Shinji did not want to open his eyes for several reasons. The first was because he could feel someone pressed up against his side. Someone who was without any doubt female. As there had been several women over for Misato's party last night, several of them bridge techs that he hadn't really met before, only spoken to over the radio, he wasn't entirely sure who might be latched on to him. The second reason was he currently had a splitting headache in addition to the fact that his entire body felt sore, and the light pouring through his closed eyelids was more than enough to make him wish he was still asleep. He also noted, in a detached way, unlike his normal self, that he wasn't wearing a shirt.
It was all very disconcerting.
But, he reasoned, there would be time to panic about this later. Besides, he couldn't remember anything about the party last night. He couldn't even remember going to bed.
He desperately hoped that he was at least in his own bed.
Whoever was currently latched onto him let go for a moment, and he gratefully rolled over, pressing his head into a pillow, trying to block out the light. The fact that it felt like his pillow relieved some of his dread, but this comfort was quickly whisked away when he felt the mysterious woman burrow into his side and heard muffled sounds that sounded almost like speech. Unfortunately, he was in no shape to try to figure out who it was, or what they might have said. So, he decided that the only thing to do was the thing he had first wanted to do upon waking.
He went back to sleep.
Vier, Drei, Zwei, Eins!
Misato looked around the apartment and sighed in self-satisfaction. Everything was ready. She glanced down at her watch.
Shinji should be getting home soon. Hopefully he invited some of his friends like I suggested. He doesn't hang out with them enough. He's a bona fide hero for crying out loud. Forget the Angels; he publicly opened a can of ass-kicking on that stupid NHIS robot. Our PR department did an outstanding job of releasing the story to the public. He deserves a chance to bask in the adoration of his fans.
She smiled smugly, arms crossed. Even if he didn't invite anyone, she had told Rei they were having a party and that she was invited. Rei had initially questioned the value of it but had soon given in to Misato's arguments. While Misato was still uncertain if this was out of a genuine interest in attending or because she thought it was an order, she decided that she didn't really care.
Besides, there needed to be at least one person Shinji's age here tonight. She had invited the normal bridge staff, including the second shift techs, in addition to submitting formal invitations to the Sub-Commander and Commander. Those were only out of politeness, and she honestly didn't think either would attend. While she had no real interest or desire to party with her superiors, it would be some sort of acknowledgment that Shinji was doing his father proud if the man showed up.
Bizarrely enough, upon his return from NERV-Nevada, the Commander hadn't commented on the incident publicly at all, unless you took the fact that he obviously gave a green light on the PR group's spin for public dissemination. The Sub-Commander had also clammed up on the subject, and he was the one who had given her the go-ahead for the whole thing in the first place.
It was all very odd, but for tonight she wasn't going to worry about. She had spent a week and a half planning for this night, forcing herself to burn through all the paperwork backed up on her desk to allow her a complete weekend to recover, and getting Ritsuko to ensure the schedules gave the two pilots the weekend off as well, barring unforeseen incidents.
In other words, Misato wanted this party to be epic, and if she had to go and collect his friends from their homes to ensure it, then that was what she was going to do.
There was going to be catered food, all the manner of drinks, games, karaoke, and drinks.
Shinji was going to have a good time even if it killed him.
She smiled as the door opened and the sound of conversation filled the air. So he did ask some people. Good for him.
"Miss Misato? I'm home!" Shinji's voice cut through the gaggle, sounding oddly strained.
"Welcome home Shinji!" she called back. "Do I hear guests?"
The group of teenagers appeared in the living room, trailing after Shinji. She noted the presence of the two troublemakers from before with a raised eyebrow, both of them cringed slightly. Rei was present, she was pleased to see, as well as another girl their age she didn't recognize, and a much younger girl, who amusingly enough was latched onto Shinji's leg, much to his obvious discomfort.
Misato went instantly into insulin shock when the girl tried to hide behind Shinji when she knelt down to get a better look at the short brown-haired girl. There was a faint, but noticeable resemblance to the larger of Shinji's friends, the one who had had the temerity to punch Shinji.
"Aww, and just who is this?" she cooed at the girl, holding her hand out to the shy girl, who didn't answer.
Toji spoke up for his sister, albeit hesitantly addressing the woman who was simultaneously attractive and terrifying in equal parts. "Er, this is my sister, Mari. She's not normally this shy." He looked down at his sister, not sure what she was playing at. "Go on Mari, say hi to Shinji's guardian."
Mari gazed up at Misato with huge, shining eyes. The mesmerizing effect they had on the woman was ruined when the small girl finally spoke. "Are you Mister Shinji's mommy?" she asked, one hand still clutching Shinji's pant leg, the other held to her face with a finger in her mouth.
Misato's smile instantly became a rictus grin as the assembled teens (sans Rei, who didn't understand their reaction to this straightforward means of gathering pertinent information) stiffened and, in the case of Toji, smacking his face with the palm of his hand.
Mari, however, was not done. "Cause you're too pretty and young to be his mommy. Are you his big sister?" The huge, sparkling, doe-like eyes did not blink.
The effect was instantaneous. Misato squealed in joy and love, reaching past her ward's leg and plucked Mari from him like a ripe apple from a tree, hugging her close. "Oh, that's exactly right! I'm just like his big sister. Oh, you obviously got all the brains and looks in your family, didn't you?"
One can only assume Toji's face further fell upon hearing this devastating blow to both his intelligence and what he considered to be his rugged good looks, but with a hand clapped over the majority of his facial features, the others couldn't tell.
Mari nodded as she, too, squealed as Misato spun around in a circle, her arms slung around Misato's neck. "Yup! Toji's a big doo-doo head. "
Misato nodded back to the girl as she set her down on the ground. "You know, that's exactly what I thought when I first met him."
"He got in trouble!" she said in her sing-song voice, sticking her tongue out at her older brother, now groaning and wishing he was someplace else. "I was so mad when I found out what he did. But Mister Shinji made it all better."
Shinji, quickly turning beet red, started stammering. "Y-you don't need to call me that, Mari."
