Kensuke's Log: September 31, 2012
So. This is a first for me, this whole journal thing.
No way I tell Suzuhara, because he'd just call it a diary.
But really, it's the only thing I can do to get my thoughts in order. Writing it out is good, right?
*a chunk of text on the journal page features eraser marks and heavy pencil scratches, rendering it illegible*
Okay, I've tried five times to get my thoughts down, and haven't been able to do it. I'm just going to be blunt.
September 16 was a new moon. Mom was on duty like normal, because new moons are always busy days for the A.T. Task Force.
She vanished during an incident of Angel Syndrome that hit *several sections are erased and scratched out* Nagano. They tracked her to outside the ruins of Tokyo-1, where other agents found her body. Nobody knows what happened.
Dad's been real quiet since the funeral.
I bet they actually know, though. Even if they don't, I'll discover it for myself.
I'll find out.
*various doodles of Archetypes and an older woman are seen*
xxxx
/Sunday: June 14, 2015/
Kensuke Aida slowly sat up. This is not my bed. All around were bare trees, splattered with ash and paint of various colors. This is not my dorm. The sky bore a familiar red and black pattern. This is not the real world. "Okay...you somehow ended up in the Metaverse." He calmly - and so, so patiently - got to his feet, trying to gain his bearings. "Just...don't...panic." Trying to gain his bearings, he defaulted to going up the nearby incline, to at least try and get his bearings.
xxxx
All the while, standing atop the blasted tip of a dead oak, a certain penguin watched in silence. This is close enough for now. It was time to gather the other players.
xxxx
/Room 23, 2nd Floor, Izanagi Dorm, Hakone Academy/
Shinji Ikari slowly opened his eyes, watching Suzuhara slowly put on his shoes. "...good morning..." he sleepily slurred.
"Mornin'."
He slowly sat up - feeling some residual weariness from yesterday - and looked around. He and Suzuhara were the only ones here. "Where's Aida-san and Nagisa-san?"
"Dunno. They were both gone when I woke up."
"Oh." He stretched one arm. Then another. That's when he saw the taller boy head for the door. "Um...are you...going somewhere?"
"Yup."
"...where?"
Suzuhara glanced over his shoulder, eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why you askin'?"
"...no reason," he blurted.
The boy huffed, rolling his eyes. "Be back later. Try not to mess up our room with any of your...NERV stuff." And with that, he was gone.
...it's not like I ASKED the NERV stuff to happen here, he mused, before pondering what to do for the day. There was homework, but there were probably some other things to do around the campus...but first came breakfast.
Then he looked at his phone and decided that messages came first, then breakfast.
HEROD: WE HAVE ANOTHER QUERY FOR YOU.
HEROD: WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING PARTICULAR TEXTS DO YOU MOST CLOSELY IDENTIFY WITH?
HEROD: "I WILL BURN MY DREAD." ; "WE'RE ALL TRAPPED IN A MAZE OF RELATIONSHIPS." ; "IF YOU HOLD ON, LIFE WON'T CHANGE."
HEROD: THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG ANSWER.
HEROD: PLEASE RESPOND WITHIN 48 HOURS.
Shinji blinked.
SI: who is this
The response was so quick that he nearly dropped his phone out of shock.
HEROD: THAT IS NOT ONE OF THE POSSIBLE CHOICES.
Shinji sighed, turning his attention to another set of messages received during the night. These were...somewhat more concerning.
?: Hope you wake up soon, kid.
?: Your friend, the one with the glasses?
?: He somehow made it over to the other side.
?: You might want to get over there, give him a hand.
?: Something might happen, you know.
...what. That was decidedly concerning. Aida-san's in the Metaverse? How? His thoughts whirled around himself, so much so that he was already dressed - in a simple pair of jeans and a rose-colored shirt - and on his way for the door before even thinking hey, I should probably call Misato-san and tell her about this and when he opened the door REI AYANAMI WAS STANDING RIGHT THERE. "Gah!" he yelped.
"Ah, you're awake. Come with me."
"Um, about that, I'm sort of busy-"
"We are going to rescue Aida-san."
"...you know?"
"Yes."
"How?"
Ayanami glanced over his shoulder. "No one else is here. This is convenient."
"What's convenient-?" His words were cut off by the blunette shoving him back into the room. She followed and closed the door behind them, because why not cause more rumors for the other students?! "Uh, Ayanami-san-?!"
"Be patient." Her tone brooked no disagreement or argument. "I am going to teach you how to enter the cognitive world at will."
xxxx
/The Metaverse/
Kensuke Aida comforted himself by the fact there weren't many Archetypes around...or any, for that matter.
Said fact promptly worried him, since that implied this place's corresponding location in reality had very little in the way of human traffic. "Okay...just have to find some kind of landmark..." He couldn't be that far from Tokyo-3, surely! If this is some sort of strange training scenario concocted by Dr. Akagi, I'm going to be...upset. Darn it, why he couldn't he think of any better words?! I blame the lack of breakfast. Still, at least the 'air' of the cognitive world was oddly refreshing; maybe it was because he was inherently excited by anything having to do with the Metaverse, that automatically made his perception of the mental 'atmosphere' to be more pleasant and focus Kensuke! "Have to find an A.T. agent. Or one of those drones."
Clearing the hilltop, he couldn't help but grin at the sight of a road, stark amidst the sepia tones. Slowly descending past the blasted trees, Kensuke's bare feet switched from cold soil to mild asphalt; however, the road bore some unpleasant 'accessories'. Like various vehicles sticking halfway out of the blacktop, as if they had sunk into the asphalt; humanoid outlines, as if untold numbers of people had perished and then etched around by a police forensics team; road signs splattered with red paint, detailing such delightful statements like 'NO DEATH FOR YOU' and 'SO MUCH OUCH' and 'TRAFFIC STILL SUCKS'.
Okay, that last one kind of got a chuckle out of him. However, they didn't really tell him which way to go. "Well...guess I'll keep on going until I find something."
As it turned out, Kensuke Aida didn't have to walk too long. Twenty minutes, at most.
He cleared the hills of blasted trees, finally reaching a spot that unveiled the horizon. It made him pause; what appeared in the distance to be a massive metropolis was truly a gathering of building-sized gravestones, some crumbling, others tilting and on the verge of falling. However, of greatest note...
(He asked about the strange photo on the wall in his mother's office. She explained with a sad smile, "It used to be our capital. That's what it currently looks like in the Metaverse...it's a reminder, about the danger of what we face.")
...was the sphere of void that dominated the dead city's skyline, unimaginably massive. All colors seemed to fade into gray around its event horizon. "...that's Tokyo-1..." he murmured, jaw slack with disbelief. How did I end up so far from Tokyo-3?! His immediate impulse was to turn right back around...however, now that he was thinking about it...it would be nearby, wouldn't it? Maybe...I wonder...
