[Disclaimer: We don't own the characters. Gainax does.
They'll probably hate us for this...]
Role-Playing
by Lara Bartram and Ammadeau
Warning: Some people will find certain elements of this
fanfic disturbing. The authors will not be held
accountable for any mental and/or physical damage
caused due to the reading of this fic. Reader
discretion advised.
Misato had come home early from work, intending
to surprise Shinji and Asuka by taking them out to
dinner. She raised her hand to open the door, but the
conversation that she heard stopped her cold.
"Do I have to do this?" Shinji whined.
"What are you complaining about? I thought
you'd enjoy it," Asuka told him.
"Maybe. But do I really have to wear this
outfit? It's chafing me."
"Stop complaining, dummkopf! This is to help
us get into the mood. Now bend over!"
Outraged, Misato burst into the room, only to
walk in on Asuka, dressed as Commander Ikari,
straightening out the collar of Shinji, dressed as Sub-
commander Fuyutsuki. They both turned to look at her
in surprise.
Asuka adjusted her glasses and asked, "What
seems to be the problem, Misato?"
Misato didn't know how to respond to that. The
only thing that she did know was that she needed a beer
and fast.
***
"Well, at first I thought they were doing...
you know, something weird. I bust in, and I thought I
was going to have a heart attack."
Ritsuko was giving her friend a faintly amused
look as she explained what had happened the previous
day. "What were they doing? Having a civil
conversation?"
Misato looked horrified. "No! They were...
Well, Shinji was..."
She almost couldn't bring herself to continue,
especially now that Maya had turned her head
fractionally so she could listen in as well.
Grabbing Ritsuko's arm, Misato led her away
from the console so they could speak a bit more
privately. "Shinji was dressed in that same uniform
that Sub-commander Fuyutsuki wears, and..."
Before she could continue, Ritsuko burst out
laughing. "Misato, just how much did you drink last
night?"
Vigorously shaking her head, Misato grabbed
Ritsuko's shoulders.
"You don't understand. Worst of it was
Asuka..." She shuddered, an ill look on her face.
"She just looked at me and asked what the problem was.
She even adjusted her glasses."
For a moment, Ritsuko stared, not sure what
Misato was talking about. "What are..?"
All Misato had to do was jerk her thumb back
over her shoulder and indicate the command console for
Ritsuko to get the idea.
"You've been drinking too much again, Misato.
Or should I say as usual? It's silly to think that
Shinji and Asuka would..."
"To think the children would do what, Doctor?"
The two startled and looked up almost
sheepishly.
Ritsuko was first to answer, calm as ever in
the face of Commander Ikari. "Playing pranks, sir.
Nothing to be concerned about. I'm sure the major can
handle it."
He nodded, but did not remove his gaze from
them otherwise.
"I need to finish those diagnostics on MAGI,"
Ritsuko said sharply, walking off.
Misato nodded guiltily, spared one glance back
at the commander, and found something else to do.
***
Fuyutsuki smiled wryly. "A prank? Sounds more
like Halloween."
Gendo nodded. "Indeed."
For a moment, there was silence, and a frown
creased the older man's face. "You're not thinking of
punishment, are you? I don't believe they meant any
harm..."
"No punishment."
"Hnh."
"They are, after all, only children."
Fuyutsuki did not like the sound of that at
all.
***
"Why do I have to ask her?"
"Because she won't do it if I ask, moron."
"But why ask her at all? I mean, why her?
It's embarrassing enough as it is."
"Could there be something you're not telling
me?" Asuka asked with a glance, eyes narrowed
speculatively.
"What? What do you mean?" Shinji couldn't
hide the panic he felt when she looked at him that way,
especially when...
"You know what I mean, Shinji," Asuka said in a
sly voice. "Want to impress her the first time, don't
you? Worried that you're going to freeze and not be
able to keep it up, aren't you? Just like you were the
first time with me."
Shinji, beet red, finally gave in. "All right,
I'll do it. I'll ask her!"
Asuka smiled and patted him on the head in a
both affectionate and condescending manner. "Great!
But don't tell her that I'm going to be joining in.
That might scare her off."
Shinji nodded dejectedly and slumped his way
over to the girl in question.
Rei sat on a bench, reading a book under the
sun, when a shadow suddenly blocked her light. She
looked up to see Shinji standing over her. There was
an odd expression on his face. Guessing that he wished
to speak with her, Rei put her book away and looked up
at him expectantly.
"Um..." Shinji started.
Rei only stared back at him.
"Um..."
"Get to it, you idiot!" Asuka shouted from a
concealed location.
Shinji glanced around, startled, while Rei
continued to stare.
Shinji swallowed his meager store of pride and
just said it. "Can you come over to Misato's apartment
after school and help me with something?"
Rei only continued to stare at Shinji.
Just as he was about to speak again, she asked,
"Is this related to NERV?"
"Yeah, I guess you can say that," Shinji
admitted somewhat hesitantly.
"Then I will assist you."
***
"I would say you're going too far, Ikari."
"I suspected you would."
"If the major ever discovers this..."
"She won't. She won't have any reason to
suspect."
Fuyutsuki shook his head. "And all of this
because of a little joke."
"Come now, Professor. Don't tell me you're not
curious about it."
"And you are?"
The answer was slow in coming. "I will admit,
I am interested in seeing them interact. We must also
determine if this is something dangerous."
"Dangerous. Of course. Finally taking an
interest in your son?"
"This is not personal."
"If any of them finds out you've been spying on
them, it will quickly become personal."
"They will never know about the camera. You
worry entirely too much."
"I'm not worried for myself. I'm concerned
about the attitudes of the children and the major if
they find out. They may refuse to pilot."
"Then they will be disciplined. They took a
risk in doing such a childish thing in the first place.
We are not playing games here."
"Childish. Exactly. They _are_ children, and
in their free time, I imagine they will play games.
Don't you see how utterly ridiculous this is?"
"No, I do not. Your protest is noted,
Professor."
"Sometimes I wonder about you, Ikari."
***
Ding Dong!
*Oh great,* Shinji thought with a feeling of
dread, *Rei's here.*
"What are you wait for, dummkopf?" Asuka
shouted. "Answer the door!"
Shinji looked at himself. "Like this?"
"What are you embarrassed about? She's going
to see you like that soon anyway."
Shinji slumped away, but before he could reach
the door, Asuka called him back. "Shinji, where did
you put my gloves?"
"On my bed, where _you_ left them!" Shinji
shouted.
"That's only because _you_ needed my help
getting into _your_ outfit!"
Shinji ignored Asuka, concentrating on the door
before him. How would Rei react, seeing him like he
was now? Misato had freaked, but then Rei was nothing
like Misato.
Rei was reaching to ring the doorbell again,
when the door suddenly opened before her. Past the
threshold stood Shinji, dressed in the uniform of Sub-
commander Fuyutsuki.
They stared at each other in silence for a time
before Shinji nervously said, "Um... hi, Rei. Won't
you come in?"
Rei's only reaction was to blink once, nod, and
follow Shinji into the apartment.
Shinji lead her to the living room. "Why don't
you sit here and wait for a minute? I have to get
someone... something in my room."
Rei nodded, took a seat on the couch, and as
Shinji turned away from her, asked, "Why are you
dressed like Commander Fuyutsuki?"
***
When the camera showed Rei entering the
apartment, Fuyutsuki saw Gendo tense fractionally.
This very well could have been the straw that broke the
camel's back.
Though Kozo had to admit he was feeling a
little uncomfortable himself. Shinji and Asuka didn't
know of Rei's origins, nor were they aware of... past
feelings. They weren't doing it deliberately, but the
scene was disturbing and haunting when put into that
context.
Yui as a girl, himself and Ikari with her...
Kozo couldn't suppress the shudder that rippled through
him.
"Something wrong?"
"No. Just..."
"You see it too. Disturbing, isn't it? And
you thought this was innocent."
"I still think it is, but... They don't know
about Rei, do they?"
Gendo shake his head, still tensed. "Of course
not. Make a note to have sound capabilities tomorrow."
Fuyutsuki nodded. "How far are we willing to
let this go?" he whispered, still disturbed by what was
on the screen on front of him.
"I am willing to let them be, until..." He
didn't finish his sentence, but Fuyutsuki knew what he
meant.
As long as Rei wasn't hurt. As long as it
stayed an innocent game.
***
"Ugh! Where do you want me to put this,
Asuka?"
"Right in front of Rei. She _is_ our audience.
Don't you know anything?"
"You could help me at least. It's heavy!"
"Stop whining! All you ever do is whine.
There's only a few more feet to go."
Rei stood and helped Shinji with setting up the
desk as he entered the living room. She blinked and
nearly dropped it on his foot when she first saw Asuka,
dressed as Commander Ikari, carrying a chair.
"Why is Asuka dressed like Commander Ikari?"
Rei asked Shinji, having not received an adequate
explanation from her previous inquiry.
Shinji sweated and Asuka answered for him.
"It's simple, Wondergirl. I was curious about how you
guys fought the Angels before I arrived and was
watching some of the old security tapes. Then I got
the idea that if we acted out some of those scenes with
the commanders, we might get to understand them
better."
"How will this improve our piloting?" Rei asked
softly.
Asuka thought for a moment. "Trust me, the
more we understand them, the easier it will be to
follow their orders."
Rei nodded. "What am I to do?"
"Just sit there and tell us what you think at
the end." Asuka then turned to Shinji and said, "All
set? Right, let's start now."
Asuka sat at the desk, white gloved hands
folded before her. Shinji stood behind and to the
left, hands behind his back concealing an SDAT player
with the volume cranked up all the way.
Asuka nodded slightly. Shinji failed to notice
since he was too busy staring at Rei, who was staring
back blankly at the both of them. Asuka nodded more
vigorously and tapped the desk. Shinji remained
oblivious.
"Will you start the damn tape already!" Asuka
shouted, still keeping her eyes forward and hands out
before her.
Shinji jumped, startled, and pressed play.
Click. The static-filled voice of one of the
bridge operators said, "We've got it on visual now.
Switching to the main screen."
Silence.
"Your line, stupid," Asuka whispered.
Shinji cleared his throat and said, "It's been
fifteen years."
"Yes," Asuka replied in an oddly solemn tone.
"The Angels are back."
Click. Sounds of multiple explosions and
people yelling.
"Looks like an AT-Field," Shinji commented,
sounding almost casual as he started to get into the
role.
"Yes, conventional weapons are no match for the
Angels," Asuka returned, hiding a slight smile over the
fact that Shinji was finally getting it right.
Click. More sounds of explosions.
"It's regenerating itself," Shinji said with a
trace of alarm as he stared at an imaginary screen
above Rei's head.
*Geez,* Asuka thought, *Shinji's really getting
into this.*
In an almost smug tone, Asuka replied, "Without
that ability it wouldn't be able to function without
support units."
Click. "Oooh."
"It can upgrade its operational parameters."
"And it's also getting smarter," Asuka, as the
commander, pointed out.
"It should renew its attack any minute now."
Click. More explosions.
Asuka took off the dark glasses and gloves.
Smiling, she asked, "So what did you think,
Wondergirl?"
Rei looked at Asuka, slowly moved her gaze to
Shinji, and then back to Asuka again before saying, "I
don't get it."
"What?" Asuka shouted, enraged. "What do you
mean?"
"I don't see how dressing up like the
commanders helps us to understand them better."
"It's not just dressed up like them, it's
trying to become them, to see things from their point
of view!"
"I still do not understand. I did not find
your performance believable."
"All right, Wondergirl." Asuka was grinning,
but her teeth were clenched. "We'll do this again
tomorrow and I'll be so good that you won't be able to
tell the difference between me and the real Commander
Ikari!"
***
Shinji stood there, silently staring at
something beyond the walls of his room.