"Nuh uh! You pilot the robot and save us all the time! You fight other giant robots on the television!"
"Well, uh..."
"She is correct, Ikari, you do indeed pilot the Evangelion and have successfully prevented the Extinction of Mankind on three separate occasions, as well as subduing a malfunctioning robot, which was published on a global level over the television information distribution networks," Rei commented, her voice never changing from her normal volume or intonation. Everyone (with the exception of Mari, who wasn't sure what to think of the girl besides the fact that she had pretty hair and strange eyes) stared at her in shock. Rei looked at them questioningly. "This was considered humorous, yes? An older person agreeing with the logic and argument of a child when extolling the virtues of another person is generally considered humorous when their argument and logic do not necessarily lead one to the conclusion that they are reaching, yes?" Looking at them and seeing no answer was forthcoming, she nodded. "Excuse me, I need to use the restroom." She walked down the hall, keeping an ear open for the conversation she was sure would follow.
Kensuke found his voice first. "Did Rei make a joke? Rei Ayanami?" The group quickly descended into a hushed conversation about what exactly just happened, with Misato staring down the hallway, hands on her hips, with a thoughtful but somewhat suspicious expression.
Aha. It is as I suspected, it was indeed humorous. However, their reactions were not consistent with previously observed outcomes towards jokes. It is unfortunate that I do not see the intrinsic humor in agreeing with such statements, but I must admit I found their reactions to be amusing. I temporarily removed their ability to express themselves verbally. This merits further research.
Rei stared at herself in the bathroom's mirror, studying her reflection from different angles. Why is it that he permits the young girl to physically attach herself to him when it obviously causes him unease and distress? Why does he shy away from physical contact with me? She chewed on her lower lip as she tilted her head to one side, trying to stare into the reflection of her pupils. Conscious physical contact, at any rate. When he is asleep, he has no issues with it. Is this the same for all people? Is the need to be together with someone so deeply rooted in the psyche that we reach out to others in our sleep on instinct alone? Would anyone be sufficient to fulfill this need? Do I reach out in my sleep for someone else? I did not test this possibility during my short stay here previously.
Rinsing her hands under the faucet in order to foil any attempts of people listening to see if she was indeed using the restroom, she filled her cupped hands with the cool water and dipped her face into it.
If such a need is indeed such a deep-seated desire, then why do people constantly distance themselves from others when awake?
Having stalled enough, she quickly dried her face and hands, and rejoined the group in the living room, now with the addition of an older and a younger girl. The younger new addition was about the same age as Mari, and both girls were already sitting in front of the television chatting. The older, bearing a striking resemblance to the Class Representative, was speaking to Captain Katsuragi.
"-so I hope it's not a bother, Captain."
Misato beamed at her. "Not at all Kodama! And please, call me Misato. I've been trying to break Shinji of his habit of calling me Miss but it's like pulling teeth. Anyways, the more the merrier! The real party won't start until later, but we can go chat in the kitchen and let the kids goof off in here."
Misato shot a glance at Rei as they went into the kitchen, but Rei missed it as she focused in on her fellow students, sitting around the coffee table.
"-realize that you lived with your superior officer as her ward, Shinji," Hikari said, patting Pen-Pen's head. "But Misato said your father is the commander of NERV? Why don't you live with him?" She looked up as Pen-pen left her to crawl into Rei's lap as she silently sat down.
Shinji looked out the windows of the room, before shifting his gaze to the table. "It's... complicated."
Toji and Kensuke were sitting extremely still on the couch, afraid to move. Shinji's father is the Commander of NERV? The man who ruled Tokyo-3? Kensuke was shocked he had never put the pieces together before. They both had the same name after all. Toji wasn't sure how the man his father and grandfather described as an aloof tyrant could have the timid and shy Shinji for a son.
Rei, stroking Pen-Pen absentmindedly, spoke up. "Commander Ikari lives by himself inside the Geo-Front. His apartment is smaller than Captain Katsuragi's, and he is rarely there. Even though I am legally his ward, when I also resided in the Geo-Front, I also resided at a different address."
Shinji shrunk into himself at her matter-of-fact statement, while Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari gaped at her in shock. They had heavily suspected that she was the pilot of the second Evangelion, though Shinji flat-out refused to discuss the matter with them, but to hear she was the ward of Shinji's father when Shinji had been sent away as a young boy and was seemingly treated with disdain by him? There were no words they could use to articulate their shock and confusion.
Mari and Nozomi, on the other hand, both squealed as only young girls can.
"You pilot at robot too?" Mari's jump to this conclusion wasn't based on any other information than she knew 'Mister' Shinji's father and had lived in the Geo-Front. It was a leap that could only be made in the mind of an over excited child, but as luck would have it, completely correct. "That's so awesome!" Both girls tackled and hugged the confused, blushing girl as Pen-Pen slipped out of her lap to retreat to a safer location.
"So you fight with Mister Shinji to protect us too?" Nozomi asked, picking up Mari's term of endearment for the boy who was trying to disappear through the floor through sheer mental power.
Rei hesitated, not sure what to say at this sudden outing of her pilot status. "I have only been sortied once, during the last battle with an Angel. Before that, I was too injured to fight, and I was kept here in Tokyo-3 on standby in the event of an Angel appearing while Ikari was combating the Jet Alone Prime."
Nozomi opened her mouth but was cut off before she got started by her older sister. "Nozomi! You can't latch onto people like that! Apologize to Rei!"
As the younger girl began to apologize, Kensuke decided to try to change the subject, bringing up the nature of the fight with the robot. He wasn't a fan of awkward silences, after all.
Kodama and Misato listened to the teenagers' conversation with half an ear as they sat in the kitchen. Misato smiled at the eldest Hokari sister, passing her a beer. "So tell me Kodama, what do you know about Shinji? Does your sister talk about him at all?"
Kodama nodded. "She mentions him from time to time. From what I hear, he's a quiet boy. Hangs out with them a bit, but not a whole lot."
