Author's Note: A bit of trivia from Japan's family register law: "Article 23—Persons who have been entered into a new family register or who have entered another family register pursuant to the provisions of Articles 16 through 21 shall be removed from the previous family register. The same applies to persons who have died, been declared missing, or have lost their nationality."
Keep this in mind, as it's relevant for one segment coming up in this chapter.
xxxx
Elizabeth was quietly fanning herself. That she was doing so with a flattened Nigi Mitama was less surprising than it should have been.
"What an exciting night~"
Sokila tilted her head.
"Uh...what happened...?"
Elizabeth giggled, her smirk carrying a hint of savagery that Sokila couldn't quite make out.
"Well, I was simply testing out something that would give our dear Guests a little boost!" She paused. "Roost. Rooster. Cock...?" Elizabeth opened her mouth to say something else-
"DON'T!"
Sokila blinked as Elizabeth was suddenly mobbed by Margaret, Theodore, and Lavenza, who had all united to stop her from continuing her train of thought.
"What was she about to say, Mister Igor?"
From atop the stage, the Velvet Room's proprietor simply chuckled.
"Yet another wandering wordplay. Innocent enough...and yet, not all wordplay is fit for the ears of youths."
"...does it have something to do with boy chickens? What's wrong with that?" Frowning, Sokila had a train of thought of her own. "...I want a chicken!"
The faint haze of blue began to brighten-
xxxx
/Saturday: September 5, 2015/
/Misato's Apartment, Tokyo-3/
Shinji Ikari blinked numbly as he sat up, rising to drowsy wakefulness. Why...why do I want to hurt that Elizabeth lady...? Shaking his head, he tried to shake off the sleepiness...
xxxx
Meanwhile, at another apartment elsewhere in the city, Goro Akechi slowly opened his eyes. "...well," he tiredly said, feeling both rejuvenated yet wiped out. That was something.
The quiet stranger chuckled.
"Do you feel exhausted?"
...somewhat, he was forced to inwardly admit. And yet, there had been a certain catharsis to it, even if that silver-haired witch had all but toyed with him once his 'stamina' (for however much that counted in a dream) had begun to flag. I wonder...if I'll be able to fight Kurusu?
"A side benefit of that dream realm's existence, I'm sure."
The smirk that came to Akechi's face was an honest one. Finally.
xxxx
...and after several more blinks, Shinji realized that he had proverbially sleep-walked his way to the restroom to take of his morning business. Absentmindedly, he pulled open his phone to see if there had been any new texts; aside from some late night memes shared by Toji and Kensuke in the Team Statherós group chat (and a stern message from Mayumi for everyone to go to sleep that had seemingly ended the jocularity), there were a string of messages from an unknown number.
#&!?: what a quick response time!
#&!?: this is Mr. Ponytail's other self, by the way
#&!?: You were certainly quick enough to take down Sumaru's Shadow.
#&!?: I bet Ayanami was icier than normal
Shinji tried to recall the overall feelings from yesterday's battle in the Metaverse; though the sentiment had been fait, Ayanami had seemed to be...distant.
S. Ikari: maybe? Do you know why?
#&!?: Of course. Sumaru's a reminder of a time long past.
#&!?: granted, it's something that you won't find out for a while. Maybe not ever, if she had it her way.
S. Ikari: but why?
What is he referring to? Ayanami knew the truth of the world; did it have something to do with the real world, beyond the Sea of Souls? Or a timeline from long ago?
#&!?: She doesn't want to involve anyone in trials she feels are unnecessary
#&!?: not exactly difficult to empathize with her
#&!?: given how similar she is to yours truly
#&!?: though, given our natures, I suppose it is I who is similar to her?
S. Ikari: what are you talking about?
#&!?: think
It's too early to think, thought Shinji with a grimace as his fingers lazily tapped the phone screen.
S. Ikari: something to do with memory? Or with pain?
#&!?: Everyone lives with pain of some kind. Some try to survive by forgetting their pain. What is a man without memory?
#&!?: even if the memories hurt, they provide direction
#&!?: She lives with that. Me and my other self have also lived with that.
#&!?: and I think you'll come to understand that burden the further along you go
S. Ikari: but why does it have to be that way?
S. Ikari: why do so many try to carry that burden alone?
S. Ikari: wouldn't Misato-san want to help you carry it?
Shinji frowned, inwardly feeling the faint sting of hypocrisy. But...don't I do the same? I carry a burden that no one else has. Even though he tried to involve others, was it enough? Furthermore...for all that his friends and comrades had implored him to do so, the temptation to soldier on in solitude (to keep them from feeling the pain of Evangelion, even if he himself didn't want to face it alone...what wretched contradictions!) was never far away.
#&!?: That's the rub, isn't it?
#&!?: no matter how much of a good idea it may seem, and no matter how much it might help
#&!?: we fools still play the game of self-sacrifice
#&!?: to spare others the pain of our tribulations
#&!?: even if it's a mere lie to assuage ourselves
S. Ikari: how?
#&!?: What would be worse?
#&!?: To let others help carry our weight, and feel just how much it hurts?
#&!?: Or to stand at a distance, carrying the hurt by yourself...and watch as they despise you for trying to protect them for as long as you can?
Shinji blinked, in stunned silence. It was a question on a parallel track to one of PILATE's scenarios, and it rang oh so familiar...yet the intent behind it was different.
S. Ikari: What are you trying to protect Misato-san from?
#&!?: ah, now that's a good question to ask :)
#&!?: And the answer...well, that's for another time.
#&!?: Just remember: the truth always hurts.
#&!?: My other self always learns that lesson the hard way...
Shinji tried responding.
ERROR: INVALID NUMBER
...Kaji-san, what is with you? He couldn't help but wonder wistfully, even as he felt a strange kinship with the man (even if it was through his Shadow)...
xxxx
/Fuuka's Office, Konoe Cybertech Systems, Outskirts of Osaka/
Misato Katsuragi, fresh off of a light breakfast, blinked at the sight of Fuuka Konoe's face. "Did you really pull an all-nighter?"
Fuuka — her eyes looking somewhat baggy — responded with a yawn.
"Guess that answers that," dryly remarked Misato, looking at some new additions to Fuuka's desk since her visit the prior night: several thumb drives were positioned side by side, whilst numerous physical hard drives — each one wrapped in its own plastic bag — were sitting in a small cardboard parcel. "You fixed all of them?"
Fuuka shook her head, gesturing to a small bin elsewhere on her desk. "Some were a bit more damaged than the others; I'll have to work on them a little while longer..." After another yawn, she added, "...once I get some sleep..."
"Then you should get to that. Can the remaining drives be mailed back to me?"