Curiosity piqued, Kensuke Aida kept on walking, now with a firm location in mind.
xxxx
And all the while, Pen-Pen continued to follow him.
xxxx
/Room 23, 2nd Floor, Izanagi Dorm, Hakone Academy/
Shinji Ikari tried not to think too hard about the fact that a girl was standing in his dorm room...well, not quite his dorm room, it was more like his and three other guys', but still-I should stop thinking. No such luck. Still thinking. Agh.
Rei was rather quiet, absorbing her surroundings with a strange solemnity. "A strange tinge...no matter." She turned around, facing him head on. "Stand in front of me."
Shinji dutifully did so. "Um...so, now what-"
"Do you believe that the MAGI are our only means of accessing the cognitive world?"
"...um, no?" he responded, thinking back not only to his little 'TV jaunt' with Aida-san, but also to Goro Akechi's words. "There are...gaps. Loopholes." That's how the Chief Warden had described it.
"An accurate descriptor. The means vary, for those who do not have access to the MAGI network. Psychics, bearing a close bond to their own thoughts and those of others; sages of diverse beliefs, who can manipulate their A.T. Field; empaths, whose connection to the feelings of others can open that unconscious door; and more, I'm sure." She gestured toward herself, resting a hand over her heart. "We Evangelion-users are similar."
"How?"
"We are intrinsically capable of manipulating our minds and souls. Thus, with practice, we can straddle the edges of physical, metaphysical, and cognitive...and cross them, as needed."
"...how?"
Rei answered his question by placing her other hand over his heart.
"...uh..." he choked.
"Be patient. Calm yourself...and think deeply." The surrounding ambience seemed to deaden. "Ponder the patterns that your thoughts carve. Sense the boundaries of your soul, that define you in relation to others."
Wait, was her voice starting to echo?
"To cross that threshold, you must know who you are...and you must know what you are not."
"I don't-" he impulsively started, only to stop.
xxxx
His Other smiled.
"Step by step; that's all you can ask of yourself."
The Beast grinned.
"To save what you lost, you must hold nothing back."
They both gazed at a new figure, glowing white, holding her hands out. As one, the two spoke.
"Fear not, if you wish to reach the end..."
xxxx
He controlled his speech, tamping down on his own protests. "...all right then." Who am I? Shinji Ikari. Who is Shinji Ikari? A student. An Evangelion-user. The one whose Persona was called Hamlet. The son of Gendo Ikari and Yui Ikari, no matter how much the former made him feel...well, many unpleasant things. The roommate to Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara and Kaworu Nagisa. That's not enough, though. The one who had bonds - for good or ill - with Misato Katsuragi, Gendo Ikari, Ritsuko Akagi, Kōzō Fuyutsuki, Kensuke Aida, Goro Akechi, Hikari Horaki...
xxxx
The silver-haired girl smiled.
xxxx
...and little Sokila. And yet...
xxxx
"Don't you want to come back?" he asked.
He received no answer.
xxxx
...there was still more to claim, and more to learn. He acknowledged that incompleteness, deep down...and thus did he have subconscious certitude.
"Very good," whispered Rei Ayanami. "The mind can be muddled and unclear...and the soul can rage against all outsiders...yet, you can acknowledge the truth that your heart pursues, at the expense of everything else..."
Shinji did not respond, as he was too focused on the palpable transformations occurring around him. The familiar grayscale brought to mind the train...but before he could ponder it further, Ayanami guided them yet farther, as a subtle whisper from within his head took prominence. Grayscale faded, taking on sepia tones, and familiar flickers of black smoke and angular lines. Without a doubt, they were in the Metaverse. "Huh..."
The girl stepped back, looking somewhat drained. "You will come to understand how to do it yourself, with enough practice."
Shinji looked around the cognitive double of his dorm room, taking note of its various facets. Kensuke Aida's bunk and desk were a proverbial engineer's lab in miniature, with certain action figures depicting A.T. agents sprawled throughout. Toji Suzuhara's bunk and desk were dotted by statues of a buff and manly version of the jock, standing protectively in front of various people; interspersed between these statues were dumbbells, track shoes walking in place by themselves, and chains of all sorts weighing down on the statues of Suzuhara. Kaworu Nagisa's bunk and desk, meanwhile, were absolutely pristine and blank, bearing no perceptible difference relative to reality. His own bunk and desk, meanwhile seemed to be halfway-merged with the cognition of someone else; he saw some musical instruments and cooking utensils partly melded with figurines of an older woman, figurines that appeared to be slowly dissipating into smoke; of particular interest where various crayon drawings affixed to the wall above his desk, depicting people that he...couldn't quite identify. All the while, various icons and facets of other people - other students - floated about like dust.
"Hmm." Rei Ayanami looked about. "Your thoughts appear to be slowly overriding those of the prior occupant. Mere fragments are all that remain of this dorm room's previous tenants."
"...huh..." So the tiny statues of the older woman - possessing shoulder-length hair, a long-sleeved shirt, and a long skirt that went down to the calves - were related to the thoughts of...Tomochika, was it? "...so...now what?"
Rei Ayanami briefly brushed the hem of her school uniform, looking out the window at the black and red sky. "...I believe I know where Aida is." She sighed, sounding remarkably fatigued. "One of the benefits that you will come to understand about trespassing the barriers of reality...is the ability to traverse vast distances in a mere instant. It is how the Second Child and I are able to counter Angel Syndrome, no matter where it may emerge..." She trailed off, as if wanting to say something else. "...I suppose you will understand, when you face them again."
"...okay."
"Now..." Rei Ayanami rested her hands upon her stomach. She seamlessly pulled out a spark of blue fire. "Endure thy labor..." She crushed the orb, and it burst into tongues of blue fire. "...Lilith."
Shinji stepped back as the fiery wisps took on a life of their own. Rei Ayanami's body flickered with azure flames, taking on the form of her familiar white body suit from Evangelion training...except it was ruined, torn in various places, marked with blood stains; nine chains of iron seemed to sprout from within her body, each one wrapping around her form and ending in a white cross. Meanwhile, the wisps fused into a larger humanoid, one that was naked-
He averted his eyes.
"If it helps, you can think of my Persona as a reflection of my thoughts, and not someone who is actually nude."
"It really doesn't."
"If we are to fight as comrades, you will have to become used to it."
"...urgh..." He hated this. This was so inappropriate! He forced himself to look at 'Lilith': she appeared to be a grown woman with pure white skin, fairy-like wings of lavender emerging from behind: one pair from her calves, and four pairs each emerging from her shoulder blades. Frazzled hair as white as snow - bearing a similar haircut to Ayanami's - fell over a purple mask, hiding all facial features except two yellow eyes, wide and solemn. To round off her Persona's features, a massive red cross floated behind her, large enough that Lilith could be affixed upon it comfortably...so to speak. If he focused on the wings, the mask, and the cross, it allowed him to ignore the fact that Lilith had not a stitch of clothing on. Kind of. Sort of. "...is there a reason that she's naked?"
