PART I

ACT III

SCENE I

(The classroom. Various students take their places at their seats. SHINJI and ASUKA are chatting, TOJI and KENSUKE play rock-paper-scissors with TOJI repeatedly losing by always choosing rock, REI is staring out the window from her seat while TAKETOKI is glaring at SHINJI and ASUKA from his own seat. HIKARI stands at the forefront, looking at the audience.)

HIKARI: The next day was off to a great start. Shinji and Asuka were discussing various things, like the movie we saw yesterday. Toji and Kensuke were… (She turns around to look at TOJI and KENSUKE.)

TOJI: (Chooses paper.) Yes! (KENSUKE choose scissors.) No! God da—

HIKARI: (Addressing the audience.) Uh, doing that. Rei was staring out the window as usual and Taketoki was… (She briefly looks over at TAKETOKI before looking at the audience again.) Making me regret ever asking Asuka to go on a date with him. (The OLD TEACHER ENTERS.)

OLD TEACHER: To your seats, everyone! (Everyone goes to their seats and the OLD TEACHER nods at HIKARI.)

HIKARI: Rise! (Everyone rises.) Bow! (Everyone bows.) Be seated! (Everyone sits down.)

OLD TEACHER: We have a new student joining our class today. Come in, Nagisa.

(ENTER KAWORU. When he enters, REI is the first to react, her eyes widening as they meet with his for one brief moment, then becoming suspicious. SHINJI views the newcomer with a combination of attraction and unease, ASUKA is immediately suspicious and others are unsure what to make of their new classmate.)

KAWORU: I'm Kaworu Nagisa. Nice to meet you.

TOJI: (Swallowing nervously.) N-Nice to meet you.

OLD TEACHER: Nagisa, take your seat. Please sit next to Ikari.

(KAWORU goes to the empty seat next to SHINJI, eyeing him for a moment before finally sitting down as the OLD TEACHER begins his rambling.)

KAWORU: So, you are Shinji Ikari. At last, we meet.

SHINJI: Y-You have heard of me?

KAWORU: You could say that I might have been born so I could meet you… And the other Children. I know about you, your cute "second cousin" Rei Ayanami, your lifelong friend Asuka Langley Soryu and your other best friend Toji Suzuhara.

ASUKA: (In disbelief.) What? Him? He is the Fourth Child? Are you kidding me?

(HIKARI turns to look over at TOJI, a worried expression upon her countenance. TOJI himself can only close his eyes and bow his head.)

SHINJI: How do you know this?

KAWORU: (Smiling.) You don't think the Fifth Child wouldn't know anything about his fellow Eva pilots, do you?

(Immediately the other Children stare at KAWORU, completely gobsmacked, REI included.)

TOJI: (To the audience.) I hadn't even told Shinji, Asuka or Rei that I was the Fourth Child yet. When I got the news that I would be piloting an Eva I was scared. I'd seen what Shinji went through before Asuka arrived in Tokyo-3 and I didn't want anything to do with it, but with my sister having been injured during Shinji's first battle with an Angel… It had to be done, I didn't like it but it had to be done. I had to be the Fourth Child, I had to pilot Unit 03. I tried to act like I wasn't scared, just act like how I usually was, but the fact was I was terrified deep down… I never expected that… that vampire-looking bastard to be the one to tell everyone or that he would be the Fifth Child.

ASUKA: Y-You're the Fifth Child? (KAWORU locks eyes with ASUKA and a look of fright appears upon the girl's face, as if she had met the gaze of Medusa herself.)

KAWORU: Yes, Asuka, I am. What's the matter? Afraid you and Unit 02 will be replaced by me and Unit 04?

ASUKA: (Fiercely.) Never!

SHINJI: No one could ever replace Asuka and Unit 02.

KAWORU: (He stares at both SHINJI and ASUKA, studying both of them before focusing solely on the former.) Yes, and perhaps the one who might be replaced will be you and Unit 01, Shinji.

HIKARI: (To the audience.) After that no one spoke for the rest of the class. I sent Asuka a message asking if she was alright, but I got no answer back.

TOJI: (To the audience.) I sent one to Shinji too and I also got no reply… At least, not the kind I was expecting. Instead of an answer as to if he was okay or not, I just got the question "Why didn't you tell me you had been chosen as the Fourth Child", or something along those lines… It's been so long… I didn't know what to tell him except: "I was going to." Then I got this message from Rei: "Do not trust Kaworu." (SHINJI, ASUKA and TOJI all turn their heads in REI's direction. TOJI then looks at the audience once more.) Sure, he seems kind of creepy and vampirish, but I didn't think any reason to not trust one of the other pilots. What was my response? One word: "What?"

