Rebuild of RP: The Evageeks take on Neon Genesis Evangelion

**Sailor Star Dust** · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:19 am Post subject: Memories of the past

Suddenly remembering something, Misato said to Shinji and Asuka, "Don't forget about what I asked earlier. I didn't really hear your responses yet. I think the three of us spending time together this weekend is important, if we're going to be living together."

Even if I can't be a mother to these kids, at least I can try.

Turning to Nagisa Kaworu, Misato forced herself to smile kindly at him. This boy can't be so bad. I just need to give him a chance. He seems sweet at any rate.

For some reason, as their eyes locked, brown meeting red, Misato felt her stomach turn. Yes, the boy looked somewhat similar to 1st Children Ayanami Rei, but something about his physical features.... His features felt familiar; they reminded her of somebody. They gave her a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, and she wasn't sure just what.

Misato just wish she knew who and why....but shook her head to clear it. None of this mattered right now.

"So, you're from Germany like Asuka, right? Whereabouts are you from?", she asked in a sweet tone of voice, wanting to make him feel welcome. I get the feeling he's always alone...just like Rei.

"I was at Nerv-03 for almost 5 years before I was transferred here about a month back. Germany's a beautiful place and I'd love to go back one day."

Misato decided not to mention how 8 years ago she had meet the man who helped watched over Asuka once Misato was transferred to Nerv's main branch.... The woman was at least thankful that Kaji could there for Asuka, helping her out at Nerv-03 while the redhead (hopefully) had the support of her father and stepmother at home. She did make sure to leave Asuka a letter about her sudden departure from Germany, as well as leaving her contact information, but wasn't sure if Asuka ever got the letter...

Although Misato was only gone from Asuka's life for a few months, Kaji being the replacement guardian figure, she couldn't help but feel that Asuka had grown to resent her. Misato was at least thankful that she and Kaji didn't have to cross paths anytime in Germany. Instead, the former lovers reunited after those long, painful, 8 years when Asuka and Kaji arrived in Tokyo-3.

The weary woman sighed, unconsciously clutching at her cross pendent. Memories. Most of them in her life were painful. Hopefully some pleasant ones were just around the corner.

Misato tries to act friendly to Kaworu and thinks back on her past (my own take).

Lucretius · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 8:13 pm Post subject:

“It was very kind of you to offer us a ride, Lt. Colonel.” Kaworu grinned at Misato from the back seat.

The Katsuragi woman had obviously begun to recognize him. He could read it in her face. Lilin were so transparent, but so baffling. In his five years of existence, Kaworu had not even begun to understand them.

From the front passenger’s seat, Soryu shrieked at the Lt. Colonel to look out, damn it! The car swerved to the left, but not in time to avoid hitting what Kaworu assumed to be a small animal, but could not see from the back seat. The children and their commanding officer silently filed out of the car, and Kaworu saw a piebald cat lying on its side, it back legs flattened.

“This is most unfortunate,” said Kaworu, picking up the wimpering, wounded cat. “Animals did not bite the Fruit of Knowledge, and thus cannot truly do wrong.” Like the Angels. We do not know what sin is.

Kaworu snapped the cat's neck and placed it gently on the grass.

**Sailor Star Dust** · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 8:31 pm Post subject: Because life is precious...

To say Misato was horrified was an understatement. It took her a few minutes to realize that, yes, Kaworu did kill a living creature in front of her very eyes.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!", she shrieked, unable to control the anger in her voice.

“Euthanizing the cat. There was no reason for it to suffer further.”

"Life is precious! That poor cat had a chance at being saved!! Nobody deserves to die unless fate decides it for them!!!" Misato sounded more and more angry with each passing second. Eventually she rested a hand on the car door, another hand on her chest---making it's way to lightly finger her cross pendent--slowly breathing in and out to maintain her composure.

“You know full well that the cat would not have survived. Besides, cats, (and for that matter, humans) die all the time, yet life continues. Just like with Second Impact.”

Misato's eyes hardened in reply. She was feeling too unsympathetic to hear any of his excuses. Misato was partly angry that Shinji and Asuka had to witness something so cruel in front of them. She read their reports, she knew what horrors both Children had to witness. Although Misato didn't even know the half of it, the full story of just where either Child's mother really was......

"Enough.", Kaworu's commanding officer said, her voice controlled yet cold, staring right into the boy's piercing red eyes. "I want you to give that poor cat a proper burial, then wait in the car. Understood?"

“I’m sorry, Lt. Colonel, but there is no time for formalities. Besides, I have nothing with which to dig a grave.”

Legendary · Seed Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Age: 91 Gender: Male

*snap*

Shinji tried not to throw up. His stomach was already a little unsettled from Misato's driving, and then Kaworu had done this...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Shinji turned away from the argument. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to see the cat lying on the ground either. Despite his attempts to block out the argument, Misato's next words came through loud and clear.

"Nobody deserves to die unless fate decides it for them!!!"

Unbidden, the image of Sachiel looming over him before he'd been rescued by Misato appeared in his mind. The Angels had to be destroyed. Misato had told him he'd done a "brave and noble thing."

Shinji wondered for a moment if killing that cat had been noble was well, ending the suffering of something that, despite Misato's objection, probably wouldn't have had a very long life after the accident. Kaworu had... meant well, at least, it seemed.

And he had done it for his own reasons, not because someone else had told him to.

TheAyanamiOtaku · God Joined: 08 May 2007 Location: Fran Sancisco

(OOC: Modified a few canon things just for dramatic purposes, and a few other things that happened in the near past that will have absolutely no effect on the overarching plot. Promise.

Thanks for Asuka'ing for me while I was gone. You guys are the best.)

Asuka stared at the injured cat, and stared as it died. She stared as Misato screamed, she stared as Shinji turned queasy, and she heard herself talk talk talk. She actually wasn't paying much attention to the blood or the death. Other things floundered about in her mind, and Asuka remembered what her loving mother told her so long ago....

"Fate" has a cruel hand, doesn't it, Asuka? Asuka's Asuka becomes more curious of this curious albino boy, and preemptively strikes.

"1."

Minutes prior...

"...That’s alright. I like you just the way you are."

The hell does he mean by that...

"Jeez, let go of his hand already, weirdo! Longest handshake I’ve ever seen."

Oh great, now I got him starin' into my eyes. Weirdo. I'll stare right back. You ain't seeing nothing of mine inside here.

Later...

"So, you're from Germany like Asuka, right? Whereabouts are you from?"

"I was at Nerv-03 for almost 5 years before I was transferred here about a month back....Germany's a beautiful place and I'd love to go back one day."

Misato sounds so fake. Germany has history. It's rich and deep and intriguing...what an insult to my homelands. It's not only beautiful. You sound like a silly tourist. Or a bad liar.

Later still...

"It was very kind of you to offer us a ride, Lt. Colonel."

Damn...he's kiss-ass too. Where am I going to find real men in this town?!

Still later...

"What's on the radio..."

...It was a few jazzy chords on the piano. They were all the same, until the soft "tsstss....tsstss"ing of the hi-hat...and then the sound of leather boots walking on a street of pebbles near midnight. The crescent of the moon winks, and

"I'm gonna play...Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleansssssssyeahhhh...."

oh no. Louis Armstrong. Satchmo. Satchelmouth. LouisArmstrong. Satchmo. Satchelmouth. LouisArmstrongSatchmoSatchelmouthLouisArmstrongSatchmoSatchelmouthLouisArmstrongSatchmoSatchelmouthLouisArmstrongSatchmo-

I quickly turn the radio off. My hands moisten with sweat. This is going to be hard to explain-

"EEEEAAAAHHHHH!"

