Neon Senshi Evangelion
Chapter 34
On the last day of the con, Naru Osaka had sold out on paper copies of her book again. Which, admittedly, wasn't saying THAT much as she had only brought one box of them each day, but it was still a nice feeling.
"I can watch your booth if you need a break," Kallen Tokhia, the woman running the next booth over, offered warmly.
"I see you sold out on your photo book," Naru noted, amused. Kallen was a cosplayer, and sold books of her in semi-erotic poses and outfits. Unlike Naru she brought over 1000 of her publication, and sold ALL of 'em.
Kallen just looked smug.
"Okay, I should...," Naru froze, blinking.
"You okay?" Kallen asked.
"Excuse me," Naru rushed off. She COULDN'T have seen who she thought she had seen. It was totally impossible.
The blonde in the Sailor V cosplay stopped when Naru took her arm, blinking at her "Who...?"
Naru was speechless. Yes the face looked a LITTLE off, but the resemblance was uncanny.
"Miss?" the woman prompted.
Naru shook herself. "Usagi?" she asked quietly, looking up at the slightly taller woman anxiously.
The blonde blinked, clearly seeing her distress. She took off a wig, revealing black hair, "I'm sorry, no."
Naru slumped, "Sorry."
Misato gently said, "Was she someone who disappeared during the impact?"
Naru nodded as she took her phone out, going through the photos as she said, "Yes. She and several friends." Naru found a photo and held it up, "You look SO alike, though!"
The other woman looked at the photo, "Yeah... it IS weird."
Naru saw her hesitated, "Yes?"
Misato admitted, "I'm a amnesiac, I was found in my teens. But where I was found was about as far from here as you could get..."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Setsuna and Mari were there AGAIN, much to Setsuna's annoyance.
"WHY ARE WE HERE AGAIN?" Setsuna growled.
"It's work related," Mari Makinami noted.
"Oh?" Dsetsuna asked.
"All the inners, the outers AND Misaro are all here. What if something happens?" Mari pointed out reasonably.
Setsuna just gave her a LOOK, "You just want to play."
Mari smirked, "I'll never tell."
Setsuna sighed, but couldn't really ARGUE that.
"Come on, let's see the Japan Heavy Industries book. I think they talked Naoko into doing a shift," Mari noted.
Naoko Akagi WAS actually there, the older woman looking displeased as she oversaw Shingo Tsukino and Kodama Horaki.
"Representative Meiou," Naoko recognized her, unsurprisingly. "What are you doing here?" she asked dryly.
"My ward wanted to go," Setsuna nodded to Mari.
Naoko looked dubious.
"Hello," Kodama smiled at Mari, as Shingo stood nearby, trying to hand out brochures on Jet Alone and other projects.
"I'm surprised they didn't dress you up as a booth babe," Mari teased, looking at how well endowed she was.
"Pervert," Kodama said, amused.
"Yup," Mari agreed willingly.
"Shingo!" a woman's voice called.
Setsuna looked up, blinking as she saw a strange woman and Misato, from NERV. 'What in the...?' she blinked. 'NARU OZAKA?!'
"Naru?" Shingo recognized her, "It's been awhile. And Miss Misato."
"Shit," Mari muttered. "Should I?" she asked Setsuna softly.
"Too late to do anything," Setsuna noted softly.
"Shingo," Naru pulled Misato forward, "doesn't she look like Usagi?"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"It's SO NICE to get a day off," Yui Ikari admitted as she and Gendo headed in to the con.
"I suppose," Gendo admitted. He felt a BIT nervous leaving NERV without any senior staff, other than Satsuki Ooi and the Bridge Bunnies.
"I was surprised that Maya insisted on a day off and is dragging Ritsuko along," Yui added thoughtfully.
"Maya IS good at getting Ritsuko to do what she wants. I think it's the puppy dog eyes thing she does," Gendo noted.
Yui chuckled, while tucking her Fourth Doctor scarf around her neck. She wasn't EXACTLY cosplaying any one Doctor, but she had the scarf, an overcoat, and a satchel that looked sort of Doctor Who-like.
Meanwhile, Gendo was in his usual pants, an open jacket and was wearing a T-shirt that said 'TOP GEAR.'
"Now, let's check on our booth," Yui said briskly, "then check out the dealer's room. I heard Forbidden Planet has a booth!"
"Yes dear...," Gendo followed, well aware he was going to be her pack mule.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
At AROUND the same time Shinji, Rei and Asuna were all out at the con, dressed in plugsuits. Amusingly, everyone just assumed they were very good NERV cosplayers.
"Are Hikari, Toji and Ken around?" Asuka asked curiously.
"Hikari and Toji are on a date," Shinji noted, "and Ken is off looking at Booth Babes and sexy cosplayers."
"Boy needs to get laid," Asuka noted dryly.
"Not it," Rei said firmly.
"Well, yeah, you're CLEARLY into Mana," Shinji noted.
Rei froze. "HOW DO YOU KNOW," Rei growled.
"It's kind of obvious," Asuka noted.
"Oh God..." Rei groaned, "please tell me Mana has noticed yet."
"She seems pretty clueless so far," Shinji offered.
Rei puffed out a sigh.
"You ARE cute together," Asuka teased, "brain and brawn and all that."
Rei whimpered.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Naru looked astonished, "WHERE were you found?!"
Shingo, Misato and Naru had retreated to the food pavilion, where they grabbed an early lunch aw well as went over some of what happened to her.
"Antarctica," Misato admitted as she sipped some coffee.
"How...?" Shingo blinked.
"There were research stations up there," Misato noted, "rest is classified, sorry to say."
Naru slumped, "So you couldn't be Usagi."
Shingo sipped his coffee, "I think we should at least look into it."
"Oh? How?" Misato asked, interested.
"Mother is still alive," Shingo noted, "we could do a DNA test." He added ruefully, "I've always felt you looked familiar, but I never pushed it."
"I'm okay with that," Misato agreed, "we can set it up through NERV."
Naru brightened, "Please let me know the results."
"Let's exchange numbers," Misato suggested, getting out a business card, as did Shingo.
"Keep in touch this time, Jerk," Naru teased Shingo.
"Hey, it was NOT my fault!" Shingo pouted.
"Yeah, yeah," Naru chuckled.
To be continued...
Notes: Now I need to decide if the results get screwed up somehow.
I had the ODD thought that Usagi/Misato has ACTUALLY been locked in Sailor Moon mode all along...
