Depth, Part 1
Note, the parenthesis indicate languages other than Japanese, in this case, German.
Again, I omitted Shinji's pauses as he decides what to say.
Please Read and Review. I'd like to know what I'm doing right (to keep doing it), and what I'm I doing wrong (to correct it).
A Helicopter Flying in route to a Rendez-vous
Shinji Ikari was lost in his thoughts. He had the nagging feeling he had forgotten or missed something. Something very, very important. He just knew it would eventually come to bite him in the butt. He had been preparing for this day for what it seemed an eternity. Ever since he was shown the Second Child's past, he felt a sense of connection with her. He had done all he could think of to ease her into a new life. Friendship, for starters. Their letters had been a way for them to get to know each other, he thought he had a general understanding of her character, both from her letters and from long talks with Misato. Even with all the teasing he had to endure...
Misato seemed to think he and Asuka would be a couple as soon as she arrived, and had tried to school Shinji in what she termed "The Charming Arts of Smooth Seduction" (he did hear the capital letters when she said it). All he had gotten of her lessons had been a lot of embarrassing incidents orchestrated by Misato. He was not sure if he would ever be allowed to go back to that store... And he was very lucky Lt. Ibuki was a very forgiving person, once he had explained the situation to her she had just smiled her little shy smile and dropped the matter.
Frankly, he could not make sense of some of the things Misato had told him to say and do. He sighed again, and decided to go with a safer course. Despite considering Asuka a very beautiful girl, he didn't thought he could even try to woo her.
So, he would be her friend. The best he could be.
He sighed again. His last talk with the Phantom Stranger came back to his mind. Helping Asuka would be like walking on a high rope. He had to be careful of not pulling away, as was his first instinct; or pushing back too much.
He was so lost in his thoughts he hadn't heard Kensuke gush about the helicopter they were in; or thank him for the chance to fly in it. Luckily, his friend was so overwhelmed by the helicopter he didn't notice Shinji wasn't paying attention to him. However, the young man heard Misato's groan. He changed the channel of his earphones, to have a little private chat with her. "Something wrong, Misato?" She tensed for a moment.
"Not exactly, it's just that that jerk is going to be there. And I really don't want to see him ever again." She huffed.
"Mr. Kaji?" Misato nodded. He was a little worried. Potentially, Ryoji Kaji could be an important part of his own interpersonal web. He was not sure of how to manage that if he and Misato were in bad terms. Misato had not confided him enough to tell him what had happened. Oh, well… It was time to man up and get ready.
"I bet you 5000 yens he's going to be all charming and smooth." Misato said, with a conspiratorial, predatory smile, accompanied by a wink. Well, she seemed to go back and forth like that, whenever Ryoji Kaji was mentioned. Sad, angry, amused; Shinji didn't understand Misato's attitude.
"No deal, Misato." He smiled at her.
"Chicken!" She turned in her seat, and stuck her tongue at him, smiling. At least she was in a better mood now.
Meanwhile, Toji was gushing about Hikari's cooking, cradling a bento in his arms. His friend was notoriously single-minded about food. And Hikari had made them lunch. (Shinji noticed that Toiji's box was wrapped in a nice blue napkin, while the others were simply white, Maybe Hikari didn't have enough napkins at hand...)
Shinji would have liked to have the Class Rep around. She was able to exert some control over both their friends when they got out of hand (be it nicely or forcefully), and introducing her to Asuka would help the German pilot to have a more varied circle of friends. But her father hadn't granted her permission to come. Maybe he could introduce them to each other back at home, during one of their homework reunions.
Rei had not been able to come. She said she had to stay in reserve at Tokyo-3, in case an Angel attacked.
Kensuke elbowed him frantically. "Look! That's the Over the Rainbow!"
Misato huffed again, "Personally, I'm surprised that old bathtub still floats."
Kensuke defended the ship, quoting stats until they landed on the flight deck.
Meanwhile, several pairs of eyes watched the helicopter.
Over the Rainbow
Several Decks
From a higher deck, a girl in a yellow sundress watched intently, hell-bent on proving her own superiority over the latecomer who dared to turn her ten years of training into an irrelevancy. Oh, and who also happened to be the closest thing to a friend of her own age she had allowed herself in almost a decade.