The car twists to the left. A thud and then a cracking, like quickly rolling a ball of aluminum foil up. Misato takes no prisoners...heh. We walk out, and what looks like the flattened back legs of a black and white cat look back at us. Hmph. I am curious to know her current blood alcohol content level...Hm.

What the...

"Hey get back! That street cat could be infected or something-"

"This is most unfortunate..."

Huh?

"Animals did not bite the Fruit of Knowledge, and thus cannot truly do wrong."

Is he high? Wait, what is he-

*snap*

Shinji gets queasy. Hmph. He just...he just killed the cat. Just like that. The sweat from my fingers fall onto the asphalt.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Couldn't have said it better myself. I wonder-

"Life is precious! That poor cat had a chance at being saved!! Nobody deserves to die unless fate decides it for them!!!"

...

...Fate...

Poor choice of words. Fate is an illusion, a series of events that take place when one lets go of their reins, when one loses control of his or her life. Fate is an excuse for the lazy, and a crutch for the embittered and unfortunate. Fate is yet another word for the lists of gods and goddesses accumulated over the years in useless manuscripts. Somehow, they all failed me. Is this fate as well? Am I doomed to live lucklessly?!

"Would...wouldn't you like to die with me? It'll be wonderful. Die...die with me...we'll be together...forever...and I won't need to be...to look at you anymore...."

"Dud...doe...d-don't be afffraid of....death....Asuka. Be afraid of-"

No. Fate doesn't get to tell me when I die, because I am in control now. "Fate" cannot touch me. Life is precious. It's so precious, we have to save every last drop...except for the ones who slip through our fingers, of course. Those are..."acceptable losses."

I look down at my hands, twisted in fists, with the sweat trickling down my knuckles. I unclench them before anyone sees me. I see the imprints of my fingernails appear as little smiles on my palms before they fade away. My grins are gone. Little smiles.

I am ready. Asuka, let's go. I wipe the dead face off. The paleness sinks away.

The grin returns. The shine in my eyes returns. Cheeks flush back. I face Shinji, and walk towards him. I tilt my head and angle my body foreword, eyes and body seductive. The front of my shirt yawns a little wider - he probably saw a glimpse of my cream colored lace bra. Closer to his lips...and then I keep tilting. Farther, until my lips hover over his left ear, with my hair flowing over his shoulders and the side of his face.

Whispers flow from my mouth.

"Hey Shinji...this guy's pretty freaky! He was willing to go to death to avoid suffering, when we could've just called Animal Control. How can he not trust the regenerative technologies we possess? That cat would've been saved, had we stopped him. Was it really his choice to kill that cat? Who gave him the okay to kill her? I sure as hell didn't. We had the chance to save that cat, and we didn't take it. That's just strange. Life is precious, right? I don't think we can trust this guy. He seems like nothing but a smooth criminal."

Straightening back up and returning to face Shinji, I break a fraction of a smile at him, before twirling around to face Kaworu, and aim an index finger at his face. Red eyes....what is it with red eyes and freaks of nature?

"You! Misato is right! Every life is precious. You wouldn't kill yourself if you had an identical non life-threatening injury, so don't do it to anyone else, understand? We didn't even hit her vital organs, so what's the big deal? A few weeks at the hospital, and that cat would've been alive and well. You probably know about Japan's joint project with Germany on regenerative medical technologies, right? Well, we can do animals now. You just needlessly took a life.

Let's get back in the car. I'm angry, I'm hungry, it's not even close to noontime, and we're all going to be seriously late, thanks to this new drama-boy and his theatrical pseudo-philosophy. Thankfully, the idiotic pervert didn't toss his cookies, lest we skip out on nap time in class. You two still have to introduce yourselves to the class."

Asuka hooks horns with Kaworu (review of the past few posts). She turns on the radio and hears Louis Armstrong, who she fearfully dislikes. After Misato scolds Kaworu, Asuka is reminded of a traumatic episode with Kyoko. She quickly recovers, whispering to Shinji not to trust Kaworu. She then makes one of her public service announcements, siding with Misato and accusing Kaworu of "needlessly" taking a life, before egging people to get back in Misato's car.

**Sailor Star Dust** · Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:21 pm Post subject: Anxiety around Kaworu

Wearily sighing, Misato got back in the car and drove the kids to school. The rest of the trip went without incident, save for Asuka complaining about this and that as well as Shinji being quieter then normal. Kaworu was making conversation or trying to with either Child, as well as Misato whenever she reached a red light.

I hope Shinji-kun's not too shaken by what happened. Kaworu-kun....I'm not sure what his reasons are, but his reply about the Fruit of Knowledge..How does he know about that?! Something about this kid is making me suspicious. I'll try to give him a fair chance, but... He frightens me. He's just a 15 year old KID, and he frightens ME.

Closing her eyes for a second, the purple haired woman let out a breath. She could think about all this later, she realized as she pulled up to the school parking lot.

Turning to face the Children, she managed a smile at them. "Don't forget, Shinji-kun, you and Kaworu-kun are in Class 2-A. And we have a Harmonics test after school, okay? Try to be at Nerv as soon as your classes end. Even though Rei's Eva is still frozen and Kaworu-kun doesn't have an Eva yet, we need to run some tests. Maybe even a Synchro test depending on how long the other one takes."

With a smile and a wink, she added, "If you'd like, I can take you all out for dinner tonight. My treat. You'd deserve it for working so hard. You may be pilots but you also need to have some fun in your lives too."

"Thank you, Misato-san.", Shinji had feebly but kindly said. His thoughts seemed elsewhere. Kaworu in the meantime had apparently said something to Shinji about “I think song is the greatest achievement of Lilin culture. Don’t you agree, Shinji Ikari?” but Shinji didn't seem to hear him. The woman shrugged the comment about "Lilin" off, assuming something had told Kaworu about Lilith. Her existence wasn't exactly top secret, although only a handful of people knew of her.

Misato takes the kids to school and let them know to be at Nerv for some testing. She promises to take them out to dinner as a treat for their hard work. It's hinted that Kaworu may or may not get his own Eva at some point. EDIT: Had Misato think about Lilith for a moment based on Kaworu's comment to Shinji.

Legendary · Seed Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Age: 91 Gender: Male

"If you'd like, I can take you all out for dinner tonight. My treat. You'd deserve it for working so hard. You may be pilots but you also need to have some fun in your lives too."

Shinji noted inwardly that since it was Misato's only night to cook, it might be safer to go out to dinner than to risk her instant meals. He tried to smile, and said, "Sure."

Misato-san was probably just trying to make up for the way things had gone earlier though, with that cat. Asuka had babbled about regeneration technology, but Shinji knew that they didn't waste that sort of thing on animals. Correcting her would just have caused another fight though.

Shinji got out of the car, silent, and approached the school building. It was a miracle that they were only a few minutes late. Hopefully the teacher would understand about the accident with the cat. Shinji decided to let Asuka handle that one.

Now comes the real difficulty, Shinji thought. Introducing myself. They'll probably all know who I am anyways, but I'll still have to do it.

Shinji wondered how Asuka had handled her introduction, and pondered Kaworu's for a moment before remembering that he'd never been to the class either. Why had Kaworu taken so long to become part of the class when Asuka had joined so much earlier? He shook that thought out of his head.

He found room 2-A without difficulty, and opened the door...

Eric Blair · Evangelion Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Age: 26 Gender: Male

Kaji

Being a spy usually has a lot of perks; one gets to travel first class and rack up a ton of frequent flier miles… one gets to stay at 5-star hotels more often that one would care; a spy also gets to make their own hours, and put under their expense account most of their meals and, more importantly, trips to bars.