"...I am more comfortable in the nude. I wear clothes as a matter of social necessity," she bluntly admitted.
"...ah. N-N-Nice to to know," he squeaked.
"It is something you will have to be accustomed to, if you will delve into the Metaverse on a regular basis. The thoughts of humanity are bound to manifest in ways that violate certain norms. For example, there is an Archetype called an Incubus that possesses a rather elongated p-"
"I know, I've seen it before," interrupted Shinji, his face flushing a brilliant red.
"Ah. Then you will be inured before long."
"Is that really a good thing?"
Ayanami did not answer; rather, Lilith gestured at the wall, and it seemed to bend open, as if a hole was stretched and pulled into existence. "We will be taking flight. Please do not struggle."
"What do you mean-" His words were cut off by Lilith wrapping her left arm around his torso, pulling him flush against her side. Very very close to her bosom. "...I don't approve of this!"
"You are not yet capable of traversing the Metaverse quickly on your own," calmly remarked Ayanami, who was held in Lilith's right arm. "Time may be of the essence."
"...can you please teach me how to travel quickly?"
"That would take too long."
Shinji groaned, slumping in Lilith's arm. That at least gave him some distance from her chest, because it was essentially the inner reflection of some part of Rei Ayanami, which mean it was kinda sorta Ayanami's chest he was close to-and I'm going to stop thinking now.
Lilith merely loosed a ghostly titter, as she lightly leapt out into the open sky. As the outer wall of his dorm room's cognitive double closed back together, the Persona flapped her wings, taking off into the sky.
However, this action did not go unnoticed by one of the many Ocular Drones patrolling Tokyo-3.
xxxx
Kensuke Aida knew the location by heart.
He turned away from the road, turning back to the forest and scaling the hills and mountains. Now that he knew where he was roughly in relation to Tokyo-1 - to what remained of the greater Tokyo Metropolitan Area, which had been abandoned by the government after Second Impact - he knew where to go.
(Certain A.T. agents accompanied him and his father to the site of Naomi Aida's final resting place, as part and parcel of fulfilling her last requests. They had never gone back after that, yet the sight...the scent...the atmosphere...they left an indelible impression.)
I should have realized it, thought the boy as he continued scaling the inclines, past blasted trees bearing random graffiti, depicting the ambient spray of human thought in pictorial form, an everlasting impression etched into the cognitive world by virtue of the mere quantity of people that had lived in the area over the past decades. My apartment and my dorm were the most likely candidates, because they're where I spend most of my time...haven't had a chance to look in my dorm yet, though. It would be really awkward if his Shadow actually turned out to be in his dorm room. Well...at least I've got a heck of a view on the way up. Indeed; to the east, he could see the cognitive doubles of whole cities, many of them pockmarked by strange voids that warped the area around them, albeit mere pikers compared to the great orb that dominated Tokyo-1. Meanwhile, if he glanced to the west, he could see the cognitive impression of Mount Fuji: so omnipresent in the psyche of Japan, that it appeared to be cast in eternal daylight, painted onto the horizon with a perpetual snowcap, and the red rising sun behind it...even though that didn't make sense physically speaking. I wonder if the rising sun would appear behind it no matter what angle we looked at it from? A reasonable possibility.
Finally, after what seemed like no time at all, he ascended Mount Hiru: the tallest peak of the Tanzawa Mountains.
Atop the snow - strangely false, flaking away and dissipating with each step, behaving more like ash...no, like dust - was a strange anomaly, in the rough shape of a kneeling person.
("We found her sitting there, facing Tokyo-1. No discernible injuries...and yet, she was gone.")
Kensuke wondered if he was the only one who could see it.
He reached for the person, touching its static boundary-
WHOOSH
-and found himself inside someplace else. An empty cylinder delved deep underground, lit by spotlights and blazing torches; the walls were adorned with medals and static images of various heroic figures, evoking impressions of grandeur and majesty. However, taking pride of place was an absolutely massive statue - easily over five hundred feet tall, maybe more! - of his mother: clad in the uniform of the Anti-Terror Task Force, dagger held in one hand and a revolver in the other. A staircase ran along the side of the immense chamber, spiraling downward into the depths.
"This...this must be my Realm, then..." Well his Shadow's Realm, but the Shadow was a part of him. That was important to keep in mind. Okay, you know the deal: find your Shadow, accept whatever deep-seated issue it represents, and then POW, instant Persona! A grin impulsively came to his face as he jauntily descended the stairs, each step causing a flicker of light to emerge in its wake. This is going to be great! Now, I wonder what possible issue I could have...? Best to think about it now, before he found his Shadow.
All the while, masked beings - hidden in the threshold between shadow and light - watched in silence, not interfering...perhaps because they instinctively understood the doom that awaited their progenitor, at the bottom of the chamber.
Or perhaps they sensed that they would soon have company, for Kensuke Aida - deep down - truly did not believe that his entry into the Metaverse had gone unnoticed.
xxxx
Lilith set down atop the cognitive Mt. Hiru, her pale feet kicking up the ashy snow. She quietly set Shinji and Rei down, meters away from a clump of three-dimensional static. The blunette stood with surety, while he...well, tried to gather himself. "That...was...fast..."
"That was the point," remarked Rei, focusing on the cloud of foggy distortion situation upon the peak. "...it would seem that Aida's already come this way..." She looked around, sounding confused. "...then where...?"
"...what's wrong...?" He had done nothing but hang on to her Persona; why did he feel so exhausted?!
"...hmm. A concern for another time, then." Ayanami turned back towards the static. "This appears to be Kensuke Aida's Realm." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "Summon your Persona; it is probable we will need to fight."
"...Aida-san's...Realm...?" Is it like Chiba Takehide's? Had Kensuke gone inside to find his Shadow? "...wait, why would he attack me? I'm his roommate."
"Shadows tend to react negatively to outsiders, regardless of how close one may be to the Shadow's origin." A pause. "Also, by my understanding, being someone's roommate may not necessarily be a good thing."
Shinji thought of Toji. "...you have a point..."
"I would advise summoning your Persona."
"Okay, okay..." Shinji huffed, feeling for the Other within, all the while looking at the distorted air with trepidation. Aida-san...what does your Shadow look like? The boy had seemed fairly self-assured, if somewhat gung-ho; what kind of issue would he have with himself? Such were his thoughts as he serenely withdrew the spark from his head; fire erupted, as his self-image took precedence, and his royally-garbed Persona manifested. "...I guess we go in, then?"