The moment seemed to stretch.
He relaxed. "That wasn't so hard. Commander
Fuyutsuki is easy to act like."
"Wark!"
"Yeah, thanks, Pen-Pen." He chuckled at the
bird, dressed in as close an outfit to his father's as
he had been able to manage. "You could almost be the
commander of NERV in that uniform."
"Wark!"
"Sorry, I was just kidding." He smiled.
*Maybe Asuka had been right about this. It was kind of
fun.*
"Pen-Pen," he said suddenly, "pretend you're
me."
The bird looked at him quizzically.
Raising his voice a few octaves, Shinji
probably did the last thing in the world he should
have. "Why are you so stupid? Stupid Shinji! Go get
me some pie! I said, go make me some waffles, bitch!"
he screeched, wagging his finger at the bird.
Pen-Pen released one frazzled squawk, then
bolted from the room as fast as he could.
Shinji chuckled and turned around only to find
Asuka standing in the doorway. The look of murder in
her eyes was unmistakable. "Shinji. Prepare to die."
Misato got home, needing a beer very badly.
Another day, another Angel, another dollar. "I'm
home," she called out, and in return, heard a ruckus
from the kitchen.
For a moment, she said a silent prayer, then
went to investigate the noise.
In the doorway, she stood as frozen as a statue
in a garden. The scene unfolded before her, like
something from a house of horrors.
Asuka, her face like that of a raging demon,
was trying to shove Shinji in the refrigerator while he
was doing his best to keep himself out, the both of
them yelling loudly.
That was... new, and different...
The panicked squawking of Pen-Pen convinced her
to look over at the poor penguin's situation which was
even more new... and different. The clanking of pans
was his doing, as he stood on a chair at the stove.
He was dressed in a miniature commander's
uniform and someone had outfitted him with a penguin-
sized pair of glasses. He was working frantically with
a waffle iron, turning out waffle after waffle. In
fact, there was a plate of waffles at least a foot
high, and the tub of batter didn't look like it was
going to run out any time soon.
Blinking for a few moments, Misato did the one
thing she knew best: she grabbed as much beer as she
could and went to her room to get blasted.
She was about two steps from the door when she
heard Asuka, quite clearly, yell at Shinji to "get her
some pie," and stopped. She glanced at the door, the
beer a comforting coolness in her arms, then back at
the kitchen.
"Make me some waffles!" Asuka screamed,
followed by Shinji's howl of pain.
"I..." Misato started quietly. "I mustn't run
away. I mustn't run away," she repeated, staring into
the kitchen.
At that point, a waffle did come flying through
the doorway, and Misato changed her mind. "To hell
with this. I'm gone."
The slam of the door went unnoticed... much
like Misato's presence in the first place.
***
"I believe I need to speak with the major
tomorrow about this unacceptable behavior. Leaving
them unattended like that..." Gendo mused quietly.
Fuyutsuki didn't need to see it to know Ikari
was wearing that annoying little smirk no matter what
he was saying. "I'd do more than that," he growled
uncharacteristically.
"Hm? I thought the penguin was an interesting
touch."
"Yes, a laugh-riot." This was all too weird.
If he hadn't been in the middle of a war using giant
bio-mechanical monsters to fight Angels from the moon
or God or whatever, the scene he had just watched
between a penguin dressed as his commanding officer and
said commanding officer's son dressed as himself, Kozo
Fuyutsuki probably would have questioned his sanity.
As it was, he simply scowled at the fact that
people thought he did so little.
"That's just not right at all," he mumbled.
Gendo pushed his glasses up as the two watched
chaos unfold on the monitor in before them. "They're
more clever and resourceful than I had first thought,"
he said quietly, still wearing that tiny grin.
"Yes. Wonderful. I'm ecstatic."
"Don't worry, Professor. I'm sure he'll be
more convincing the next time."
"I'm... looking forward to it."
***
Ritsuko walked into the lounge to get herself
yet more coffee. The sight of Misato asleep on a table
brought her up short. "Why don't you go home?"
Misato grunted, clutching a can of beer to her
chest, and attempted to roll over. She ended up
depositing herself on the floor instead. That woke her
up immediately. "Shit!"
Ritsuko snickered and went for the coffee.
"You should try sleeping in a bed. That's how most
other people do it."
Misato sat up, rubbing her head. "I would if I
wasn't afraid for my safety."
"Safety? Why's that? Did you accidentally
give Kaji your address?"
"I wish it was that simple," Misato grumbled,
transferring herself from the floor into a chair. "I
think Shinji might be dead."
Slamming her cup down, Ritsuko spun around, her
eyes wide. "What!?"
"Yesterday, when I got home... Asuka was trying
to kill him. I don't even want to talk about Pen-Pen."
Ritsuko stared for a moment, then noted the
crumpled can of beer. Her features softened almost
immediately. "Oh, I see. Killing Shinji... Right.
Well, drink some coffee, get some rest, and then maybe
Shinji won't be dead."
Snapping her head up and giving Ritsuko a look
of evil, Misato snapped, "No! She was trying to kill
him! Stuff him in the refrigerator!"
"Right. The refrigerator. I heard you. I'm
sure Shinji will recover, Misato. Just relax."
Ritsuko patted her friend on the shoulder and then left
the lounge.
Misato let her head rest on the tabletop and
groaned. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"
***
"One good thing about Major Katsuragi deciding
to leave..."
"Yes, but that doesn't excuse her failure to
handle the situation."
The apartment on the screen was currently
empty, a low hiss of static coming across the
microphones. It was wired for picture and sound
finally. The two commanders would be able to find out
exactly what was going on next time.
They were sure there would be a next time.
"I'll summon her then. Last I saw, she was
sleeping in the lounge."
"Don't bother. That would only call attention
to our activities. I can see we will need to keep a
closer eye on the children though."
Fuyutsuki nodded. Ikari was actually
concerned. Would wonders never cease?
***
"So are you ready, Wondergirl?"
"Ready for what?" Rei replied in her usual
monotone, staring at both Shinji and Asuka in their
costumes.
"The performance! I'm going to be so good
it'll knock your socks off! And you're also going to
participate this time. Who knows? You might even like
it."
"Wait a minute, Asuka. You didn't say anything
about this before," Shinji said, almost panicked.
Asuka put her hands on hips and stared him
down. "Why? Don't think you can handle the both of
us? Do you want to go back in the refrigerator?"
"Wark!"
"No," Shinji replied, looking down at his
shoes, unable to face Asuka with _those_ glasses and
_that_ look on her face.
"So are you in or out, Wondergirl?" Asuka
turned to face Rei, her expression unchanging.
Rei blinked once and nodded. "Very well, I
will assist you. What role am I to play?"
Asuka ran to her room and ran back with a stack
of security transcripts, computer paper trailing behind
her. "Found the perfect scene right here!"
"What is it, Asuka?" Shinji asked.
"Well, after Shinji wimps out and refuses to
pilot Unit-01, Commander Ikari tells Fuyutsuki to have
Rei do it. We can try that scene."
"So I am to play myself?" Rei asked.
"Yep. I wanted to find something easy for a
beginner such as yourself, though even you could do
better than mister statue here."
"Hey!"
"Waffles!"
"Urk!"
Asuka was standing, dressed as Commander Ikari,
facing away from Shinji, who was dressed as Sub-
commander Fuyutsuki, with Rei, in her school outfit,
next to him. Asuka had an SDAT player concealed in one
of her gloved hands and a slight smile on her face that
Shinji was finding particularly disturbing.
Click. Static-filled voice of Shinji, "There's
just no way I can do this!"
Shinji groaned. Asuka's smile was a bit wider
when she turned to face him, but there was no hint of
amusement in her tone. "Fuyutsuki. Wake up Rei."
"Is that wise?" Shinji asked, anger seeping
into his voice. He was starting to think that the real
point of all this was for Asuka to find new ways of
humiliating him.
Asuka's response was cold. "She's not dead
yet."
"Yes," Shinji replied, trying to match her
tone.
Asuka turned to face Rei, trying her best to
intimidate the First Child with her cold stare. "Rei."
Rei only stared back. "Yes?"
"The spare has proven useless. You will have
to do it again."
"Understood."
***
Gendo made a sound of contemplation as he
watched the children reenact those fateful events.
"Something wrong?" Fuyutsuki asked, actually
enjoying the scene a bit in a weird, disconnected, out-
of-body experience way.
"The Second Child... she's doing it
incorrectly."
Fuyutsuki watched for bit more. "It looks fine
to me."
"Professor, you don't know me as well as you
think you do."
Kozo arched an eyebrow, seeing the little grin
Gendo was wearing. "She's doing it wrong, eh? And
just what about her performance is wrong?"
Gendo didn't change his grin. "It is
sufficient to say that her performance is... lacking."
***
"So how was I?" Asuka asked Rei. "Pretty good,
huh?"
Rei said nothing.
"I get it! You're so dazzled by my exceptional
performance that you simply can't find the words to
express how good I am."
"You were doing it wrong."
"What?"
"Commander Ikari does not act in that manner."
"Just what are you getting at, Wondergirl?"
"I did not find your performance to be an
accurate portrayal of the commander, even taking into
account the differences in height, age, and gender."
"Hmph!" Asuka exclaimed, arms crossed. "And
what about Shinji's performance? Bet he was way off
compared to mine."
"I believe that between the two of you,
Shinji's performance was more convincing."
"Because he just stood there and didn't do
anything?"
"That is correct."
"So, do you think that you can do better,
Wondergirl? Why don't you play Commander Ikari this
time?"
Rei nodded, taking the dark glasses Asuka
handed her.
***
"_This_ should prove quiet interesting."
"Indeed. I wonder what Rei thinks of this."
"Hard to say, though it looks like she's
getting into it along with the other two."
"Very interesting. Ironic that she would find
this something to bond with them over."
Fuyutsuki nodded and figured Gendo just liked
to have his ego fed. The children trying to outdo one
another on his character... And the sub-commander,
naturally, was left out of the picture. No one cared
how accurate _his_ portrayal was.
***
"Fine, we'll do this scene here. Rei is
Commander Ikari, I'll be Ritsuko, and Shinji will be
Misato."
"What?" Shinji practically yelled. "Why do I
have to play Misato?"
"Somebody has to, dummkopf, and it isn't going
to be me."
"What about Fuyutsuki then? Who's going to
play him?"
"Geez, he only has one line... Pen-Pen can
play him!"
***
"With all due respect, sir, shut up."
Gendo's chuckling died down before he said, "I
remember you saying this was all in good fun,
Professor."
"Yes, well, that was before the penguin
remark," he answered dully.
"Don't worry. I'm not looking for your
replacement. Yet."
***
"Unit-01 is ready for launch," Asuka announced,
wearing a white towel in place of a lab coat. She
decided against the bathing suit, however, choosing
some of her casual clothes instead.
"Can we really do this?" Shinji asked Rei,
feeling very embarrassed in Misato's jacket that Asuka
had forced on him. It was much too big for him and
smelled of stale beer.
Rei sat at the desk, wearing the uniform Asuka
had, white-gloved hands steepled before her. She
adjusted her glasses until they caught the light just
so.
Shinji and Asuka both felt a sudden chill to
see the First Child like that, as if the shadow of
someone else hovered above her.
"Of course. Unless we defeat the Angels,
mankind has no future."
"Wark?" Pen-Pen as Fuyutsuki queried.
Rei only smiled slightly in response.
***
"Well, Ikari, I don't think they're looking for
your replacement yet."
"Indeed. That was impressive. Rei's quite the
talented actress."
"That was quite good. Even with the penguin.
I wonder why they're really doing this. It's obviously
not what Langely tried to say, but it doesn't look like
it's simple fun either," Fuyutsuki said as he observed
the children straightening up the apartment.