At the beginning, this is all very exciting, and makes for a great recruitment pitch; “Serve your country while living like a king.”

But…

“One slight concussion and a broken forearm…”

There are downsides. Kaji remembered as he felt the sting of the antiseptic biting into his leg, while the doctor plunged in with a pair of tweezers to pick up the slug that was currently residing there.

“A twisted ankle and three broken ribs…” The older man in the white lab coat sighed as if he was telling a client he had just scratched a brand new car; the thick accent betraying his Indian heritage, something easily recognizable due to the darker hue of the doctor’s skin and somewhat floppy, curly hair.

“What did you get yourself into this time, Kaji? Another lover’s spat?”
“Doc, can the jokes…” Kaji said with a strain in his voice. “It hurts when I laugh.”

The doctor shrugged his shoulders as he fished inside his lab coat and came up with a pill pack, taking one and breaking it into a small piece before tossing it to Kaji. “This should help.”

Kaji eyed the piece suspiciously before looking again at the old man, grumping.

“Serious pain here, doc… a piece of pill is no–”

“Anything bigger than what you’re holding will kill you, genius.” The doctor grumbled absently, not really caring if Kaji believe d him or not, as he brushed away the bangs from his forehead, closing his eyes before going to the sink in front of Kaji. The sound of running water and lively scrubbing made Kaji aware that the doctor was washing his hands thoroughly, never looking over his shoulder.

Kaji smirked before downing the pill, feeling the effects almost immediately; light headedness, not being able to focus his eyes, feeling lethargic, almost as if he were drunk.

“You weren’t kidding there doc.” He chuckled before grimacing, clutching his right side as a brief pang of pain erupted inside him, but he knew better than to move; the “bed” he was in was clearly not made for a human in mind.

Being on the field is all about knowing and setting up supplies lines and safe houses; A spy has to have people to get him stuff: be it weapons, ammo, explosives or money to ‘procure’ them…

When in deep under cover or in enemy territory, a spy gets no medical insurance or normal hospital beds, nor do they get an embassy emissary or an attorney; they live by their rules, they put their own hours and they survive by wits and brains alone… and, if lucky, they get is a fixer; someone with experience in a field and equipment that won’t go to the local police on account of a measly punctured lung or gun wound in the thigh.

“Well, there’s that… the gun wound should be better in a month or two.” The doctor continued, turning around, cleaning his hands before tossing the bloody bandages and the metal slug inside a trashcan carelessly, like someone would an empty bag of potato chips.

The other things… you just need some re–” The doctor trialed as he weaved absentmindedly at the air, as if he were swatting an annoying fly away before something caught his eye, making him look straight ahead, a glimpse of recognition running through his eyes before…

Something was wrong.

Kaji saw it almost as if someone had pressed the slow motion button on a player, a red dot on the doctor’s forehead, something not entirely uncommon given the ethnicity of the doctor, before the spy heard something that sounded like someone had grunted out a whisper, feeling the air whistling close to his ear.

The next thing he saw was a black hole appearing suddenly on the doctor’s forehead; the sweet smell of burnt flesh permeating everything as rivers of red began to run as the doctor’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, falling down… dead.

Kaji briefly felt dampness in his legs, noticing almost in a detached manner his right leg covered in the blood of the doctor, quickly drying up, emitting that metallic smell spilled blood gives away, before his instincts kicked in.

As a rule, when a covert operative fights, every second counts; there’s no telling if the guy fighting you is a mugger or a pro, if they want you dead or if they need to take you alive… a good giveaway for the former is if they have a gun pointed at the back of your head, the muzzle of the silencer still warm form the shot fired beforehand.

Kaji closed his eyes, trying to fight the nausea building up, and at the same time trying to keep his bearings.

“Mr. Kaji, you are an elusive one.” The well cultured voice still held its European accent, even if his would-be assassin was talking to Kaji in Japanese. “You are also a resourceful one… I never thought you would come to a veterinarian.”

Kaji braced himself, taking deep breaths through his nose, hoping the extra oxygen to his blood would give him a second or two of advantage, because sometimes, a second or two is the difference between being dead or not. However, rather than fight while his assailant held the tactical advantage, Kaji decided to follow the script… And promptly threw up, lurching forward, his nose immediately assaulted by the combination of smell of blood and poured bile intermixed with the rank smell of urine and feces coming from the animal cages that were nearby.

“Enough of that Mr. Kaji, I need to know how much you know. Then I can kill you.”

Kaji didn’t even bothered to answer, he simply looked up, trying to look as pitiful as he could before he felt another tingle on the base of his spine, a fluttery, almost ticklish feeling on the mouth of his stomach before he lurched again, vomiting nosily, while he weakly pawed around for a napkin, cleaning his mouth while smiling drunkenly at the tall blond security officer who didn’t even bother to hide his NERV credential.

“N’v’r… t’ke… Para…cet’mol… while dr’nk”

The officer smiled, nodding before he trailed the gun again at Kaji.

“Now we talk.”

Kaji simply dropped his head, spitting as much as possible to stop tasting his bile on his mouth. The assassin held the gun circling him wearily, while Kaji started snoring softly, drooling out of his open mouth. Letting out an exasperated sigh, the NERV guy touched him with the tip of the silencer, pressing it mercilessly against Kaji’s head, cocking the hammer slowly, waiting for any sort of reaction from the heavily anesthetized, snoring man.

Suddenly, Kaji sprang to life, one hand sneaking underneath the muzzle, pushing it with the edge of his hand to the side and grabbing a hold of it to pull the unsuspecting man towards him while his right hand traveled up at an angle with all the force and speed he could muster, jamming the scalpel that had been on the tray on the killers throat, staring coldly into his eyes, watching his life slip away while his mouth sputtered out a mixture of blood and spit while he gurgled helplessly at Kaji who still held his grip, turning the scalpel ever so slowly to ensure the wound was fatal enough for the guy to die on the floor.

As a rule, when a spy kills someone, he tries to do it in the quickest, most efficient and less messy way possible; nothing attracts reinforcements more quickly than a body, even if the gun has a silencer, one should avoid leaving a trail of bodies behind them, otherwise, the next time the shift commander asks for a specific guard or section to report and no one answers, a search and response team will be sent, heavily armed and guarded.

One last pull, one last push and it was over. Kaji knew he had to get out of there quickly, not wanting to stay and see if the guy who had trailed him this far had been smart enough to ask for back up, or if they were waiting for him outside. Grimacing, he picked up the gun and began to clean it with a towel lying around, noticing his hands were caked with blood.

Before he walked out, Kaji stared at the doctor and began to take off his trousers, patting them down for anything important; he found his wallet, took the cash and disposed of it, before noticing the package of smokes and smiling triumphantly, taking one and lighting it as he began to limp towards the back door and hobbled up the short flight of stairs, signaling a taxi and asking to be taken to the port.

He had a US flagship to catch.

----- -----

Kaji woke with a start as the taxi cab looked at him, expectantly.

Wordlessly, he paid the driver and limped outside, noticing his mind was replaying that time again. Kaji chuckled mirthlessly as he reminded himself he had been lucky the guy had thought of him as close to dead, but it was time to move on… a bright new day was waiting for him.

As he crossed the door, Kaji walked straight down a flight of stairs, not bothering to say hi to anyone in the hospital, not caring for the strange looks he received. He walked with purpose and speed to an unmarked door on the lower basement, sliding his pass card on the electronic reader and going inside the elevator, picking up the phone as the car began to roll down.

“This is Kaji, I’m going down via elevator number 17.”