Misato sighed. "He is a quiet boy." She waved a hand around in a vague sweeping gesture. "The whole reason I put this party together is to try and draw him out of that shell of his." She checked her watch. "In a little bit, a group of people from NERV will be getting here, and shortly after that, the food will arrive." She smiled impishly. "You might hear some things slip from us that shouldn't really be put out to the public, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't repeat anything you hear tonight."
Kodama smiled and nodded in assent. "Not a problem, Misato. If that's the entry fee to be at a party with the people who regularly save the world, I think it's a small price. It's not every day you meet people who do what they do, even if they are just kids."
Misato sighed. "It can be hard to remember that sometimes. Shinji's not even sixteen, and Rei's a few months younger than him, and yet... they are soldiers. Highly specific soldiers, but soldiers regardless."
"I had wondered about that. I mean, not a lot of people know who the pilots are, at least not at my school. I was surprised when Hikari let it slip a boy in her class was the pilot of NERV's secret weapons system. Our father told her in no uncertain terms to never speak of it again, but then, he works for NERV, like most people here in the city. I think that's why it hasn't made its way into the general knowledge yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time."
Misato nodded in agreement, throwing her drained can deftly into the trash bin. "Shinji had to stay in the Evangelion after beating the Jet Alone until we recovered him to the Geo-Front. We can't risk his identity being exposed to the wider world."
Their ruminations were interrupted by the doorbell. Shouts were heard from the living room as both Mari and Nozomi ran (Mari moved with more of an odd skipping gait that was much slower than Nozomi's mad dash) to answer the door.
As it turned out, most of the bridge crew had arrived at the same time. Greetings were extended and introductions made, and the party started to gather steam. By the time the majority of the food had been eaten, most of the adults were running a good buzz, and good-natured drunken revelry was in full swing.
Which was, of course, when the Sub-Commander showed up.
Vier, Drei, Zwei, Eins!
"Are you going to attend the party?"
Gendo didn't look up from the report he was reading, but then again, he never did. "No. I seriously doubt my presence would be anything other than a source of discomfort for all. Besides, I need to finish my report for the meeting with the old men tomorrow." He turned a page.
Kozo shook his head. "You do realize it's to celebrate your son's victory over the NHIS robot, yes? It would be good for him to see that you care." It would be good for you, as well.
"The fact that the Third Child is around and healthy enough to enjoy a party over his success his hardly a reason to celebrate the fact he fought the Jet Alone." If anything, his voice was colder than normal. "There was no need for him to have been sortied. We had the whole thing under control from the moment the public demonstration began."
"Captain Katsuragi didn't know that. Her request was not unreasonable, and neither was her reasoning or battle plan."
"Captain Katsuragi does not know a lot of things, and for good reason. You should have denied the request. There was no need to expose the Third Child to the Jet Alone."
Kozo smiled smugly at his one-time student, who ignored him. Are you more upset your son could have been harmed by the robot more than he was, or because you did not see this one coming, and did not have a plan for it? "I think that you protest too much, Gendo. You can't tell me you aren't proud of him."
Carefully and deliberately, Gendo lowered the papers to his desk and stared at the graying sub-commander. "Of course I am proud of him. I am very proud of him in fact, but I will not be goaded by you or anyone else into throwing away everything I have worked to build just because of this fact. In a perfect world, there would be no need for all of this. But this world is far from perfect. This world is run by men who wish to be gods, and who will stop at nothing to achieve this. I will stop at nothing to stop them."
"You still try to achieve your own selfish wants at the same time. Can't you at least make an appearance? What harm will it do?"
"It would do enough." He picked the report back up, but though he was looking at it, he wasn't reading it. "If you insist, you may attend."
"Oh? Does this mean you no longer wish to crucify me?" Kozo's voice was arch, sarcasm dripping from each word like poison from a sharpened blade.
"You still are still useful to me ambulatory. Be glad of this fact."
With a grin, the elderly professor pushed himself to his feet. "I'll let you know how the party was."
"Don't be foolish."
Gendo threw the paper down on the desk with disgust seconds after the door closed. The Captain's reasoning behind deploying Unit-01 could not be faulted, and it was exactly the type of thing one should expect from her. Unfortunately, he hadn't thought about that possibility. Somehow it had slipped his mind.
That worried him.
While he had been less than delighted to hear the details of the fight upon his arrival, he had been greatly relieved to hear his son's injuries amounted to nothing more than a sunburn on his face and across his shoulders and back. While Unit-01 had been exposed to a non-negligible amount of radiation as the battle quickly became one-sided as his son descended into the battle rage, the Entry Plug had prevented him from exposure, and Unit-01 itself had been decontaminated, and the LCL-Coolant mixture in the cage would prevent any biological issues from arising.
Still, this never should have happened. Planned for or not, Kozo should never have given the go-ahead for Unit-01 to be deployed. Now that the rest of the world had seen the Evangelion's capability of dealing with a supposedly superior terrestrial foe in addition to the Angelic threat, they would start to wonder what the man who controlled them would do once the Angels stopped showing up.
Some were undoubtedly already making plans on how to defeat or circumvent this super-weapon. It helped that they didn't know about NERV's work on the S2 engines and would be operating on the idea they had to have an external power source or be limited to five minutes of power.
While it would not matter in the long run, he would have to take this into account. He would not stand for some nervous, trigger-happy, two-bit nation or official ruining years of dedicated work.
Gendo glanced at the dark monitor screen on his desk, debating whether or not to watch the party. He shook his head. Perhaps later, he mused. He still had work to do.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Rei watched the reveling crowd with interest, but some apprehension. This social event is a veritable goldmine of information. She had taken considerable notes on various interpersonal relationships and behaviors from the assembled crowd, which had somehow grown exponentially in size as more and more people showed up and began to participate. The entire building, which almost entirely housed NERV personnel, joined in, with people moving from apartment to apartment and floor to floor.
One enterprising individual had started a bonfire in the parking lot. What they had started it with or what was being used to keep it going, she didn't know but it smelled like wood smoke with only a little bit of plastics mixed in.