Gendo made that same contemplative noise,
something Kozo usually associated with heavy thinking
and setting plans in motion.
"You're thinking of something."
"Indeed."
"What is it this time?"
"Idle thoughts."
"Doubtful. I don't think you've ever had an
idle thought."
Gendo smiled. "Just thinking what they find so
interesting to go through this much trouble."
Fuyutsuki gave an answering grin. "Probably
the same thing we do to sit here and watch them," he
said with subtle irony in his voice.
***
Makoto looked over at Aoba. "Did you hear
that?"
"Hear what?"
"That's what I thought."
The two turned their eyes forward and kept them
there.
"I definitely heard that," Maya whispered.
"Me too."
"I didn't hear anything."
"That was a laugh, or at least a chuckle."
Maya turned her head slowly and looked behind her.
Both the commanders were there, but they had their
attention on something else. The noise was coming from
them.
"What are they doing?"
"I don't know. They're turned around."
"I didn't hear anything. Neither did you two."
"I heard someone laughing," Maya insisted,
glaring at Aoba.
"You think it was Commander Fuyutsuki? Or
maybe you mean Commander Ikari," he snapped. "I don't
think so."
"Well, someone's laughing, damn it," Maya
groused.
"What are they doing back there?" Makoto
whispered, risking a look back. "I know one of them is
laughing at something."
"Why don't you go up there and ask them then?"
Aoba said, giving them disgusted looks.
Maya and Makoto exchanged nervous looks, then
Maya nodded. "I will."
"Ask?"
"Well, I'll just... go up and see. I don't
need to say it directly." She rose from her seat
slowly.
Aoba grabbed her arm. "Don't," he warned.
"Don't be silly. It'll be..."
She froze in place when she heard the laughter
again, this time louder. It didn't sound like Sub-
commander Fuyutsuki either. "Maybe I'll just... sit
back down," Maya said quietly.
Makoto nodded, a darkly fascinated look on his
face as he stared up at the two commanders.
There was some quiet conversation for a few
moments, and the two commanders abruptly stood.
All three bridge personnel quickly turned and
faced front, trying to appear innocent. They stayed in
that position, sweat rolling down their faces, until
they were sure the commanders were gone.
"Did you hear _that_?"
***
After the last reenactment with the First
Child, Asuka decided that they wouldn't be doing any
more scenes with Commander Ikari in them, at least not
for a little while. She wasn't quite willing to give
up on her plan yet, however, not at least when she had
gotten Rei involved along with Shinji.
She busily fast-forwarded through the security
tapes, looking for a three person scene that would suit
her purposes. There! She had found just the _perfect_
scene to do next. She couldn't help chuckling as she
searched for the matching transcript.
In the room next door, Shinji felt a sudden
chill. He sprang out of bed, looking around, only to
realize it was Pen-Pen who had been holding a cold beer
to his face.
"Wark?" the bird squawked, offering Shinji the
can.
"Um, no thank you," Shinji told him, waving the
beer away. Ever since the whole waffle incident, Pen-
Pen had been acting as if he were Shinji's pet instead
of Misato's.
"Wark!" Pen-Pen said a little more forcefully
this time, presenting the beer to his master once
again.
"No, really, I don't want it."
"Wark! Wark!" Pen-Pen shoved the cold beer
into his hands.
Shinji was about to get up and put it back in
the fridge when the sound of mad laughter drifted in
from Asuka's room. He felt another chill that had
nothing to do with the cold beer in his hands, and
suddenly didn't want to go anywhere near a fridge at
the moment.
Reflexively, Shinji popped open the can and
took a sip.
"Blech!" Shinji exclaimed, spraying beer all over his
room. "How can Misato drink this stuff?"
Pen-Pen didn't respond. Instead he went off in
search of paper towels to help clean up the mess.
***
Another day and Shinji and Asuka were setting
up for their next scene while waiting for Rei to
arrive. Shinji was feeling particularly nervous, since
any time he asked Asuka what scene they were going to
be doing, she got this evil smile and told him that it
was a secret.
"So we're not going to be wearing uniforms?"
Shinji asked as he lined up the desk according to
Asuka's orders, trying to get some idea of at least who
they were going to play.
"Oh, we don't need to worry about that every
time," Asuka replied haughtily. "That was just to get
us started. I think we're fairly advanced now so we
don't have to always wear them."
The doorbell rang. Shinji motioned to answer
it, but Asuka stopped him. "I'll let the Wondergirl
in. You finish up here."
Shinji just stared at her, wondering what was
going on. Asuka always made him get the door,
especially when they knew it was going to be Rei.
"Got that, Shinji?" Asuka asked in an
irritated, bordering on angry, tone.
Shinji gulped, nodded, and went back to setting
up. Asuka didn't look that strong, but he still had
the bruises from the last time and he wasn't ready to
challenge her authority any time soon.
Rei gave no outward sign that she was surprised
to see Asuka answer the door instead of Shinji. For a
while, they only stared at each other in silence.
"So are you going to come in or not,
Wondergirl?" Asuka asked.
Rei nodded and followed Asuka inside. "Am I to
play the commander again?"
"Not this time, Wondergirl. He's not in this
scene."
Asuka missed the tiny frown that crossed Rei's
face. "So who am I to play then?"
Asuka grinned devilishly as Shinji wandered
over to them. "Now here's the scene we're going to
do..."
***
He wouldn't call himself a spy. Spies were
dashing and debonair, and while he was certainly both
of those things, he didn't get all the cool gadgets.
No, he wasn't a spy. He was more of... an
operative. He didn't work for the government; he was
just doing his job. That was it. It was his job, but
he wasn't a mercenary either.
He was just doing his job. And at the moment,
his job was tapping into the video feeds throughout
NERV. "I spy with my little eye..." he mumbled as
screen after screen of empty hallway flashed in front
of him.
One view caught his eye. Asuka, Rei, and
Shinji all together in what looked a lot like Misato's
apartment. Kaji scratched his chin for a moment,
thinking.
This hadn't been part of his last check of the
surveillance cameras. This was new, this was
different, this was... weird. This... had sound. This
was certainly not standard, and probably wasn't
something security had access to.
No, this was most likely something weird and
twisted the commander was doing. Kaji grinned to
himself. Misato's apartment though... He had always
figured it would have been Rei's.
Just what was really going on? More
importantly, did he really want to know? On the other
hand, it was Misato's apartment...
***
"There is no way I'm going to do this," Shinji
stated firmly after reading the script. He had even
crossed his arms to show Asuka that he meant business.
There was no way he was going to let her bully him
around this time. Before it was okay; playing
Fuyutsuki hadn't been that bad and he had only had a
short scene as Misato, but this...
"How about you, Wondergirl? You've read over
the script. Do you have any problem with your role?"
"While I would prefer to play Commander Ikari,"
Rei stated as the others shivered, "I see no problem in
playing Ritsuko in this scene."
Asuka turned back to face Shinji, a smile
playing at the corner of her mouth. "See? Rei doesn't
have any problem with her role, so you shouldn't have
any problem with yours."
"That's because she doesn't understand it!"
Shinji shouted back to hide his embarrassment.
"What is it that I do not understand, Ikari-
kun?"
Shinji blushed as he turned to face Rei,
somehow having forgotten that she was there. "Umm...
nothing Rei, don't worry about it."
Asuka was smug in view of Shinji's discomfort.
"Then there's no problem with doing this scene, is
there? Let's get started already, we want to finish
before Misato gets home."
Finding himself out-maneuvered again, Shinji
decided to try a different tactic. He told Asuka, "Why
don't we swap roles?"
"What? Are you crazy? I can't play Kaji!"
"But didn't you say before that you didn't want
to play Misato?"
"That was before, this is now. But if it'll
make it easier for you, Rei and I can swap. What do
you think, Wondergirl?"
"It makes no difference to me what role I play
in this scene."
Asuka was practically sneering when she turned
to face Shinji again. "So what's it going to be,
Shinji? Do you want me to play Ritsuko or Rei?"
Shinji didn't know how Asuka had skillfully
turned everything around to her advantage, but it was
obvious to him that he had already lost this fight. He
threw his hands up in defeat. "Let's just get this
over with."
***
Shinji was feeling even more uncomfortable than
before, if that was possible.
"Stop scratching, dummkopf!" Asuka yelled at
him from "off-stage" in the hallway.
"But it itches," Shinji complained. "Where did
you find this stuff anyway? It feels like real hair."
"Don't worry about that, just start the scene!"
Asuka shouted as she went to put back Misato's leg
razor.
Shinji took a very deep breath and stared at
the back of Rei's head. Rei was siting at his desk
that faced the wall, dressed in a lab coat Asuka had
gotten from somewhere. He couldn't believe that he was
supposed to...
Shinji took another breath and started to
slowly move towards Rei, almost acting against his free
will. He didn't want to do this, but he was sure that
Asuka would find some way to make him do it whether he
wanted to or not. He also knew everything would go a
lot better for him if he went along with this
willingly.
Sensing that Asuka was readying to yell at him
again, Shinji took another deep breath and began the
scene.
Shinji could feel his arms shaking as he
wrapped them around Rei from behind. Asuka had been
quite insistent that they couldn't just do the dialogue
from this scene, they had to act it all out. Shinji
was very careful to touch Rei as lightly as possible
while avoiding certain parts of her anatomy. As a
result, he was blushing terribly and could hardly
speak.
"Um... you've lost some weight," Shinji told
her, his voice threatening to break.
"Oh?" Rei said in her usual monotone.
Shinji was thrown off by the ease with which
Rei replied. *Wasn't she nervous too? Even just a
little?*
"You're enduring an unrequited love." Shinji
managed the force the words out, reminding himself that
this was only pretend. This wasn't him saying these
things to Rei, but Kaji to Ritsuko.
"Really? You're so very sure, aren't you?"
Rei's tone was flat, certainly not the way Ritsuko
would have said the same words. It was as if Rei had
no idea what she was saying.
Shinji took another deep breath and used every
ounce of his will to stop his hands from shaking.
Then, very slowly, he touched Rei's chin and turned her
face towards him. Then he almost burst out laughing
when he saw the "mole" Asuka had drawn on Rei. It was
a little oval drawn in "chocolate"-scented brown
marker.
Shinji chuckled and felt all the tension leave
him. Why was he making such a big deal out of this?
It was probably just some silly game Asuka had thought
up to pass the time anyway.
"A woman with a mole like a tear on her cheek
is destined for a life full of heartache and sorrow,"
Shinji told her in the overly-dramatic tone he had once
heard in a cheesy movie.
Rei's tone was the same as always. "If you're
trying to put the moves on me, I'm afraid you can't.
Not when that face is pressed against the glass
anyway."
Shinji turned to face the direction that Rei
had indicated and started to instinctively hide behind
her. There in the hallway stood Asuka, wearing one of
Misato's jackets, and giving them both the full force
of her glare of death.
Rei, of course, was completely unaffected.
"It's been quite a while, Kaji."
Shinji nearly jumped as he let go of Rei and
stepped a foot or two away from her. "Yeah," he said
with an embarrassed little laugh, still seeing Asuka's
glare from the corner of his eye. "It's been a while,
all right."
"You know, you're not as discreet as I
remember," Rei said as she turned to face Shinji.
Asuka walked by the both of them, putting her
path between their lines of sight. When she spoke, her
voice was bitter, almost openly angry. "He's never
been discreet in his life. You've finished handing
over Unit-02, haven't you? What are you still doing
here?"
Shinji shrank back even further at the sound of
Asuka's voice, almost his back to the wall. *What is
she so angry about? She's the one who wanted to do
this!* Shinji was nearly panicked and so when her look
settled on him again, no longer a glare but still
clearly mad, he rushed through his next line.