He knew he had no reason to call and announce himself, the minute he had strolled inside the hospital, the moment he had swiped his card to activate the elevator, the MAGI must have picked him up and reported it to HQ, but still… calling in and reporting was something he had grown used to over the years.

Like a cat with a bell around his neck, making it sound every time he walked inside his owner’s rooms.

Sighing softly, he pulled a small flask form inside his jacket, toasting silently at the ever present camera, always watching, always recording everything that went on in the inner most bowels of NERV and drank.

With a little luck, he might be able to avoid Misato today, too.

A little of back story of what happened to Kaji while he was ion Germany, and how he knows Adam is not there. Now, Kaji si going towards NERV to start a brand new working day, wonder if hell meet anyone once he arrives there and starts playing cat and mouse with a certain Lt. Col. who wants to throttle him

Lucretius · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:59 pm Post subject:

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

“Euthanizing the cat. There was no reason for it to suffer further,” said Kaworu, scraping his sneakers on the pavement.

"Life is precious! That poor cat had a chance at being saved!! Nobody deserves to die unless fate decides it for them!!!"

“Don’t worry, there are plenty more cats. It is of no consequence. Besides, sometimes it is necessary to take a life. Isn’t that so, Shinji Ikari?”

Shinji nodded absently, turning pale. Poor boy. His heart was fragile, Kaworu could see that. Would he be able to do what was required of him?

Kaworu glanced at Soryu. She was whispering into Shinji’s ear, her hand cupped over her mouth, her nose nearly touching his cheek. Kaworu could hear every word she said.

"Hey Shinji...this guy's pretty freaky! He was willing to go to death to avoid suffering, when we could've just called Animal Control. How can he not trust the regenerative technologies we possess? That cat would've been saved, had we stopped him. Was it really his choice to kill that cat? Who gave him the okay to kill her? I sure as hell didn't. We had the chance to save that cat, and we didn't take it. That's just strange. Life is precious, right? I don't think we can trust this guy. He seems like nothing but a smooth criminal."

Kaworu smiled at the obvious lie. Regenerative technology was far too expensive to be used on a mere cat. Soryu was slandering him for Shinji’s benefit. She was obviously smitten with the boy. The old men would have to be informed about this…

Soryu pointed an accusing finger at Kaworu, like a Hebrew prophet denouncing idolatry.

"You! Misato is right! Every life is precious. You wouldn't kill yourself if you had an identical non life-threatening injury, so don't do it to anyone else, understand? We didn't even hit her vital organs, so what's the big deal? A few weeks at the hospital, and that cat would've been alive and well. You probably know about Japan's joint project with Germany on regenerative medical technologies, right? Well, we can do animals now. You just needlessly took a life. Let's get back in the car. I'm angry, I'm hungry, it's not even close to noontime, and we're all going to be seriously late, thanks to this new drama-boy and his theatrical pseudo-philosophy. Thankfully, the idiotic pervert didn't toss his cookies, lest we skip out on nap time in class. You two still have to introduce yourselves to the class."

Kaworu smiled at her, without malice. “You know full well that the cat would not have survived. Besides, cats, (and for that matter, humans) die all the time, yet life continues. Just like with Second Impact.”

Misato’s eyes narrowed. “Enough! I want you to give that poor cat a proper burial, then wait in the car. Understood?”

“I’m sorry, Lt. Colonel, but there is no time for formalities. Besides, I have nothing with which to dig a grave.”

Sighing, Misato sat down on the driver’s seat, slamming the door. Asuka sullenly swung herself into the passenger’s seat. Kaworu squeezed into the back, sitting next to Shinji, their knees almost touching.

Kaworu began humming “Ode to Joy.” He turned smilingly to Shinji, his guiless red eyes lighting up.

“I think song is the greatest achievement of Lilin culture. Don’t you agree, Shinji Ikari?”

Shinji did not respond. Kaworu looked down, dejectedly. The remainder of the drive passed uneventfully. The Children did not seem to notice Kaworu's attempts at conversation.

After Misato pulled into the junior high school, Shinji slipped out of the car without saying a word to Kaworu. Asuka hesitated for a few minutes, exchanged some hushed words with Misato, gave Kaworu a dissaproving scowl, then jumped out of the car as well. She ran after Shinji, giving him a pat on the back as she caught up with him. Lilin were such baffling creatures. What had he done wrong?

(OOC: Edited several times to make it consistent with the other posts.)

**Sailor Star Dust** · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:05 pm Post subject: Hikari meets Shinji

(OOC: Something to tide me over while I wait for Kaworu and Asuka to catch up to Shinji...)

Class Rep Hikari blinked as she noticed a short brown-haired boy nervously entered classroom 2-A. He was late, but at least he made it. Ah, he must be the transfer student. I was hoping it was Toji but....

Quietly getting up from her seat, Hikari spoke in hushed tones near the doorway so as not to interrupt the teacher's monotonous lecture about Second Impact.

"You're the transfer student Ikari Shinji-kun, right? Asuka mentioned you yesterday. I'm the Class Representative, Horaki Hikari. Nice to meet you."

"I'm sorry about being late. We had a bit of an accident on the way here, or we would have been here on time. No one was seriously hurt, though. Uh... should I just introduce myself?"

Hikari shook her head. "There's another new student coming today, isn't there? Well, since it makes more sense to introduce you both at the same time, feel free to have a seat until then. There's an empty one diagonal from Asuka's over there."

"Right. Thank you."

With a smile, Hikari added, "If you need anything else, just let me know. I'll be more then happy to help. And, um, welcome to Tokyo-3."

"Thank you. I'm sure Nagisa-san and Soryu-san will be soon."

Hikari greets Shinji and tells him where his seat is. She waits for the other new student (Kaworu) to arrive before letting them introduce themselves.

Legendary · Seed Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Age: 91 Gender: Male

Shinji watched the girl approach, figuring on who she was almost immediately. The class rep. Shinji wasn't fond on that sort. The class rep he'd known from before... Didn't matter, he reminded himself.

Still, she was exactly what Shinji would have expected from a class rep. For starters, she seemed somehow masculine, even with her hair done up and when she was wearing a fuku. She also had a no-nonsense look about her, ready to pounce upon any potential rule breakers and make them suffer.

Shinji was sure Asuka had mentioned being this girl's friend at some point, but he wasn't entirely sure on the nam-

"You're the transfer student Ikari Shinji-kun, right? Asuka mentioned you yesterday. I'm the Class Representative, Horaki Hikari. Nice to meet you." Oh. Her name was Horaki.

Shinji bowed quickly. "I'm sorry about being late. We had a bit of an accident on the way here, or we would have been here on time. No one was seriously hurt, though. Uh... should I just introduce myself?"

Hikari shook her head. "There's another new student coming today, isn't there? Well, since it makes more sense to introduce you both at the same time, feel free to have a seat until then. There's an empty one diagonal from Asuka's over there."

"Right. Thank you."

Hikari smiled, catching Shinji off guard. What is she thinking about?

"If you need anything else, just let me know. I'll be more then happy to help. And, um, welcome to Tokyo-3."

"Thank you. I'm sure Nagisa-san and Soryu-san will be soon." Shinji figured that she'd want him to be formal about the names of two classmates he'd only met in the past couple of days.

He hurried across to his desk, and realized that he would end up sitting right next to Ayanami. He would have nodded at her to say hello or something, but she was staring out the window and wouldn't notice him unless he did something that would interrupt the teacher.

Shinji tried to listen to the lecture, but found himself falling asleep within two seconds, try as he might. He hoped Asuka and Kaworu would arrive soon...