"Yes." Ayanami stared intently at him.
"...is...something wrong?"
She looked down at his apron. Then back at his face. "Adorable."
"...why?" he muttered. His outfit wasn't that outlandish, was it?
Their Personas purposefully looked at the static, ignoring them. He wasn't sure if they were ignoring them out of amusement or embarrassment. Would he even be amused at himself for this? Ugh...Personas are complicated...
"Let us enter." She took hold of two of the iron chains, adjusting their length such that the white crosses would serve as flails.
Shinji nodded, gripping his shovel tightly; they stepped forward, Personas hovering behind them-
WHOOSH
-and they set foot into a pseudo-Valhalla, dedicated to images and icons of heroes and heroines. "...this is Aida-san's Realm...?" His gaze impulsively drifted to the massive statue of a female A.T. agent. "Who...?"
"...that would be his mother, Naomi Aida." The girl inhaled the aged air of the great chamber, red eyes narrowing with suspicion. "...perhaps that is what it'll be tied to...?"
"Intruders!" Various humanoids suddenly began to slip out from behind the framed pictures, descending heavily upon the spiraling stairs. They appeared as caped superheroes in colorful tights, and stylized agents in sleek bodysuits of black; their only shared characteristic were the blue masks covering their faces, solidifying their ties to the Realm. "Villainous rapscallions! We must repel them!"
"Tentarafoo!" Hamlet's handheld skull flashed yellow; the valiant thoughtbeasts faltered only slightly, not ceasing in their charge.
However, Lilith's hand was already raised high. "Megido," she intoned.
The air cracked, and rays of violet light smashed into the front line of enemies.
"Be vigilant," commanded Ayanami, spinning two of her cross-tipped chains with such speed that they appeared to be buzzsaws.
"...er, okay." And then Shinji yelped as a flying superheroine nearly brained him with an airborne axe kick, which he barely blocked with the shaft of his shovel.
"I told you to be vigilant," reprimanded the blunette as she smashed a chain into the face of an incoming enemy.
xxxx
Kensuke Aida's head darted up. The sounds of combat? Who else could be here? Was it possible...had the Anti-Terror Task Force dispatched agents to this location? No, not yet, I'm so close! He double-timed it down the stairs, skipping two or three with each step. Made it this far, can't lose now, no WAY I can lose now! His feet beat hard against the stony floor, slightly chilled relative to everything else; however, the statue of his mother commanded attention, as was proper. "Okay...where are you...?" What aspect would his Shadow take on? Would it be someone with an exaggerated temper? Perhaps a gung-ho military enthusiast? Or maybe someone who didn't know how to sit still. I mean, if I'm being honest, I kind of get in over my head a lot. But that was fine. He was already on the road to accepting that! I've got this in the bag! "Come on out!"
"You want to be a big shot, huh?"
He whirled around, eyes darting to and fro; that voice had come from nearby! "I heard you..."
"You want to be a hero..."
"...yeah, that's right." That voice was his. "And for me to do that...I've gotta accept you. So come forth, my Shadow!"
"...what a joke."
There. Amidst the shadow, two yellow eyes behind glasses could be seen; Kensuke looked down...way down. "...what...?"
"Heroes are larger than life...heroes are people who matter." A tiny Kensuke Aida - no more than six inches tall - stared plainly at him. "...but you're way too small to matter."
"...but, that's not-"
"And here you are, thinking it would be so easy to accept me...do you realize the arrogance? Of course you do." The tiny Shadow sighed. "Truly, the pride of a bit character is fierce."
Kensuke was feeling much like he had when Shinji had disclosed the truth of his abilities...or lack thereof.
"How did you think this was going to end?"
Namely, he felt flummoxed and slightly panicked, as though the world had been pulled out from under him.
"You read the personal accounts of those who met their Shadows, and claimed them as Personas..."
He had expected his deep-seated issue to be something more reasonable.
"...and their acceptance was a grueling trial; a true crucible, without exception..."
Like...anything but this. Anything else, but this.
"...and you had the gall to think it would be otherwise for you." His Shadow - speaking so calmly about the alleged lack of self-worth - tilted his tiny head. "Sorry to break it to you...but we're just not that special."
"...that's not true," he bit out. His mind inwardly hissed, because he was falling into the same damn trap that had claimed a lot of Agents who hadn't been able to make the cut, he knew what would happen if he kept this up, but the desire to be great, to be a hero, it had been so deeply ingrained in him for so long that to deny it felt like tearing away a part of himself. "That's not true..."
"Few reach the pinnacle. If you had what it took, the Task Force would have taken you on...but they haven't, because you don't have the right stuff. Bashing your head against the proverbial wall won't change that..."
"Shut up."
"...so I've accepted my own worthlessness. Why won't you?"
"BECAUSE I'M NOT YOU!" howled Kensuke, angrily and fearfully rejecting this facet of himself.
Said facet's eyes began to gleam, as it began to grow, emitting a smoky blue aura of menace and doom. "Indeed. You're not me." That aura swelled and burst outward, and Kensuke knew no more.
xxxx
The sudden burst of miasma from down below caught the attention of both Evangelion-users; Rei stared coolly as Lilith's wings eviscerated another costumed figure, whilst Shinji's shovel withdrew from the face of a masked hero. "What the...?"
"Hmm. He has succumbed to his Shadow."
"Succumbed?"
Ayanami glanced quietly at the other extensions of Kensuke's Shadow, born from a fascination with heroism and heroes. "I will take care of the rest of these; you must endeavor to reach Aida."
"How do I-?" he was cut off by the blunette unceremoniously pushing him on the backside with her foot, shoving him off the edge. "-DO THAT?!" His speech devolved into a wordless scream, as the ground loomed threateningly-!
A cloaked figure dashed past him, landing feet-first below. With surprising gentleness, his Persona caught him in his ethereal arms. "...that was scary..."
"You were pushed off of a spiraling stairway. It is to be expected."
"...thank you, Hamlet." Well, he was really thanking himself, to be honest...did that count as being arrogant or narcissistic-?
"Prepare thyself."
His Persona's words pulled him back to the present; at the base of the great statue of Naomi Aida, a masculine figure emerged, covered in tattered purple robes and rusted armor. In his left hand was a large scepter - a shepherd's crook, to be precise - that bore manifold cracks on its surface. However, most importantly of all, was the fact that this figure didn't have a head. "I am a Shadow...the true self."
xxxx
The Ocular Drone had followed the interlopers diligently, all the way from Tokyo-3. Though the figures were a known quantity to the Anti-Terror Task Force, their means of entry had been unregistered, and thus merited observance.
All the way to the Tanzawa Mountains, it had gone. All the way to Mount Hiru.