"I received orders this morning that I'll be
staying around." Breathe. Shinji couldn't believe
what he was about to say. "So gorgeous, we can hang
around again, just like we used to."
Asuka's face softened and she started to smile.
It was the same smile she had at the start of this
mess, as if this whole scene was just so she could
watch him squirm.
"Oh, don't flatter yourself."
Click. Alarms sound.
***
Kaji shook his head. How any healthy boy...
young man could be so timid around females like that
was simply a travesty. Obviously, ability to deal with
women was not something passed on from father to son.
For some poor kids, it had to be taught, and
Shinji sure wasn't being taught by his father, so that
left it up to him. The rest of it, the fact that the
kids were dressing up, was less important than Shinji's
almost total incompetence with women.
Shaking his head in mild disgust, Kaji decided
to have a discussion with the poor lad.
"Shinji, we need to talk."
"We do?"
Kaji looked at the skinny, gawky, soft-spoken,
somewhat effeminate boy in front of him. "Yes, we do.
Badly." He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and
ushered him to a bit more private spot so they could
have their talk.
"What's this about?" Shinji asked, nervousness
evident in his voice. "Did my father..."
"It's got nothing to do with him... sort of.
Well, not really." Kaji shook his head. "Don't worry
about him. This is between you and me, and I think you
need help."
Shinji gulped. "Help?"
"Help."
"With what?"
"Women."
"Women?"
"Yes, women. Shinji, you are interested in
women, right?"
The blush that rose in Shinji's cheeks was
enough confirmation for Kaji. He waved off the
accompanying stammers. "Now that we have that
established," Kaji said, patting Shinji on the
shoulder, "let's get down to business."
"Business?"
"Stop repeating everything I say and listen.
Listen _well_, kid."
***
He watched her from the corners of his eyes.
He couldn't do it. He just couldn't bring himself to.
Shinji looked away, and yet, his eyes kept sliding over
to Rei.
Rei... wouldn't take it wrong. She was his
only opportunity, and if he made a fool of himself,
then what difference did it make? A _huge_ one! He
didn't _want_ to make a fool of himself, not to Rei,
not to anyone.
Sighing, Shinji tried to stop glancing at Rei,
but with little success.
Mouth suddenly gone dry, Shinji cleared his
throat. With a deep breath, he took one step toward
Rei, who was walking slowly away from the school. He
knew exactly what he had to do; Kaji had gone through
it, step by step.
He just needed to make himself do it. Easier
said than done.
The distance between him and the unaware Rei
was eroding as he took long, if slow, strides.
1) Walk like you mean it. Head up, eyes
forward, back straight.
The words he was supposed to say kept running
through his head, but they were all Kaji's voice, not
his own. How could he...
2) Act like it was something you were born to
do. Confidence always makes up for inexperience.
His breaths were coming in short gasps, making
him sound like he was suffering an asthma attack.
3) And for God's sake, breathe, kid! If you
clench up talking to a girl, or woman, how will you
ever manage sex?
A half-strangled noise that emerged from Shinji
got Rei's attention.
She turned and looked at her fellow pilot,
wheezing away. "Ikari-kun?"
With a sickly smile planted firmly on his face
(confidence, Shinji! If your father can do it, so can
you!), Shinji tried to speak. "Er, hi..." Coughs
interrupted his far from smooth speech. "Hi, Rei. I
just wanted to..."
Confidence, what little he had to began with,
crumbling under the power of Rei's minutely curious
gaze, the words quickly fled Shinji's brain. His "fight
or flight" reflexes kicked in, and they were all
screaming flight at him.
"I..."
Rei just stared.
"I... think I'm going to be sick."
Rei watched Shinji run off. After a moment,
she turned around and continued on her way.
***
Kaji shook his head. "The kid is a loser,
plain and simple," he said to himself. That scene with
Rei had been... pitiful. Completely pitiful. If
Shinji couldn't handle himself with her, he couldn't
handle himself with any female...
In fact, it seemed that "handling himself"
would be as far as he ever got.
"Poor kid."
***
Shinji looked down at the tan uniform Asuka had
forced on him. "So, um, which one of them am I going
to play?" He felt a little embarrassed that he
couldn't recall the names of the bridge personnel who
all wore a similar uniform. There was Ritsuko's
assistant, and the guy with the glasses...
"Which one?" Asuka repeated as she turned to
face him. She was wearing a blue blouse, black skirt,
and a lab coat. She had elected to go without the
artificial mole, however. "You're going to play all of
them!"
"All of them? How? I don't know the first
thing about playing one of them."
"Don't worry about it. I'll teach you. We can
have a little rehearsal while we wait for Rei to get
here."
Shinji blushed slightly, thinking about Rei.
He had been avoiding seeing her ever since the last
"incident." He was sure that she had no idea what he
was trying to do, otherwise he didn't think that he
could face her. At least there couldn't be anything in
this reenactment like the last time.
Asuka then handed him a wig, and a pair of
glasses that, unlike his father's, didn't have shaded
lenses. "What are these for?" Shinji asked her.
"Props," Asuka explained, "to show that you're
a different character. When you're just in the
uniform, you're Maya." Asuka took a step back and
studied him intently. Shinji was beginning to feel a
bit nervous under her scrutiny when she said, "Hmm...
Maybe we should stuff some toilet paper down your
shirt."
"No way!"
"Yeah, it would be hard for you to change to
one of the guys then," Asuka said as if she hadn't even
heard him. "When you put the glasses on you're... the
guy with the glasses. With the wig, you're the long-
haired guy. Got it?"
Shinji looked down at the objects in his hands
with a resigned expression. "Not really. Why can't I
just play all the roles like I am?"
"Are you doubting my judgment?" Asuka asked,
her tone bordering on angry.
"No," he replied, shoulders slumped.
Asuka patted him on the head and said in a much
softer tone. "Don't worry, I'll help you practice a
little so you'll have it all down by the time Rei gets
here."
***
Ritsuko looked around her office and narrowed
her eyes. Her other lab coat had developed an
unfortunate blotch of coffee and cigarette ashes, so
she was looking for her spare.
And she could have sworn it was hanging on the
back of her chair, but...
"Damn it." She grabbed her mug and gulped down
the rest of it, then lit another cigarette. "Damn it,"
she swore again. "MAYA! I need another lab coat!"
***
Shinji was soon finding out that Asuka made a
much better drill sergeant than an acting coach. She
had distilled the three characters down to a few basic
moves which she made him practice over and over again.
There was also the riding crop she had gotten from
somewhere. The way she lashed out at the floor to
punctuate each of her sentences was more than a bit
disturbing.
"Shinji, be the guy with the glasses!" Asuka
commanded, snapping the crop for emphasis.
Shinji hurried to put on the glasses and
shouted in a whiny voice, "There's an Angel
approaching!"
Shinji had not liked Asuka's reply when he
asked how to do a "whiny" voice, 'Just like your normal
voice, only more so', but he didn't feel right about
complaining, as long as she held that riding crop, that
is.
"Switch to Maya!" Crack!
Shinji pulled off the glasses and put them in
his pocket. Ruffling his hair a bit, he said in the
highest pitch he could reach, "There's an Angel
approaching, sempai!"
"You forgot to bat your eyelashes! Do it
again!" Crack!
Shinji tried once again, feeling extremely
silly batting his eyelashes at Asuka in a lab coat.
Not that it caused her stern expression to flicker for
even an instant.
"Now be the long-haired guy!" Crack!
Shinji grabbed the wig hidden under his chair
and put it on, straightening it as he said in a relaxed
tone, "There's like an Angel coming, dude."
"You forgot to play air guitar! Do it again!"
Crack!
Shinji was about to, when he took off the wig
and said, "I don't know about the others, but I really
don't think... the long-haired guy acts like this."
"Oh, and you think you know him better than I
do?"
Shinji shrugged. "Maybe. I'm pretty sure I've
never heard him say 'dude' before."
"Okay, if you're so smart, what's his name?"
Shinji thought hard for a moment. "I don't
know... Aoba?"
Asuka snorted. "Shows how much you know. Back
to practice, Shinji. You have to have all this down
before Rei arrives."
"Why isn't she here already? School ended a
while ago and we don't have anything to do with NERV
today."
Asuka shrugged. "She said there was something
she wanted to do first. Now be the glasses-guy!"
Crack!
***
Misato approached Rei's apartment with some
trepidation. She had always felt uneasy around the
quiet girl, and not just because of her close
connection to Commander Ikari. Still, if she didn't
find someone who would believe what's happening with
Shinji and Asuka then she really would go mad.
Ritsuko had just laughed it off, twice. No
point in going to her a third time. The bridge bunnies
were out, since it would reflect badly on her as a
superior officer. Besides, she didn't know any of them
that well. Similar reasons for both the commanders,
though even stronger in that case. There were some
days she felt Commander Ikari only barely tolerated
her, and she was unwilling to make herself look even
worse in his eyes. The only other person she knew well
besides Ritsuko was Kaji, and he was out for a whole
host of reasons. That left her with Rei.
Misato knew that Rei would patiently wait for
the whole story and simply accept it without a
question. Misato also knew that this was a dubious
comfort since Rei would accept anything a commanding
officer told her. *Any port in a storm,* Misato
thought as she rang Rei's doorbell.
A few minutes later, she realized that she had
been standing there stupidly since there had been no
sound of a bell. It was still broken, like Shinji had
told her once. Misato shrugged and stepped inside.
She knew that Rei wouldn't mind.
"Rei, are you there?" Misato called out as she
entered the apartment. She had assumed Rei would be
home, since she wasn't supposed to be at school or NERV
at the moment. She began to pity the quiet girl who
seemed to have no human connections other than the
commander, and Misato wasn't even sure if she should
count that one.
Misato pitied Rei even more when she saw the
state the room was in, though in reflection her own
room looked worse. No sign of Rei anywhere though.
*That's strange. Where did she go?*
Misato's eyes immediately settled on something
on the desk, which stood out from the rest of the
clutter, being obviously new and free of a coating of
dust. A black case of some sort. She picked it up.
An empty case for glasses, she noticed immediately.
That was even stranger than Rei's absence. Misato knew
the First Child had perfect vision, it was in her file,
so why would she need glasses?
Hearing the sound of movement behind her,
Misato immediately spun around, and then dropped the
case in surprise. She tried to speak, to say anything
at all, but her mouth seemed incapable of making the
words. Rei only stared silently at her. At least
Misato assumed she was staring, it was hard to tell
with the dark glasses Rei was wearing.
Misato was wondering how Rei had gotten that
familiar black uniform, especially in her size, when
the First Child adjusted her glasses with a white-
gloved hand and asked, "Is something the matter, Major
Katsuragi?"
Misato did the first thing that occurred to
her. She screamed and ran as far away from "Commander
Rei Ikari" as she could.
***
When the doorbell finally rang, Shinji was not
at all eager to answer it this time. Kaji's "rules for
relationships" were still running through his head and
he had a hard enough time not thinking about them with
just Asuka present. He knew that as soon as he saw Rei
again, he'd remember what he tried to do and... well,
he wasn't sure how he would react, but he knew that it
wouldn't be good.
Asuka watched Shinji make no move to answer the
door, opened her mouth to yell at him, closed it,
shrugged, and went to answer the door herself.
Rei was at the door, wearing her school uniform
as usual. What was unusual was the bag slung over her
shoulder and her asking, "Is Major Katsuragi here?"
Asuka only stared for a few moments, then shook
her head. "Misato isn't here. Actually, I haven't
seen much of her lately. Maybe she got herself a
boyfriend or something. Why do you ask, Wondergirl?"
Asuka lead the way into the apartment, Rei
following close behind.
"I suppose it isn't important. What role am I
to assume today?"