Fuuka's answer involved something about filling out a form and some extra fees involved with mail and delivery; however, it was garbled by yet another yawn, rendered into auditory gruel.
"Figured as much," said Misato, speaking as one fluent in the language of insomniacs. As she sat down to fill out the paper form Fuuka had forwarded her regarding delivery instructions, she decided to fill the empty air. "So, read that you've been in the family business for a while. Fulfilling work?"
"Mm-hmm," muttered Fuuka with a sleepy nod. "Following in my parents' footsteps...well, mother's mostly. She was always more hands-on than dad was." Yawning again, she added, "Even I technically run this branch, I end up doing more technical work than administrative...not much of a leader..."
I wonder if her sleepiness is making her loose-lipped? Kind of odd to be talking about this stuff to a customer. Then again, they were behind closed doors and off the floor, and this transaction involved secure footage on behalf of an Anti-Terror operation. Speaking of which, "Did you see anything unusual on the footage you did see?"
Fuuka shook her head. "Not that I could see...quite a lot of animals, though." Looking somewhat shifty, she whispered, "What kind of experiments were they running...?"
"Classified."
"Aw."
Smirking, Misato placed her signature at the bottom of the delivery form. "So the remaining materials will be mailed to the Konoe Cybertech office in Tokyo-3?"
Fuuka nodded. "You'll receive a message from your local branch once it arrives. Hand the form to the clerk at the front desk and they'll process your payment for services rendered." Idly stretching, the woman murmured, "I've always wanted to go to Hakone..."
"Eh, if you've seen one city, you've seen 'em all," blithely remarked Misato. "Any reason you wanted to check out Hakone?"
"My mother grew up there; she married into the Konoe family." Tiredly putting her workstation into rest mode, she added, "Would give me a chance to look into what happened with my uncle..."
Misato blinked. "Your uncle?"
Fuuka shrugged, her exhaustion finally beginning to take over. "Mrm...sorry. I shouldn't be talking about family matters to a customer..."
Misato lightly shrugged. "Stuff like that is helpful to unload onto someone. You know, tell you what." Time to clock in my volunteer work for the year. "Since you've actually helped me out, I could look into whatever happened with your uncle! I've got enough contacts in Tokyo-3 that it'll be simple...you know, depending on what happened. It's nothing big, is it?"
Fuuka, apparently too tired to protest her offer, said, "I don't know. All I know is that my uncle simply stopped responding to mother many years ago, so I'm not sure what happened..."
"Well, if you've got a name, I can at least ask around. It would save you time!" Besides, I'm sure it won't even take it long.
"...okay." Yawning once more, Fuuka said, "My uncle's name was Mahiro Yamagishi."
...huh. "Gotcha," said Misato, not letting her bewilderment show on her face. "You should probably get some sleep, Konoe-san."
...gonna do just that," sleepily said Fuuka, handing Misato the thumb drives and the box full of repaired hard drives. "Thank you for doing business with Konoe Cybertech Systems..."
Surely it has to be a coincidence, thought Misato, her face settling into a neutral mask as she left Fuuka's office. Because Mahiro Yamagishi...that was the name of Mayumi-chan's late father. Misato could only imagine that Sae Niijima had not discovered the existence of Mahiro's sister — Fuuka's mother; Mayumi's aunt — because of their rush in trying to get ahead of the former government when it came to Mayumi's status as a Persona-user. Plus, if Fuuka's mother married into the Konoe family, she would have been removed from the Yamagishi family register...that might not have been immediately obvious...especially if there were any communication gaps between the municipal offices of Hakone and Osaka. Misato shook her head, focusing primarily on checking out at the front and getting back on the road. I'll need to see if Niijima-san can confirm. No need to jump to any conclusions.
But if it was true...that meant Mayumi-chan still had family.
(She wasn't sure how to feel about that.)
xxxx
/Courtyards, Hakone Academy/
The sun continued its morning ascent as Shinji Ikari closed his notebook. Done, thought Shinji Ikari with a tired yet satisfied smile. The notebook containing dozens of pages worth of drills — covering a comprehensive survey of topics appropriate for his grade level: a veritable smorgasbord of knowledge — was finally completed. Now...for the last assignment. The dreaded jiku kenkyu: the independent research project. At least I don't have to do the book report...
(Days ago, after he reviewed his summer assignment list and realized that no book selection was provided, Kensuke and Toji had reacted with disbelief. Then, when Kaworu had thrown in his two bits — "I don't believe Ayanami-san has ever gotten a book assignment in all the years she's attended this Academy. Perks of being an Evangelion-user, perhaps?" — those expressions of disbelief morphed into betrayed dismay.)
Is it bad I'm not that sorry? Shinji wasn't sure; it was strange how the school's 'allowances' for Evangelion-users varied...and were, honestly, somewhat minimal. Though, maybe the book reports aren't that bad...?
(It was during the prior night's mahjong games that the subject of summer homework had come up. Mayumi had calmly remarked, "I'm already done. The book reports were finished the day after I got my library moved over." Kensuke and Toji had reacted with exaggerated dismay, much to Mana's confusion.)
...no use complaining, he thought, munching on an onigiri he had purchased from a nearby convenience store. Idly reaching for his phone. Naturally, the team chat was active:
-Team Statherós Group-
M. Yamagishi: I don't know what you want me to say
T. Suzuhara: lemme complain if I want
S. Ikari: what's going on?
K. Aida: ineffectual complaining about how Yama-san beat us to using Nishiawakura as a summer project topic OTL
M. Yamagishi: i'm not used to coordinating summer projects with anyone ╮(╯_╰)╭
Mana: seriously, how do yu make thos faces
T. Suzuhara: didn't we already teach you? I swear we talked about doing that
K. Aida: but monopolizing an entire road trip for your project
K. Aida: so greedy ( •_•)
M. Yamagishi: but I'm nooooot（；へ：）
Mana: why r you picking on Yamagishi
K. Aida: but I'm not
T. Suzuhara: don't be a tool Ken
K. Aida: but I'm nooooot ༶ඬ༝ඬ༶
S. Ikari: did Yamagishi-san write about everything in Nishiawakura?
M. Yamagishi: of course not!
M. Yamagishi: I just wrote about local village life
T. Suzuhara: ...
K. Aida: Toji?
T. Suzuhara: dibs on writing about the places we ate at during the trip
K. Aida: TOJI
K. Aida: YOU TRAITOR
Mana: everyone's being weird
Mana: does school make you weird?
M. Yamagishi: it
M. Yamagishi: depends
K. Aida: weirdness is highly probable
T. Suzuhara: eh, some are weirder than others
Mana: so yes, school does make you weird
Mana: good thing I don't have to go
...this chat room is pretty hectic, observed Shinji, noting an entirely different message that had arrived at some point yesterday.