The rainbow-colored eye quietly began to near the strange anomaly-
SHICK.
xxxx
Within the Tokyo-3 Cognitive Protection Center, a certain television monitor went blank with fuzzy static.
Goro Akechi frowned, lip curling with suspicion. Hmm...
xxxx
The Ocular Drone fell to the ground, pierced by a claw that had extended impossibly far. It dissolved into trace bits of shadow and spectral thoughtstuff within moments.
"How rude," murmured Pen-Pen, slowly waddling towards the entrance of the Shadow's Realm. "This is a big moment, after all...best to let the important characters have their moment."
xxxx
Kensuke's Shadow aimed his shepherd's crook. "Dazzler." Flickers of light rushed from the staff, nearly blinding Shinji.
"Gah!" The boy staggered, the entire room tilting and wobbling. The strength in his legs seemed to fade as he staggered-
"Focus!" Sword clashed with staff, as Persona battled Shadow. "Stand strong!"
"To stand on your own feet...to be something special...do you desire that as well?" Kensuke's Shadow impossibly roared, despite the lack of a head. "Desiring things beyond your reach...is a recipe for heartbreak...!"
Shinji tried to get the shaking within his skull to stop and oh great now he was vomiting on the floor. Mind-vomiting. Was that a thing? Wait, he had actually come to the Metaverse physically, hadn't he, and these meandering thoughts weren't helping! "Urgh..." Slowly, he tried to rise, trying to push past the dizziness. "H-H-Hamlet-"
The Shadow swung his crook again. "Pulinpa."
Grimacing, Shinji gripped his shovel tightly, taking aim at the headless beast-!
SMACK.
"Rgh!" groaned Hamlet as the shovel smashed into his face.
"GAH!" yelped Shinji, unprepared for the brief spike of pain that emanated from within his head. But I aimed for the Shadow-!
"You seem more hopeless than I..." Kensuke's Shadow stomped forward, looming large over Shinji. "...and I am a very hopeless sort indeed!"
xxxx
Rei Ayanami grimaced. I may have miscalculated. The manifold thoughtbeasts were strangely numerous, far more than she had anticipated. Even with Lilith holding strong, she should have at least made it to Ikari's side by now. I must not tarry. Another caped Shadow was thrashed by her cross chains, even as two more rose to take its place. If only I could use more power-
Her thoughts were interrupted by a purple blur, falling past her towards the base of the great statue below. "What?"
xxxx
Without warning, Kensuke's Shadow ceased his attack, leaping back. The next instant, a burly figure crashed into the ground where it had stood, cracking the surface.
Shinji blinked, blearily trying to focus. What-?
"Salutations, tiny trainee!" Oh, it was the man-bird thing again. "Would you like a hand?!" boasted Mister P.
"...who are you?" murmured Kensuke's Shadow.
"A paragon of virtue and the hope of youngsters who don't know how to tie their own shoes!" The tuxedo-clad bird-man flexed; with a flicker of his hands, a pair of brass knuckles manifested over his burly fists. "And I believe you need to get your nonexistent head in order."
"...another big talker..." The headless Shadow hummed, sounding strangely sorrowful. "Talking big doesn't end well for anyone...and it won't end well for you! Evil Touch!" The tip of the shepherd's crook glowed crimson and violet, launching a hand-shaped orb at Mister P.
The attack seemed to wash over his form, to no effect. "Ha! The things I fear are way beyond what you're capable of little, whelp." The burly bird-man snapped his fingers. "Amrita Drop."
Droplets of emerald light fell over Shinji, and the strange fog that had taken root in his mind seemed to dissipate. Huh? He felt normal. Well, normal-ish. Standing tall, he looked at the bizarre man with a wary look. "How...when...?" Agh, why couldn't he say things?! "I mean...?!"
"There'll be a time to talk later. For now, we have a rapscallion to save!" Mister P's green eyes narrowed, looking intently at him. "You seem like the kind who gets thrown in the deep end on a regular basis." Yes, that was an accurate statement. "No need to break a trend then!" No, no, that's not what was needed at all! "Stay determined, and don't lose sight of yourself, and you'll not waver in the face of the enemy!" With a snort, the bird-man stomped forward, lashing out with his fists against the decrepit Shadow. The headless creature snarled, parrying blows with his right hand and his staff.
...okay, I guess he's helping? Shinji steeled himself, thinking back to the flow of battle against Chiba Takehide's Shadow. Frankly, he would have preferred having Misato or Akechi by his side instead of...whoever Mister P actually was. Then again, beggars couldn't be choosers, could they? "Okay..."
"Why are you even bothering?" growled Kensuke's Shadow, pushing Mister P back with a booted foot before point his shepherd's crook right at him again. "Dormina!" A giant English letter - 'Z', if he recalled correctly, and okay brain, not the time for English lessons! - erupted from the staff.
Shinji grit his teeth as the attack rushed towards him. Stay determined! he mentally chanted, recalling Mister P's advice.
The letter loomed large.
Shinji promptly leapt to the side, dodging the spectral letter. Being determined was no reason just to stand there and take it! "Hamlet...attack!"
His Persona brimmed with life again, eyes shimmering as he held his sword aloft. With a defiant roar, he charged into the fray, striking at Kensuke's Shadow from the other side.
The tide had officially turned: Mister P's fists and Hamlet's sword struck with unerring ferocity against Kensuke's Shadow, despite his attempts to dodge or parry them both. "I'm just a lowly braggart...why are you trying to fight me...?" The Shadow huffed, lashing out with his staff. "Leave me to my despair!"
"You still have to come home," remarked Hamlet. "Psi!" His skull flashed, blasting the Shadow with rainbows of stark, psychedelic colors.
"If you need to have a cry, at least wait until you're out of the Metaverse!" boasted Mister P, his fist smashing into the Shadow's sternum. As it went sliding back, he added, "allow me to give you a lift! Take flight..." The bird-man's eyes flashed yellow. "GRYPHON!"
Blue wisps of fire emanated from Mister P, coagulating in the air above them. From the ethereal flames emerged a majestic beast: a white lion, lithe and muscular. However, instead of a ferocious leonine head, there was a dignified eagle's head, bearing royal purple plumage and a beak of gold. A white mask molded over the face and eyes, hiding the creature's gaze from view; four equally violet wings emerged from the shoulder blades, flapping with an immense wingspan.
Kensuke's Shadow, still reeling from Psi, raised his shepherd's crook. "Maka-"
"WINGS OF FURY!" bellowed Mister P.
Gryphon shrieked, a translucent sheen emerging from the lower pair of wings. The upper pair spread wide, holding the Persona aloft as the lower pair flapped once, decisively so. Green wisps - fashioned into the shape of fists - erupted, rushing with the speed of a fierce gale.
Manifold fists of wind smashed into Kensuke's Shadow, unleashing concussive claps with each impact.
