as she hurried off to her room to prepare the most romantic double date of all time.
It was almost surreal to walk around the city when it was so calm like this. At least it was for Shinji sometimes when things got so quiet and peaceful he'd almost believe he was dreaming. Any attempt to interact with the world would somehow break the illusion and some unknown horror would descend from the sky.
He shook his head and focused on his walking. He was almost to the spot where he was supposed to meet Toji to go shopping. He already had clothes so they were just gonna pick up something for Toji then hang out at the mall for a while.
He hadn't spoken to his friend since they'd last spoken on the phone. The past two days having spent from morning till almost sundown in mind numbingly boring tests, All he did in them was sit in his entry plug for hours on end. He'd been told it was to collect data for a new autopilot system.
He'd later been informed by his father these were for the dummy plugs he'd told him about before. The thing he had to convince the commander of NERV to abandon because he knew that it was gonna be used more against them rather than for them. He couldn't just tell the man that, no that would be much too easy. Instead he had to play a game of cat and mouse that could very well end with him in a detention cell or in the worst case scenario, facing down some section 2 goon's barrel pointed at his head.
"Yo Shin-man over here!" His friend's voice boomed across the street he was on, drawing the attention of several passersby along with himself. He kept his head low and sight to the ground as he ran to meet his friend.
"Hey Toji, Ready to go?"
"You betcha! Let's go! Thanks for doing this again man, Kensuke's not really the type to ask about advice on how to dress. Besides he's on that stupid trip with his dad looking at cool military vehicles, he did say he'd show us the pictures when he got back."
Shinji nodded and smiled at his friend. He had no idea what qualified him as a better candidate to bring along even if his assessment of their friend was probably correct. There probably weren't a lot of options for the boy so he was the best available. Maybe if he just pretended to know about fashion he could fake it till he made it through this impromptu shopping trip. It's not like Toji knew enough to correct him. At least he hoped so.
He was surprised when trying to keep up with the taller and faster boy that they blew off all the men's outlets and unisex clothing stores, heading toward a dingy looking thrift store simply called 'Tokyo-3 Thrift.'
"A tip I learned from my old man, when you're buying nice clothes, never go firsthand, you'll get the same quality for half the price."
"That's nice." Shinji wondered what the boy's father was like, probably nothing like his own if he was actually imparting advice that was helpful to the boy. He was too shy to ask for any details, maybe one day he'd get the courage.
"Let's see what they got here." They wandered with some direction towards the mens sections, Toji putting on several different blazers and dress jackets to try on, he waited until he found one that fit until he said it looked good.
"Well what do you know? Fancy seeing you here boys!" Shinji stopped his passive observance of the wall in front of him and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the familiar voice.
"Oh hey Mr. Kaji, What are you doing here?"
"I was just finishing up some browsing of my own when I saw you two. Getting some nice clothes for the big night?" He extended his hand out for Toji then himself to shake, both boys silently communicating their surprise and wariness of the man's presence. Looking at his clothes it was clear his suit was tailored and that wasn't something cheap, he found it hard to imagine he was a frequent thrifter.
"I'm by no means an expert but I think I have a decent eye for fashion if you guys wouldn't mind an extra helper. I know Shinji's already gonna dress to impress so we can't have you slacking either."
"I don't like you." Shinji was always by the boy's impressive deadpan, it didn't matter what he was saying if he chose to, he could say it without emotion and an almost deadly intensity. It gave him a reminder of just how imposing the large muscle bound boy was.
"My deepest apologies! I never introduced myself did I? Ryoji Kaji at your service, I think we met briefly at Katsuragi's party."
"I already know who you are." Shinji could feel the tension building between the two as he tried to think of a way to deescalate the situation where Kaji failed.
"Toji, let's just get out of here. We can finish up later and we'll go to the nacho's stand, I'll even buy you a whole bucket." The boy's gaze was steeled looking at the older man whose own expression was as unreadable to him as it usually was.
"Actually I was hoping I could talk to Shinji for a few minutes? If it's not a big deal to you, of course."
"I'm not his keeper, if he wants to, he can." He then stepped aside and Shinji felt his mouth dry up, not wanting to cause any further conflict.
"Uhh, yeah, actually, sorry, I'll be quick, there's something I need to ask him about anyways."
"I swear on my honor I won't keep him long. Also a little tip, if you're going for a black overcoat, pick something bright and colorful for your undershirt. The contrast is striking and your lady friend will love it."
He watched Toji choose not to respond and instead simply turn away from the pair of them and go back to shopping. He'd really have to figure out what it was about Kaji that got under his friend's skin. He could understand thinking the man was weird and a little shady but he wasn't a bad person. At least that was what he had thought. Now though he was wondering what was so important
They walked directly into the center of the busiest part of the entire shopping center, it was a terrible place for anyone to have a talk. They have to stand practically centimeters apart just to hear each other and people washed around them on either side nearly completely enclosing them.
"I know you don't like crowds but I didn't have a choice!" Even with the man practically yelling his ear it felt a little above a whisper compared to the roar of footsteps and background noise of the people around the both of them.
"If anyone's listening in they won't be able to pick out our conversation from the background noise, we're basically hiding in plain sight so we can talk freely." He was amazed at the man's ingenuity and himself felt like he was taking part in a grand deception.
"Why?"
"I wanted to talk to you, you really saved my behind when you warned me of what was coming back on the ship."
Shinji's mind had let that memory completely slip, it all came back to him in that moment. Now he was panicking, knowing where the next question were about to lead but having no idea of how to answer them.
"Don't mention it."
"Do you know when all of them are coming?" The man pointed at the sky and Shinji felt his eyes glaze over as he stared past him, trying to quickly think of a way out of the situation. After a few seconds with the man's gaze piercing him he just nodded his head.
'I believe you can make a useful ally out of Agent Ryoji, tell him what you know, do not tell him why, I'm sure you can come up with some reason.'
He'd resisted the thought but he knew part of him was waiting to hear from his father for some sort of guidance on what to do. Hearing this seemed to be enough to unstick the gears in his head
"Who are you working for?"
"No one, I just don't want anyone to get hurt." It felt good to include part of the truth in what would be a partial manipulation of the scruffy man.
"What else do you know?"
"I can't talk about them here."
"Are you potentially talking about the fictional group of old men controlling the world and leading it to its destruction in that new book series?"
Shinji smiled at the man's cleverness and played along with less finesse. "That's the one."