HEROD: YOUR ANSWER TO OUR PRIOR INQUIRY IS STILL PENDING.
HEROD: WE REQUEST A STATUS UPDATE.
HEROD: OF THE FOLLOWING 'KINDS' OF LOVE, WHICH DO YOU THINK IS MOST IMPORTANT?
HEROD: PLATONIC? FAMILIAL? FILIAL? OR ROMANTIC?
...ah. Right. The MAGI's question from August the 31st. His friends had given a lot of different answers...and naturally, they had been varied. Hmm...
S. Ikari: they don't seem so evenly divided
HEROD: ELABORATE
S. Ikari: love between family members can be platonic or romantic
S. Ikari: and family members can feel like friends
Not me, he thought with a grim frown. However, he knew that Akane and Zenkichi Hasegawa sometimes acted towards each other in the way friends did. Maybe. Possibly? I'm not exactly an expert on family...
S. Ikari: but friends can also feel like family
S. Ikari: and can be closer than family
S. Ikari: and the love between friends is platonic
S. Ikari: but I guess it can also become romantic, too
S. Ikari: not that I have any experience with romance myself
And honestly, given the way my life has gone, I don't think romance is in the cards, he glumly thought. (Yet...why did a part of him suggest otherwise...?)
His Other and the Beast were silent.
HEROD: ALL OF THE ABOVE IS NOT AN ANSWER
S. Ikari: why not?
HEROD: IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE OF THE QUESTION
HEROD: THAT WHICH ONE LOVES WOULD LOGICALLY GUIDE ONE'S ACTIONS TO A DEGREE
HEROD: LIKEWISE THE THINGS WHICH ONE DOES NOT LOVE
HEROD: YOU ARE NO EXCEPTION
S. Ikari: What are you getting at?
HEROD: DO YOU LOVE YOUR FRIENDS?
Shinji was actually taken aback by the bluntness of the question. My friends, he thought numbly. Kensuke Aida, Toji Suzuhara, Mayumi Yamagishi, Mana Kirishima. Rei Ayanami, Kaworu Nagisa, Ren Amamiya; even Hikari Horaki and Akane Hasegawa counted to an extent.
(He had not interacted with Narukami and Arisato enough to consider them more than acquaintances, Social Link or not. Likewise Asuka, whom he had met only once. The adults in his life, even those who he had Social Links with, seemed too far removed from the state of childhood to easily call a 'friend'. Mister P...was too weird. Mister Igor and the Velvet Room Attendants...they were not his friends, acting more like distant mentors...save for one.)
(Sokila...is more than friend. She's in a categorization all her own.)
His Other quietly lit a candle.
"And soon, there will be another to add to that list...a pity that you've only properly met once in-person. But that will change before long, I think..."
Gulping, Shinji ignored the heat in his face, typing his response.
S. Ikari: I think I do
HEROD: AND DO YOU LOVE YOUR FAMILY?
Shinji grimaced, thinking of the only family member in his life: Gendo Ikari. He still didn't know what to think of him. In all honesty, his guardian filled that void far more readily; yet, for all Sojiro Sakura had spent being his caretaker for all these years, it still felt a step too far to call him 'family'. Sakura-sensei...he's closer to 'friend' than 'family'...yet calling sensei a friend seems too casual...
S. Ikari: as far as my father goes...I don't know
S. Ikari: I like to think I do
S. Ikari: I don't know why I would bother otherwise
It was a strangely honest way of thinking.
HEROD: AND WOULD YOU PRIORITIZE PLATONIC LOVE OR ROMANTIC LOVE?
S. Ikari: I've never been 'in love', so I don't know
S. Ikari: and if you're asking if I would be like that with my friends
That thought just made his chest hurt in a strange and confusing way.
S. Ikari: it feels weird thinking of them that way
S. Ikari: does it have to be like this?
HEROD: YOU DISPUTE THE CATEGORIES
HEROD: THE FACT YOU QUIBBLE SO MUCH REGARDING THE INCLUSION OF 'PLATONIC' AND 'ROMANTIC' LOVE IMPLIES LESSER IMPORTANCE
HEROD: AND YOU HAVE CLEARLY PLACED A HIGHER VALUE ON FILIAL CONNECTIONS VERSUS FAMILIAL
HEROD: BY PROCESS OF ELIMINATION, YOUR ANSWER IS 'FILIAL LOVE'.
HEROD: THIS IS USEFUL DATA.
HEROD: WE WILL PROVIDE FURTHER INQUIRY SOON.
Shinji grimaced as the MAGI's responses seemed set in stone. Is it really so simple? Not that he hated the idea...but such a discrete approach to love seemed inappropriate, somehow.
But that was a thought for later. He had a summer project to get to...and fortunately, he had a few ideas...
xxxx
As the day rolled on, rain clouds rolled over Japan. Water fell over the land in fat droplets, drenching numerous prefectures.
(As the Third Child hurried to finish his independent school project indoors, the Second Child transitioned to the Metaverse so as to complete her remaining missions whilst avoiding the rainstorm. The First Child, uncaring for the deluge, continued fighting Acolytes amidst the rain.)
Tokyo-3 was not spared the downpour.
Yu Narukami, taking a brief break during his shift at Kobayakawa Memorial Hospital, quietly watched water drip down the window. His thoughts were somewhat...haphazard, at the moment. So much to keep track of. So much to prepare for. Will it be enough? He had no choice but to hope so...especially since old regrets from the past kept rearing their ugly head. First Sho Minazuki with Strega...and now Tohru Adachi. From what he knew from public media (with any gaps supplemented by Amamiya), Adachi had sought out Kinshiro Morooka...and then, he had deliberately engaged with Taro Namatame. Both individuals who were involved in the life where the murders occurred in Inaba...the life where he orchestrated the murders for his own amusement. There's a purpose to his actions...but what? He couldn't help but wonder as to his motive; was he deliberately targeting people from that vaunted life he had once thought of as his 'first'? Will he be going for my friends? Or will he be going for me? Yu, to some small extent, wished that it was the latter. At least then...I can actually talk with him. If he's actually aligned with the Angels...maybe he remembers more than just our life in Inaba?
There were too many unknowns. Too many uncertainties. (The necessity of playing such a passive role often galled.) (What would be done to make you throw caution to the wind?)
Then, in the corner of his eye, he saw that oh-so-familiar tinge: yellow shades, drifting in as from nowhere. Even as the rain continued to fall, a yellow fog descended over the hospital with unnatural swiftness. Looks like I'm next after all, thought Yu, all thought of his current shift going by the wayside. Which way is he coming from...? Because why else would he come here?