"Well, it's funny that you should mention it
because you're playing Misato."
"I would rather play Commander Ikari."
Asuka was a little taken aback by the steel in
Rei's normally apathetic voice. "Sorry Wondergirl,
he's just not in this scene. But you can be the
commander in the scene we do after this one, all
right?"
Asuka was even more surprised at Rei's slight
smile as the blue-haired girl nodded and said, "Thank
you, Langely-san."
Asuka backed away from this bizarre-acting, at
least for her, version of Rei. "Yeah, sure, no
problem."
"Are you ready, Ikari-kun?"
Shinji was snapped back to reality to find Rei
staring right at him. She looked cute and somewhat
silly in Misato's red jacket, which was a number of
sizes too big for her. It made her seem smaller, more
vulnerable. She called out to him again and he was
immediately focused on her soft, pink lips as they
formed the syllables to his name...
Shinji nearly jumped out of his chair, laughing
nervously, and said, "Hi Rei, nice to see you! How are
you today?"
"I am well. Are you ready now?"
Shinji was even more nervous than before.
Ready for what? A hundred possibilities flashed
through his mind, each more nerve-wracking than the
last. In a shaking voice, trying and utterly failing
to act casual, he asked, "Ready for what, Rei?"
"The scene, dummkopf!" Asuka shouted from the
other side of the room. "Wondergirl and I finished
setting up while you were daydreaming. What the heck
is wrong with you?"
Shinji shook his head to clear it. "Nothing,
nothing. Let's get started then."
Shinji was sitting at his desk, which faced the
wall, wearing the tan uniform of the bridge crew. He
was also wearing a long brown wig. Rei, in Misato's
jacket, and Asuka, in a lab coat, stood behind him.
Asuka had an SDAT player hidden behind her back.
Click. Alarms sound.
Shinji leaned back, playing air guitar, all the
while saying, "Like the head is way damaged! It's a
total bummer, man!"
Then he quickly hid the wig under the seat,
messed his hair some, and turned to face Asuka, batting
his eyelashes. Trying to hit a high pitch while
shouting made his voice almost shrill. "Sempai, we're
having problems maintaining activation!"
"Status report," spoke Rei, her calm voice
giving more of an impression of Commander Ikari,
despite the jacket she wore.
Shinji turned to look at Rei for a moment, but
all the drilling made him immediately look back at
Asuka. "Syncrograph reversing! The pulses are flowing
backward, sempai!"
Asuka shouted back, "Break the circuit, Maya!
Do it!"
"We can't, sempai! It's not accepting the
signal!"
"What about Ikari-kun?" Rei asked, her voice
seeming to contain a small spark of emotion.
Shinji was actually thankful for all the
practicing Asuka had put him through, as he fixed his
hair and put on the glasses automatically, while his
mind was a little stunned by Rei's last line, and the
whole scene in general. He found it difficult not to
think of what had been happening to him while all this
was going on.
Shinji whined out, "His monitors aren't
reacting! His condition is unknown!"
Then he tore off the glasses and fixed the wig
on once again. "Bogus, dude! Unit-01 is totally
silent!"
Asuka turned to face Rei. "Misato?"
Rei was silent for a few moments, as if she
were truly weighing this decision rather than just
reenacting it. "We've got no choice. Abort the
operation. We've got to rescue the pilot. Eject the
entry plug."
Shinji had already used this time to go into
"Maya" mode. "We can't! It's not accepting the
signal!"
"What did you say?" Rei's voice was flat,
giving the line a different meaning from the original.
Shinji nearly repeated himself.
Asuka said the next line, though she used a
completely different tone from when she spoke as
Ritsuko. "The EVA is reactivating!"
Shinji said the next line with real emotion,
though even he wasn't sure what he meant by it. "I
don't believe it! This can't be!"
"My God," Rei nearly whispered.
"Berserker."
Click. Roar.
***
Kozo Fuyutsuki chuckled. He had been doing
that on and off ever since he had seen the last...
reenactment by the children. To whatever ends they
were doing it, it was pretty darn humorous.
If they could make Gendo laugh, then that was
good entertainment. Even with the penguin remark.
They were so serious, obviously getting into it
like real actors would get into their parts. They must
have practiced a lot to get the dialogue down so well.
Each child knew what to say, how to say it, reacting to
the others...
Even Rei appeared to be enjoying herself.
While her lines weren't quite as... authentically
spoken, she still knew...
Fuyutsuki stopped in his tracks. Yes, they all
knew their lines quite well. Very well. And the SDAT
player with the sound effects... Something was not
quite right, yet he couldn't put his finger on it.
Walking slowly, the uneasy feeling staying with
him, Fuyutsuki headed back to his office.
***
"Sempai?"
"What is it, Maya?" Now that she was properly
attired in a new lab coat, Ritsuko was all business.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
Maya looked at the back of her idol's head and
fidgeted in the doorway. There was just no easy way to
ask this. "Well, I was wondering... Have you...
noticed..."
"Maya, spit it out. I have a lot of work to
get done."
"It's just that... I wanted to know if..."
Ritsuko turned in her chair and looked at Maya,
her face a mask of complete indifference. "What?"
"Havethecommandersbeenactingfunnydoyouknow?"
Maya blurted and immediately developed a healthy blush.
Ritsuko blinked. "What?"
The blush deepened. "Nothing! I didn't mean
to bother you! Bye!" Maya scurried off before she
could embarrass herself further.
"What a strange girl," Ritsuko mumbled before
turning back to her work.
"So did you ask her?"
"No."
"Told ya she couldn't do it. And she was gonna
ask the commanders... Yeah, right." Shigeru elbowed
Makoto in the side.
Makoto dug in his pocket and pulled out a
thousand yen bill. "Yeah, yeah. Take your money."
Maya frowned. "You don't think this is really
strange? You're just going to sit there and make
stupid bets? You two are impossible."
"Yes, but I'm a thousand yen richer now,"
Shigeru said, smiling widely.
***
"So what are they up to today?"
"Nothing yet. They look to be planning
something soon though."
"This should be entertaining. I still haven't
come up with any reason they would be doing this
though. It's not just a game to them since they put so
much work into it."
"Agreed."
"I'd be concerned if their piloting abilities
suffered, and the major reports they're not doing any
worse in school."
"Then we wait. This will come to a head
eventually."
Fuyutsuki nodded and sat down. He still had
that nagging feeling, but didn't know why. There was
just something about the entire situation that bothered
him.
"You're fidgeting."
"This is bothering me."
"I thought you said you were over the penguin
remark."
Fuyutsuki frowned. "I _was_ until you had to
bring it up again. But it's something else."
"Such as?"
"I'm not sure."
"Perhaps a lapse in security?"
Realization dawned on the sub-commander.
"That's exactly it. The records of..."
"Everything that's gone on in the command
center up to this point. They've obtained them and
have studied them quite carefully."
"But... how? The security..." Speech was
becoming more and more difficult as Fuyutsuki's jaw
clenched tighter and tighter. Finally, he was at the
point that he couldn't even speak.
"They are more resourceful than we had
anticipated. Be thankful they are working for us, and
not for SEELE." Gendo let loose the tiniest of smiles.
"You are really enjoying this whole thing,
aren't you?"
"Quite."
Fuyutsuki sighed, his shoulders slumping
slightly. "So am I for some reason."
"And security?"
"We can blame it on Kaji. He's always up to
something anyhow. I wouldn't be surprised if he's got
the bathrooms bugged."
"I had those removed. They were...
inappropriate."
For a moment, Fuyutsuki went slack-jawed.
"You're kidding."
Gendo turned his head, wearing a look of near-
amusement. "Do I kid?"
"No, of course not."
***
Ritsuko stared up blearily at the ceiling of
her apartment. A missing lab coat, Maya acting all
strange, Misato babbling at her, the techs looking like
frightened rabbits, Kaji's odd behavior, Shinji's
strange reluctance around women...
Some of that seemed on par, but it wasn't. It
was all off by just a hair. She would expect Shinji to
be reluctant around women, but not the way he was. He
acted... scared.
And Maya... She didn't even want to know what
was up with Maya. That was too far out there.
The commanders... she was sure that was what
Maya had asked about, but didn't know why.
They had been acting a bit... odd. Much more
attentive in the command center than usual. And
secretive. Even more so. One of these times, she was
going to see what they were so engrossed in.
***
Shinji and Asuka were both a little surprised
to find Rei waiting for them as they left school.
"Is there an Angel attack or something,
Wondergirl?" Asuka asked after a few moments of silence
had passed. She didn't think so. She didn't know
about Shinji, but she had her cell phone with her at
all times.
Rei shook her head. There was another moment
of silence, but before Asuka could say anything else,
Rei asked, "Are we going to be doing another
reenactment today?"
Asuka rolled her eyes. "Of course."
"Then I will accompany you."
Asuka stared at her fellow pilot, as if she
were trying to draw an explanation out of her from her
gaze alone, but Rei only stared back blankly as always,
and said nothing. "Are you sure you don't have to go
home first?"
Rei shook her head once again. "I already have
everything I require," she told them, holding up her
school bag for emphasis.
Asuka shrugged. "I guess I've got no problem
with it. How about you, Shinji?"
Shinji was snapped back to reality only to
realize that he had been silently staring at Rei the
entire time. Kaji had recently given him another "pep
talk," though Kaji didn't seem to think that Shinji had
any real hopes of actually following his advice.
To make things worse, the girls had swimming
again, causing Toji and Kensuke to have an argument
over who Shinji had been staring at this time, Asuka or
Rei, or rather which parts of them he'd been staring
at. Words he had normally associated with KFC had
taken on entirely different meaning.
He quickly glanced at Asuka, but she seemed to
not have noticed. She was, however, waiting for an
answer and he knew it wouldn't be long before she got
impatient. The only problem was that since Shinji
hadn't been paying attention he had no idea what the
question was.
He started to panic a little, but did his best
to hide it. What could he do? He couldn't ask her to
repeat the question because then she'd know he hadn't
been paying attention to her. That was sure to get her
angry. He couldn't just say some random answer for the
same reason. Stuck in a corner, Shinji fell back on
his basic instinct whenever dealing with Asuka: just
agree with whatever she said.
"Yeah, sure," he said a bit nervously. "I've
got no problem with that."
"All right, let's get home then," Asuka told
them. "You can set up while I choose the scene we're
going to do."
As they started walking back to Misato's
apartment, Shinji noticed something different.
Specifically, Rei was walking with them, at his side,
her school skirt exposing her slim, pale legs as she
walked...
Shinji turned his head to face Asuka so fast
that he nearly snapped his neck. "Um, so why is Rei
going with us?"
"Dummkopf! What do you think I asked you a
moment ago?"
"Oh, right, sorry," Shinji replied, laughing
nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. He
happened to look down just as Asuka's movement exposed
a hint of cleavage. He immediately faced forward,
walking almost mechanically as he tried to keep certain
thoughts from rising...
***
Asuka watched Shinji as he took off his shoes,
staring firmly ahead into Misato's apartment. She
noticed that he'd been doing that for most of the walk
home.
"Wondergirl?" Asuka queried her fellow pilot.
"Yes?" Rei replied, red eyes staring back at
her.
"Forget it."
Something was wrong with Shinji, that much
Asuka knew for sure, as she thought over his recent
actions as she plowed though the security transcripts,
which she had marked all over in colored highlighter,
coded how each scene could help her with her purpose.
She put down the transcripts and took a breath.
She was doing more thinking about Shinji than reading.
So what was wrong with him? Asking him was no good.
Even if he did know, he'd either back away from her or
make something up. He always shied away from
confrontations, unless...
Asuka immediately dug through the transcripts
in search of scene that had caught her eye when she had
started on this. It would be a hard scene for Shinji
to do, the hardest yet probably, but if anything could
shake him out of his current state, this could.