Kaji shook his head grimly at this, he wasn't sure if he had given the man what he had been hoping to hear or hoping to not, it was too late now anyways. "It's good those books are getting in with a younger crowd. After you're free we can continue this talk more openly. Sounds good?"
"Yeah." The taller man unhooked his arm from over his shoulders, giving him a quick wave before dashing off. Leaving him so bewildered he stared at the empty space he once occupied while he processed what had happened. It looked like his plan had worked? He hoped when they talked later he'd be able to pool their information and maybe even work together. It would be really nice to not feel like the only one trying to stop the real life people who acted like villains from a western comic book.
It really put a damper on his hangout with Toji, not just the fact that he'd have to cut it short but it was a constant distraction on the back of his mind when they finished up shopping. Luckily for him all he had to do was give a couple thumbs up to a couple nice looking dress shirts he was shown by the boy before they paid and left.
They arrived at the Nacho stand, Shinji offering to stand by his previous offer while only getting a small one for himself. Sitting at the table he idly picked at his food while he waited for the boy across from him to finish inhaling his food. When he stopped for air he let out the question that had been sitting on his tongue since earlier.
"Why don't you like Mr. Kaji?"
The boy paused briefly to think about the question, looking out across the mall. "Bad vibes man." He seemed satisfied with this answer and restarted the process of funneling chips into his mouth.
"What does that mean?"
"Every Time I've met the guy the vibes have been all off. There's something weird about that guy, he's suspicious, I don't like that about people."
Shinji thought about this, he knew Toji was an honest person, he respected that quality about him. It made sense he would find grating someone whose entire being revolved around dishonesty like Kaji
"What's a vibe?"
Toji seemed slightly annoyed by the question. "You know the expression about everyone having three faces?"
"Yeah?" He vaguely recalled his teacher had told him something about there being a face you show to strangers a face you show to those close to you and a face you yourself only see. It didn't seem that relevant to him at the time.
"His first face and his second are both dishonest. I have a sort of sixth sense for these kinds of things."
Shinji wasn't sure how to answer that, so he pondered it while he polished off the rest of his chips to catch up with his friend.
"I don't know, he seems nice at least, Asuka seems to like him."
"A lot of people do at first and she has weird taste, no offense. I know you work together, I'm not trying to say anything, I'm just speaking what I'm feeling."
"Yeah, I know Toji." He wasn't really sure what to make of his friends' opinion, he'd think more about it later. Right now he wasn't gonna let him get in the way of enjoying this free time.
"Let's get to the arcade! Did you hear about the new fighting game they put in?"
Shinji quickly grabbed both of their trash and tossed it in a nearby bin, jogging to catch up to his friend who had walked away oblivious.
"No, is there something special about it?"
"Yeah It's fighting robots against Kaiju, I heard the characters you can play off are based off the Eva's. Of course any self respecting arcade in the Tokyo-3 itself would get it as soon as they could."
"Oh that's cool, yeah let's play it, sounds like fun."
As was typical of his time spent with his friends he lost nearly every game except the first one, giving him false hope that was completely crushed within the first hour. A while after that a thought appeared in his head. This was the first time it had been just the two of them hanging out, it was going well that wasn't why he was thinking about it. With Kensuke there it was kinda mean spirited to talk about dance stuff so this might be his only chance to see how his friend was feeling about the upcoming event.
"Hey Toji, can I talk to you about something?"
"You can talk to me about anything, what is it?"
"So we're going to the dance."
"Yes."
"As a group."
"Yeah, Hikari told me."
"Aren't you like, you know, nervous or anything?" He physically pushed the words out of his mouth with surprising difficulty.
"Me? Nervous? I was man, for a little bit, then I sweat it out."
"You sweat it out?"
"Yeah I thought about it while I worked out and went at it until I wasn't nervous anymore. you should really try it, it works."
"Maybe I should." Shinji couldn't decide if he was more frustrated or more impressed at the boy's attitude.
"What's got you nervous, Shin-man?"
"Ah, it's nothing, I've just never, been to something like this, ever. I have no idea what I should do once I'm there."
"Ah don't worry about it! No one else knows what they're doing either, we're pretty much the only school to have done something like this in the past and now. Dances like this are rare in japan, just fake it till you make it."
"I don't even know how to do that."
"Shinji listen, when you see me walking around at school, do I look like I have it all together?"
The more he thought about it the more he agreed with the conclusion he was leading him to, the boy did always look confident and in charge when they were at school. In general he seemed a lot less tense once they were outside of the building they spent the most time together in.
Yeah, I guess so."
"And knowing me as you do, do you really think that?"
"Well, I mean-"
"Exactly, you know what I'm saying, It's a little bit of 'acting', it doesn't have to be convincing, believe me."
"Can I ask you about something else?"
"I already said you could, go ahead."
"Yeah but it's kinda, private. Do you, Uhh, you know, like Hikari?"
"Of course, she's one of my good friends and she's nice to me, why wouldn't I like her?"
"Not like that, I mean like, like like her, you know?"
"I don't follow."
"Nevermind, forget I said anything, Sorry for bringing it up."
"Wait! Are you trying to ask if I like her?"
Shinji chose not to speak, instead giving him a pointed look he'd learned to replicate from a certain redhead.
"I mean me? Of all people? Having a crush on a girl? Especially one who is cute, really nice, and an incredible cook? Like Hikari? Nah man, that's not me. Could you even imagine that happening? Sounds ridiculous, that's what it is."
Shinji patiently watched the boy and waited for him to finish, when he ran out of steam he seemed flummoxed by his nonchalance.
"You can't tell Kensuke."
"I wasn't planning on it."
"So is it the same with you and the Red D-"
"Yes." He kept his voice firm but his cheeks still flushed at admitting the truth he still found embarrassing.
"Okay, but why? She treats you like a dog who just peed on the carpet."
"She's really not that bad when you get to know her, mostly you get used to it after a while. I don't know, part of me thinks she doesn't mean it, another part thinks I deserve it, the negative stuff just never sticks in my head that long. She can be really nice sometimes."
"Like when?"
"She helped me with my homework once." The memory stirred another feelings, confusion at the girl's mysterious actions back then. These were mostly drowned out by the image of Asuka in that Bikini that would forever live in his memories.
"Have you kissed her yet?"
Shinji's entire face turning red and being unable to string together a sentence after the question communicated the opposite answer than he would've liked.
"Dude, I was just messing with you! You really did!? Nice dude!" Shinji's frozen hand was brought into an unwilling high five with the boy.