The mythic creature slowly set down, loosing an expectant squawk at the Shadow.
With a groaning lurch, the headless beast collapsed onto the ground.
Shinji blinked. "...is it over?" Please tell me it's over.
"It'll only be over when the boy says it's over!" said Mister P, looking up at the spiraling staircase. "Ah, what particular timing, young maiden!"
Shinji glanced to the side; Lilith slowly descended upon her fairy wings, gently setting Rei Ayanami down on the floor. "The other emanations of the Realm vanished once Aida's Shadow was defeated." Indeed, the headless being was slowly beginning to dissipate, dissolving into blue fire. "I apologize for being preoccupied."
The bird-man chortled. "Such nonsense! They truly must have been ferocious to hold back one of your caliber, hmm?" Shinji frowned at the interplay between Mister P and Ayanami; why did the latter seem irritated by Mister P's comment? He was complimenting her, wasn't he? Wait, did Mister P just wink at her? What's with the wink?
"...urgh..."
Oh, right. "Aida-san?" Shinji slowly stepped torward the mass of blue fire; it slowly oozed away from the boy's form, drawing down and coagulating into a...tiny clone of himself? What the? Is that what his Shadow first looked like? "Um...are you...okay...?"
"...am I okay...?" The boy sounded bitter. "...heh..." He slowly sat up, looking despondently at his Shadow. "Not exactly a word I'd use..."
"So...you have come to understand the truth, then..." The boy's Shadow sounded surprisingly loud, for something so small. Yellow eyes stared intently at his doppelganger.
"...I think I kind of knew...I just didn't want to accept it..."
Shinji frowned. "Accept what?"
Aida stared longingly up at the statue of his mother. "My mom...she made being an A.T. agent sound like the coolest thing in the world...and knowing how important the Task Force's job made it seem even more heroic, you know? I...I read as much as I could, after she died...about the Metaverse, about Personas, about her job...and I wanted it so badly..." The bespectacled boy sighed, shaking his head wearily. "Always got told by recruiters that I didn't have the proper mentality for the job. That I'd be better served doing something more suited to my talents...but I didn't listen." He ran a shaky hand through his hair. "They'd know better, obviously. Obviously. But I couldn't...I couldn't accept the reality..."
...am I supposed to say something right now? wondered Shinji. "Um..."
"I seriously thought that just stampeding my way through would make a difference, no matter what stood in my way...even though I knew the dangers that the Metaverse represented. I knew that facing my Shadow was going to involve something harsh and painful...but I thought it would be easy. Because I knew better." His head sagged. "I just...I wanted to be a hero like mom..."
Is he talking to himself? "Well-"
A muscular hand clamped over his lips. "Ssh," quietly whispered Mister P. "Let the lad have his epiphany in peace."
...okay? Also, why did the man's hands smell like tuna-?
"...but...there are ways to be a hero that don't involve being an agent...logistics, planning...stuff that ain't glamorous, but still important...and...I think I knew that, deep down." He chuckled; it was a bittersweet sound. "My Shadow...its skills were all tied to status effects...like a...like a support character." He readjusted his glasses, looking calmly at his Shadow. "And...I guess support characters can be important, even if they're not in the spotlight...right?"
Kensuke's Shadow was silent. Expectant, almost.
"...heh, why am I telling this to you? It's not like you're hearing you don't already know...after all, I am you. And you are me." Kensuke leaned back against the base of the statue, a melancholy smile on his face. "Just a small, stupid kid..."
It was more than mere words. It was a genuine sentiment, stirred from within the depths of Kensuke Aida's heart.
The Shadow of his mind and will responded accordingly, swelling into a figure more in line with the boy's true physical size: the armor was no longer rusted, but plain and unassuming; the purple robes were no longer tattered, but well cared for; joining the shepherd's crook in his left hand was an old-fashioned grain flail in the right hand; lastly, no longer was the being headless, but rather bore a face covered by the ornate mask of an Egyptian pharaoh. "I am thou...and thou art I...thy will hast accepted the limits thine heart long understood...and through that, hath gained the wisdom to overcome life's hardships. Remember this, and thou shalt no longer fear the sting of inadequacy. I, Ozymandias, will help thou see to it." And with those words, Kensuke Aida's Shadow - nay, his Persona - faded away into wisps of blue fire, which converged on Kensuke's form. Within moments, his uniform had transformed, similarly to how Shinji's had upon summoning Hamlet: over his body was the garb of what appeared to be an A.T. agent, save for the fact various pieces looked rather...fake, or phony. As though the uniform had been purchased in a costume shop, instead of being the genuine article.
Aida inspected his new duds with a rueful grimace, one that he nonetheless endured. "Like a cheap imitation...guess I really knew it deep down, huh...?"
Shinji quietly removed Mister P's hand from his mouth. Because seriously, the smell of tuna was just too much. "...well, maybe for now," he admitted, trying to find something encouraging to say. "But who's to say that it won't be the real thing with enough time?"
"...heh. You're a real good guy, Ikari," acknowledged Aida. "...also..." He pointed dramatically at Mister P. "When the heck did you get here?! WHY are you here?!"
"A very good question, Aida-san," said Ayanami, finally speaking up. "Please, Mister P; enlighten us as to why you came here."
The mustache emanating from Mister P's beak twitched delicately. "Such suspicion! Am I not a mere bystander, a good Samaritan, helping proverbial newcomers?" He pointed dramatically at Kensuke. "I sensed your presence, alone and feeble, and so I came to offer my aid! Or did you think my offer from before was made in jest?"
"Offer...?" inquired Kensuke. "Do you know what kind of trouble we got into after you kicked us out of the Metaverse?! For that matter, how did you do that?!"
"Ah, help does not come with the obligation to disclose everything." The bird-man looked knowingly at Rei Ayanami. "Isn't that right, my dear?"
Ayanami did not answer.
"...um..." Shinji blanched as three pairs of eyes looked in his direction. Why do I even bother talking? "...so...what now?"
"We will be leaving, and we will be reporting today's events to NERV. Aida-san will need to undergo some preliminary instruction regarding what it means to be a Persona-user." Kensuke opened his mouth. "And self-instruction does not count." The boy closed his mouth, trying not to pout, and somewhat failing. "You will most likely have additional restrictions placed on you, in terms of travel to the Metaverse."
"...I didn't even come here willingly," he pointed out, looking intently at Rei Ayanami, while trying not to look at her Persona. Because...well, it went without saying, judging by the creeping redness on his face. "I go to bed, and next thing I know, I'm here! How is that my fault?!"
"It was not your fault. But restrictions will be placed regardless."
"And yet restrictions are so very easy to circumvent, aren't they?" Mister P huffed, seemingly amused. "That will be the decision you and yours will have to make, little chickadees. Just know that, the next time you end up in the cognitive world, know that I'll be here to give you a hand!" He vanished in a flicker.