Electronics fizzled, and a strange sense of unreality lingered on the periphery of his senses. No one else seemed to react to the static on the TV screens, as though their cognition had become numb to what was happening; a mass attack? Or perhaps an extension of mercy? Focus. He's going to come for you. Warily, Yu quietly made his way to a nearby medical supply closet, arming himself with a few scalpels. Not exactly a sword, but something is better than nothing.
(If he had to, he would summon his Persona.)
(If Adachi wants to force everyone's hand, who are you to not go all in yourself?)
(He really hoped it wouldn't come to that. Everyone he had forged a bond with would remember...and none of them were in a position to actually coordinate or help.)
(Maybe Adachi just wants to spit in the Usurper's face. It makes as much sense as anything, after everything he pulled with you and yours...)
Which way will he come from? Yu stood with his back to the wall, gazing calmly down each end of the hallway. Left? Right? Above? Or below?
A minute passed. Two. Three. Four. More: the tension continued to rise...and yet, there was still no Adachi. Not even the faint sense of an old Social Link drawing near. Where is he...? He's obviously here; if not for me, then who-?
There was a twinge within his heart: an unopened bond being smothered, cut away! The sheer familiarity of it was jarring, if only because he suddenly realized with dawning horror where Adachi was. No. His body was already moving, heading for the stairs. He wasn't after me. He had subconsciously dismissed the possibility, if only because he had somehow — someway — hoped that Adachi would still have some semblance of restraint. He was after...! Long legs bounded up multiple steps at once, taking him all the way to the eighth floor. He was after...! With a desperate snarl, he barreled through the door of a familiar patient: one he had attended to not even an hour ago. "NANAKO!"
Standing beside Nanako Dojima's cot was Tohru Adachi, his back to the window. The elderly woman in the bed was still, and unmoving; despite the havoc wrought by the yellow fog on electronics, the flat line on her heart monitor was impossible to mistake. "Took you long enough, you dumbass," Adachi said with a knowing grin; in his left hand was a brown medical bottle, while in his right was a hypodermic needle. "Pentobarbital. Bit cleaner than a gun, don't you think?"
Yu didn't want to know what the expression on his face looked like. He did not want to know how furious he looked. But he wanted Adachi to know. "She did nothing to you," he coldly said.
"You're right. This old lady did nothing to yours truly."
"Then why did you murder her?"
Adachi snorted, gesturing at the room around them with both hands. "Like she was even alive. Wasting away in this place, like some little curiosity because her Shadow happened to fuse with her." That the man had been able to tell at a glance, without any access to her medical work, only hinted at how deep his Angel-empowered insight went. "I'm just giving her a headstart on the next round, you know?"
That pretty much cemented the truth of Adachi's knowledge. "How much do you know?" Yu demanded. "Or rather...how much do you remember?"
"All the little shenanigans going back to our soiree in Inaba...funny how it doesn't exist this time around, eh?" said Adachi with a knowing sneer. "Actually stopped by Fuefuki on the way back. Amazing how many similarities there are...then again, it's not like the place exists anymore. Not in reality, anyhow."
"All the more reason why you murdering Nanako is so monstrous! She never did anything to you!"
"Nah; she did plenty. She acted like a precocious yet loveable brat with way too much damn insight for a kid her age. And in the rare instance where the ages weren't too far apart, I managed to wife her up." He mockingly tipped an imaginary hat at him. "Thanks for being my 'bestest man', by the way."
Yu impulsively roared, "Was it all a game to you?!" The one-thousandth-and-ninety-seventh life that he could recall, now in retrospect, had so many red flags!
(As he and Adachi drank their beer, discussion of life's meaning came up. Adachi's observation of his apparent funk spun into the man giving a rather cynical take: "Living in the moment is really all we sadsacks can do, because otherwise you get dragged down by all of the drama...you have some fun amidst the sucky parts, and then you die: game over. Why make it anymore complicated?" Then, Nanako Dojima had arrived at the bar, and the subsequent discussion of her's and Adachi's engagement drove that whole conversation to more pleasant areas.)
Adachi chuckled. "Of course. And the 'game' was to live the way I wanted: how I want to live in this sideshow called reality is no one's business but mine. Besides, you know damn well that we had a pretty good thing going that time around." He shrugged nonchalantly, letting Yu's outrage wash over him like water. "I mean, come on: for Ryotaro Dojima to call me the 'son he never had'..." The murderer suddenly cackled with delight. "Oh man, it still cracks me up even now!"
Yu forced himself to calm down, to not let his emotions get the better of him. He needed to learn more! "...how exactly are you able to remember?" As far as Yu was concerned, very few people maintained the capacity of remembering older timelines: the Wild Cards, Rei Ayanami, and Gendo Ikari in particular. "Is it because of your alliance with the Angels...?"
"There you go again. Trying to dig for answers. Guess old habits die hard, huh?" Adachi leaned on the edge of the cot's guardrails, his eyes briefly shimmering brightly in the fog; the shades were too colorful and too quick to categorize. "It's really funny, though, isn't it...? Those words I spoke to you, so long ago...about the world? They ring pretty damn loudly now, don't they?"
Yu didn't know if it was a function of the fog, or because he was facing Adachi...but memories of that 'first' life suddenly came roaring back.
(Within the TV World, the Investigation Team had finally caught up with Tohru Adachi. Naoto Shirogane, with her typical exactness, detailed Adachi's crimes with excruciating detail. At the end of it, the murderer had blithely responded, "Yeah? So what's your point? All I did was put people in here. It's the world that really kills them, isn't it?")
"...they do. But the reasons why you were wrong still hold true," said Yu, trying not to growl.
Adachi huffed with disappointment. "What a cliche. You think being a 'good guy' to my 'bad guy' matters in a world that's practically born from a dream? A world that's truly a reflection of humanity in all its variety...but if you're so intent on playing the role, I don't mind playing one of my own choosing." His lips suddenly quirked into a wicked smirk. "Did you appreciate the little 'hint' I gave you, way back when? About Second Impact...the Katsuragi Expedition...the Human Instrumentality Committee."
Yu's eyes narrowed, as yet another memory — all the way back from the third life that he could recall — resurfaced...