The smell from when they started torching automobiles, well it was something else entirely.
When the civilian police had shown up, Section 2 had waved them away.
From out of the crowd, Hikari appeared with a glass of punch for her, who had been sitting out on the balcony.
"Hi Rei!" Hikari giggled, completely at odds with how she usually acted, even in group social activities. Rei had noted the normally reserved girl had become almost as rambunctious as her older sister. (Nozomi and Mari had fallen asleep and had been taken by a sober Section 2 agent to one of their stations for safe keeping) "Aww... you look so lonely out here."
Rei blinked, but accepted the offered cup of punch, taking a sip. "I am not lonely, Class Representative. I am merely observing."
Hikari giggled again. "Aww, call me Hikari, Rei! We're friends!" Hikari threw back her own cup of punch, nearly draining the cup in one go. "Why are you hanging out here all by yourself? C'mon inside, we managed to snag the karaoke machine. Toji's going to make Shinji do a song."
It would be interesting to see this. He had disappeared into his room some time ago. He also apparently does not enjoy crowds. She sipped again from the punch, not noticing the warmth that spread through her, but did look at the cup. This drink seems to be tastier now than it did before. I wonder if this is in response to the expected proximity to Ikari again. Rei looked over the balcony as someone tossed a can of something flammable into the fire, which shot up, to the cheers of the crowd surrounding it. I do not enjoy crowds either... but... maybe it will be alright.
She hesitantly allowed the exuberant girl to pull her back inside.
Inside Shinji's room, a somewhat similar conversation was taking place.
"Dude... you are being a total buzz kill." Toji handed his friend a cup of punch. "But I get it. You're not into crowds and stuff. This whole thing has sort of escalated out of control. I mean, someone set a car on fire down there. But Kensuke managed to call next on the karaoke machine after some old guy. Let's go have some fun with it at least."
Shinji swished the red liquid around in the cup before taking a drink. He blinked as the fruity concoction overwhelmed his sense of taste. "I don't know... "
"C'mon, Hikari's going to get Rei to come in and sing one too." He smiled as Shinji looked up. He took a sip from his own drink. "I thought that would get your attention." He jerked his head towards the door. "Let's go, eh?"
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Gendo yawned, and then glanced at the clock on the computer and sighed. Kozo had come back and left again, maybe an hour earlier. He had said something about the party, but he hadn't listened. Kozo had been slurring his words and stumbling around.
Taking a sip of his coffee that had long ago gone cold, he turned on the camera feed.
He did not spit his coffee out in shock at what he saw because that would imply the sheer surprise of unexpectedly seeing his son staggering around the apartment without a shirt, arm in arm with the Suzahara boy (also shirtless), would cause him to respond with an involuntary reflexive action.
Instead, he took another sip of his coffee and turned the monitor off. There were some things he did not care to know about. He turned back to the paperwork on his desk.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Hikari yawned and then clutched her head. "Ugh..." She swallowed, trying to get the taste out of her mouth. It was then that she noticed where she had been sleeping. It was on the couch in the living room. It was also on top of Toji. Her eyes went wide as she fell sideways off the couch onto a surprised and now wide-awake Kensuke.
"What was that for?" he grumbled, one hand feeling for his glasses.
Hikari, turning red, quickly stood up. "Oh, sorry... um..." her voice died as she looked around the room.
The place was a wreck, debris from the party strewn all over. She saw her sister sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and chatting with that long-haired guy Shinji said was the one he went shooting with. Some other people were asleep on the floor in random spots. She could barely remember the name of the mousy-looking tech who was moaning and clutching her head. Ignoring the pounding in her head, she quickly began counting people. There were two very important people missing.
Before she could open her mouth to call for her younger sister, both Mari and Nozomi came tearing into the apartment from outside, laughing at a volume all too loud for Hikari, but she ignored that as she breathed a sigh of relief.
She weaved her way to the table and flopped down in an available chair. Her sister smiled at her. "Good morning sleepyhead. You seemed to have some fun last night."
Hikari narrowed her eyes at Kodama's slightly smug tone. "Why does my head hurt, and why is everything three times too loud? And why are you so smug?"
Aoba laughed as he stood up and went to get her a cup of coffee. Kodama smiled again at her younger sister. "Me? Smug? Whatever do you mean?"
Hikari glared at her sister. "What. Did. You. Do."
Nozomi looked up from the couch, where she and Mari were poking Toji, who was halfheartedly trying to defend himself with a pillow.
"Oh Kodama~ you're gonna be in trouble~" she sang, with Mari quickly joining in. "Hikari's mad at yooo~uuuu."
Kodama sighed and threw her hands up in mock surrender. "There might have been a smidgen of alcohol in the punch bowl last night." she said, her tone anything but apologetic or afraid. "It didn't get put in there until after those two went to sleep, so stop frowning at me." She nodded at the young girls, who were now peering over the side of the balcony and looking down in the parking lot.
Misato and Ritsuko came in from down the hall talking to each other, seemingly none the worse for wear. Hikari stared in disbelief when she saw that Shinji's guardian and commanding officer was drinking a beer.
It's in the morning! She shot a look at the clock. It's not even nine in the morning! HOW can she be drinking now? She was drinking all last night, before everyone showed up, too. She suddenly recalled Shinji's offhand comments to Toji and Kensuke about his guardian's drinking habits. She had always put them off as exaggerations, but now they looked to be accurate complaints. This is too much to take. She moaned and buried her head under her arms, trying to recall if she had done anything more embarrassing than sleep on top of Toji during what no doubt was a prolonged bout of insanity and debauchery.
Toji, for his part, blissfully unaware he had spent a few hours sandwiched between a couch and Hikari, stood and stretched.
"Hey, where's my shirt?" he asked, confused. Hikari's eyes shot open as she lifted her head up to stare at him as he turned around looking for his missing shirt.
Kodama smiled as she watched a goofy grin surface on her sister's face as she watched the boy she secretly crushed on. Kodama leaned in so that she was right next to Hikari's ear. "You're wearing his shirt," she whispered.