"Please don't tell anyone."
"Hey don't worry, we're even now, it's like when we learned about the cold war, Majorly assumed destruction, basically it means if either of us tells the other's secret we're totally screwed."
"Actually it's mutually assured destruction."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Nevermind."
As he walked home after him and his friend and parted ways, he agreed to meet with Kaji but hadn't asked where they would meet, or even for his contact info so he could get in touch with the man.
The becoming familiar sound of a roaring engine behind him told him he wouldn't have to worry long. At least in this case the person tailing him was someone he knew instead of a faceless section 2 agent.
Eventually he stopped and watched with a tinge of fear and awe as the man slid dangerously fast to park as close to him as he could manage without stopping completely.
He quickly hopped into the passenger seat and warily grinned at the man in the passenger seat, who took the initiative to already start speeding off before he'd even closed his door.
"Where are we going?"
"A safe place, it's technically where I've been staying although I usually only sleep there a day a week at most."
"His mind was exploding with different questions he wanted to ask the man, he decided to stay silent for now. Wherever they were going would probably be a better place to ask them.
With the man's surprising grace in his flagrant disregard of every traffic law he knew and about every sign he could see, they arrived at their destination in only a few minutes.
Shinji followed the man towards the tiny apartment complex, looking around to see if anyone was following them but seeing nothing. If anyone was still watching them they were probably smart enough to not be spotted by someone like him.
The inside of the place was incredibly spartan. There were no decorations, the only piece of furniture besides a medium sized television was a beat up couch that looked at least a decade old. Even in the small kitchen he saw a pot and a pan with a spattering of utensils thrown in the sink. It looked like he'd just moved in last night but he knew the man had been in the city for weeks now.
It was strange it wasn't dirty exactly but he'd feel like he was lying if he told someone it was clean. It was just, barren.
A loud snap brought his attention back to the man in the room with him. " Take a seat, Do you want anything to drink? Soda, Juice, Water?"
"No, I'm fine." He found what looked to be the least stained cushion on the couch and chose that as his seat while Kaji pulled up a creaky wooden chair from across the room. Once they were both settled an awkward silence settled over the pai. Shinji chose this time to take the initiative and spoke the first thing that came to mind.
"Before we get down to business, I am curious. What did you wanna ask me about?"
"Oh, really? Do we have to start with that?"
"We don't have to, I'd like to, I hope whatever it is I'm able to be of some service."
"Well, it's about Asuka."
"Ah, girl troubles, the best kind of trouble to have."
"I wouldn't say that."
"So what about Asuka?"
"So, I kinda asked her to go to the school's dance with me."
"That's fantastic, how did that go!?"
"Uhh, Good? I guess, she said yes, she didn't exactly have a choice. We made this bet and I won it, the loser has to agree to whatever the winner says. I don't even know why I did it, the whole thing is ridiculous"
"Shinji, I don't want you to take offense when I say this, but you're an idiot."
"How would I not take offense to that!?"
"You're wondering if she actually likes you or if she's just being true to her word, right?"
"Well,I mean, Yeah but-"
"If you'd asked her normally she'd have also said yes and you wouldn't be so anxious about why she's really going."
Shinji snorted derivatively at the absurd suggestion. "There is no way she would agree to go otherwise. when she brought up the idea of the bet I saw it as my only chance. I figured once we went something would happen, you know?
"You didn't even have a plan?"
"I needed a plan? For what?"
"You like her don't you? That's why you asked her out?"
"Yeah." Shinji had really thought after doing it a couple times it would get easier to say but in his mind that made it even more difficult.
"Are you planning on telling her that anytime soon?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"She'll think it's gross, beat me up and then probably hate me forever afterwards."
"Well if you're that optimistic about it, sure, have some faith in yourself Shinji. Do you really think 'The Great Asuka Langley Soryu' would go out with somebody she didn't like just because of a stupid bet?" Shinji couldn't help but chuckle at the mention of Asuka's self coined nickname.
"I don't know, Maybe, I'm not like you Kaji, I don't know how to talk to Asuka without making her more mad. She's seemed more calm since I asked her to go but now whenever I try to talk to her my throat closes up and I feel like I'm about to pass out."
"Growing pains Shinji, we all have to go through the time when we're socially awkward monsters trying to trick women into spending time with us. Wanna know how I got to become the Suave ladies man you see before you now?"
"Yes!"
"I faked it."
"You what?"
"I pretended that I was the king of whatever room I was in, spoke from the hip and didn't break the act no matter what happened. Eventually you get lost in the role and the difference between it and you is semantical."
"Not this again, That's insane, I can't do that."
"You probably shouldn't, everyone's path is different. You know what I think you should do Shinji? Speak your mind."
"Yeah, sure, I'll do that."
"No, I mean it literally. When you're with Asuka say whatever is on your mind, whatever limiters that normally stop you from saying what you're thinking of in the moment, try to reign them in for that night"
"Why?"
"Because you're a good person. Do you really care about Asuka? Not just about how she looks in a plugsuit?"
"No, it's not about that. She's really…Strong. I wanna be Strong like that someday."
"I figured, I've seen the footage from your battles, the successful ones and otherwise. I've seen horny teenagers but not one willing to step into an alien death ray just for a girl they think is hot."
"I mean, Yeah I guess. So, as I've heard from multiple sources, apparently I'm an idiot. What if I say something stupid when I try to do what you say and speak my mind to her."
"Oh you totally will, don't get me wrong. You'll probably say something REALLY stupid if I'm being honest, but it'll be worth it. Otherwise you'll be so afraid of saying something wrong you'll instead stare at her like a mute the entire time. Am I wrong?"
Shinji was deeply offended by the man's statement and hoped his eyes communicated that clearly. "No…."
"Now my final piece of advice is this, you're going to a public dance. Eventually later in the night there will be a slow song, you have to ask her to dance, then that's your moment to strike."
"Strike!?" Why am I gonna hit her!?"
"Shinji, I don't mean literally, I meant that's when you should tell her about your feelings."
""Wait just a second! Since when did I agree to do that!?"
"You know what? You're right, I shouldn't get too invested in this. You asked me for my opinion and advice and I gave it. Let's get down to business, shall we?"
"You're not really a special inspector, are you?"
"I still am technically, wages are still stagnant in japan and the cost of living has only gone up, every man's got to have a side hustle or two."
"So what do you actually do?"