(He confronted Adachi after school let out, if only to learn about whatever knowledge he had on Second Impact. The lanky teenager spoke as one revealing a grave secret. "You have to know where to look, you know? Internet these days gets scrubbed awfully quick...but for the past few years or so, someone — or multiple someones — has been leaking stories about strange things that happened in Antarctica before it all went down. Somethin' about a Katsuragi Expedition, funded by a group called the Human Instrumentality Committee. Stuff doesn't stay up too long before it gets deleted, but it makes you think, doesn't it?" His inquiry as to whether they were related to the Angels elicited a shrug from Adachi. "Not sure. But there are all sorts of rumors about the level of funding going into Tokyo-3. Used to be nothin' but a hot springs town, now they're arming it up like the damn end of the world's gonna happen on its doorstep. 'Cause these rumors...mention how an Angel was woken up on September the 13th...and how that's what really caused Second Impact...and that, one day, not too long from now, more will come to finish the job." Little did Adachi know, but those words would direct Yu's entire investigation going forward, inevitably drawing him into NERV's orbit...)
...and then, the implications made his eyes widen with realization. "You...you weren't talking about something you had learned in that life...you were giving me knowledge of the real world. The world as it was before Third Impact turned humanity into the Sea of Souls."
"Wow, you are a smart cookie," said Adachi as he clapped sarcastically. "I didn't even really think much about you; our run-ins were few and far between. But to think you kept coming back to Tokyo-3 over and over and over...gotta say, your persistence was pretty amusing! A shame my usual 'role' meant we only ever met once..."
Yu blinked. "...what? We never met in Tokyo-3." He would've remembered such an occasion.
Adachi sneered. "Oh? Then let me give you a hint." He held out his right hand, the index and middle fingers joined together to evoke the image of a gun's barrel. "'Dumbass.' Bang."
Once more, the neurons fired, and his spirit pulled something from the depths of his memory...
(It was in his eighty-eighth life — an Impact timeline — that he finally managed to track Kaji down, acting as a private investigator for the Japanese government. In an old warehouse, he tried to learn more about the truth...until, with sudden violence, a bullet drove him to the ground. Kaji didn't even resist, simply smiling at the unknown third party. "What took you so long?" Kaji's answer was another bullet, one that killed the Inspector instantly. The murderer turned back towards him, their form and visage shrouded by the dim darkness of the warehouse; he was in too much pain to see and hear clearly...and yet, in retrospect, the murderer's voice was oh so very clear. "Dumbass." A third bullet fired, and that life came to an inglorious end.)
...and just like that, an old mystery he had long set aside was answered. "You...you were the one who murdered Ryoji Kaji in reality...?"
"Fun perks with being one of SEELE's top hitmen," darkly joked Adachi. "You get to travel to a lot of places, eat some good food, meet interesting people, kill 'em dead, and then get paid well for it...not that those old fossils matter anymore."
Old habits died hard for Yu Narukami. For all his rage against Adachi for senselessly killing Nanako, the overwhelming desire to learn the truth drove him to ask questions instead of flinging a scalpel at the murderer's eyes. "SEELE...you speak as if you knew them personally."
"Come on, you give me too much credit!" boasted Adachi. "Assassins don't really have much of a chance to see the proverbial 'big men upstairs'. But when an Angel decides to use you as a little 'experiment', there's only so much you can't find out if you're determined enough..." The man leered at him, his eyes briefly flashing multiple colors again. "The Angels dream without realizing it, you know? One of the things they've picked up after being stuck in the toxic waste dump known as 'humankind' for so long...and boy, the times before the 'War in Heaven' were something else. LILITH fighting to protect the Throne, ADAM trying to sieze it, remnants of SEELE still trying to make a play for it all...almost makes me wonder how you would have handled it. It would have been fun."
"Fun is not the word Ayanami used to describe it," stoically answered Yu, his mind racing to try and categorize the information appropriately. His connection to the Angel gives him insight into the times before and during the War in Heaven. "Tell me...you also know who the Usurper is, don't you?"
Adachi sneered. "Nice try. Trying to get me to say their name, hmm? I ain't no chickenshit idiot." Adachi kept his eyes focused on Yu. "But however little miss LILITH described it to you...it's nothing compared to dreaming about it. ADAM, LILITH, SEELE, all of 'em making their plays in the endgame of that war...and they all screwed up, because none of 'em won, as far as I'm concerned. Just picture it." Adachi's eyes flashed brightly, yet so briefly that Yu wondered if he had imagined it. "Xibalba, the great city in the sky; a wave of light, purging the world below it; the cry of a goddess as everything she cherished was torn away from her; the reeking stench of betrayal...the sound of someone setting foot upon the Throne...and, at last, the agony of a god becoming shackled...then it ends. Like that." Adachi snapped his fingers for emphasis. "Wish I could have seen Kandori's face when he finally bit the big one," he added with a smirk. "All of Sahaquiel's dreams show nothing but a smug, self-righteous jackass."
"Takes one to know one," dryly said Yu. If nothing else...it appears that SEELE truly is nothing but a remnant in mankind's cognition, now.
(It was his fifty-fifth life, and it was his first ever 'interview' with Gendo Ikari. So much had been discussed...and yet, when he inquired about SEELE, Gendo's response was telling. The man's melancholy transformed into joyful spite, twisting his lips into a merry sneer. "A bunch of old men, who collectively had the power to control the world...and control it they did." His shades seemed to flash, allowing his eyes — in all their intensity and savvy — to be seen. "They've long since been rendered irrelevant. Any semblance of their activity...is naught but an echo. Ponder that if you'd like, Narukami.")
But if they were involved with the War in Heaven...then it looks like it didn't end well for them. "Anything else you feel like talking about?" he probed.
"What, want me to unveil my 'grand, master plan'?"
"It did cross my mind."
Adachi grinned, showing too many teeth. "Even now, you're trying to involve me. Still think you've got a shot at 'making me a good guy', huh?"
"...it did cross my mind." Despite his personal repugnance...Yu still gave a damn. "I remember. Even after everything in Inaba, Uncle Dojima still tried to involve you in his life. He still looked out for his kouhai, if only because he thought he had failed you, somehow."
"Then he was a moron."
Yu scowled. "But you were changing. I could tell, even with how you acted during the P-1 Climax!" The bitterness of what had happened to Sho Minazuki — the regret — reared its ugly head, glad to seize a new target. "So why have you-?!"
Adachi held up a hand. "That was that life. I chose to 'atone for my sins'...because you beat me. As much as it pissed me off...those were my rules. But that was then...and this is now. A new time, practically a new world...and a new game. And until I'm beaten, the rules are mine to make."
"...so that's it, then." Given Adachi's personality — however much of it was a commonality between lives — he couldn't fault him for viewing this all as a grand opportunity for mayhem. (No matter how much it disappointed him to witness it.) "So why target Morooka? Namatame? Why Nanako?"
The murderer shrugged. "Morooka's death wasn't because of me, from way back when. So I balanced the scales. As for Namatame, after using him as my patsy, killing him with my own hands felt like the proper thing to do."
"Which you failed at."