Looking down, Hikari shrieked and dashed off towards the bathroom.
Aoba shook his head. "I have a hard time seeing her as the authoritarian terror you were describing earlier, Kodama."
Misato and Ritsuko both surveyed the apartment, watching as everyone who had been sleeping in various states of waking up, summoned from slumber by Hikari's outburst.
Ritsuko shook her head. "This place is a mess. I hope you're not planning on asking me to help clean this place up, cause I've got work to do down in Central."
Misato only grinned and shook her head. "Nope! I've got that all planned out too. In a little bit, cleaners will be arriving to take care of it all!" She crumpled up the empty can in her hand and tossed it on the floor. "Whooo! That was a fun party. We should have one again when this is all over." She beamed as she gazed around the room, but her smile faded as she didn't find who she was looking for. "Has anyone seen Shinji? He's usually an early riser."
Kodama giggled. "I think he might have had a little too much punch last night Misato, if you know what I mean. He was putting it away like a trooper there for a little bit."
Hikari, appearing again, pointed at Misato, a betrayed expression on her face. "You knew?" While she had known some adults were irresponsible (like her older sister) it came as a bad shock that someone in Misato's position of responsibility would condone such behavior, her distressing drinking habit aside. Adults aren't supposed to act like this! No wonder Shinji doesn't care about his grades that much; his guardian is a delinquent! She's a horrible role model!
Misato shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not like there was that much alcohol in the punch. Way less than what I remember sneaking when I was your age. It was a party, anyway, and you were all supervised. I think you're all mature enough to handle a little bit." She leered at the girl. "You didn't do anything... improper did you?"
Hikari, blushing furiously now, snapped back without thinking. "Of course not!"
"Then you have nothing to complain about, then do you?" Misato winked. "Unless you're now wishing that you had known about it so you could have done something improper, and blamed me for it? Huh, are you?"
Hikari sputtered for a few seconds before regaining control of herself. "No! I would never! That's not right."
"I feel like that robot punched me in the face. What's going on?" Shinji said, a confused expression on his face. He was currently shirtless, unusual for him even when lounging at home. Rei pushed past him and went into the kitchen to get something to drink. However, where Hikari had been wearing Toji's shirt, Rei was topless.
New pandemonium erupted in the apartment.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Kensuke poked Shinji's shoulder, bringing him back to the land of the awake. Shinji lifted his head from the desk and yawned.
"Hey man, you really need to try and stay awake in class. Toji and I can't cover for you all the time." he sat down at the desk next to Shinji's as its owner shot the pair a dirty look as he gathered his books up to leave.
"Sorry... I've been trying to get all my missed homework done on top of the stuff the teachers give me now, so I haven't been getting a lot of sleep." Shinji looked around for their friend. "Say... where is Toji?"
Kensuke grinned. "You're not very observant, are you? He and Hikari have been hanging out a lot more after school if you know what I mean. They disappeared almost as soon as the bell rang."
Yawing again, Shinji shook his head to try and clear the cobwebs from his mind. "Does this have anything to do with her bringing him lunch now?"
"You don't get it, do you?" Kensuke shook his head. "You got anything going on at NERV today, or are you free to hang out? The arcade's supposed to be getting a new flight sim in this week sometime."
Shinji shook his head. "No, I need to go to work for some tests." He yawned again and started packing up his laptop into his bag. "Hey, Miss Misato asked me to see if you and Toji wanted to come along on a trip on Friday. She has to go somewhere to attend a meeting and she's bringing me along for some reason, but she said I could invite two people to come along for company. I guess she doesn't want me wandering around by myself."
"I'm up for anything where I can spend some time with that babe of a guardian of yours, but I don't think Toji will be able to come along. I'll ask him later tonight, but I think he and Hikari have something planned for tomorrow." He paused, looking out the window. "Why only two?"
Shinji shrugged. "She said we're going on a helicopter, and that's all the room there is."
"Sweet! What type of helicopter?"
"I don't know."
"Oh, man I'm definitely down for this." Kensuke glanced around the classroom as they left. "Say, where's Ayanami been for the last few days? She hasn't been at school."
"Dr. Akagi's got her doing some tests this week. I haven't even seen her at work."
"Anything like the tests you were doing before?"
"I don't know. I mean, they sometimes try to explain what they're doing to me but I don't understand it at all. But still, I don't know if it's something I should be talking about."
The bespectacled boy chuckled. "True enough. You know, you should ask Rei if she wants to go."
"A-Ayanami? You think she'd want to go?"
"Jeez, man, I'm sure that if you asked her she'd go. You two had fun at the party last week. I've got photographic proof of that, so you can't deny it."
"I-I think that was just the alcohol."
Kensuke shook his head as he stared at his friend. "Do you really think so? Seriously?"
Shinji sighed dejectedly. "N-no. Not really." But I can't be sure. There's been too much weird stuff between her and me to be able to tell. And I can't tell him about any of it; it's too embarrassing!
"Then invite her, man. Everyone in the class can tell she likes you. You're like the only person she's ever spoken to on her own. Or ate lunch with. Or acted in any manner that approached normal for or towards." the boy said, counting off his points on his hand. Are all Evangelion pilots crazy and weird like this? I wonder if it has something to do with the brain link-ups or if it's a prerequisite. Maybe they need to be... abnormal in order for the mental link-up to work at all. But who would design a weapon like that? Of course, he thought, waving to his friend as Shinji went towards the train station to go to NERV, who would design a weapon that inflicts the damage it takes on its operator?
Shinji continued to mull over Kensuke's advice as he traveled to NERV. I just wish I had a sure way of knowing what was going on between us. I'm pretty sure it was her sleeping next to me that night... he blushed, thinking about how it had felt to have someone pressed up against him under the covers. It was... nice. Even if my head was killing me.
Kensuke's camera had many, many pictures on it, and while some events remained hazy memories, there was no denying the images burned into digital memory. Somewhere along the way, karaoke (with the Sub-Commander, no less!) had turned into shirtless karaoke, and then some sort of wrestling match between him and Toji had been documented.