Shinji tried to sit calmly alone with Rei while
waiting for Asuka to come back, but he just couldn't do
it. Kaji's lessons kept running through his head like
a mantra, over and over again. Also knowing that he
was too much of a coward to act on them wasn't helping
his self-esteem any.
He needed someone to talk to about this. He
immediately excluded all females as being too
"stimulating." Kaji was the next to be crossed off.
This was his fault to begin with. Toji and Kensuke
would only tease him. His father... he wasn't sure
what his father would say, but he knew it wouldn't be
good. Fuyutsuki would just tell his father...
Shinji suddenly stood up and told Rei, "I need
to go to the kitchen to get something."
Asuka returned to the living room with a
triumphant smile on her face, only to find Rei sitting
on the couch, going through her school bag.
"I found the scene. Where's Shinji?"
Rei turned around, holding a pair of white
gloves. "He went into the kitchen."
Shinji stood before Pen-Pen's private fridge,
wondering how to get the bird's attention. He didn't
feel right in just opening the door. He decided on
knocking, though felt extremely silly in doing so.
After a moment, the door to the fridge slid open. Pen-
Pen shut off his TV, clicked off the lamp, and waddled
out. Turning to look up at Shinji, he asked, "Wark?"
Shinji decided to just go right to it, not like
this penguin could understand what he was saying
anyway. "You see I've got this problem..."
"Wark!" Pen-Pen exclaimed suddenly and then
raced over to the other fridge, where he pulled out two
beers, one of which he handed to Shinji. He accepted
the beer, remembering how Pen-Pen got violent if he
didn't, and tried to go on to explain his problem, but
the bird was looking up at him as if he was waiting for
Shinji to do something.
Shinji popped open the can of beer and was
surprised to see Pen-Pen mimic his actions. "Wark,"
the penguin said as he held his own beer out to Shinji.
Shinji suddenly remembered seeing Misato acting
out a similar "ritual" with Pen-Pen before. "Cheers!"
he shouted, feeling foolish as he smacked his can
against the other and took a sip, having to desperately
avoid spitting it back up again.
Pen-Pen took a sip of his own beer and plunked
himself down on the floor. After a moment, Shinji also
sat on the floor and began to explain. "I guess it all
started when I had to do this scene with Rei..."
Asuka walked into what was for her a very odd
sight. Odd perhaps because of its relative
familiarity. Empty beer cans scattered over the
kitchen floor, normal for any place that Misato
frequented. That Pen-Pen was holding a beer while
slumped on the floor was also, unfortunately, normal.
Asuka guessed it was really true that pets took on the
characteristics of their owners. What really got her
was that in place of a drunken Misato, there was a
something much more unique: a drunken Shinji.
"And she's always pushing me around," Shinji
slurred as he took a gulp of his beer. "Telling me to
do stuff like 'move that box, Shinji,' 'stop whining,
Shinji,' 'wear this dress, Shinji...'"
"Wark, wark," Pen-Pen agreed, nodding his head.
"Always threatening me with stuff when I talk
back, half the time speaking in German so I can't
understand her. Well, I've had enough of it, you
hear?! I'm going to tell Asuka that --"
"Tell me what?" Asuka asked from the doorway,
having finally gotten over her shock.
Shinji slowly turned to face her, his eyes
going progressively wider. The half-empty beer can
fell from his numb fingers. He moved his jaw to say
something, but the most he could manage was, "Um, ah."
With a nasty grin, Asuka walked over and took
his arm. "Here, allow me to help you." Then she
shoved his head in the sink and turned the cold tap all
the way.
"Waaaahhhh!" Shinji yelled, which came out
surprisingly clear despite all the freezing water
currently hitting him in the head.
Still smiling, Asuka yanked his head out of the
sink. She shut off the tap and handed him a towel.
"There, feel better now?"
Shinji dried his head and said nothing. He no
longer felt the least bit drunk, however.
***
Practically dragging Shinji into the living
room, Asuka said, "Now we can finally get this scene
started."
"I will prepare myself then," Rei said then
proceeded to take off her school uniform.
"What are you doing?!" Asuka shouted, while
Shinji was finding the walls very interesting to stare
at.
Rei stopped undressing and pulled a black
uniform from her bag. "I was putting on my costume."
"But you can't change right here!"
"Why not? How is this any different from
changing into our plug-suits?"
"Because Shinji is still here, dummkopf! You
can't change in front of a boy!"
Meanwhile, the boy in question would have been
making another trip to the kitchen if Asuka didn't have
an iron grip on his shirt.
"Why?"
Growling in frustration, Asuka gave up. "You
just can't, okay? If you need to change, use the
bathroom."
Rei nodded, gathered up her things, and headed
for the bathroom.
"Wait a minute!" Asuka yelled to Rei, dropping
Shinji on the couch as she walked over to her.
Rei stopped and turned around.
"I'm the commander this time, Wondergirl."
"Before the last scene, you said that I could
play Commander Ikari for the next one."
Asuka was firm, however. This was too
important to let Rei mess it up. "Rei, I'm going to do
it."
"You said I would."
"Not this time. I'm going to."
"You said I would play the commander."
"I changed my mind!"
"You said I..."
"Fine!"
Asuka decided to take her store of frustration,
which was useless against Rei, and redirect it on
Shinji. "Shinji, in this scene you play yourself."
"What? No way!" Most of the fun of this in
the first place for Shinji was to escape being himself
for a little while. Besides, he just knew that if
Asuka was making him be himself the scene had to be
horribly embarrassing.
"Do it or else," Asuka said in a dangerous
tone.
Perhaps because he wasn't entirely sober yet,
or having talked out his problems had given him some
strength, Shinji decided that he wouldn't back down
this time. "No."
"Now you need to--" Asuka said and stopped
herself when she realized what Shinji's reply had been.
"What did you say?"
"I'm not going to do it this time, Asuka.
There's nothing you can say or do that will make me
back down." Shinji readied himself for whatever
vengeful thing Asuka would do to him this time for
standing up to her.
To his surprise, she smiled. "All right, if
you don't want to play yourself, you don't have to.
I'm not going to force you to do it."
"You're not?" Shinji asked, growing more
surprised by the minute.
Asuka shook her head, the smile never leaving
her lips. "Nope. You'll just have to sit out this
scene since there are really only two roles."
"But then who's going to play me then?"
"I guess I'll have to do it."
Shinji started to get suspicious as Asuka
readied herself to play him. First she messed up her
hair, then she slumped her shoulders and stared at the
ground as if suddenly depressed. She shuffled over to
Shinji, looked up at him, and said in a sniveling tone,
"Father, I don't want to pilot EVA. I'm a big dumb
wimp."
Shinji could only stare back at her, not even
noticing Rei reentering the room dressed as Commander
Ikari.
Asuka stood up straight and smiled again,
though this time it was closer to a sneer. "How was
that? Not whiny enough?"
"All right, I'll do it, I'll play myself,"
Shinji told her, caving in completely. "Just never do
that again."
Asuka huffed in mock-indignation. "I don't see
what you're complaining about; I thought I captured you
perfectly."
***
Shinji looked up at Rei, dressed as Commander
Ikari, complete with dark glasses and white gloves, and
also standing on a chair. Asuka leaned against the
wall, wearing a lab coat.
Rei adjusted her glasses with a gloved hand
while looking down at Shinji. She spoke as if reading
from a shopping list. "Disobeying orders. Personal
occupation of an EVA. Crude intimidation. These are
all criminal acts. Do you have anything you want to
say?"
Shinji was close enough to Rei that he could
see her eyes despite the glasses. She had the same
look when she had smacked him before, when he had said
something bad about his father.
As he struggled to build up some sort of
strength for his next line under that gaze, Shinji
again reflected that Rei was a little too good at
imitating the commander. Somehow, Rei's monotone just
made things worse for him.
"Yes. I don't want to pilot EVA any more, and
I don't want to stay here either." The words sounded
weak and ineffectual; even to himself, a lie.
"Well, leave then," Rei replied softly, though
her eyes remained stern.
"I will!" Shinji declared, suddenly getting
caught up in the moment. He had backed down from Asuka
yet again, but he would not back down from his father,
even if it was only his image. "I'll go back to my
teacher's place!"
Rei frowned slightly. "Are you running again?
You disappoint me. I assume we won't meet again."
Shinji matched her tone. "I intend that we
won't."
***
The commanders watched in complete silence.
Shock might have been an accurate description.
Just a total stunned pause in their daily
routine.
"This is interesting."
"I... didn't know he had it in him. I didn't
think it was possible."
Gendo nodded, but gave no spoken reaction.
"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty."
"Indeed."
The two men sat in silence for a bit longer,
still watching the monitor. The scene was over, but
the effects of it lingered. The children seemed
maudlin, moping around the apartment as they
straightened up.
"I wonder what that was supposed to
accomplish?" Fuyutsuki wondered aloud, startling
himself by breaking the weighty silence.
"So Misato wasn't kidding..."
The two commanders turned simultaneously to see
Ritsuko standing there, staring at the monitor.
"Er... Doctor," Fuyutsuki said abruptly,
flicking the monitor off. "Is there something you
need?"
"Well, I got one of my questions answered." At
least Fuyutsuki had the grace to look a bit
embarrassed, but Gendo was as impassive as always.
"This is none of your concern."
"I don't think it's any of your concern either
then. If I'm responsible for their synch rates with
the EVAs, then I had damn better know what's going on
before you try to tell me to fix whatever's wrong when
you're sitting here..."
Ritsuko trailed off when she noted the simple
gaze Gendo directed at her, and the somewhat amused
look Fuyutsuki was giving her.
"Er..."
"A game, Doctor. As far as we can figure.
That's as much as we know. They seem to be...
reenacting moments of NERV history."
Eyes shifting between the two commanders,
Ritsuko finally settled her eyes on the older. "So..."
"They appear to be building up to something,
but what, exactly, is unknown," Gendo supplied.
He almost sounded... worried to Ritsuko's ears.
"Well, that's... unique." She shrugged, having no idea
how to make heads or tails of what she had seen. "I
guess... everyone's got to have a hobby."
Maya watched with great interest, but not so
much that she looked like she was watching with great
interest. Just enough so that she could see how each
one of them reacted, even if she couldn't really hear
what they were saying.
"I think she's lost it."
"She's been staring up there the entire day."
The buzzing of the gnats did not deter her; she
would not miss the opportunity to discover just what
was going on.
"Have you seen her blink?"
"No. Do you think her eyes are gonna dry out?
What if it damages her sight?"
"The commanders won't stay up there all day
long. She'll have to look away eventually. Just be
ready because I don't think she'll be able to see
much."
"Right."
"And in the meantime..."
"Waffles? Where'd you get those?"
"Misato brought in a whole bunch one day. I
didn't know she could cook like this."
"Her? Cook? Right. I'd believe that penguin
cooked those before she did."
***
Asuka woke up the moment her alarm started
ringing, slapped it off, and sat up with a smile on her
face. Today was the day that her plans would finally
come to fruition. There was a certain element of risk
involved in moving so swiftly to the denouement, she
knew, but she also knew that she had to take advantage
of their current momentum. Besides, waiting was
getting on her nerves. Asuka wasn't a patient person
by nature, but it would all be worth it if her master
plan succeeded.
Shinji groggily opened his eyes after his alarm
went off. He had trouble getting to sleep last night.
He kept having dreams that replayed the reenactments
they had done so far, but with him in different roles.
There were even times he was playing every role. In
the end, they had all blurred together to become him as
a kid being ordered around by a giant Rei dressed as
his father. It took him a while to get back to sleep
after that.
After a few moments, he realized that Asuka's
smiling face was only inches from his.