From the bridge, the Captain of the Over The Rainbow and the Admiral who commanded the Pacific Fleet also watched, using binoculars. Both men were outraged at having been sent as glorified delivery boys for a god-damnedly expensive toy! And to add insult over insult, now the UN sends a frelling nanny and her kiddie troup, with the extension cord for said overgrown toy!
In a cabin, a man watched between the blinds of his small window, distractedly munching on a chocolate cookie. He already knew who was coming to visit. He stood, combing back his hair, and practiced his best, most charming smile. Before going out his cabin, he checked the heavy, metal reinforced container under his bed, confirming it was safe and secured to a thick chain.
Over the Rainbow
Flight Deck
As they came out the helicopter, Kensuke was ecstatic, filming everything and anything on sight. After him, Toji, trying to massage feeling back in his legs. Then Shinji, stretching his muscles. Finally, Captain Katsuragi, smoothing her wind-whipped hair and glad to be on firm(ish) ground. Toji, Shinji and Misato were all thinking that the helicopter had not been designed for people taller than Pen-Pen! They had been cramped inside like sardines in a can. Kensuke was too hyped to notice.
"Allo, Misato!" a haughty voice got their attention. An unmistakable German girl stood on the flight deck, wearing a cute yellow sundress, her long red hair moved in the breeze, almost like a halo around her head.
"Hey, Asuka!" Misato's voice was full of joy. Shinji knew his guardian had been stationed in Germany for a while, acting as guardian for Asuka.
While Kensuke filmed them standing on the flight deck, both girls (at least, Misato acted like one…) chatted happily about how much Asuka had grown since the last time they had seen each other.
Shinji didn't know what to say. All his speeches, rehearsed in front of the mirror, vanished from his mind. She was… glorious! He just stood there, in his hands he had the Willkommen paper banner he had made yesterday; and the bentos were tucked in his backpack (except for Toji's). He forgot how to unfold the banner.
A gust of wind lifted up Asuka's dress, and a second later, he felt a burning sensation on his cheek. That shook him out of his reverie.
Rubbing his cheek, Toji yelled "Hey! What was that about?"
"The price for the show! A true bargain, don't you think?" Asuka crossed her arms, defiantly.
"It was overpriced!" Toji shoved his bento into Kensuke's hands, "Here's your change!" He grabbed the elastic band that held his track pants. Finally, Shinji reacted. He dropped his welcome banner, the paper was taken by the wind, falling to the sea. He grabbed his friend's shoulder and spun him around. "Stop!" He turned to Asuka, who still had her nose up in the air. "(Miss Soryu, I must apologize for my friend, he is normally more civil. I am sorry. We will be back in a minute.)" He dragged Toji away, while Asuka fumed. The jock was so surprised he didn't put up much of a fight; still, he was almost shouting. Thankfully, he was so flustered his words were completely uninteligible.
Once behind a corner, Shinji pushed the taller boy against the steel plated wall. "What were you trying to do, Toji?" He glared at his friend. Shinji might not be that tall, but he could be a really scary little dude when he was riled up. And he was surprisingly strong for his size, too. "What would Hikari say? Eh?"
"I… but… She… I-I... Damn..." Toji stuttered, while Shinji waited for his answer. Finally, he realized what he had been about to do. He went completely red, the red handprint on his cheek was invisible against his blush. Shinji let him to stew for a little while.
Meanwhile, Misato was calming Asuka's outrage. Wisely, Kensuke had relinquished his camera to Misato, and walked her through the steps to erase the offending footage. Fortunately, he had just changed the memory disk. He apologized profusely to the redhead, asking Misato to give her the memory disk; to show her that all proof of the incident was not only erased, but out of his hands.
Asuka would never admit it, not even to herself, but she was somewhat impressed by the Third Child's attitude. He took control of the much bigger kid in a second. And Geek-Stooge had acted like... well... not exactly like a gentleman, but close enough.
Eventually, the two kids came back, and bowed deeply. Kensuke joined them. "We are sorry." They said.
"It wasn't our intention to embarrass you." Shinji added.
Toji finished. "I'm very sorry, Soryu. I shouldn't have acted like that." He bowed again.
Softly, Misato elbowed Asuka. "(C'mon. Let them off the hook. They apologized and there was no real damage done.)"
Asuka huffed. "(Very well, but…)" she turned towards Shinji, stabbing a finger right into his chest, twice. "(You! You better learn to control your Stooges if you're going out in public with them.)"