OOC: Is giving Rei the looking out a window thing okay? It's pretty much what she did during the beginnning of the series.

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majlund · Sahaquiel Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Location: EU/DK/CPH

Cold...

Bitter...

I'd better get a fresh cup of coffee.

Ritsuko went across the room to the coffee machine and refilled her mug. Returning to the desk she promptly forgot about it, and instead took a pack of cigarettes from the top drawer. Very soon a cigarette was joining a bunch of stubs in the ashtray slowly burning itself out.

"Come on, Rits... Get this analysis done. It would be nice to be able to get home before 20pm for once."

After some furious typing, a bit of verification and some adjustment, the next calculation job was launched.

"Good. Now the Magi is busy - time to make sure the worker bees also are."

To: Nerv Research Personnel
Subject: All leave cancelled.
Due shortage of qualified personnel and abundance of critical work tasks, it is necessary to cancel leave for all employees in the Research Department. This condition will persist until...

After finishing the memorandum Ritsuko massaged her temples and looked at the wall clock. 10.20am, I'd better take a look around and make sure the message is received. With a bit of luck I might run into the commander...

Ritsuko took two steps out of her office, before turning around. "Don't forget to turn off the coffee machine Rits - it took a week to get a replacement when the last one burned out." Double checking everything, Ritsuko left her office for the second time.

Time to take a look around the facility... Look out Nerv, Dr.Akagi is on the prowl.

(Edit: to synchronize clocks with the rest of the Eva-verse)

**Sachi** · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:19 pm Post subject:

Arriving long before the other students, a black-haired girl took her seat towards the back by the window, dropping her bag at her feet. For a moment, she silently gazed out the window, her eyes wandering to various places across the horizon, and down to the parking lot where a few dozen students and school staff roamed about. None looked in a hurry to get inside. Her green eyes met the deep blue of the sky, hardly a cloud in sight. After pulling out her ragged, gray sketchbook and opening up to the next blank page, she half-doodled/half-daydreamed in the sky. Her pencil marked up the paper as her eyes wandered everywhere but inside the classroom.

As time flew by, students began slowly pouring into the room, and Katsuko ignored every single one of them. Among these students as a lone, blue-haired and red-eyed girl (but currently had a bandage over one eye, a cast on her right arm), Rei Ayanami, the only girl who managed to ignore the world better than Katsuko. Despite everybody gasping at her bandages, Rei continued to her seat and proceeded to do nothing while looking out the window.

But then somebody entered the room, somebody unfamiliar, that Katsuko could not ignore. A chestnut-haired boy, a new student? Nevertheless, this break in her concentration did not last long as her stare went back to her drawing. Rei had noticed him, but paid no mind, even when he was seated next to her.

[[Short post, just to catch up.]]

_________________
-Sachi
"Sachi: your anal is awesome. AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT BABY." - SSD
"The womb is a nice, empty cavity to stick an... EMBRYO." - AuraTwilight, kicking ass and making sense doing it.
Avatar: Paprika
Currently Watching: High School of the Dead
Song of the Week: Magnum Opus -- Kansas
Geeks With Taste: Perfect Blue

**Sailor Star Dust** · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:57 pm Post subject: Painful reunion

(OOC: Based on an idea from IRC, thought up with Eric)

After arriving at Nerv, Misato let out a tired sigh. She was thankful dropping the kids off went without further incident. Walking into the elevator, Misato was not terribly surprised to see who joined her a floor later.

"Just the man I wanted to see.", Misato said dryly. "Where WERE you this morning?"

“I was out and taking my morning jog, followed by a nutritious breakfast of egg whites and granola cereal.”

Misato's eyes hardened a little. She seemed...concerned despite being annoyed. "You're going to get yourself killed one of these days if you continue being so reckless! I mean, your health is already suffering!" She poked at his arm, hard, for emphasis.

“Ow! Ease up on the poking Katsuragi.”

"See what I mean? Why don't you just take it easy for now?! I really don't like the thought of you being the one having to bring back HER from Germany." Adam. Misato knew of the other Angel's existence and that she had caused the damage of Second Impact, but not much else. Misato's memories on what happened, along with her father's face, were all muddled. The only thing she vaguely remembered was an explosion from the Angel, and her father bringing her to safety. Everything else...was fuzzy. Seele let the young woman go once she recovered from her mute, catatonic, state. Her teenage years....they were nothing but hell, being kept under observation all the time. Things were so difficult that Misato didn't fully recover until her late teens.

“What?” Kaji chuckled, clearly not amused at any of this. “Asuka was ok with me bringing her here, in fact, she enjoyed the trip before having to settle down with you and the commander’s son." He added, "I have no idea what you think happened in Germany, but I think that the police report is quite clear there.” Kaji went on to mention what he did last night, which Misato once again could tell was a lie.

Misato frowned, crossing her arms. "Don't underestimate Nerv. You don't think I received the report? It's my job to know what other employees are doing...Especially those I'd rather not see burned."

Misato's tone went soft as she gently, almost lovingly, hugged his arm, nuzzling her cheek against him. She tried to ignore the feelings from eight years ago but...but she couldn't. They hadn't really talked, honestly talked, since Kaji brought Asuka over from Germany. "Just don't die out there, on the job."

“It’s a little too late for this, Katsuragi.” Kaji said coolly, never letting go of her eyes with his, the words coming out chewed, almost like a low imperceptible growl meant only for Misato to hear and feel. “You don’t get to worry about me and ask me if I’m ok. You don’t get to stare at me with those eyes and ask me this questions and then touch my face and act like you still care.”

Gritting her teeth, clenching her fists, Misato's face was shadowed, making it hard for Kaji to see her expression.

"F--fine.", the woman snarled in a tense yet wavering voice. "You want honesty? You want to know why I dumped you? Becaus---"

“So drop the act and at least have the decency of being honest for onc–I don’t care why, ok? The fact is you left me! I don’t care if you wanted us to be ‘simply friends’ or stopped loving me! YOU broke up with ME! THE FACT IS YOU LEFT ME!

Reaching the breaking point, Misato's brown wet eyes--a mixture of pain, anger and longing--met his. "I didn't WANT to break up with you! I NEVER stopped loving you! BUT I HAD TO BREAK UP BECAUSE I FELT LIKE I WAS FUCKING MY FATHER! DON'T THINK YOU'RE SO INNOCENT EITHER!"

“You’re really fucked up… you know that, ‘Sato? I don’t go around fucking a girl thinking she’s my mother.”

Panting for breath, Misato regained control of her voice, although the anger among other things never left her eyes. "You're so desperate for the truth it's like an obsession! Why do you want to risk your life so badly?!"

"It's not.", he quietly replied.

Her gaze fell to the carpeted elevator floor. She almost lovingly stroked his cheek, Misato whimpered, "I missed you. I...I do want to be with you! Please...even if you don't give me another chance...just for this moment--"

It was the last thing she said before Kaji's lips and mouth crushed against hers, Kaji's hands slipping her panties to the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck, too afraid to let him go. Afraid that Kaji would disappear and leave her tight embrace forever if she didn't hang onto him now.

EDIT: Some Kaji replies added; the other ones will be in the next post.

chee · First Ancestor Joined: 16 Jul 2007 Location: New Jersey

(OOC: Just a quickie, nothing substantial.)

While driving to work, Malcolm Spier noticed something that, gradually, was becoming increasingly common in Tokyo-3. As he drove through an intersection, he noticed, about a block away from him, an unruly crowd of demonstrators in escalating confrontation with riot police. He briefly noted that the police were already resorting to the use of smoke grenades as a deterrent... He wondered if, this time, things would turn deadly, and if they did, how many would be killed as the crowd dispersed under gun fire... He felt a sudden nostalgia for his own student days: voraciously consuming theory in reading groups, spirited political debates in the classroom, demonstrating against social injustice whilst singing the Internationale en masse in defiance of the pigs who wanted to shut them up....