"What's so funny, punk?" a harsh voice asked him, cutting through his mental rambling and the music of his SDAT.
Shinji looked up to see three boys, all older than him glaring at him from across the train. One of them looked like he had been arguing with a girl their age. The largest of them stood up.
"I said, what's so funny, you punk?"
Shinji swallowed. "S-sorry... I was thinking to-"
"Thinking what? Thinking that we're funny?"
"I think he was laughing at us, Akio."
"Oh leave him alone."
Not taking his glaring eyes off Shinji, Akio addressed the girl, growling at her. "Chou, shut up. Boys, I think we need to need to teach this punk some manners."
Shinji's eyes darted down the length of the train car to the black-suited man in sunglasses who was already casually strolling toward them. "You r-really don't want to do this. Please, just forget about it."
Akio and his friends gaped at him. "Oh, I think that I do." His hand reached out and ripped the headphones and SDAT from Shinji, and before he could react, smashed it down on the floor, crushing it underfoot. "Funny now, little boy?"
"Ahem." Four sets of eyes turned to the man standing to one side, his arms crossed.
One of the other boys sneered at him. "What do you want, jackass?"
The man's answer was calm and controlled. "I want all of your wallets, your phones, everything of value, and then, I want you to sit down in your seats until we get to the next station."
"Are you high, man? Get bent."
Shinji, who had only stared at the ruined player and tape on the floor during the conversation, felt his eye twitch. He was only barely aware of the fact that his right fist had clenched into a fist, as he turned hate filled eyes on Akio.
He didn't notice the door to the train compartment open and three more Section 2 men file in on the other side of the boys. He didn't hear Akio tell the first man to get lost again, unless he wanted to pay the price. He didn't hear himself whisper his mantra under his breath. All he heard was the pounding thunder of his heartbeat in his ears.
"center the target and pull the switch"
He also didn't hear the uttered cries of his escort's surprise as he launched himself with a howl out of his seat into Akio, slamming his fist into the boy's temple as he grasped his arm with his left. Ignoring the sudden curses of the other two boys and the secret service agents as the black suited men rushed in, ignoring the frighted scream of the girl as he and Akio slammed into the seat next to her as he rained down blows on the unconscious boy.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
"CENTER THE TARGET AND PULL THE SWITCH! CENTER THE TARGET AND PULL THE SWITCH! CENT-"
Gendo paused the playback. Kozo lifted an eyebrow as he chuckled softly as he stared at the stilled image of two Section 2 men restraining Shinji.
"I see the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Gendo. At least he doesn't need to worry about getting bailed out of jail, eh?"
Gendo shook his head. "I think this particular apple might have fallen close to the tree, but proceeded to roll down the hill a ways. I wouldn't have waited for him to break something of mine before attacking, but at least he's not flailing around helplessly."
"What of his little center the target phrase? Does he think he's fighting inside the Evangelion?"
Gendo snorted in amusement. "That would be interesting, but no. I think it's more of a battle cry."
"Interesting choice in a battle cry. Doesn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of man."
"It could be worse. Besides, his enemies are not men; so it does not need to frighten them. It just needs to provide him focus; which this should do, as it's basically a chant of how to use the weapons system mock-up in the Entry Plug."
Kozo stared at the frozen image on the screen. "It's odd though. Why did he laugh at them? It didn't look like he was paying any attention to them in the first place."
"He wasn't." Gendo shook his head. "He was probably daydreaming. They just took it the wrong way and thought he was an easy target."
"Much to their loss. What was Section 2's take on the altercation?"
"They think he's oddly volatile. They told him afterward to let them handle things from now on."
"Huh." The Sub-Commander smirked as Gendo turned the monitor off and turned to another report. "Are you going to give him a new SDAT this time too?"
Gendo watched his second-in-command over the tops of his glasses before pushing them back up his nose. "I don't know what you're getting at."
"You might fool everyone else, but you're not fooling me."
"I might, but it will have to wait until after the arrival of Unit-02."
"Is it nearing that time already?"
"It is. Soon we will have all three Evangelions, ADAM and Lilith. Soon, I will hold all of the keys to Instrumentality."
"Once we have found the lance."
"Indeed."
"How much longer do you think it will be?"
Gendo shrugged as he stood up and moved to windows of his office, staring out at the lake and forest. "In all honesty, I don't know. The scrolls give a tentative time-line, but it's all open to interpretation and conjecture. The next Angel is supposed to come from the sea, but so far all the other ones have come from the sea as well, so that's no real help. It could arrive today, or months, or years."
"A pity we can't summon them to our liking. But then, SEELE would probably try to circumvent us."
"True. If they are willing to commit mass genocide to become gods, I doubt they would lose any sleep over stabbing us in the back again."
"Don't tell me you're still upset over the Jet Alone issue? It's not like it was they managed to do us any real harm, besides leaking some information about the AT-Field and battle information to NHIS, and we both know it was only going to be a matter of time before that was leaked anyways."
Gendo did not turn from the window. "It is still an affront they would dismiss us so casually like that. Their audacity is galling. But, soon it will come to an end."
Kozo nodded as he stood. "One way, or another."
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
Shinji sighed for what seemed to be the five hundredth time since the helicopter flight began. Despite not paying him any attention, having his nose shoved in a new camera manual, and the sigh barely audible over the noise of the helicopter's engine, Kensuke glanced at him and then the empty space next to him on the bench seat.
"Hey, it's just bad luck that Dr. Akagi wouldn't let her take today off. No big deal, man."
Misato looked up from the report she had been reading to kill time as all her attempts to engage Shinji in conversation had proved pointless, and she didn't care to hear about how awesome the helicopter they were riding in was from Kensuke. "She wouldn't have been able to leave anyways, guys. We have to have at least one pilot ready to be deployed at all times in Tokyo-3." She looked at Kensuke. "Why wasn't the Suzahara boy able to come along? I would have thought he would have jumped at the chance to skip school for a day."