"Well as I'm sure you've already guessed I'm a spy. Everybody thinks I'm on their side or at least willing to do what they ask and only one of them is right."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"I hope that if I am as open and honest as I can be, you'll pay it in kind."
"Who do you work for?" Shinji felt turning the question was the best way to get some kind of understanding of man's mysterious employer.
"Their name isn't really important, what is, is that they're a group of people looking to save the world from evil old men."
"That sounds good."
'Demand to know more about this organization, you can't risk putting valuable information in the wrong hands.'
Shinji could sense the urgency in his father's voice, considering he'd mostly been quiet he assumed this intrusion was important.
"Listen, Mr. Kaji, I don't mean to sound rude but I need to know who these people are if you're gonna tell them what I tell you."
"That's smart, I can't blame you for asking, I'd be curious if I were you too. I'm not sure if you're aware but the UN is completely corrupt. It used to embody ideals that people respected. A small faction of reasonable people are trying to reform it from within. To do that they need information, right now we're pretty much flying blind trying to stop plans we don't understand half of."
'I was aware of the existence of no such faction, if he isn't lying, without you their chances of success are practically zero. It's still very risky to trust them, however beggars cannot be choosers, they'll have to do.'
Shinji was really struggling to pay attention to the man speaking to him directly inside his head and the man in front of him but could really only hear about half of what each was saying.
Now was the part he'd be dreading, having to pretend to be some broker of information. It had stopped feeling like he was playing the role of a superspy trying to save the world on a top secret mission. Now he was just lying to people he cared about, for reasons even he wasn't entirely sure of. He only hoped everyone would live long enough to hate him for keeping the truth from them.
"I think I can help you with most of the important information you'll probably wanna know."
"That's the best thing I've heard all day! How did you find out all this stuff?"
"I'm sorry I really can't tell you that."
"Okay…..What can you tell me then?"
"You have questions, probably about NERV, SEELE, or the Eva's. I can answer them."
"You're really being serious? Aren't you?"
"I am."
"I could almost kiss you Shinji!"
"Please don't."
"It feels good to be back, not that I don't enjoy a chance to get away, I'm too old to be in the cold like that for long."
"The weather was objectionable but securing this should be enough to keep the committee off our backs a little while longer."
"We can only hope. Have you read the reports from the latest synchronization tests for the pilots?"
"I have not yet had time to fully brief myself. Are there any developments of note?"
"Two of them actually, Rei went up by a full six points, it has to be related to what happened in that last had section-2 send you the reports directly so I know you've read them, do you think she'll still wanna play her part?"
"Rei is loyal, I have faith in her. Her getting more skilled at piloting the Evangelion over time is to be expected. Dr Akagi will monitor the developments and see if any other actions need to be taken."
"There's also your son."
Gendo felt his eyes narrow dangerously at the older man, obscured to him by the red visor wrapped around the top of his head. "What of the Third Child?"
"In the latest test he went from 72% straight all the way up to 95% synchronization in just one test, a 23% percent jump, that's unprecedented."
"It is indeed, it would seem his aptitude for bonding with the Eva was better than we had originally predicted. This can only benefit the scenario, I fail to see any issue."
"Do you think he made contact?"
"It's possible but unlikely, it would serve as an explanation for his knowledge about the committee but I doubt her knowledge would include foreknowledge of attack plans against NERV. Ignoring that, direct contact with the soul inside of an Evangelion core has proved impossible in testing and there has been little to show that changing. The Third Child is not even aware of the identity of the core, I have made it so."
"Maybe there are some things you can't forget, if someone removed your memories of her do you really think it would last? Could someone make you forget?"
"That is not a burden he must carry, he will pilot the Evangelion until the time comes, at the end of it all, he will understand."
"Do you really think that will happen? After everything that's happened between you two?"
"When the scenario is complete, if he does not understand, then, there will be no choice, I will have to force him. I just have to hope she will forgive me after all is said and done."
"Let's hope she forgives us all."
It was hot, it was always hot in this stupid city, even the rainy days were so unbearably humid it felt like she lived in a swamp for the week after. The weather however wasn't the reason for her bad mood this morning, It was the reckless, irresponsible harlot she had somehow ended up trapped in an apartment with. She'd been fully prepared for an upcoming argument where she'd again refuse to ride with the woman driving. To her chagrin she'd opted to have section-2 take them all up in a van, removing the possibility.
"Ugh this is stupid, you said we were going on the weekend. Who takes a trip to a 'hot spring and spa' in the middle of the week? Doesn't that violate some Japanese tradition about when to take vacations?"
"Asuka we're spending a night there I'd hardly call it a vacation, consider it a celebration of the day, happy thursday! Even if the school's closed for 'sports day', I want the both of you rested and energized for your big date tomorrow!"
"Ugh, Wondergirl and Foureyes are going together, why aren't they getting the same third degree of bullcrap!?"
"Because you guys are so much more fun to tease!"
"She's right Princess, no offense blue, you just don't give those lovely reactions when someone says you might like a certain boy."
"I found nothing in the statement to take offense to."
Asuka mumbled a few of her favorite swear words under her breath at the women surrounding her and chose to hop into the surprisingly cool interior of the black van set to take them. Sitting next to the idiot curled up in the corner and using her body to subtly block anyone from trying to sit next to them. She didn't wanna sit alone with him, that would be absurd, he was just the best option to sit next to these weirdo's all traveling with them.
Eventually all of the Evangelion pilots and their commander were crammed into the back of the black van and they all sped off towards their destination.
It was stupid to cancel two whole days of school just for some stupid dance and some sports games. Not like we were really learning anything there I'd just rather be there than stuck spending her freetime with the band of lunatics she happened to call co-workers.
There was one person whom she'd decided to allow as a probationary 'friend'. A definite work in progress if one ever existed.
Rei was a little more normal, it was entirely because of her influence, especially when she'd informed the clueless girl that Eva pilots did in fact get paid for their labor. She'd have to take her shopping, however, the girl had at least bought something she could wear besides her school uniform. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress that hung a little loose but looked fantastic. She'd have to add another friend rule about looking good in one of her favorite outfits.
"I followed your instructions on purchasing clothes, these were part of a discount sale and in my size, do you find them to be acceptable attire?"
"It's acceptable alright but you've gotta learn what colors go with your skin tone. For example, that yellow is too bright, you're so pale you need to wear dark colors if you want them to stand out at all."
"I see, I believe I understand, contrasting color patterns are more likely to draw the eye and be pleasant to look at. I will take note of this when obtaining clothes next time."