{Then things... turned deadly.}

He pushed thoughts of the past to the back of his mind and focused on the day ahead.

Malcolm has transferred from Nerv's Second Branch and will be working in the Intelligence department with Kaji. He is driving to his first day on the job.

_________________
"Fans are clingy, complaining dipshits who will never ever be grateful for any concession you make."
-Ben "Yahtzee" Crowshaw

Lucretius · Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 9:01 pm Post subject:

Kaworu waved goodbye to Misato, and then began to follow Asuka into the school, his sneakers thudding against the linoleum floor. He could see his reflection in it; a grey-haired, red-eyed boy with an innocent face smiled up at him. Asuka turned left into the girls' bathroom, and Kaworu followed, putting his hand on her shoulder. Nobody else was in sight; the doors of the stalls stood ajar. Asuka turned on her heel, and slapped Kaworu in the face.

“What the hell are you doing here, you pervert? This is the girls' bathroom!”

“I just wanted to give you a word of friendly advice,” said Kaworu, smiling placidly. “You cannot pilot the Eva unless you are prepared to open your heart to it.”

“What would you know about it? How can I open my heart to a puppet?”

“Puppet? The Eva has a heart like your own. Closing your heart, you cannot synch with it. I am telling you this because I see that you are full of pride. You cannot open your heart to anyone.”

“Look! I’m the pilot, and I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Take your perverted preaching somewhere else, before I beat the crap out of you!”

“Very well.” Kaworu walked out of the bathroom, still smiling benevolently. He took his wrinkled school schedule out of his pocket, unfolding it. Class 2-A was where he had to be. Kaworu was not looking forward to school; he knew everything that he needed to know. He was born to die.

Kaworu walked into the classroom, humming as he went. At the door, a rather boyish-looking girl silently motioned him to a seat behind a girl whom he recognized as First Children, Rei Ayanami. As he took his seat, Kaworu’s spine began to tingle, and goose bumps stood out on his skin. He sensed the presence of another Angel. There was no mistaking it; Rei Ayanami belonged to his race. There was so much he wanted to say to her…

Kaworu glanced around the room, to make sure that no one would notice. None of the students were paying much attention to the teacher, a senile old fool with skin as wrinkled as an elephant’s, who spoke in a barely audible murmur. Some of the students were text-messaging each other, some were giggling amongst themselves; a boy in the front row was playing air guitar. Shinji was snoring quietly a few desks away, his head resting on his arm.

Kaworu tapped Rei on the shoulder; she turned her head towards him a little, apathetic.

“You are the same as me,” Kaworu whispered. “We have each taken on the forms of Lilin while we are on this planet, but we are not Lilin.”

As Kaworu was speaking, Asuka walked through the doorway.

(OOC: Edited to add a description of Kaworu, couple typos corrected.)

**Sachi** · Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:26 pm Post subject:

She had not cared to lock the door on her way out. She had not cared to acknowledge the harassing taxi driver as he passed by, whistling at her. She had not cared to explain her bandages to anybody who asked as she entered the school campus. And she had not cared to even take her school work out as she sat in her seat by the window. She merely stared out the window, waiting. Not focusing on anything.

The Commander did not wish to see me today. And that was the only reason Rei Ayanami came to school today.

She felt a sharp stab of pain in her eye whenever she moved her head too much. Much of what happened, she could not remember. But she did remember his face, and how he had saved her, at the cost of burning his own hands, when the Entry Plug was ejected from the Eva. The blue-haired girl was in debt to this man, the man they called Gendo Ikari. And she would die for him, no matter what the reason.

The bell rang, right on time, and the teacher began giving his lesson on the results of Second Impact, but she did not listen. It wasn't because she knew it was false information or because she didn't want to listen. It was because she had not been told to listen, so she waited until her next orders were given. And she continued to wait...

Until she got a tap on the shoulder.

“You are the same as me,” A soft whisper sent a tingle to her ears, the source was a pale, white haired-boy with eyes as red as her own. "We have each taken on the forms of Lilin while we are on this planet, but we are not Lilin.” Kaworu Nagisa. The Fifth Child.

"I do not know what you are talking about." The bandaged girl said as she continued looking out the window once more, as if the conversation was finished. But she knew it was far from over...

_________________
-Sachi
"Sachi: your anal is awesome. AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT BABY." - SSD
"The womb is a nice, empty cavity to stick an... EMBRYO." - AuraTwilight, kicking ass and making sense doing it.
Avatar: Paprika
Currently Watching: High School of the Dead
Song of the Week: Magnum Opus -- Kansas
Geeks With Taste: Perfect Blue

Eric Blair · Evangelion Joined: 25 Mar 2008 Age: 26 Gender: Male

(OOC: Based on an idea/exchange with SSD. Kudos go to her.)

Kaji

As a rule of thumb, a spy is trained in a diverse number of disciplines; from cooking up home-made bombs to making a .22 zipgun out from a pen, to conning people to stenography to firing at moving targets to close quarter unarmed combat, spies needs to react quickly, think outside the box and on their feet, and always come with a solution.

They are also taught that eventually they will come across a situation where no amount of quick thinking will get them out of because of it being an “enclosed space”; you’re ambushed out of your shower, or in a bathroom stall…

"Just the man I wanted to see; where WERE you this morning?"

Or on an elevator car that too damn long to reach its destination.

Kaji smiled humorlessly, nodding his head in a “Why not” manner as he tried to remain calm and cool outside, seeing Misato’s angry face upcl–

That look.

Kaji’s face remained a hardened mask, but inside he was biting down on his tongue, gritting his teeth; She was giving him THAT look; the one that said You annoy me, but I’m worried about you, you big dumb jerk; the look every mother has reserved for their son when they learn he’s doing something stupid like skateboarding, or bungee jumping, or dropping out of an airplane in a HALO jump to gain a dynamic point of entry deep in hostile territory.

The sort of look that disarms a man without him even knowing he actually had a chance.

So Kaji did what a spy does best; he improvised on the spot; shrugging his shoulders which turned out to be a bad move as it placed unnecessary strain on his ribs, making him grimace as he spoke.

“I was out and taking my morning jog, followed by a nutritious breakfast of egg whites and granola cereal.” He delivered with a poker face, but he knew she knew; Misato wasn’t head of operations just by her looks alone; Kaji knew her inside out, intimately, he knew she liked her coffee black with 2 creams and no sugar, and that she had an executive summary of his actions the minute he had been assigned to come back here; he knew she suspected something from him, but had only hearsay and rumors, so of course she would try and make a cold contact the minute he was able to set foot inside of NERV.

"You're going to get yourself killed one of these days if you continue being so reckless! I mean, your health is already suffering!"

“Ow! Ease up on the poking Katsuragi.” Kaji grumbled, clutching his arm which still felt a bit out of place, fighting the urge to get into hand swatting or anything that required him to exert some form of physical activity; right now, even breathing seemed like a chore.

"See what I mean? Why don't you just take it easy for now?! I really don't like the thought of you being the one having to bring back HER from Germany."

Inexperienced operatives, when faced with someone who knows what they are doing, or has reliable information and confronts them, will drop a cover story and scramble for a secondary motive, which is usually a tall-tell sign that they did something else; a good interrogator knows that if your first story is dropped, or you “remember” something when confronted or intimidated by the big burly suits, chances are you can “remember” more details with just the right amount of friendly pressure.