Oh no, not again-!
This time, there was not a strong tap on the back of his neck. Rather, there was instead a hefty hand grabbing his shirt collar from behind, a startled shout from Aida, and then they were flying upward! "AAAAAAAAAAAGH!" screamed the two boys, thrown at high speed towards the entrance of the Realm-
WHOOSH
-and they landed roughly on the ashen peak of the cognitive mountain, kicking up dust and debris. "...what...what just happened?"
Kensuke Aida threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know. And I don't know if I wanna know."
xxxx
Rei Ayanami stared at Mister P.
The enigmatic bird-man stared back.
Lilith watched in silence.
Gryphon stood protectively, a sentinel ready to strike.
"You play a dangerous game."
"Are not the best things in life a game, in one sense or another?"
"You seek to involve those who may not be suitable players."
"And yet the most important player needs pieces, doesn't he?"
Rei narrowed her eyes. "And you are the one who will decide that, then?"
"If I must...since you seem so keen on playing things safe."
"...safe, you say." How dare he, she silently mused.
"You know that he will become more free to traverse the dimensions. He will need allies that he can trust implicitly...bonds that cannot be broken."
"...if you are not careful, you will draw attention that we cannot afford."
Mister P chuckled. "And who is 'we', I wonder?"
She did not answer.
"I will do what I must to help the boy achieve his destiny. One way or another, my dear."
"...in the end, that is not up to you to decide."
The bird-man shook his head sadly. "Poor, unfortunate soul..." He looked knowingly at her. "You cannot keep him safe forever. Not on your own." In a flicker of static and light, he and his Persona were gone.
Only Ayanami and Lilith remained, left in an empty Realm that would soon collapse. And yet, she felt no rush in departing. "In the face of the Angels..." she murmured aloud, as she calmly walked up the stairs, "...in the face of him..." She thought of a lost man, hiding maddened eyes behind orange shades. "...in the face of..." No. She would not dare think of it. Thoughts had a life of their own, in the cognitive world...and some thoughts were inherently fatal. "...I will do what I must," she resolved to herself.
But for now, it was time to leave.
xxxx
Before Shinji Ikari and Kensuke Aida could gather themselves, Rei Ayanami popped out from the entrance to Kensuke's Realm. As if in response to her departure, the kneeling silhouette that had served as the Realm's entrance began to fade away; its purpose, seemingly served, signaled the end of the pocket dimension entirely. "Now...with this incident behind us-"
"A little mild, just calling it an incident," murmured Kensuke, fiddling with the various widgets on his faux-A.T. Agent appearance. "I mean...yeah, I screwed up on a lot of things, but I still manifested a Persona."
"-we will have to establish some ground rules," finished Rei, acting as if Kensuke had said nothing. The blunette looked stoically at the two boys, taking their measure.
Shinji resisted the urge to fidget. "...like, beyond the NERV stuff, or...?"
"...I am referring to personal matters." The girl sighed, briefly gazing at the great void at the heart of Tokyo-1. "Given the unknown circumstances behind your unexpected entrance into the Metaverse...it would be best to establish a means for us to contact each other."
Kensuke blinked. "...why?"
"Even though you will be given additional guidance by NERV due to awakening your Persona, I have the strangest suspicion that you and Ikari will end up within the Metaverse without official supervision in the future. Establishing contingencies is only logical."
"...okay, fair enough. We talking about a dedicated hideout, or something?"
Ayanami paused; palpably pondered, judging by the slight furrow of her eyebrows. "...that would also be agreeable. However, I was referring to the exchange of contact information. I already have Ikari's number."
Kensuke stared; seriously stunned, judging by the slow drop of his jaw. "...wait, are you asking for my phone number?"
"Yes. I will be giving you mine as well, in the interest of fairness."
"...you know what, I don't even care that I nearly got nommed by my own Shadow today. I've got my Persona, and a cute girl's phone number. This is easily on my Top 10 days of all time."
Shinji resisted the urge to grimace. I really don't think she's thinking about it that way, Aida-san...
"I can see the justifiable skepticism on your face, Ikari," snarked Kensuke. "Just let me have my delusions, please?"
"...but isn't deluding yourself bad?" asked Shinji.
"Yes, it is," answered Rei.
"Oh come on, this delusion is mostly harmless! Not like, well, the one from earlier..." feebly protested Kensuke.
"...wait, if you know it's a delusion, is it actually a delusion?"
Kensuke's eyes narrowed, staring pointedly at him. "Seriously, Ikari, can you even joke? Or banter? Serious question."
"Sorry..."
"I wasn't criticizing you, it was an honest question!" yelped the bespectacled boy, trying not to offend him any further.
The two were suddenly interrupted by Rei. "I believe our time here has come to an end." Before they could ask her, a trio of spotlights shined around their position, courtesy of three Ocular Drones. They were accompanied by several other rainbow-colored eyes, observing their position diligently.
From one of the ominous-looking machines, a familiar voice emerged. "My word, children, but you're an awful long way from Tokyo-3." Goro Akechi's voice was amiable, echoing through the cognitive air with far more reverb than would have been physically possible in the real world. "What say we get you three back home?"
...well, at least he doesn't sound mad. Shinji would take that as a plus.
xxxx
/NERV/
As it turned out, even though Goro Akechi might not have been mad, Misato Katsuragi had been a different story...potentially. Especially given her facial expression upon finding out that they had gone into the Metaverse without standard authorization. Again.
Only two facts prevented the A.T. agent from flipping her proverbial lid. First, Kensuke's entry into the Metaverse had been completely involuntary, as far as they were aware. Unless the boy had somehow manifested the powers to slip through dimensions without their knowledge, which he swore up and down that he didn't. ("I'm not interested in getting dissected, you hear?!")
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi's droll response that dissection would be performed if he ever ended up dying while in NERV's employ was of no comfort to the new Persona-user.
Second, Ikari's subsequent rescue mission had been alongside Rei Ayanami, who at least had had implicit authorization of her own, given her ability to enter the Metaverse at will.
Still, none of that meant anything next to the whole ordeal of actually determining what went down. Thus began the whole recap of that day's events: Aida's awakening within the cognitive world; his slow trek to the outskirts of Tokyo-1's cognitive shadow, however marred it was; Ayanami's impromptu use of a rescue mission as an excuse to help Shinji get some training; Aida's discovery of his Shadow's Realm, at the peak of Mount Hiru; the battles that followed, once the two Evangelion-users had arrived on the scene; the fateful encounter between Aida and his Shadow; the timely assistance of the mysterious Mister P, who apparently had a Persona of his own (which had only raised Katsuragi's hackles further, even as Dr. Akagi looked vaguely intrigued); the conclusion of the battle, and the subsequent disappearance of Aida's Realm. Everything after that, once the A.T. Task Force's Ocular Drones had caught up with them, was a matter of official record.