"Yeah we'll 'obtain' them together next time, I'll pick. Have you gotten your outfit to 'learn' with Four-eyes this weekend?"
"I was thinking of wearing this but I was not sure if a 'Sundress' counted as a formal dress for the dress code."
"Hell no it doesn't! You're really lucky you've chosen a complete pervert to go with. I'd be offended if you came that underdressed!""
"I see then I will purchase a more formal dress under your supervision, is that acceptable?"
"Wear whatever you feel most comfortable in blue, looking good is a bonus but you're really there to have a good time, don't let anything distract you from that."
"Don't listen to her. That's just what the school tells you to think, what a school dance really is is a way for all the girls to definitely prove who is hot and who is not."
"I believe I understand. The girls are competing amongst themselves to earn the attention of the sex they find appealing. Shinji, do males partake in a similar activity?"
"If there's a competition I already lost, some people care about that stuff but I don't even really understand how it works."
"It's not about getting the attention of stupid boys! It's about proving your superiority over others, carving out your spot in the pecking order as forcefully as you can. If you're the best you have to look the part!"
"Everybody's different Princess, that's why you're going but you're you. I do wanna show off how good I look in a dress but I don't wanna compete with anyone. I wanna have a good time and dance."
"You two are certainly different. As for you, You'd better fix that attitude before this weekend Third Child, I'm not going to drag around a sad clown in my new dress!"
It filled her with a strange surge of emotions when the boy didn't give the usual reaction to her berating him, instead of cowering like a wounded animal he's simply acting like he didn't hear her. Even with her raising her voice nearly right into his ear barely causing him to flinch. She was doubly annoyed at him for not paying attention to her and at herself for even wanting him to look at her.
The van came to a sudden stop, with both her feet up and arms relaxed, the inertia threw her forward directly into the lap of the boy sitting next to her. This caused the previously spaced out and unmoving boy to suddenly try to escape at the same time as her. They both collapsed to the floor of the van in a tangle of limbs, apologies and swear words.
When she'd finally managed to break free she quickly straightened out her hair and clothes before seeing the audience to their unintended spectacle. Two of the girl's were doubled over in laughter, each supporting the other while even Rei had a small smile pointed at the defeated boy still laying on the ground behind her. Something about it sent a bolt of anger shooting right through her chest directed at her new friend.
She was used to feeling annoyed at the girl, mostly due to her complete lack of any form of social skills. This was different, the way she looked at Shinji as they both exited the van made her want to punch the girl and she still couldn't figure out why. The only person more oblivious than her was the idiot. They probably both think 'flirting' is some weird European thing. It would take an act of god for the two of them to ever end up together.
Not that she cared who either of them ended up with, mind you.
If Shinji wasn't insecure about the way his body looked, he sure was now. He checked himself out again in the mirror and continued to frown at the lanky and pale boy looking back at him. He'd make sure to waste enough time changing to guarantee everyone else had already gone before him.
Towel around his waist he slowly creeped out of the men's changing room. He was glad the place was practically empty besides a few employees, less people to judge him. He had just crossed the room unmolested and headed out into the bath proper when he sense someone approaching him from behind, quickly. His fight or flight activated and he tried to leap out of the way, if he'd looked before he did that he'd see the open locker door in his path. He did not however and the force of the impact knocked him flat and sent the towel wrapped around him tumbling to his feet.
He looked up to see the familiar sight of a brunette girl doubled over on her knees nearly crying from laughter and holding her sides. His growing feeling of anger was replaced by embarrassment as he watched the girl's eyes drop to his now exposed waist. He felt a mystifying surge of emotions when the girl shook her head approvingly,
"Wait to go, on disproving stereotypes about Asian dudes Shinji. Good for you."
He bolted his body upright and made sure to retie his towel as tight as he could then tried his best to glare at the girl with his cheeks still burning.
"Hey, I'm sorry, really, I mean that. I just wanted to talk and you took forever to get done changing so I got a little bored."
"What did you wanna talk to me about?" Shinji was curious besides their initial meeting and friendly insubstantial conversations at school and NERV she and the girl had barely talked. She had become the unofficial 'Fourth Stooge' according to Asuka since she had started spending lunches with him and his friends. He'd mostly listen to her and be amazed at the seamless way she inserted herself into her friend's banter. It wasn't as amazing when she stopped teasing his friends and they all three worked together to tease him. Despite that it did make lunch more interesting he had to admit.
"If it's too personal you can tell me to drop it and I will. Something's always made me curious, your father is the commander of NERV, right?"
"Oh, Yeah, He is."
"What do you think of him?"
That was new, most of the times he'd had this conversation it started with the other person heaping praise upon his father and talking about how difficult his work must be. It left for little room to disagree with the image most people had created in their minds of humanity's selfless and secretive savior.
It was the one thing he couldn't come to Rei and talk with her about. Asuka would make fun of him, Misato would tell him to just get over it. His friends at school were woefully under equipped to hear him talk about the man and mostly still had the false idol in their minds created of the man. This might be his only chance.
Besides something about the girl seemed trustworthy to him he couldn;t put a finger on it but he simply couldn't imagine the girl acting maliciously towards him or really anyone.
"I don't know, I can't say he's a bad person but I definitely wouldn't say he's a good person either"
"What do you think a good person is?"
"I guess. Someone who helps people? You know what I mean like a good person."
"I know what you mean I'm just curious about your beliefs. What do you believe a bad person is then?"
"Someone who hurts people, Abandons them."
"For both of those you described actions, so to you a person being good isn't about what they think or feel, it's about what they do? Does that sound right?"
"I'm sorry, you're right, Isn't that how everyone defines what is good and isn't?"
"For some people, it's more complex, would you hurt people if you truly believed it was for a good cause?"
"No, I don't think I could make myself do it."
"Maybe that's a good thing. I agree with you, what someone thinks and feels inside themselves is always going to be a mystery. All we have to judge people in the real world is what they do and how it affects other people."
"So my father is a bad person."
"Doesn't he protect the world from the Angels?" Even Shinji could clearly pick up how insincere the question was coming from the girl. He was glad it didn't carry over to him but he could clearly tell that Mari did not like his father. Whatever her reasons were they must've been important, he could see the intensity hidden behind her playful gaze. It made him uneasy.
"Maybe, I don't think it makes him a good person. It doesn't cancel out all the harm he's done"
"But that's not what I asked, what do you think of him? How would you rate him as a father?"