"Good morning, Shinji!" she said in a cheery
voice.
Shinji was panicked. Somehow Asuka's happiness
was bad news for him, especially lately. "Asuka, what
are you doing in my room?"
Asuka threw open the window to let the bright
sunlight in. She turned back to Shinji and said, "It's
such a nice day today. Are you going to waste it lying
in bed?"
Shinji frowned. "My alarm just went off,
Asuka. Besides, we still have plenty of time to get
ready for school."
"Oh, I thought we could skip school today,"
Asuka told him with a small, secretive smile.
"Misato won't like that."
Asuka shrugged. "She's not here, never came
home last night for some reason. And I can get Hikari
to cover for us at school so she'll never know."
Shinji opened his mouth to argue, but then
shrugged and said, "At least let me get changed first.
We can talk about this over breakfast."
"All right. You'll have to cook something
though. All those waffles Pen-Pen made vanished."
"Why do I have to make breakfast?" Shinji
asked, but Asuka had already left.
Asuka and Shinji argued the pros and cons of
going to school over miso soup, with Pen-Pen
interjecting an occasional "wark" in favor of Shinji
who had made the penguin some fish to eat. Despite the
added support, Shinji felt that he was losing this
argument quickly. Asuka seemed to have a counter ready
for his every thought. So it was some relief that the
doorbell rang.
"Who could that be?" he asked with some
confusion, though was secretly glad for anything that
interrupted their discussion. It was still too early
for Toji and Kensuke to show up.
Asuka shrugged. "How should I know? Maybe
it's someone carrying Misato home after an all-night
drinking binge. Answer the door and find out."
Shinji nodded and did as Asuka had said. He
wasn't at all prepared to find Rei waiting there,
dressed in her school uniform with a bag slung over her
shoulder. Suddenly remembering the dream from last
night, Shinji instinctively screamed and bolted.
Rei blinked as Shinji fled. She stood at the
doorway for a few more moments before seeming to decide
something and stepped inside.
Seeing Shinji run past, Asuka went to check
what all the commotion was about. She was surprised to
see Rei standing there.
"Wondergirl? What are you doing here so early
in the morning?"
Rei paused in thought as if she wasn't sure
herself. "I wish to walk to school with you and Ikari-
kun."
Asuka shook her head. "We're not going to
school today."
Shinji shouted as he came back into the room,
"Yes we are, Asuka!"
Rei blinked. "Why would the both of you miss
school? Is there a synchronization test that I wasn't
informed about?"
Asuka grinned and leaned closer to Rei
conspiratorially. "Nope. We're skipping school,
Wondergirl."
"No, we're not, Asuka," Shinji said, back in
the room. "Oh, hi, Rei."
Rei bowed slightly to Shinji. "Good morning,
Ikari-kun."
Asuka ignored what Shinji had said yet again
and spoke to Rei, "Hey, why don't you skip with us?
You must be sick of that old guy droning on about the
Second Impact all the time too. All you do at school
is stare out the window anyway. Besides, us EVA pilots
got to stick together, right?"
Rei frowned slightly. "I doubt Commander Ikari
would approve of this."
"That's right, Asuka," Shinji jumped in, glad
to have another person's support.
Asuka only grinned. "But you don't know that,
do you Wondergirl? I mean, it's not something you've
asked him before specifically, is it? For all we know,
the commander might approve. I bet he skipped school
all the time when he was our age."
"But what if there's an Angel attack, Asuka?"
Shinji pointed out.
The redhead's smile didn't waver. "Dummkopf!
That's why they gave us all cell phones."
Rei blinked suddenly and took out her cell
phone from her bag. She pushed one of the speed dial
buttons and waiting for a connection while Asuka and
Shinji looked at her in surprise.
"What are you doing, Wondergirl?" Asuka asked.
"I am calling Commander Ikari to see if it is
all right that we skip school today."
"No!" Asuka shouted with some panic. "You
can't do that!"
"Why not?" Rei asked, staring at Asuka, her
face expressionless.
Asuka thought fast. "Because we shouldn't be
bothering the commander with something this
unimportant. He might even be angry. Right, Shinji?"
"Yeah, we really shouldn't bother him with
this, Rei," Shinji added, even more panicked than
Asuka. With the morning he'd been having, the last
thing he wanted to deal with was his father.
Rei looked at the phone and then back at them.
She said nothing, but seemed uncertain.
Asuka told her, "If you skip with us, I'll let
you be Commander Ikari again."
"Very well," Rei replied, shutting off the
phone.
Asuka and Shinji breathed a sigh of relief.
***
Ritsuko entered the lounge and stopped short.
Misato was there, staring into a styrofoam cup filled
with steaming tea. She looked decidedly unhappy.
Walking in an artificially casual manner,
Ritsuko went and poured herself a cup of coffee.
Sipping it for a moment first, she gathered her wits.
This would be... awkward at best.
"Misato."
"Yeah?"
Ritsuko turned slowly, holding the cup up to
her lips as if it could protect her. "I wanted to..."
She shrugged almost helplessly. "I saw..."
Misato looked up from her tea, dark circles
under her eyes. She didn't say anything, but the
questions were evident in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, okay?"
Eyes blinking slowly, Misato kept quiet.
With a sigh, Ritsuko crossed the lounge and sat
across the table from Misato. She took a long drink of
her coffee before setting it down and looking Misato in
the eye. "I'm sorry for what I said before. I
shouldn't have been so... harsh."
"Said... what?"
"When I doubted you. I shouldn't have been so
mean about it."
It was Misato's turn to sigh as she drank some
of her tea. "It doesn't matter."
"It does matter, because... I believe you."
Misato's eyes widened momentarily, then lowered
back to her tea. "It doesn't. Here, have a waffle."
She dropped four ziploc bags on the table, each one
almost bursting with waffles.
Ritsuko eyed them warily. "I'll... pass."
"They're safe... I didn't make them. Pen-pen
did."
"That's... fine, Misato. I'm... just not
hungry."
Ritsuko's stomach immediately growled.
With her eyes moving back and forth, subtly
trying to find someone or something else to blame it
on, Ritsuko said, "Uhh..."
Misato raised one eyebrow.
"Oh! Oh, darn! I'm so hungry, but I won't get
a chance to eat those... great looking waffles because
look!" Ritsuko held up her pager for Misato to see.
"I'm being paged. Darn that Commander Ikari." Ritsuko
stood up and slowly backed away. "Sorry about that,
Misato. They look great. Really. But... gotta go!"
Misato sighed and continued to drink her tea.
Kaji stepped in the lounge and immediately
smiled when he noticed Misato there. *Must be my lucky
day.*
"Hey beautiful, what's... mmmph!"
Kaji found it a bit difficult to talk around
the waffle that Misato had just shoved in his mouth.
***
"We're going to what?!" Shinji nearly shouted.
"Do a quick recap of all the scenes we've done
up to this point before the next one," Asuka explained
patiently. "I got the idea from an anime I watched the
other day."
"But why?" Shinji asked, bewildered.
Asuka huffed in frustration. "Because this way
we can see how much we've improved, how much we've
learned from all this."
Shinji shook his head. "I still don't get it."
Asuka turned to Rei, who was sitting calmly on
the couch, watching their conversation. "You think
it's a good idea, don't you, Wondergirl?"
Rei nodded almost immediately, her "Commander
Ikari" costume folded neatly on her lap.
Seeing Shinji starting to waver, Asuka pushed.
"Why are you making such a big fuss about this anyway?
It's not like we're going to play whole scenes over
again, just small parts to get the feel for it.
Besides, we've already gone over this. You did it
before, you can do it again."
Shinji shrugged. Even he really wasn't sure
why he was being so resistant this time. Partly
because it was a little too much like his recent
nightmare, but probably more so because he always put
up a fight over this, even though it made no difference
in the end.
"All right," Shinji said finally, his tone
still reluctant. "Let's do this."
"That's the spirit, Shinji!" Asuka enthused,
giving him a huge pat on the back.
The Third Child crumpled to the ground.
"Oops. Think I hit him a little too hard."
Observing all this, Pen-Pen went to fetch the
smelling salts.
Asuka handed Rei and Shinji printouts. "Here
you go. I had these scripts already prepared so we can
get through this quickly."
"How are we going to do the costumes?" Rei
asked as she studied the script.
It took Asuka a moment to answer, mainly
because she was so surprised that Rei had asked a
question. "I really don't want to waste time changing
in and out of different uniforms just for this, so
we'll decide on different props to represent the
characters."
"Shinji, we'll use the same props for those two
bridge crew guys. Misato's red jacket can be for her.
These dark glasses for the commander. Ritsuko can be
represented by the lab co... no, wait, I don't have
that anymore. I guess we can use a white towel
instead.
"For the sub-commander... what do you think we
should use, Shinji? You know him better than anyone."
Shinji wasn't sure whether to take that as a
compliment or an insult, but he tried to answer the
question anyway. "Um, how about I take this gray
dishcloth and wear it on my head?" he told her, giving
a quick demonstration.
"Sure, that'll work," Asuka replied, trying
very hard not to laugh. Not only did Shinji look
ridiculous with that thing on his head, but Asuka was
sure that its original color wasn't gray.
"Hmm, for Kaji you can unbutton the top buttons
of your shirt, though I doubt you'll look as cool as
Kaji when he does it. Who else do we need?"
"Maya Ibuki," Rei stated, still studying the
script.
"Right, right," Asuka agreed, nodding. "What
can represent her... wait, I know!"
Asuka ran to her room and ran back a few
moments later with a pair of balloons, which she handed
to Shinji.
"What am I supposed to do with these?" he
asked.
"Stuff them down your shirt when you play Maya,
dummkopf!"
Shinji considered arguing, but changed his
mind. He knew it would be fruitless. "At least no one
else'll see me," he muttered to himself.
***
Ritsuko's stomach growled again. She grabbed
the nearest coffee cup and put it to her lips, only to
discover it was empty. "Damn."
She sat down in her chair and stared blankly at
the desk overflowing with papers of all kinds. What a
crazy day it had been, and it didn't look like it was
going to end any time soon.
Leaning back, Ritsuko rubbed her eyes. Day?
Hell, the entire month had been crazy, and that was
above and beyond how insane things had become when
she'd joined the project.
Just sitting there, head back, eyes closed, she
was almost tempted to just nap, but... She squirmed a
bit. Standing, Ritsuko looked at her chair.
Wadded up was...
"Where did this come from?" she mumbled and
picked up the discarded lab coat. She looked it over,
but there didn't appear to be anything wrong with it.
"What in the world is going on here?"
Something about it did catch her eye. She
peered closely at the... stuff, but couldn't tell what
it was. "What is this? It almost looks like...
batter."
Ritsuko boggled for another moment before
frowning.
"MAYA!"
***
Asuka, Rei, and Shinji stood standing around
the dining room table, holding their scripts. Asuka
pushed up her dark glasses, while Shinji adjusted the
gray dishcloth on his head, which had the tendency to
fall off whenever he moved. Various props lay
scattered on the table within easy reach. Pen-Pen sat
on a chair next to Rei, both watching the others
intently.
Shinji cleared his throat, being careful not to
move his head, and spoke in the deepest voice he could
manage, "It's been fifteen years."
"Yes," Asuka replied, her voice cold as she
adjusted her glasses once more. "The Angels are back."
"Is that wise?" Shinji asked, his voice a touch
fearful, turning his head to face Asuka, and catching
the dishcloth before it could fall.
Asuka looked directly at Rei and said in the
same tone as before. "She's not dead yet."
Rei stared back and nodded. "Understood."
Everyone threw down their props on the table
and quickly made themselves ready for the next scene.
Asuka draped the white towel over her shoulders, Shinji
struggled to wear Misato's large red jacket, and Rei
calmly picked up the dark glasses and put them on.