Adachi's mocking amusement briefly flickered into something ugly, before his face settled into a tired glower. "I bet the old fart will croak before the year is out. As for Nanako...well, this was just to get some attention. To serve as an announcement."
What's wrong with me, that I was able to bond with someone like this? (What did that say about him?) "And what announcement would that be?" he spoke, barely managing to keep his teeth from clenching.
"You see, it always mystified me that some little twig like Shinji Ikari was so damn important. The Angels are actually terrified of him, you know?" The image of a multi-colored eye flickered behind Adachi, hidden by the fog; the pattern and color evoked irritation. "Even if they try to hide it...and given that you probably know about the real Third Impact, I bet you know why."
"...I do," he admitted.
Adachi grinned, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "For someone so scrawny to have such power...for someone so weak and talentless to be at the crux of so many plans...it's hysterical. The Usurper, the Angels, Strega, and whatever little band of goody-goodies you doubtless have working with you...all revolving around a pathetic runt of a teenager."
"Envy doesn't become you, Adachi."
"You think it's that simple, huh?" Adachi's tone shifted, sounding sly and secretive, and inappropriately excited. "Well...honestly, I think it would be hilarious to find out what happens if he ends up letting everyone down. So after the next new moon, after the Angels take their next shot...I'm going to make it my personal mission to see what happens when the kid gets mad. And I mean real mad."
"...that's it? That's your game?" murmured Yu with disbelief.
"What can I say? Messing with the heads of bratty punks is a hobby," he answered with a lazy yet sadistic smile.
"If you win, you're probably the first one he'll kill. You won't even live long enough to enjoy your 'victory'!"
Adachi shrugged. "Then I wake up in another life, ready to start the whole song and dance over again!" He withdrew his hands from his pockets, holding his arms out in a grandiose fashion. "As far as I'm concerned...I've got no downsides."
"...you may think there are no downsides," acknowledged Yu. "But I don't think you've realized what you've already lost."
Adachi rolled his eyes. "Oh, spare me. Like you're one to talk." Before Yu could retort, Adachi continued. "I wonder how long you spent, trying to get to the bottom of things? So many years, slaving away for the sake of your precious 'truth'...and after figuring it all out, it hit you just how meaningless your efforts have been. Because you can't do shit."
"The struggle itself, however much it hurt...it helped me grow. It wasn't meaningless...and the fact you think it was means you've fallen pretty far yourself."
Adachi's eyes flickered with color. "Cute words. Big words. Shame you couldn't tell them to your friends."
Yu frowned; the growing expression of ecstatic sadism on Adachi's face could only mean something troublesome. "What do you mean?"
"Tell me, Narukami...do you remember how you died?"
"I've died a lot, Adachi."
"You know damn well what life I'm talking about. It's the life where it all started for you and me."
...the life I've always thought of as my 'first'. Even if it wasn't really. "...it's been a while. I died..." The sensation of surprise and confusion was what stuck out the most. "...I choked to death."
"From some manjū...made by the Amagi girl." Adachi's grin was sharp enough to cut. "How do you think your friends reacted to that?"
Yu frowned...
(Awakening into his 'second' life, he — reincarnated as Souji Seta, for some reason — wrote in a notepad, trying to make sense of his jumbled thoughts and memories. When trying to recall the exact moment his awareness as 'Yu Narukami' had faded, he eventually wrote it: 'cause of death: choking on Yukiko's homemade manjū'. Anti-climactic; yet, given all the jokes made about Mystery Food X over the years, it was also strangely appropriate.)
...only to go cold as the possibilities and ramifications hit him. I was too busy trying to figure out what was going on, too busy thinking I was trapped in an illusion...! "What happened?"
"Jokes about that girl's cooking ability were a dime a dozen, you know? Even I couldn't help but overhear them back when I was still on the beat in that sad little podunk town," lightly said Adachi, delighting in the horrified expression on Yu's face. "But they just didn't seem as funny after your corpse became their greatest punchline. Oh, everyone tried to assuage Amagi; tried to tell her that they didn't blame her; that they forgave her, even though their beloved leader's death was her fault."
Yu tried to protest, tried to shift the blame his way, because everyone knew what Yukiko's cooking had been like, it was his fault for not taking a smaller bite-!
"But you can't get away from that sort of thing. When people know you're a killer, they look at you differently. And the ones looking at her were her little band of 'friends'...can you imagine just how much it ate at her? To know that one of her best friends was dead, 'cause of her? That Shirogane's squeeze was dead, 'cause of her. The town's charming city boy, friend of all, Dojima-san's nephew, Nanako-chan's 'big bro'...dead. Because of her."
Yu's protests couldn't make it past his throat, clogged by dawning shame.
"Imagine the guilt she felt. You've lived long enough to know the kind, I bet. So guilty, that she actually requested a visit with yours truly." His apparent shock elicited a chuckle from Adachi. "Surprised me, as well. Was about a month after you croaked. She came in a dark kimono; wouldn't be surprised if it was the same one she wore to your funeral." He slowly began cracking his knuckles, one at a time, with excruciating slowness. "Dojima was there as her escort; apparently, her reason for visiting was to ask about you, to get my perspective on you. Because we had been 'buddies', after all." He loosed an irritated snort. "I talked a lot of trash about how much of a dumbass you were, just so we're clear."
Breathing had become difficult; where was this tension coming from...?
"Me, on one side of the plexiglass barrier, with two guards in the room behind me," he said, describing the scene of a time long gone. "Yukiko Amagi on the other side. Dojima standing behind her...yet not too close. After all, I was a model prisoner." Adachi chuckled, as if remembering an old joke. "But with her back to him...he couldn't see her lips move. And between words...she asked for something in silence. Something that only I could do. Which put me in quite a quandary, you know? I had sworn to live by the 'rules', but you had gone ahead and died. The victor of the TV World had lost the game of life, and I — the loser — kept on living...so I figured your penalty didn't really mean jack, anymore. And to be told by a stuck-up girl like Amagi that I could give what no one else could give her? It was one hell of an ego trip."
Yu ignored Adachi's intentional innuendo. He's just trying to rile you up. Don't fall for it...!
"I thought about sneaking out, of making a break for it. But in that instant...my 'patron' reminded me that he was still there," he said, condescendingly tapping at his temple. "Not that I had any real idea of just what I was bound to at the time; I still hadn't remembered the existence of the 'real world' Pre-Impact...but it was enough for me. One burst of power from my Persona, and the plexiglass shattered. My hands may have been cuffed, but I could still reach out."
Yu's blood went cold. "...what did you do?"
"Grabbed the girl. Took her hostage. Dojima-san could barely get a word in edgewise before..." With dramatic timing, he audibly cricked his neck. "...well, I'm sure you get the picture."