Shinji narrowed her eyes at the girl, even if she seemed to have good intentions. He didn't appreciate prying into something he considered deeply personal when he wasn't in the mood to talk about it. It did kind of feel good to talk about it with someone, enough so to leave him feeling conflicted.
"He'd have to be around for him to be a good or a bad father, he left me alone when I was very little. I've been alone ever since."
"So, not winning any father of the year awards, I gotcha. I wouldn't go that far though. You're not alone now, you're here with all your friends having fun. You're taking a smoking hot redhead to a dance this weekend too."
Shinji's cheeks turned crimson at the girl's teasing but he shook his head to focus on articulating his beliefs on the subject.
"They only put up with me because I pilot the Eva, Asuka especially, she hates me."
The girl rolled her eyes at his words. "You know that's not true. If it is, I missed the part in my contract where I have to pretend to be nice to you because you pilot Unit-01. Those are your friends, we've gone through an experience most people can't even fathom. It'd be weird if we came out of that without any sort of bond to our fellow pilots."
"You're right but you gotta admit that none of us would be friends if it wasn't for Eva. I'd be too afraid to talk to any of you and I'm so invisible you'd never have a reason to talk to me."
"Well yeah if Eva didn't exist we'd all be scattered across the globe but we're not. Eva does exist and I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon. Fate brought all of us together so you should be thanking the gods you got stuck with nothing but attractive women to work with. One of them even likes you"
Shinji couldn't help but chuckle along with the girl. Then his heart dropped as he comprehended the last part of the girl's words. He knew he was dense when it came to girls but even he couldn't miss that.
"Listen Ms Mari, I'm really sorry, you're really nice and pretty. I just don't like you like that."
The girl seemed to have been struck dumb by his heartfelt rejection, he tried to be a gentle as he could with the unexpected confession but he didn't expect that result. Then she began to laugh again and he waited for her to finish.
"Shinji, I wasn't talking about me. No offense but you really don't need to worry about what you're thinking. I'm playing for the other team."
"Who were you talking about? Wait! What other team?"
"Do you wanna know something we have in common besides both being Eva pilots?" The girl paused and he shook his head affirmatively. "We both like girls."
Shinji felt his body untense at the girl's confession and a breath he didn't realize he was holding causing the girl to giggle. "Try to look a little less relieved."
"I'm sorry, I don't mean it to be rude."
"Oh I can tell and thanks for calling me pretty, I know, it is still nice to hear it. You gotta tell me, I wasn't expecting you to ask out the Princess so soon. What's your plan to sweep the fair lady Asuka off her feet?"
Shinji's eyes involuntarily panned across the lobby they were chatting in, taking note of several different routes of escape he could potentially take. He couldn't move quickly enough to escape while maintaining his dignity so he was trapped for now. "A plan, yes, I have one of those. I can't tell you about it though, then it might not come true."
"That's wishes Shinji. If you're planning on just winging it you're gonna need a wingman. I don't mean to brag but I can be quite persuasive when I want to be."
"Thanks Mari, I think I'll be okay. I just wanna have as good a time as I can. It's not like anythings gonna happen."
"That's quitter talk! You're telling me you asked out the girl you like and you're not even gonna tell her? Why not spend the night at home then?"
"I don't know. Wait a second! I never told you I liked her!"
"Cmon Shinji." There was a strange look on the girl's face that he did not like, he guessed it was what she looked like when she was genuinely disappointed. He felt his body sink at the realization.
"Is it that obvious?"
"I've been here barely two weeks and I already can tell both of you just need to tongue wrestle for a few hours until you get it out of your system."
"Mari!" His mind couldn't help from creating a lengthy slideshow of images inspired by the brunette's words.
"I'll let time prove me right, don't worry your secrets safe from you know who. It'll probably take a pneumatic drill to get it into that girl's head that you like her too."
They both turned their heads towards the sound of approaching footsteps. Aftering seeing who it was, more specifically their state of dress, Mari grinned madly while he turned his eyes skyward. Staring up at the unfamiliar cieling as the girls chatted.
"Heya blue, how's the water out there?"
"It is very pleasant, I have been sent to retrieve more soap, I shall return."
While the brunette watched the girl's backside as she continued walking, Shinji took advantage of her being distracted and darted out to the men's bath before she could stop him. Grabbing some soap and tossing his towel to the side he idly wondered how things were going with Misato and Asuka alone in the bath.
The image his mind created sent a rush of blood to his nose that luckily did not burst but did turn nearly his entire body a light shade of pink.
Misato's spirits were simply too high for anything to bring them down. She was really glad that her leg had healed enough for her to be able to walk and drive her ugly rental car around without too much trouble. The muscles did get incredibly sore when she used them a lot. However, soaking her whole body in hot water was just what the doctor ordered. She already felt more energy now than she'd had in weeks.
She looked over at the girls with her, Rei already looked nearly asleep with her eyes closed and a blissful expression on her face as he soaked. Asuka was laying a few meters away from her, she looked relaxed but looking a little deeper it was pretty clear to see the girl still had her whole body tensed. Then her brow furrowed and a pair of bright blue eyes snapped open to glare at her.
"Take a picture, It'll last longer."
"Sorry, can we talk for a minute?"
"I don't really have a choice, do I?"
Misato gingerly sat herself down next to the girl, being careful not to splash too much water as she gave her best winning smile. Then she met the redheads eyes again and it happened again, everything she'd been planning to say jumped ship from her brain. There was an awkward silence between the pair as neither made eye contact with the other.
"I noticed you didn't bring the cane, I take it that means your leg is mostly healed?"
She felt like the teenage girl now, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. "Yeah."
"Listen Asuka, I'm really sorry about what happened, it was irresponsible and stupid and I swear on my life I'll never do something to put you in danger like that ever again."
"Oh, that? Water under the bridge. I definitely was mad at you about that, now it just seems so, eh, I don't know. You're fine, you don't need to pretend like you care anymore."
The casually said words made her feel like someone had just punched her hard right in the chest. "I'm not pretending Asuka, we've known each other for years, what happened to the fire and brimstone girl I know? I expected you to give me a thorough dressing down."
"I was planning on it, I've just got a lot of other things on my mind right now, consider yourself lucky, it won't happen twice."
"You know Asuka, you can talk to me about anything. I've read your personnel files too, if you ever need to talk about that. It's okay if you're not ready yet, I know how hard it is to talk about that stuff."
"I can sure. I can do a lot of things. I don't want to though, So I won't. It happened a long time ago, It doesn't matter anymore. I'm fine."