Overall, the two boys were visibly tiring by the end of it all, languishing on one side of a long table within a rather bland conference room. Only Ayanami seemed nonplussed by the end of it all, sitting stoically to Shinji's left.
Dr. Akagi was quietly writing in a notepad, even as Misato Katsuragi tapped her arms with barely-veiled frustration. "That Mister P's gonna be a handful, I can tell already..."
"...he honestly seemed like a pretty nice guy," admitted Shinji, trying to come to the bizarre bird-man's defense. "I mean, he didn't have to help us."
"Which means he probably has a game of his own in mind," remarked Ritsuko Akagi, idly continuing with her notations. "People don't just help others for free."
Shinji blinked. "...but isn't that what charity and volunteer work is?"
The blonde chuckled darkly. "Oh, you naive little kid..."
"Come on Ritsky, no need to expose him to the more charming side of your personality," lightly snarked Misato. "Either way, at least we have a better description now. Because someone apparently considers Mister P's true identity to be above my paygrade," she said, glaring at Ayanami the entire time, "all I can do is set up a watch alert with the A.T. Task Force. If he makes a move, he'll eventually get spotted." The A.T. agent's gaze sharpened. "Just for the record: after Mister P threw the two boys out of the Realm, did he say anything else to you?"
"Nothing of consequence before he vanished," truthfully answered Rei.
"I'd like to decide if what he said was consequential or not. Or is that another thing that you're not going to tell me?"
"Yes."
Sensing the rising tension between the older woman and the stoic blunette, Shinji tried to steer the conversation away from...whatever this strange feud was. "Can you at least treat him gently?" he pleaded. "I really don't think he's a bad guy."
"Relax, we're not trying to kill the guy. We'd just like to get to know him better." The saccharine way that Misato said those last words didn't comfort Shinji at all. "At any rate, I'd congratulate the newbie on awakening his Persona...if it didn't mean he'll have go through a battery of tests tomorrow...and if it didn't mean that he'll have to sit down with the geeks in Legal to go over some of the newer clauses of the Cognitive Service Act that now apply to him as a Persona-user."
Aida visibly deflated. "Gee, thanks."
"Hey, you got what you wanted. Welcome to what comes with it," nonchalantly said Ritsuko.
"If it brings you any comfort, I'm sure your mother experienced these same trials," interjected Ayanami.
"Well yeah, but she was an adult at the time!" protested the rambunctious boy. "I haven't even gotten into high school yet!"
"And we live in a world where kids even younger than you can wreak cognitive havoc if sufficiently traumatized. You'll have to forgive the government for not treading lightly." The blonde doctor sighed deeply, looking somewhat less detached for once. "For all intents and purposes, the moment you became involved with the affairs of the cognitive world, you entered the world of adulthood."
The blunt delivery, as harsh as it sounded, seemed to assuage Kensuke somewhat. "...I guess that is the world we live in now, huh..."
"Well, at least you kids aren't in it alone." Misato forced a smile onto her face. "So! After school tomorrow, I'd like the three of you to come back to NERV just so we can get some bureaucratic stuff out of the way...and then we can get to the fun stuff!"
"...like what?" asked Shinji.
"Training!"
Ah. 'Fun' stuff. Shinji didn't have to try hard to contain his excitement. Or at all, really.
xxxx
/Room 23, 2nd Floor, Izanagi Dorms, Hakone Academy/
It was relatively solemn, being dropped off at the Academy by Misato Katsuragi; her tension with Rei Ayanami had yet to fade, which was why the woman's departure had seemed so terse.
The blunette had simply bid them a good night and returned to the Izanami Dorms.
Shinji didn't feel like breaking the silence with any words; for once, Kensuke apparently didn't either.
So as they entered their room, Toji Suzuhara's pointed stare was startling, for how it pierced the quiet. "Y'all been out all day. NERV stuff?"
"...yes," calmly answered Kensuke, briefly puffing his chest up. Whether it was to reassure himself or Toji, Shinji had no way of knowing. "Top secret stuff. Classified."
"Keep me out of it," grumbled the jock. "Still not over the fact you two basically got kidnapped by Ayanami the other day. You have any idea what kind of rumors that caused?"
"I do!" chirped Kaworu Nagisa from atop his bunk bed, stress ball in hand. "They're quite salacious."
Shinji paled, kind of wishing that he knew what exactly those rumors were, and hating himself for that fact.
Fortunately, Aida-san was apparently more than happy enough to inquire. "Well, now I'm intrigued! I've been out the loop what with all that's been going on; what was the craziest one?"
As the bespectacled boy - apparently retaining a sense of his normal bluster despite the events of the day - tried to pry the details out of a reluctant Suzuhara and a cheerfully nonchalant Nagisa, Shinji found himself looking at his bed with longing. So he promptly plopped down onto it, waiting for sleep to take him.
The brief buzzing on his cell phone piqued his attention.
HEROD: WE HAVE YET TO RECEIVE YOUR ANSWER TO OUR PRIOR INQUIRY.
HEROD: I REQUEST A STATUS UPDATE.
Looking back over the chat log, Shinji resisted the urge to groan. What was even the point of the question? What texts do I identify with...? Burn my dread; we're all trapped in a maze of relationships; if you hold on, life won't change; those three had been provided as options. In all honesty, it was a rather simple choice.
SI: the relationship one
The response was almost immediate.
HEROD: YOUR ANXIETY RELATIVE TO THE RELATIONSHIPS YOU POSSESS IS OF GREATER MAGNITUDE THAN YOUR OWN FEAR OR YOUR WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE.
HEROD: THIS IS USEFUL DATA.
HEROD: WE WILL PROVIDE FURTHER INQUIRY SOON.
Shinji blinked dumbly at his phone.
Then he rolled over and closed his eyes, because he just wanted this day to end. It felt like it had gone on forever...
Merciful slumber soon claimed him.
xxxx
END OF 6/14/2015
xxxx
Author's Note: Okay, so it's been a while. Was almost completely done with this chapter as of last June, then I got sidelined by someone doing a live reaction (of sorts) to my Mobile Fighter Evangelion story, which prompted me to help them out on some various details. It also afforded me the opportunity to fix some missed typos on it (such that I consider the version of the story on Sufficient Velocity to be the definitive version). That live reaction lasted for...four, five months?
Thus, this story fell to the wayside, and...well, one of my weaknesses with regards to hobbies like fanfiction is if I don't have momentum keeping me going, it becomes very difficult to write.
However, you can thank the 130+ hours I spent over the past several weeks on Persona 5: Royal for getting the momentum back.
So, let's keep going, shall we?