"(Uh, sure.)" He smiled at her, while rubbing the back of his head. He had a nice smile, she thought for a split second. "(Hum… certainly that was not the first impression I was hoping for.)" She held his gaze for several seconds. His eyes didn't waver at all. Until both got a bad case of the giggles.
The tension broken, she continued, in a much mellower tone. "(You know? You look taller in the pictures)"
"(Yeah… I wore, ah... high... shoes?)" He laughed softly when he saw her face and raised his hands, in a sort of defensive gesture. "(Just joking.)"
'(Ah, so that's how you wanna play, Third?)', she thought, and smirked before releasing her next salvo; he could not be allowed to think he could get any points ahead of her, after all. "(And another thing, you sound like you learned German from a 'Learn-at-Home' course!)"
"(I did.)" he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "(Apart from Misato, there are not many German-speaking people in Tokyo-3.)" She looked at him speculatively, raising an eyebrow.
"(Well, you are in luck.)" Magnanimously, she punched him in the arm. "(I'll teach you not to sound so freaking stilted! It's annoying!)"
The rest of the group watched the exchange, Misato was able to follow it easily; but Toji and Kensuke could only watch, wondering what the heck were they saying.
Misato dragged the other two kids away. "Come on, boys. Let's give the lovebirds some privacy."
Simultaneously, Shinji and Asuka turned to her. "No! It's not like that!" both said at the same time; amusingly, Shinji answered in German and Asuka in Japanese.
A chorus of laughter surrounded them as both blushed intensely, the laughter just intensified as Shinji and Asuka facepalmed in perfect synchrony.
As the group finally went inside, Toji whispered into Shinji's ear. "Since when do you speak Deviltongue?" and a second later Kensuke pushed his glasses up his nose, adding an ominous "And why?"
Shinji rolled his eyes.
Over the Rainbow
Flight Deck
Spiritual Plane
"(Those kids are a riot!)" Deadman floated over the group, laughing and slapping his thighs. "(Don't you think, Stranger?)"
"(If you say so.)" The Phantom Stranger was as stoic as ever. In all his years of knowing the mysterious man, Deadman had never seen him laugh. The happiest gesture he had seen on his face was a slight smile. And even that was rare.
"(Oh, c'mon. Admit it, you are as big a sucker for a happy ending as me.)"
"(This is not the time nor place to discuss that. The Sixth Angel, Gaghiel, is already on its way here. We must make sure that it won't find Adam.)"
Deadman went serious again. "(So, what's the plan?)"
After a few seconds, the Stranger said, "(Gaghiel must be fought here. If it reaches dry land, it will mutate into a formidable form, and one Evangelion alone won't be able to stop it. With two pilots here, it would be impossible to get one or both to NERV without raising suspicions about our involvement. However, if we time our actions right, we can remove Adam from the equation and reduce the risk of Third Impact.)"
"(…So…)" Somewhat impatient, Deadman twirled a finger, making vertical circles.
"(We wait until Gaghiel is near, and remove Adam from the area. Once it gets Unit-02's scent, it will stay to destroy her. I'll be ready to help Ikari and Soryu during the fight.)"
Thinking, Deadman rubbed his chin. "(That Kaji guy has Adam in his cabin. I could hijack him and get him in a flight to NERV, but he wouldn't remember what I did in the meanwhile. And he would get suspicious.)"
"(Do you still remember those NERV coded signals?)" A smirk danced on the Stranger's lips.
Deadman understood, and a malicious grin appeared on his face. "(Oh, yes. Leave it to me.)" He rubbed his hands together.
Author's Notes.
Shinji doesn't know, but there are more German-speaking people around him than he realizes. For starters, both Commander Ikari and Dr. Akagi must be fluent in both German and English (probably, Professor Fujutsuki too; maybe even Maya), to be able to stay up to date with the material published by the other branches of NERV. Rei is shown to be reading a book in German when she meets Asuka. A technical book, even. Then, of course, both Misato and Kaji, having being stationed in Germany for at least several months.
From the other side of the franchises. The Phantom Stranger probably can speak in any language he wants (in his own magazine, he is shown speaking to people in Africa or Tibet without any problem). Although, it is a mystery if he knows other languages of if he is using a translation spell or something similar.
Deadman wasn't shown to speak any other language than English (as far as I know), but for the purposes of this fic, he studied French, German and Japanese for several months, to be able to follow his investigation of SEELE.