SHINJI: (Typing on his laptop.) Why?

ASUKA: (Typing on her laptop.) What are you talking about, Wondergirl?

TOJI: (To the audience.) No one got an answer. Next thing I knew, I got a message from Kensuke, saying: "There is something not right about the new guy." I replied with a quote from Conn when he was helping us with our history assignments: (Deadpan.) "You are a master of stating the obvious." Anyway, class went on.

HIKARI: (To the audience.) And eventually it ended and everyone went on to their next classes except for three individuals. (Everyone exits except for REI, KAWORU and TAKETOKI, the last on his way out when the second approaches him. REI watches them from the doorway.)

KAWORU: I noticed you had your eyes on Asuka.

TAKETOKI: (Hesitantly.) Y-Yeah, I asked her to the dance, but she seems to only have eyes for that scrawny… (KAWORU raises an eyebrow as if to say "You don't look any more muscular." TAKETOKI sighs.) She only seems to eyes for Ikari.

KAWORU: What if I were to help you two get together?

TAKETOKI: (Smiling.) W-Wow, really? You'd do that for me?

KAWORU: Yes, I would.

TAKETOKI: (Suspicious.) Why?

KAWORU: You have your eyes on Asuka, I have mine on Shinji. You'll get who you want, I'll get who I want. How does that sound?

TAKETOKI: Yeah? Sounds good! I've had eyes on Asuka since the day she arrived here and I have no idea why she'd have eyes on Shinji instead of me.

KAWORU: Maybe pure black hair and brown eyes are not her type. (Aside.) I know they are not mine.

TAKETOKI: And he isn't even that good-looking.

KAWORU: (Aside.) You don't look that different.

TAKETOKI: He isn't even in the basketball club!

KAWORU: (Aside.) If you complain this much, I can see why Asuka has no interest in you.

TAKETOKI: So, if you are going to help set me up with Asuka, does that make us friends?

KAWORU: (Looks over TAKETOKI.) If we must be.

TAKETOKI: Great! I'm Taketoki Ichimonji! (He holds out a hand for KAWORU to shake.)

KAWORU: (Shakes TAKETOKI's hand.) Alright, now get to class. We will discuss this later. (TAKETOKI nods and EXITS. KAWORU then takes notice of REI.) Rei Ayanami, the First Child. You are the same as I am. How interesting that both of us have ended up in the same form as the Lilim for life on this planet.

REI: No. We are not the same. You and I may closely resemble each other, but we are not the same and I will not allow anything to happen to Ikari or Unit 02's pilot.

KAWORU: What are you going to do? Turn your Evangelion on mine?

REI: If I must.

KAWORU: (He eyes her for a moment, looking her over and stroking her chin, intrigued by what he sees before him.) You interest me.

REI: The feeling is not mutual. (She EXITS.)

KAWORU: (To the audience.) Shinji Ikari or Rei Ayanami… Perhaps I made the wrong choice in targets. This shall prove interesting. (EXITS.)

NOTES

I will admit that I struggled with this scene. There is a lot going on, drawing from "Girlfriend of Steel", the manga and the video game version of "Shinji Ikari Raising Project", with the mention of the basketball club, and no doubt there will be a lot of criticism of this scene, which I will accept.

While my intention is to base Kaworu on his manga portrayal and his more villainous portrayals that can be found in various spin-offs, I did have a bit of Iago in mind. "Othello" is one of my favourite Shakespearean plays and as when I decided on making Kaworu a bit more villainous, I realized my original plan for Taketoki made him redundant. Taketoki would have become the Sixth Child and been perfectly malevolent and when that was thrown out the window, I turned to Shakespeare and thought why not make him something of a Roderigo? This by extension makes Asuka a Desdemona and Shinji an Othello, though not entirely the same.

When it came to designing Taketoki, I didn't really have anything in mind. Then I remembered the 1946 film adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast", which I saw at the Toronto Film Festival, where the Beast and Belle's suitor Avenant were both played by Jean Marais. Thus, did Taketoki's appearance actually into fruition. It is not exactly the same, as they are not meant to be perfectly identical, but he still doesn't look that different from Shinji, even having the hair and eye colour of Shinji's manga portrayal.