"...why...?" Why? "Why would you...?"
"Because she asked," plainly answered Adachi. "She was being kind, you know? Too guilty to live, yet she didn't want to put her friends through the pain of finding her corpse as the victim of suicide. She was just savage enough to think that Tohru Adachi would be willing to throw all his 'progress' away for the chance at killing a woman with his bare hands...and she was right. That, and it would give her friends something to be angry at. Kinda selfless, you know? But pretty damn selfish at the same time...not that I had long to think about it. After all, when you murder a woman in front of witnesses, there's no coming back from that." Adachi's satisfied smile was brined with a sick sort of fascination. "Poetic, really, that I was executed a month later by hanging...but as you well know, that wasn't the end for me."
The shame within Yu slowly gave way to sorrow, tinged with rage.
Adachi, as was his wont, ruined the moment. "And yet, for all the sadness and drama...they're all dead and gone. None of it mattered: everyone's anguish over your untimely death, Yukiko Amagi's shame for committing involuntary manslaughter, her decision to commit 'suicide by Adachi'...it might as well have never been. And that's the most hilarious thing to me." With a smug leer, Adachi added, "Really makes you think...I wonder if anyone else took your death too hard in all these lives you've lived through?"
That was the final straw. (Because he knew Adachi was right.) Flashes of so many lives went through Yu's mind as he flung a handful of scalpels at Adachi's face.
The smug prick simply let them bounce off of his A.T. Field (or rather, the A.T. Field of Sahaquiel). "Heh." With little aplomb, Adachi withdrew an old yet distinctive revolver, aiming with one hand. "The fact that's all you've bothered to do means you're holding back. What a shame: that's a nice look you've got on your face." Adachi point the gun over his shoulder, firing at the window. With a dramatic crash, the entire window shattered; improbable, from a single bullet. Yet the man cared not. "I can only wonder if I can get that sort of look on Shinji Ikari's face." With a mocking salute, Adachi hopped backward through the window, vanishing into the fog. "Ta ta!"
With a harsh growl, Yu stormed towards the broken window, trying to see where he had gone, but to no avail. The man had vanished into the fog. Bereft of the chance to give Adachi his comeuppance, Yu indulged his simmering rage, if only to keep himself from going mad. "ADACHI! ! !" he roared, his howling voice echoing impossibly far.
The fog would soon fade, and Yu would have to report Nanako Dojima's untimely demise...but for those brief moments, he felt trepidation for what the future held.
xxxx
Needless to say, the appearance of yellow fog within the vicinity of Tokyo-3 — even if it had lasted for mere minutes — had driven numerous people into a tizzy.
So much so, that by the time Misato Katsuragi opened the door to her home, she was somehow unsurprised by the sight of a bunch of teenagers in her living room. "So. Yellow fog at the hospital. Did Adachi show himself?"
"We think so," murmured Ryuji Sakamoto, eating from a bowl of cheap noodles. The kids — Shinji, Mana, Mayumi, Kensuke, and Toji — were working on a trio of posters. "We got scrambled to the CPC to pacify some antsy Shadows...which we just got done with about an hour ago." Gesturing at the empty takeout containers, he added, "They tore through dinner, and then set to work on their...'summer projects'."
Misato snorted with nostalgic fondness. "One of the things I don't miss about being a kid," she snarked, sitting across the kitchen table from Sakamoto. Gently setting down the cardboard box containing her drives to the side, she eagerly took one of the unopened containers and went to town. "Thanks."
"Least you said thanks," joked Sakamoto, his eyes flickering over to the box. "So. Worth the trip?"
"The stuff got fixed, so I hope so. I'll have to look into it tomorrow," she muttered. "Damn checkpoints on the way back took longer than expected. No thanks to 'fog boy'."
Sakamoto gave her a discerning look: the kind that said he was trying to think of what to say so he could sort out his own thoughts. "You've got a lot on your mind," he observed.
You're one to talk, she inwardly griped. "Eh. Found out something that may tie into Mayumi-chan. Nothing concrete yet until I hear back from Niijima-san...notwithstanding the new custodians who are taking over for her with the girls and with the Suzuharas. Then there's the fact I'll be taking over Akechi's job after the next new moon..." Sighing, she took a frustrated bite of noodles. "Did anyone at least see Adachi?"
Sakamoto shrugged, speaking in a quieter tone. "Not like they'd tell a freelancer anything. You'll have to inquire on your end. All I know is that apparently one of the patients died. Don't know who, yet." Shifting his glance towards the kids in the living room, he added, "Not Suzuhara-chan, fortunately."
"Small mercies."
"...yesterday, we had an encounter with one of the Shadows that escaped the Great Northern Tower. Kiyotada Sumaru's." Ryuji's words elicited a brief wince; his next words elicited a full bodily twinge. "Ikari got a heads-up from your ex's Shadow, of all things. S'why we got backup from both Ayanami and himself."
...and then there's that. Kaji...what's going on...? "I see."
Sakamoto evenly asked, "Do you think the footage in those drives will give you any answers?"
"...I hope it'll be something. Something's better than nothing."
"And if it doesn't? What then?"
"Then I'll think of something," she muttered between bites.
The man sighed, slowly rising from his chair; as he quietly hobbled towards the outside balcony, Misato got the distinct impression that she had something wrong. Which didn't make sense, because she wasn't in the wrong. Huffing, she quickly ate the rest of her cheap noodles — greasy, savory, and so very filling — before following Sakamoto outside. The relative darkness of Tokyo-3 was bespoiled by the light of the skyline, faded and diluted by the humidity. The remnants of Ramiel, the Angel that had been vanquished over two months ago, were no longer present, having been completely broken down and disassembled during the summer vacation to Nishiawakura. The mood was somber, yet somehow fruitful: fitting for conversations where the participants hoped for something beneficial.
After a couple of minutes of silence, Misato asked, "You think I'm doing something wrong."
"I didn't say that," answered Sakamoto.
Misato crossed her arms. "Your tone said plenty." For all she appreciated Sakamoto's greater experience in their profession, and for all she respected him as someone with more than ten years on her, they were still peers. "What, you think I'm going to snap at you for disagreeing with my course of action?"
Sakamoto frowned, leaning against the guardrail so he could look at her with his full attention. "It's not secret that you want answers. But at what cost?" Tilting his head back towards the apartment, he added, "You've got two orphaned girls in your charge, and you're about to become the Warden of the city's Cognitive Protection Center. This is also on top of everything you do as the Task Force's liaison to NERV HQ...which, well, I'm not sure exactly what that all involves."