"He and Hikari are taking their younger sisters to the zoo today after school," Shinji responded for Kensuke, his voice neutral. He smiled weakly at the others. "It's okay, I was just thinking."
Uh-huh. Right. "Aww, what were you thinking about? Rei?" Misato smiled at the boy, winking. Her hopes that the boy would have loosened up some after the party seemed to have been in vain. He was still as closed off as before, not opening up at home or elsewhere as far as she could tell. He had gone so far as to avoid Rei a little, prompting the girl to ask Misato about him.
That, in turn, had prompted a flotilla of memories to come floating to the surface. The girl really liked him in her own strange, quiet way. But in Misato's opinion, neither of the two would do anything on their own. It would be up to big sister Misato to make sure they had a chance to connect, at least. Of course, the fact that one or the other was always being a lab rat for Ritsuko's latest batch of tests and had no time or energy to spare didn't help.
"N-no, it's nothing." While he stuttered, miraculously, he didn't blush. His little altercation yesterday on the train had sparked something, but whatever it was, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that he felt... different. He had apologized to the Section 2 men, though they said it wasn't necessary, but... he wasn't sure if he had actually meant it this time. He certainly didn't feel any remorse over beating the older boy senseless, that was for sure. It was different, though, from when he had attacked Toji and Kensuke at school. He had felt bad about it later, and during the fight, he hadn't taken any pleasure in it. That had just been... anger, anger and rage, free from any other emotion.
He felt a sneaking suspicion that he had felt a sliver of enjoyment when he felt his fists connect with the older boy.
Shinji wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.
One of the crew members tapped Misato on the shoulder, holding up five fingers. She nodded, and turned to the boys, one reading his book and the other staring out the window again.
"OK! We're almost to our destination! If you look out the far windows, you should see it!"
Shinji had seen nothing but open ocean for the past hour and a half, so his curiosity was aroused. He followed Kensuke over to where he was making strangling sounds as he pressed his face up to the small circular window. Picking a window next to his, Shinji looked out over more ocean, and more ships than he had ever seen before in his life.
"We're going to a boat?" he asked, looking around at the assortment of warships, ranging in size from merely big to mind-staggeringly large.
"Ships, Shinji, they're called ships. But yes, we're going to a ship." Misato's voice was smug but amused. "In fact, if you can find one with a large forty-two painted on it, that's the one we're going to."
Kensuke managed to calm down enough to spit out a coherent sentence. "Forty-two? Why does that sound familiar?" He craned his neck, trying to read the numbers painted on the sides of the ships as their helicopter maneuvered past other helicopters that were circling the massive fleet when his eyes widened. "The 'Over the Rainbow'! We're going to the 'Over the Rainbow'?"
Shinji looked askance at the animated boy. "What type of a name is that? 'Over the Rainbow'? It sounds... well, lame." He ignored the hurt expression Kensuke wore, turning back to look at the already massive ship growing larger as they drew closer.
"C'mon, man, you can't tell me you never heard about the 'Over the Rainbow'? The American super-heavy Retribution-Class aircraft carrier?" Sighing as Shinji shook his head as Misato chuckled, he continued. "The ship's real name is the USS Resplendent, but everyone calls it the 'Over the Rainbow' because of what happened during Second Impact. It got washed out of the dry dock in Hawaii, where it was being built, and everyone thought it was lost to the tidal wave and massive storms spawned by the event. However, after two weeks, it showed back up perfectly fine, though it was crewed by only a tiny fraction of the normal crew complement, all of them just workers and not sailors, and only having one of the five reactors online. When asked where they had been, the foreman who had taken command had only said that they had been over the rainbow."
Shinji looked back at Kensuke, clearly unimpressed. "Did you breathe at all when saying all of that?"
Misato laughed as she watched Kensuke sputter in inarticulate annoyance. "Sit down, boys; we're about to land." Following her own advice, she sat down but didn't strap back in, preferring instead to slouch down in the seat, kicking her legs out, smiling as she earned a sideways glance from the crew chief of the helicopter. Still got it.
Once the door was thrown open, she led the way off, followed by an overly enthusiastic Kensuke, gushing over the assorted military hardware with more energy than most women in a shoe store. Shinji followed at a more sedate pace, stretching out his arms and back as he yawned.
Eying the grinning faces of the sailors as they watched Misato with interest and Kensuke with amusement, Shinji sighed as he followed the duo. Why did we come here? What sort of meeting is going to be here? Don't they have video conferences for things like this? He looked around some more, but nothing he saw gave him more information. He certainly had no idea what these things were, even if Kensuke was throwing names and descriptions out in a rapid-fire manner.
What purpose does it serve to have me come here? He slowed down as he rounded the corner the others had already passed, seeing Misato talking to a girl as Kensuke stared in open-mouthed shock. I guess she's pretty enough. Is this who Misato's come to meet? Who is she? Another pilot? Maybe the Second Child?
"-and that's not all! I've filled out too! Oh, I'm so glad you decided to come out early Misato. I've been so bored here on the sh-"
Her melodic voice was cut off as a gust of wind came out of nowhere and sent her yellow sundress billowing up around her. She squawked in a very unmelodious manner as she thrust her dress back down, hiding the pink panties she was wearing from view. Then, with a quickness, she bounded across the deck to imperiously smack both Kensuke and Shinji across the face.
"Ow! What was that for?" Kensuke complained, rubbing his face. The girl whirled on him, her voice much harsher now than it had been, matching her scowling glare.
"That was the viewing fee! Quite a bargain, nicht?"
Misato chuckled as Kensuke retorted, his voice as acerbic as hers. "It might have been a bargain, but don't go selling something that nobody wants to buy!"
"WHAT?"
As the girl and Kensuke descended into bickering, none of them noticed Shinji's eye twitching momentarily, nor the effort it took for him to unclench his right fist.
Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier!
"Absolutely not. I'll not sign that toy over to you until we reach port." The admiral turned his scowl from Misato to the view of the ocean through the window of the command deck, situated high in the tower that sat in the center of the ship. Kensuke and Asuka, despite their instant dislike for each other held twin expressions of angry surprise.