They fit her perfectly.
"Wark!" Pen-Pen exclaimed as he tried to see
around the dishcloth that Shinji had placed on his
head.
"Unit-01 is ready for launch," Asuka announced,
staring at something over Rei.
"Can we really do this?" Shinji asked Rei in a
falsetto voice as he struggled to find the right arm
hole.
Rei slowly moved her stare from Asuka to
Shinji. Her normally apathetic-sounding voice was
heavy with conviction. "Of course. Unless we defeat
the Angels, mankind has no future."
"Wark?" Pen-Pen asked, looking up at Rei from
underneath the dishcloth.
Rei only smiled slightly in response.
Another scramble. Now Rei was wearing the
towel, Asuka the jacket, and Shinji had unbuttoned the
top buttons of his shirt. Pen-Pen tried to get the
gray dishcloth off his head, but no amount of shaking
would dislodge it.
"You know, you're not as discreet as I
remember," Rei said to Shinji in her usual monotone.
Asuka huffed, and said in a tone she normally
used when arguing with someone, "He's never been
discreet in his life. You've finished handing over
Unit-02, haven't you? What are you still doing here?"
Maybe because this time Asuka was standing next
to him and not staring him down, Shinji was able to
draw confidence from his role and tried to play it as
he thought Kaji would.
"I received orders this morning that I'll be
staying around," Shinji told her in a smarmy voice, a
smirk stamped on his face. "So gorgeous, we can hang
around again, just like we used to."
Asuka frowned slightly as she exchanged props
with Rei, which Shinji missed because he was busy
buttoning his shirt and messing up his hair. Seeing
the other two were ready, he nodded and began again.
"His monitors aren't reacting! His condition
is unknown!" Shinji shouted in a high-pitched nasal
whine that even annoyed Asuka. Then he threw on the
long-haired wig, leaned back doing air guitar, and
shouted, "Bogus, dude! Unit-01 is totally silent!"
Asuka's eyes narrowed as she turned away from
Shinji to face Rei. "Misato?"
The determination was back in Rei's voice when
she said, "We've got no choice. Abort the operation.
We've got to rescue the pilot. Eject the entry plug."
Shinji managed to finish shoving the balloons
down his shirt just in time to say, "We can't! It's
not accepting the signal!"
Seeing Shinji having trouble getting the
balloons out, Asuka smiled wickedly as she brandished a
needle and popped away his props, causing the Third
Child to look at her nervously. At first, he was even
more nervous when he realized Rei was staring at him
from behind dark glasses, but like with the Kaji scene,
Shinji was able to draw strength from the fact that
none of this was really real. He stood up straight and
stared right back at her, his eyes determined.
Rei sounded displeased, exactly the same as
when they had last done this scene, wearing the same
small frown. "Are you running again? You disappoint
me. I assume we won't meet again."
Shinji's voice was cold. "I intend that we
won't."
***
"Why me?"
"It's not so terrible."
"When you're represented by a dish towel on
someone's head, you tell me it's not terrible then."
"Not that it matters at all. This is certainly
the prelude to the end."
Frowning at Ikari, Fuyutsuki nodded. "I
suppose so. That doesn't change the fact that..."
"Yes, yes. A dish towel. Really, you
shouldn't let such little things eat you up inside.
It's not good for your health."
"I thought you didn't kid."
"I don't."
"You're impossible when you're in one of these
moods."
"Professor, you disappoint me."
Fuyutsuki exhaled heavily, avoiding continuing
the conversation any longer. He could never win these
little battles with Gendo anyway, though he vowed one
day he would.
He simply let it slide as the two men watched
the children on the monitor clean up the mess they had
made in preparation for the next, and possibly final,
reenactment.
***
Asuka instructed Rei and Shinji to put their
props away, while she would set up for the next
reenactment.
"But won't we need some of these things for the
next scene, Asuka?" Shinji asked.
Rei silently started to put the props away,
aided by Pen-Pen who had been following her around ever
since she took the gray dishcloth off of his head.
Unlike Shinji, she was able to refuse the offering of
beer.
"Well, it's another two person scene and we
only need a costume for Commander Ikari, but these dark
glasses don't fit me for some reason," Asuka explained
as she tried to wear the glasses in question, but they
kept slipping off.
Rei walked up to Asuka and took the glasses off
of her face. "That is because they are mine," she told
her, carefully folded the dark glasses, and put them in
the case that she carried.
"All right," Asuka said slowly as she backed
away from Rei. "My glasses must be in my room then.
I'll just go them now. You two just wait right here."
Asuka practically sprinted into her room,
slamming the door behind her.
Shinji couldn't help it. He burst out
laughing.
Rei turned to him in confusion. "What is it
you find so humorous, Ikari-kun?"
"Nothing," Shinji replied between fresh bouts
of laughter, "nothing at all."
Shinji and Rei were done cleaning up by the
time Asuka returned. She was carrying one of her
packing boxes, with a "Commander Ikari" costume stacked
on top of it. She stood the box up by the window and
dropped the costume in Shinji's lap.
"There you go, Shinji," she told him in a
cheery voice. "Go get dressed."
Shinji only looked back up at her in surprise.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Asuka asked,
hands on hips.
"I thought you were going to play my father."
"I already have, now it's your turn. Or do you
think it'd be too much for you to handle? I can always
get Rei to play him again," Asuka goaded him.
"I can do this," Shinji replied, sounding like
he was trying to convince himself. "What scene are we
doing?"
"It's when you and your father visited your
mother's grave. Is that going to be a problem?"
Shinji thought for a moment. "No."
"Great, now here's the script--"
"I don't need it," Shinji told her, waving the
transcript away. "I remember what he said to me that
day."
Asuka studied him quizzically after his oddly
solemn tone, but when he didn't explain, she said, "All
right. I already know my lines too, so why don't we
get dressed right now and begin?"
Shinji nodded and went to his room without
another word.
***
Ritsuko rubbed her eyes before she came into
view of the techs manning Central Dogma. It wouldn't
do to reveal just how tired she was to all of them.
She had to be professional. At all times,
professional.
"Commander, I got your..." She stopped talking
and gave an annoyed sigh when she saw the two stationed
firmly in front of the monitor. She knew exactly what
they were doing. "I don't mean to interrupt, _sirs_,
but I have the _work_ I've been doing _all day_ that
you _requested_."
They ignored her.
"Oh, for the love of..." Ritsuko marched up
behind the two commanders and was about to unleash all
holy hell upon them when she caught sight of what was
on the monitor. "Ohh..."
Maya watched with an almost starry expression.
"Sempai's about to give the commanders a piece of her
mind. She's so strong."
Aoba and Hyuuga looked at each other. Aoba put
his finger in his mouth and made a gagging motion.
But Ritsuko did not give the commanders a piece
of her mind, which confused Maya. "What's she doing?"
she asked no one in particular, and craned her neck in
an attempt to see what was going on.
"They're not doing anything, just standing
there," she answered herself.
"She's lost it."
"I thought she already lost it."
"Maybe she just misplaced it before, but now
she's definitely lost it."
"I'm going up there."
The two male techs froze in surprise.
Maya stood and straightened her uniform.
Taking a deep breath first, she approached the command
dais. She would find out what was going on, once and
for all.
With her mouth dry and palms sweaty, Maya
approached the three, staring almost fearfully at their
backs. They were crowded around a monitor, but she
couldn't see what was on it. This would take drastic
measures.
"Sempai..."
Ritsuko whirled around, her coat flaring as she
did, obscuring the screen. "Oh, Maya. Perfect timing.
Here, take care of this." She held out the stack of
papers that had been meant for the commanders.
Maya blinked and took the papers.
"Great. Thanks. I'll catch up on that stuff
later."
"But, I..."
"Oh, don't worry about it. It's not that
important. If you don't get it all done today, you can
work on it tomorrow."
Maya stood there for a moment, just staring.
Then she turned around woodenly and returned to her
seat, all her questions remaining unanswered.
***
Asuka was kneeling down, looking at one of her
packing boxes. She was wearing a white shirt and black
pants. Shinji stood behind her with his back to the
window, nearly covering her in his shadow. He was
dressed as Commander Ikari, complete with dark glasses
and white gloves.
"It's been three years since we were last
here," he told her, his voice solemn.
Asuka smiled a bit sadly. "That's when I ran
away. I haven't come back here since then. I just
don't believe my mom is resting here. I don't even
remember her face."
Shinji looked up from her, glancing at Rei who
watched the performance, bringing his eyes all the way
to the ceiling. His voice was still solemn, but
distant, as if reciting something he had read over and
over again.
"Burying memories is man's way of surviving,
but there are some things a man should never forget.
Yui taught me that one irreplaceable thing, Shinji.
That is the reason I come here, to confirm that
commitment."
"You don't have a picture of her."
Shinji nodded, looking down on Asuka once
again. "No photographs. Even this grave is an
artifice. Nothing remains." His voice started out
deep, but became lighter near the end, so his last
words were nearly a whisper.
Asuka smiled again, but one without sorrow.
"It's like my teacher said, you cast everything away."
"Everything is kept in my heart," Shinji
stated, the strength returned to his voice ten-fold.
"I'm satisfied with that."
Click. Sounds of a plane landing.
Shinji took a step away from her and said, "Our
time is up. I'm leaving now."
Asuka stood suddenly and walked right up to
Shinji as he turned around to face her.
"Father! I mean, I..." And then Asuka leaned
over and very softly kissed Shinji on the lips. They
stayed like that for several moments until Asuka broke
contact with him.
Shinji could only stare back at her in
surprise, the dark glasses slipping down his nose.
Head bowed with a blush dotting her cheeks,
Asuka took a deep breath and told him, "I love you."
Shinji's eyes immediately bugged out.
***
"Well, helloooo, nurse," Ritsuko said softly,
her eyes wide.
Fuyutsuki whistled in appreciation. He hadn't
seen that coming at all.
Someone said, "Whoa," and it wasn't Ritsuko or
Fuyutsuki.
"It's so... nice to see a son who really loves
his father, isn't it?" Ritsuko asked, smiling broadly,
maybe a hint of a blush in her cheeks.
Fuyutsuki barely contained his laughter.
Gendo remained silent. He wasn't sure at all
how to react to what he had just seen. It had come
completely as a surprise, and he had absolutely no
response at all.
"I hope this was recorded, because I don't
think I'm going to believe it tomorrow. That was
just..." Ritsuko shook her head, her heart beating
decidedly faster than it had been. It was amazing, in
retrospect, how worked up she was. She had been
expecting something to happen, but nothing like that.
Fuyutsuki straightened up, smiling. "That
was... entertaining. Even with the dish towel and
penguin. Even if they can't pilot, I'm sure they'll
have bright futures as actors and actresses."
Seeing that he was getting less reaction than
usual from Gendo, and that meant absolute zero, Kozo
cleared his throat. "Well, I have some paperwork to
catch up on," he said tactfully and walked off, giving
Ritsuko a simple nod.
Ritsuko looked at the back of Gendo's head for
a moment, just wondering. "I'll go check on those
papers I gave Maya," she said quietly, and left as
well.
Gendo sat, completely unmoving except for the
barest rise and fall of his chest, and stared at the
screen. After what might have been a minute, or might
have been five, one corner of his mouth turned up into
a genuine smile, and he turned off the monitor.
***
Rei watched passively. She didn't think that
was what happened in the scene originally; she was
almost positive. So why had the Second Child changed
it?
A soft thump alerted her, and she went to
investigate. She discovered the door about halfway
open, and when she opened it the rest of the way...
Misato was there, passed out in the hall. She
must have witnessed the reenactment. Apparently, she
was not impressed by it.
Rei knew that if she had been Commander Ikari,
Misato would have reacted differently.
END
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