A long silence settled in between the two girls. Misato had felt less nervous when the stupid Angel's were talking, somehow being honest with a teenage girl she lived with seemed much harder. There were a hundred different things she wanted to say at the same time and all she could do was stare ahead aimlessly like a fish.
Eventually she looked over at Asuka and first thought her eyes were glued to her chest, then she followed her gaze to the scar on her stomach.
"It's from the second impact. I was in Antarctica with my dad on a research trip. I survived, he didn't. I was in a life pod while everything was going to crap around me, genius that I was I stuck my head out to get a better look at what was going on. This was the reward for my curiosity."
The girl next to her remained silent, a pensive expression on her face. She couldn't tell if she'd made any progress but she decided to go for it anyway. "So what's your dad like Asuka? I never talked to him back when we used to live together, I'm curious about him."
"You know plenty, why do you care what I think about that fossilized jerk?"
"You do probably know him better than anyone else. if you wanna dish about bad fathers I've got enough to fill up the rest of the day and night."
"I'm sure you can trick some unsuspecting man into listening to you whine about your daddy issues, I'm not your therapist, if anything that should be your job."
"Rits is more the psychologist but you're right I am here to listen to your problems if you'll let me hear them. You're not alone Asuka, you don't need to be and you shouldn't force yourself to be that way."
"Whatever, you don't really care, you want me to forgive you so I'm more compliant the next time you might be ordering me to my death."
"Asuka, that's not-"
"I am NOT some petulant child. I'm a Soldier Misato! Soldiers follow orders! Nothing's changed that!"
"Damn it Asuka! You are a kid! I want you to be happy! Why can't you see that!? I'm apologizing because I really screwed up and I care about you!"
"You're damn right about screwing up! Don't lie to me Misato! You think you're the only one who can read personnel files!? You don't care about any of us, all you want is the Angel's dead, no matter the cost. No one likes a whiny tool, am I right?""
"That's not fair Asuka! Why would I live with you two if I didn't care? Why would I work so hard to keep you all safe!?"
"Were you working to keep me safe when you sent me to get vaporized!? You ordered Shinji to stop! If he listened to you I could've died and I'd be dead because of your orders!"
"But I, we didn't, Asuka I'm so-"
"Whatever, I don't even care. I forgive you. There, is that what you wanted? Will you let me actually relax on this 'vacation' now?"
Misato sighed and leaned herself back into the water, allowing the warm water to soothe herself after so spectacularly failing to get the girl to open up to her even a little. The worst part of it wasn't that she'd been rejected so harshly, it was that most of what the girl said was true. Forgiveness was probably something she didn't deserve, it wasn't the first time she'd let the girl down and it probably wouldn't be the last.
She had to keep trying, the girl didn't have many people she could count on, Kaji was the only person she'd seen actually manage to consistently stay on the girl's good side. She'd just have to hope if she kept trying and kept being there for the redhead eventually she'd let her in.
It's not like she could hold a grudge for that long.
"What do you mean we're sharing rooms!?"
"I'm sorry I got two of them. I didn't think they'd be so small. We can't fit four people in one, so someone has to sleep in the same room as Shinji, I elected you." Misato had the gall to end her flimsy explanation with an actual wink! She really thought she was being slick.
Asuka looked over at the boy as saw his skin was a similar shade to her own and he was currently stuttering unintelligibly at their widely grinning guardian.
"Why does it have to be me? I didn't get a vote."
"If you want Princess, I'll sleep with the puppy and you can have my futon."
Asuka shook her head violently at the suggestion and suppressed the more violent reactions she wanted to enact on her fellow pilot. "If I don't have a choice, I'll do it. If I get molested it's all Misato's fault!"
"Asuka can you please not yell that? I don't want the employees here to think any less of us than they already do."
"Asuka I promise I'd never molest you."
"I know you wouldn't! You'd never survive the attempt, so if you try anything while I'm sleeping, you'll wake up a Eunuch! You got that!?"
Asuka grinned smugly at seeing that the boy had been properly put in his place, it would at least ease her immediate concern at him doing something unexpected.
"Sweet dreams Puppy." She made sure to shoot the brown haired girl a look filled with the unexplainable anger at seeing the girls teasing succeed in making the boy blush. She seemed unphased however, blowing her a kiss before heading off with the other girls.
She entered in the room first with the boy dragging his feet behind her. She could see Misato wasn't kidding, there was room enough for a couple of those uncomfortable floor mats and not much else besides a tiny closet to store their things.
"These rooms are glorified closets! I can't believe this actually costs money."
"I think Misato might've ordered rooms for a single person. She probably just selected the cheapest option and didn't read the details."
"That does sound like her, let's just try to make it to the end of the night, we'll each get half of the room."
"Sounds good."
It took only a couple of minutes before they were both settled with the two mats placed on opposite sides of the tiny room and a thin blanket overtop her. As soon as they both lay down and she was certain the boy had gotten comfortable she shot up to her hands and knees to stare down at him.
"Alright, I've waited long enough, why did you ask me to the school's dance? What are you planning?"
"Well Toji said he wanted someone he knew going with him so he told me I had to find someone to go with. I thought maybe it'd be fun, so I asked you."
"He did have someone he knew going with him, it was Hikari you idiot. Try again."
"I'm sorry?" The girl's words sounded angry but her tone was even, it made him uneasy.
"You expect me to believe you found the idea of dancing fun? In a crowd no less?"
"I liked doing our sync training, that was dancing, I think it's pretty much ballet."
Asuka began to sarcastically clap her hands while maintaining the same fierce expression. "Wow, congratulations, that's the dumbest thing you've ever said, it'll take a lot to top that. Big stooge must really be rubbing off on you eh?"
"You were on the phone! How did you hear that!?"
This caused the girl to grin in a way he could only describe as evil. "I have my ways Third Child."
"We're friends, he's cool, it's tough to talk to him sometimes."
"Isn't it tough for you to talk to anyone?"
"No, Not like that, we can talk about school and videogames and stuff we like but there's so much more he just wouldn't understand."
"Nothing surprising there, talking to him I can imagine he doesn't understand much."
"He's very passionate, that's certain. It;s not stuff I expect him to get. What am I supposed to say 'Wazzup dude wanna hear about the time I ran right into what felt like the sun and then felt like my heart was gonna explode before I passed out?' Not exactly a crowd pleaser."
"Well you wouldn't say it like that first off." To his surprise the girl actually giggled at him, something he'd never seen her do before. He didn't wanna point it out but it was like a shot of adrenaline.