“What?” Kaji chuckled, clearly not amused at any of this. “Asuka was ok with me bringing her here, in fact, she enjoyed the trip before having to settle down with you and the commander’s son.”

The somber look on Misato’s face convinced Kaji this was not what she had in mind when she accused him of bringing her here, making, Kaji realize with a start SHE knew…

Experienced agents know that they have to cling to their original facts like a lifeline: Yes. They will be cross checked and referenced by quite a lot of agencies and computers, and, yes, you might be detained or in holding while they check your stories out, but if you were good enough to cover your tracks, or are a double agent, chances are you’re in the clear already and the person asking you question is just fishing for information.

So, Kaji frowned at her, before turning a disinterested face.

“I have no idea what you think happened in Germany, but I think that the police report is quite clear there.” Kaji said simply, shrugging before grimacing again.

“Last night on town before being brought back here to Japan, so I figured I might as well give it one last hurray and go out and get drunk, which I achieved perfectly; somewhere along the line, I decided it would be funny to flirt with the girlfriend of everyone there… too bad some guys didn’t share my idea of ‘fun’…” Kaji finished staring at Misato with a blank stare, not giving anything away.

Once you have your story firmly in place and have the facts to back it up, it’s just a matter of selling it… the person asking you questions knows that you like to drink and flirt shamelessly? Chalk it up to you being horny and stupid, hitting on the girlfriend of some random dude who just had to pop you one right then and there; explains the police, the blood, the injuries and the scene.

“Careless? Sure. Stupid? You bet, but it’s also the truth, not whatever conspiracy theory you have running around in your head.”

Kaji smiled to himself; plausible deniability had always been on his side ever since he had started sniffing aro–

"Don't underestimate Nerv. You don't think I received the report?"

Kaji chuckled to himself, but felt his fingers digging into his palm, breathing in steady, shallow breaths through his nose, he forced himself to review what had been the cover story and stick to it, while at the same time, his mind began to wander, asking questions, examining what little bits and pieces of information he had and knew were facts; How much did Misato know? Who was she working for? Was she reporting to someone in NERV? Had she been inducted by SELEE as well? Was she another mole from the Ministry, and was trying to oust him?

Often, when a double agent is “found out” is due to effective counter-intelligence measure, but sometimes it’s mainly due to compartmentalization; the same agency employing one agent can be using 6 or 60, but the guiding principle behind effective resource and agent management is simple: ‘Never let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.’

"It's my job to know what other employees are doing."

Kaji closed his eyes; there was a certain… ‘quality’ to the way Misato had said that word that made it quite obvious where her allegiance stood; she was NERV through and through, which made was Kaji was about to do all the most painful, as his hand clutching his wounded ribs began to feel for his USP-C, carefully tucked on his side; he glanced at Misato through half lidded eyes, aware that the way he was holding himself made it obvious to her he was armed and the main weapon was shoulder holstered. Mentally repeating himself the steps to follow when you have to fire a weapon in close quarters, Kaji breathed in steadily, still staring at Misato’s eyes: first, you flip the safety off, you get only one chance and one shot in this kind of situations, if you can save yourself the 1.43 seconds it takes for the safety to be off, you might be the first one to shot. If you have the gun already cocked and primed, that’s about 2.2 seconds you are ahead of your would-be enemy.

Now, all that was left was for Kaji to push the stop button and press his watch with his injured arm’s elbow to liberate a short fuse EMP to fry the cameras and shot or take hostage Misato.

Kaji licked his lips, counting the seconds, his fingers slowly clicking the safety u–

"Especially those I'd rather not see burned."

Kaji blinked, staring at Misato's face, clearly not understanding what her soft voice was trying to say before she lunged forward to him, and in a split second Kaji realized he was as good as dead, there was no way he was gonna be able to pull his gu–

She was hugging him… gently, almost afraid of causing him discomfort, like someone who she had wanted to see for a long time and in a split second, Kaji thought to himself this was another one of those crazy dreams coming out of the pills he had been taking all week, but this one felt soothing, comforting, almost as if his throat had been itchy and he had taken a cough drop to alleviate the pain, a familiar warmth, a sense of belonging that seemed to emanate from Misato’s own body enveloping Kaji’s tired, cold body almost like a loving embrace, before he blinked; feeling it all too real; before her hugging his arm and nuzzling her cheek against him.

Eight years… it had been eight long years since he had felt something like this from the woman next to him, Twenty-nine hundred and twenty two days since he had come back home to see her sitting in his couch, the actions happening in a flurry.

She was leaving, that was that. Her taxi was coming and she was going, her things were already packed and there was no turning back and no matter what he kept saying, no matter that he began to throw stuff and ask, shout, DEMAND an answer out of her, she simply kept looking down, unfazed, unworried, almost as if she wanted him to hate her, to hate her so bad that he would take the flower vase she liked so much and throw it at her head.

So instead, Kaji walked out, and when he came back drunk and stinking of ashes, tasting like ashes… like the ashes of a burn out man 3 days after, he simply kept drinking to forget, quickly becoming a repetitive routine: He drank because he wanted to forget. He wanted to forget because it was too painful. It was too painful, so he drank because he wanted to forget, repeating it Ad nauseam.

"Just don't die out there, on the job."

Kaji gritted his teeth; the soft words breaking the spell, tossing him out of the marvelous, comforting warmth, realizing she was still holding onto him, and, much to his own shock, he was hugging her too, somehow forgetting about…

Taking her wrists into his hands and forcing her to let go of him, staring at her with resolution in his eyes. This was not what he wanted; if he had been given the choice, he would have stayed in Germany: the job was easy, and it was a nice place to be drunk; he had been so close to letting go of her, of stopping the dreams that kept on haunting him at night, but now he was here, back again at square one, starting all over in a burned out shell of the man he used to be and it was just so tiring to start again anew, what was the point? Was there even a point?

“It’s a little too late for this, Katsuragi.” Kaji said coolly, never letting go of her eyes with his, the words coming out chewed, almost like a low imperceptible growl meant only for Misato to hear and feel.

“You don’t get to worry about me and ask me if I’m ok. You don’t get to stare at me with those eyes and ask me this questions and then touch my face and act like you still care.”

He heard her whimper at the rough treatment, but Kaji paid no attention to Misato; too deep inside his own personal feelings and grief to realize she was staring down at her feet, her jaw set in a firm straight line; hands clenched into fists, digging in so deeply and harshly into her palms almost to the point of drawing blood.

“So drop the act and at least have the decency of being honest for onc–”

"F—fine! You want honesty? You want to know why I dumped you? Becaus–"

“I don’t care why, ok?” Kaji spat harshly, grabbing her forearms, pinning her back against the elevator’s wall, snarling at her, his body tensed, his blood feeling as if it were boiling inside, seeing red and losing his ever present cool.

“The fact is you left me! I don’t care if you wanted us to be ‘simply friends’ or stopped loving me! YOU broke up with ME! THE FACT IS YOU LEFT ME!

Kaji punctuated the last words by clenching Misato’s forearms tightly, using his body weight to keep her back pinned against the back wall of the elevator, the feelings of regret and anger and hate he had harbored for eight long, painful years made Kaji push it aside and revel in them, feeling free, joyfully, perversely free; so Kaji pushed Misato again, their faces drawing closer, their noses almost touching, something raw and savage and… intimate, familiar even…

"I didn't WANT to break up with you! I NEVER stopped loving you! BUT I HAD TO BREAK UP BECAUSE I FELT LIKE I WAS FUCKING MY FATHER!"