Misato, however, kept a calm and polite demeanor. "That is your prerogative, Sir. However, I must remind you that in any event of Angelic activity, I will be in command, as per UN Regulation Number 89752, subsection C. I will expect your full cooperation."
"Whatever. Just get your boy-scout troop off my bridge."
"Aww, Admiral, is that anyway to talk to such an attractive NERV Commander?" Shinji turned around in surprise to see a rough-shaven man not wearing a uniform like the sailors or Misato, but a shirt and tie getup that wouldn't be out of place in an office building, even if the shirt was untucked, and his clothes looked like they had never heard of iron or starch. A cigarette was tucked behind one ear, and his hair was drawn into a ponytail.
"Kaji!" Both Misato and Asuka said at the same time, but where Misato was infuriated, the younger girl was exuberant.
Kaji smiled again, ignoring the Admiral as he snarled at him. "Mr. Kaji! How many times do I have to ask you to keep off my bridge? Get out of here, and take the rest of your NERV people with you!"
They all crowded in the corridor. Kaji kept smiling, and clapped a hand on Shinji's shoulder, causing the boy to flinch slightly and try to worm his way out of the man's grip. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to go.
"Let's go down to the cafeteria, shall we?"
Does he always smile like that? Shinji thought to himself, managing to pull away as they moved down the hall, the two adults side by side, Misato refusing to speak to the man, followed by Kensuke and Asuka, each dogging the footsteps of the chatty man and silent woman while trying to ignore each other. Well, Miss Misato doesn't seem to like him much. I wonder how they know each other? Sighing to himself, he reluctantly followed the others through the ship's maze of passageways to the cafeteria, where they secured a table for themselves, with Misato and Kensuke sitting on one side, mirrored on the other by Kaji and Asuka. Shinji wandered over to one of the glass-faced refrigerators, wondering if he had to pay money in order to get a drink, only half listening to the conversation behind him.
"So I'm here to supervise the handoff of Unit-02 to NERV, as well as chaperoning Asuka here."
Misato was clearly not impressed. "They couldn't have picked someone more responsible for that?" She turned to the girl, a pitying look in her eyes. "Oh, Asuka, I'm sorry that they saddled you with this idiot. If I had known they were going to do that to you, I would have refused reassignment!"
Asuka only grinned at the older woman, as she attempted to wrap an arm around one of Kaji's, but the man slipped out of it with ease as he pulled the cigarette from behind his ear, fiddling with it. "Oh, it's not a problem at all, Misato! Kaji's been the best!"
Rolling his eyes as Misato suddenly smirked at him, he looked over to Shinji as he was inspecting the drinks. "So you're Shinji Ikari, the Third Child."
Turning around, Shinji turned a faint red as four pairs of eyes focused on him, not all of them particularly warm. "Um, yes, but how do you know my name? I'm not that important," he said weakly, wishing he had never come on this trip.
If anything, this caused Kaji's smile to grow larger. "Oh, you're quite famous in my line of work, Shinji. The defense business is all abuzz about you."
Kensuke spoke up, pride in his voice. If his friend weren't going to sing his own praises, then he would. "See, that's what we've been telling you, Shin-man. You're famous! You can't save the world a couple of times over without people noticing, you know."
"Well, he can step aside now and let a pro handle things. I've been training for years, and my Unit-02 is the first production model! It's superior to the prototype and test-type units in every way!"
"Care to share the specifications, then?" Kensuke bored holes in her with his eyes, causing her to recoil slightly in reflex at the look of hunger behind his glasses. She inwardly cursed herself for showing weakness in the face of the enemy.
"Sure thing, geek. My Evangelion's got better armor, faster response time, a higher-"
Misato cut the girl off, waving her hand in the air. "Okay, okay. That's enough. No bragging about the units outside of NERV. I'm going to go check on the unloading of the power cable." She pushed away from the table, ignoring Kaji as he also stood.
"I'm afraid that I, too, have an errand I need to attend to. It was a pleasure seeing you again Misato." He winked at the irritated woman, and disappeared out the hatch, Asuka quickly following him without a glance back to the others.
She eventually caught up with him as he exited his room, a satisfied look on his face.
Drat. I'm never going to see what it is he's got in that briefcase.
"Oh Kaji~!" She said, throwing her arms around him. "Where do you know Misato from? She had already left Berlin before you showed up."
Kaji smiled as he worked his way out of her embrace, causing her to pout. "Oh, I know her from before. We were actually friends in college. But that's old news. What do you think of the Third Child?"
As they came back out onto the outside deck, she latched onto the rail, looking out at the other ships, picking out the one carrying her Evangelion with practiced ease. "Meh. He's not much to look at. He nothing like I expected him to be, from the combat footage. Untrained, yes. Definitely a rookie pilot. I had thought it was the other one, at first. He's got a better attitude for it, at least. The Third is just, so... so meh."
Kaji grinned at her. "Well, not everyone can be the same hard charger as you, Asuka. And no matter how lackluster his current attitude, he still beat your initial synchronization score on his first time in the Evangelion."
Asuka spun around, scowling at her chaperon, ignoring her hair as it whipped into her face. "Forty-two percent. You don't have to remind me," she grumbled. The petulant expression twisting her normally sunny features gave way to a sly smile as her eyes locked back onto the ship carrying her Evangelion. "Kaji, go and organize something to ferry me and the Third Child over to Unit-02," she said, before darting off into the ship, looking for her new wing-man. "We'll see how his attitude changes when he sees a real Evangelion!" Her tone was light and gay she called from beyond the metal hatch.
Kaji gazed out over the railing, surveying the ships and the sea. Oh, you poor, poor boy. I think that I might have just thrown you to the wolves. Ah well. He sighed to himself, turning to go back to his room. You're nothing at all what people would expect Gendo Ikari's son to be. You're much too fragile. But there's no denying your hidden strength, now is there? What other secrets are you hiding?