"He still wouldn't understand, if you haven't done it yourself you can't really, there's so many things about piloting Eva you can't even really explain."
"Yeah, I know what you mean actually. I think about telling Hikari sometimes but then I realize how crazy it all sounds. How can we really understand normal people with this looming over us all the time? All the tests and the battles and the trainings, it's a lot different then what normal kids are doing at our age."
"What even is normal?"
"No one any of us have met yet, hopefully some of the kids at the school I don't care to remember. Now quit trying to distract me and tell me, why did you ask me to dance?"
His plan had failed, it wasn't a good one but it was all he had. Sometimes he really hated how sharp the girl's mind was at times. Now he had to think of another way to answer the question, if he told the truth he was dead meat, if he lied however odds are pretty good he'd end up still leaving the room a corpse.
He silently cursed Misato for putting him in this position, he really thought they'd been getting along lately and here she goes, sending him to a near certain demise. Considering how intimidating the redhead seemed to him now he was asking himself the same question she was.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know!?"
"I just did it, I don't know why, can't explain it."
"That's worse than your first excuse!"
They were both interrupted by 3 knocks against the wall on their left, each less than a half second after the other. He was both impressed and ashamed they'd all three gotten together just to tell them to quiet it down.
"Let's go to sleep, we can talk later." He spoke barely above a whisper and curled up into the covers atop the small futon.
"Oh we will, you can be sure of that."
Shinji looked down at his body to see he was much shorter than he remembered, everything was smaller. He was in an unfamiliar looking dressing room, he checked himself out in the mirror and saw he was in fact a child. He looked really young, he guessed maybe only 5 or 6.
He was dressed in a strange old fashioned looking black button up with matching pants. His shoes were too tight and his hair felt too long, before he could reflect on his appearance anymore a red light flashed at the door and he knew the show had begun.
He already knew where he needed to go, he had everything planned out in his head. When he reached his spot besides the stage he didn't even peak, he already knew exactly where they were at. It was almost time for him to deliver his line.
Suddenly his mind was somewhere else, he wanted to stay in the play but he felt something trying to pull him out.
Then he was back in Tokyo-3, it was a sunny and gorgeous day he felt like he was both inside his Eva and observing it move at the same time. The shadow of his massive looming body covered a corpse almost as big as himself. There was LCL or blood, or some sort of red liquid coating everything including nearly painting his skin the color of Unit-02.
In the pit of his stomach he felt the most primal ache, his stomach felt like it was collapsing in on itself and he'd never felt even close to this hungry ever before in his life. He stuck his hand into the back of the humanoid corpse's neck, easily rending the flesh and pulling out a hefty chunk of meat with a strange tube sticking out of one end. His jaw unhinged and he tossed the whole piece into his mouth. biting through it with a loud CRACK!
Shinji was suddenly back in the room he had been in before, the play director had been loudly snapping directly into his ears to get his attention for he didn't even know how long. When he looked up to confirm he was ready to say his line she had vanished into thin air.
He finally decided to take a look at the show and took a small peek through a side stage curtain with one of his eyes. He saw a little girl who looked to be around 12, much older than his dream self. She looked familiar but everytime Shinji tried to remember who she was, a fog settled over his mind and he could barely think.
Adding to his confusion when he started to think about the girl, tears started uncontrollably falling down his face. He only realized he was crying when they started to drip, after that he couldn't stop himself from breaking into a sob.
He let himself cry for a minute then tried to force down the sudden intense despair that had started to wrack his tiny body. He looked out across the stage and saw the girl looking at her, expectantly. It was time for him to go out.
He could see the concern and surprise etched on her face as he approached, he probably looked like a weepy mess.
"My lord….the queen is… dead" Hopefully people would think he's just a really dedicated performer and not just sad.
"He should have died hereafter."
"There would've been a time for such a word."
"To-morrow and To-morrow and To-morrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time."
Shinji had never heard Shakespeare before but he recognized that line. It was strange for him to dream about something he'd never read let alone the fact that he'd never acted in his life. It was also strange for him to be aware of the dream as it's going on but he saw that as a definite plus.
"And all our yesterdays have lighted fools, the way to dusty death."
"Out, Out brief candle. Life's but a walking shadow."
"A poor player who struts and frets his hour upon the stage then is heard no more."
"It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying, nothing."
Asuka was having a little trouble sleeping. A little might've been an understatement, she hadn't planned on getting much sleep stuck in this cramped room and sleeping on the floor but it was getting ridiculous. Her stupid and overbearing subconscious was constantly forcing her to remember the last time she'd managed to get some of the best sleep of her life, coincidentally that involved sleeping in the same bed mat thing as him.
She'd always loved science since she was a kid, with her fathers resources and willingness to buy her anything to avoid spending time with her she performed a variety of tests using various DIY chemistry sets she'd get from stores and some novelty shops. She considered her mind to be trained to work in a scientific way to discern new information.
Considering she'd already figured out that she'd have to slap the boy to get him to wake up fully and even then she'd probably have to do it twice. She could perform a follow test and ensure that it was just a coincidence that on that day she slept so well.
It took a lot of careful maneuvering, first she moved the covers then she dangled his arm above both of them as she positioned herself as close to the boy as she could be without touching. Once this was done, she carefully placed the boy's arm back where it had been, now it was comfortably wrapped around her waist.
What? She's not a nun! It's really Misato's fault for leaving two teenagers alone in a room together. What did she think was gonna happen? Wait, What did she think was gonna happen!?
Of course she was having these thoughts when she couldn't even smack some sense into herself. She tried to focus on the light sound of the boy breathing, his pulse was strong, she could feel it in just the way his wrist had ended up pressed against her stomach.
This time was going to be different, no embarrassing situation they both avoided talking about. All she'll have to do is wake up a little before him and escape while he's none the wiser to how incredibly good his fortune is.
AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Yes I know it's pretentious to put Shakespeare in your Evangelion fanfiction but have a little faith, if you've stuck around this long I promise I'm not just teasing you for the sake of it, it's so you come back and leave more reviews.
Thanks to my loyal guest reviewers, ya'll know what's up If I didn't have your consistent feedback on nearly every chapter I'd probably have enough motivation to get like half this amount of chapters done. Shoutout to all my other reviewers, you know who you are, you're awesome, I like that, Keep it up. If you wanna be more like them start reviewing fics, preferably this one first though
See ya on the next one