Misato listed off fingers. "Reports on daily activity from the Evangelion-users, coordination of any missions or events where the Evangelion-users may interact with A.T. Agents in an official capacity, weekly reports on any ongoing joint initiatives between NERV and the Task Force, monthly reports on items that I believe to be of a concern...though, given the passing of Morooka, I'm waiting to see if my orders are changing any," she offered with a shrug.
"On top of the missions you've been running where've you had to 'chaperone' the kids."
Misato nodded.
"You're being stretched thin," he said, stating the obvious.
Misato rolled her eyes. Like that's something I don't know. "Then what, you got any solutions?"
At this, Sakamoto didn't have an answer. Not immediately, at any rate. Scratching at the back of his head — a nervous tic, she had noticed; one that manifested rarely, but only when he was feeling really irritable — he remarked, "Dealing with 'what if'...that's tough. Dealing with more than one? That's even tougher. It sucks."
"Preaching to the choir."
"But asking 'what if' is a luxury in our line of work." With a grimace, he tapped at the butt of his cane. "Occasionally, there are times I hear about Strega's latest action...and I get this urge to just rocket away on Seiten Taisei, to confront Shirato-kun and bash his face in until I get a better answer as to what happened to make him like this. But that wouldn't be fair to Toji Suzuhara." Trailing off, he then remarked, "You've got more on your plate than I do. So you have even less room for luxury."
A reminder of her responsibilities. "Duty over desire: the bane of adults everywhere," she grumbled.
"Doesn't mean duties can't be fun," he said, which was true; the amount of comedy material she'd gotten out of those teenagers was seemingly endless. "But they're still duties at the end of the day."
"...I know," she relented. Sakamoto had done more than enough, going out of his way to work with and watch over a gaggle of kids with paranormal powers. That he had done so even after the official conclusion of his 'escort mission' to Nishiawakura — after which, from a legal standpoint, he was only obligated to supervise and train Toji Suzuhara — meant more than she could properly articulate. "...I'll keep that in mind."
"That's pretty much all I can ask," he admitted, looking back over the city.
Misato knew that there was more he could ask, that he wanted to ask; however, due to propriety (or something else), he still held back. "Yeah," she admitted aloud, quietly gazing at Tokyo-3's nighttime splendor. There was an odd sort of tension in the air, which could only be broken with certain words that she wasn't qualified to say. Thus, the two spent it in silence, standing at opposite ends of the balcony.
(When Sakamoto finally hobbled back inside, she loosed a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.)
xxxx
/Room 4, 3rd Floor, Vulcanus Dorms, Hakone Academy/
It was past eleven by the time Yu Narukami finally returned to his dorm room. To no surprise, both Arisato and Amamiya were waiting for him. "You didn't have to."
"Like we were going to go to bed without at least hearing from you," remarked Ren, quietly flexing his toes. "Was it Adachi?"
Yu mutely nodded. "He killed Nanako."
"How?" quietly inquired Minato.
"Euthanasia. Nanako went...peacefully." The hospital personnel on-site had at least established that much. "I got interviewed after the fact."
Ren frowned. "What did you tell 'em?"
"That I saw Adachi hovering over her before they made a break for it. They'll doubtless look into Nanako's background to see if she had ever had any prior contact with Adachi." Good luck on that, it went unsaid. "I didn't tell them that we actually spoke."
Minato shifted on his bed, looking intently through his bangs. "And what did you talk about?"
Yu calmly recalled the main details of his conversation with Adachi, speaking with a certain level of detachment. The main points were covered: the fact that Adachi remembered prior timelines; that he had actually been a member of some relative important in 'reality', being a SEELE hitman who had killed Ryoji Kaji; that SEELE had not been a factor in events since the War in Heaven, corroborating Gendo Ikari's testimony to the same; that, following the upcoming new moon — September the 13th, little more than a week away! — he would take aim at Shinji Ikari in particular. (The details regarding what Adachi had done after he had died in his 'first' life went unsaid. That knowledge would be his cross to bear.)
"...well. How fun," grumbled Ren. "Like we don't have enough to worry about. Any idea why he's waiting until after the next Angel attack?"
"...Adachi's focus is on entertainment," disclosed Yu. "I thought he had been changing for something better, but I guess he...gave up on that-"
"You can't blame yourself," remarked Minato, cutting in without hesitation. "He made his choice; unless he wants to change, all that we can do is stop him." Sighing, he quietly added, "It's strange; I never got close enough with the people Strega to develop a bond with them; not like you with Adachi or Amamiya with Akechi. Makes me wonder if I possibly missed out on something...or if it puts me in a better position to fight them without hesitation if it comes down to it."
The differing circumstances were stark; Minato's enemies were but a distant threat; Yu's — both Tohru Adachi and Sho Minazuki — were bitter reminders of a bonds that had gone astray; Ren's, in the person of Akechi, was an active ally, albeit one who worked along different lines.
"...we need to warn Ikari," said Ren with a frown. "He needs to be made aware that Adachi will be gunning for him."
"More importantly, we need to find a way to test him," said Yu, cupping his chin in thought. "Adachi's bound to an Angel, like Sho is...and he can summon that fog wherever he goes. But more than that...he'll strike in ways that will be designed to make him angry, to make him lose control. He's not like enemies he's fought previously."
"...that'll have to be a conversation for tomorrow then," murmured Minato, slowly rolling back in his bed. "...Amamiya. How strong do you think Ikari is?"
Ren sighed, leaning back on his own bed with a tired expression. "He's gotten better. But without fighting him myself...it's hard to tell."
"...if only we had a way to test him ourselves," said Yu, slowly changing into his sleeping clothes. "If only..."
xxxx
/Beyond the Velvet Room, amidst the Dream/
Goro Akechi panted heavily, resisting the temptation to fall to his knees out of exhaustion.
Margaret calmly stared at him, Persona Compendium in hand. "Not bad." The Attendant was far more direct and reserved than her younger sister, yet packed no less a wallop in battle.
"...I'll...take that...as a compliment," he ground out.
"What now, young man?" inquired the quiet stranger, standing at the edge of the ethereal arena.
"Isn't it obvious?" retorted Akechi, his face contorted into a tired scowl. "I'm going to see if Shinji Ikari has what it takes to play at our level."
xxxx
END OF 9/5/2015
xxxx
Author's Note: Shinji's Hanged Man Social Link with Kaji went up to Rank 3; Misato finds out that Fuuka may actually have a familial link with Mayumi (like I was going to forget the fact Fuuka's canon surname is *Yamagishi*); and, most importantly, we have confirmation that Adachi is still a nihilistic prick.
/Yu dying due to asphyxiating on Yukiko's food from his sidestory doesn't seem so funny in hindsight now
/also, I've basically inserted Adachi into Evangelion canon as Kaji's murderer