To his credit, Kaji stared at her for a second or two before chuckling bitterly, looking down at the floor before staring cruelly at her face, mouth drawn back into a teeth baring sneer.

“You’re really fucked up… you know that, ‘Sato?”

"DON'T THINK YOU'RE SO INNOCENT EITHER!"

“I don’t go around fucking a girl thinking she’s my mother.” He shot back quietly, breathing heavily.

So close… so very close…. Tantalizing, invitingly…

'You're so desperate for the truth it's like an obsession!"

“It’s not.” Kaji acknowledged quietly, still staring at her eyes, trying to find something, a giveaway, something else… something more…

"Why do you want to risk your life so badly?!"

Kaji kept quiet for a second or two, before he closed the small gap between Misato and him, crushing her mouth with his, his tongue wrestling against hers to gain entrance: battling, fighting for the upper hand… a battle of wills and spirit and feelings. Kissing her harder, kissing her harshly, kissing her with love and anger and regret…

But kissing her in the end, before his body began to move out of its own in autopilot, while Misato’s hands grabbed the back of his neck, feeling tentatively around the soft hair on the nape of his ponytail, before grabbing a hold of him and pressing herself more into him, and Kaji could feel his body reacting to the movement of Misato’s own body, his hands letting go of Misato’s arms and sliding up her skirt, deftly pulling down her undergarments, feeling the need… the desperation of her hold on him, like a drowning man hanging onto a lifeline for dear life with both hands, afraid of her own body letting go of him.

Kaji mumbled something into her mouth, and Misato moaned something back, before he felt his belt undone and heard a zipping sound, acting like an out of body experience, grunts and moans rocking the elevator as short, angry thrusts connected both bodies… skin brushing against skin in a way that made eight years ago feel like a lifetime and a second at once; the longing of the heart superseded by the memory of the senses, the touch and smell, the taste and sight, everything feeling right on its place, as it should always have been… melting one unto the other, an ocean of bitter tears and shuddered sighs, wave upon wave of feelings pushing forth, breaking sand, tainting the smooth beach with salt water topped with foam, dissipating, escalating... asking for more and more...

Hoping it could stay like this forever and again.

As a spy, one is trained to see everyone as a potential asset; nothing more than a tool; a means to an end. Once you start caring, once you start worrying about their welfare, and how to salvage them over a network, you become tainted yourself. A good operative never worries an asset, never wonders twice if what he’s doing is right or wrong.

If you’re told you need to go back to your homeland and get in touch with your mother, your cousin, or a former girlfriend, you do it and try to not engage yourself too much. You try to focus on the mission, focus on the fact that you’re a handle and they are just assets, nothing more.

A spy should never miss an asset, never wonder if she’ll walk back into his life, never stare longingly at the night sky and wonder if she’s fine, if she’s moved on… never dream awake about holding her and never letting go.

A spy never loses track of the time it takes for the elevator door to reach the ground floor as he straightens out his shirt and readjusts his tie, staring at the asset’s face lovingly, fighting back the impulse of cupping her face with his hands and kissing her lips again and again.

Kaji kicked himself.

This just got more complicated than necessary, Kaji.

“So…” Kaji asked quietly as the elevator opened the door to a corridor, feeling awkward, like a guy who has gone to third base on the first date and meets his date after the deed.

Misato said nothing and for some reason, it bothered Kaji more than he wanted, making him grit his teeth before he sighed, looking down.

“Misato I... I think we need to sleep on this, talk about this… this…” He signaled between the mauve-haired woman and himself. “Is not what I envisioned as our first talk…”

He noticed she was beginning to look down, and mentally kicked himself, trying to salvage what he had done.

“Maybe our second… after drinks and a dinner.” He said smirking, but it was a different smirk; an easy smirk, more of a smile than a grimace; the one Misato knew so well; the one that said ‘I'm joking but I'm still here, with you.’

Before the moment was interrupted by Kaji's cell phone ringing loudly, making the ponytailed spy scramble to answer it, frowning when he noticed the number, and reading the text message it contained.

"Actually, Kaji-kun...I promised the kids I'd take them out to dinner tonight. We could always make plans for later tonight--say 11?--Or just do something tomorrow if that works best."

Kaji chuckled, opening his mouth to answer before his phone went off again.

“My… aren't I the popular one right now.” He said softly, his eyes dancing merrily, glancing at Misato before he heard the rough voice on the other line.

"Agent Kaji, please come by at once to my office, I need to speak with you."

That was it; with one single phrase, that guy had the ability to suck the life out of the room even if it was just talking on the phone. Kaji gritted his teeth, glancing apologetically at Misato.

“Sorry, Misato… The commander needs to see me.” He turned on his heels and began to saunter away, his body still aching a little, but not caring or not wanting to give it away.

“I'll see you once I'm out of there.”

Kaji and Misato had a few verbal sparring (and sparring of the other kinds as well) and now Kaji feels like shit because... well... he now knows which buttons of Misato he gets to push to make her give him some info... just hope this is a two way street. Also, he's going to meet with Gendo.

slothen · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:07 am Post subject:

Kensuke

Knock, Knock.

Toji. I wonder if he'll answer today. After the "incident," half the class hadn't shown up for school the next day. Most of them attended yesterday, but not Toji. Are you gone too buddy? Kensuke raised his knuckles once more to the door.

It opened. It was Toji. He was dressed for school, his bag behind him in the hallway. He was scowling, but his face brightened for a moment when he saw it was Kensuke.

"Hey, didn't expect to see you here. What gives?"

Kensuke gave a snort. "Don't give me that, no one's been answering the phone, and your place is right on the way to school." Kensuke relaxed. If he was coming to school, then everything must be fine.

"I was at the hospital with dad. My sister was hurt in that incident. She's alright, but she'll be in there for awhile." Toji was scowling now. Hurt? Everyone was evacuated long before we were attacked. Was that not true, or were the evacuation shelters themselves damaged? Kensuke decided to ignore the topic.

"Ready to go?"

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the school. When they were about a block away, Kensuke ventured some advice. "You should probably go in now while we're early and talk to the principal."

"You're probably right. Ah, what a pain. See you in class."

Kensuke waited outside. There was a young maple tree out in front of the school, and on nice days like this one, he liked to climb it. It was perfect for climbing. Class wasn't for ten minutes anyway. There was a thick branch hanging at about two meters from the ground, and in a moment Kensuke had one leg over it and pulled himself upwards. He soon found a comfortable place to sit and lean back against the trunk, about six meters above the ground. He sat and watched as students arrived. Some walking, some on bikes, some being dropped off by car. Most of them didn't notice him. The few who did happen to look up weren't particularly surprised, this was an old habit of his ever since he enrolled at this school. He was about to jump down when a blue sports car pulled up in front of the school. Two students got out that he hadn't recognized before. One had brown hair and looked nervous, the other had light grey hair, and was smiling. His hands were in his pockets. The third was...Asuka??? I wonder what she's doing with these new guys. All of the other guys in the class had competed for the attention of the new transfer student. Oh well. She's nice to look at, but I'd just as soon not be friends with her. I feel sorry for that guy down there. She had slapped the brown-haired kid on the back hard, and strode toward the doors with him following her. The third one smiled after them, and nonchalantly followed them into the school. As he pulled the door open to enter the school, he turned around and looked directly at Kensuke's perch in the maple tree. He chuckled audibly. Kensuke kept his expression blank as the grey haired boy turned and entered the school. The blue sports car had driven away.

As soon as the door closed. Kensuke dropped to the ground, landing on the balls of his feet, squatting, with his arms outstretched. A perfect 10! Now, for the fifty meter dash. Kensuke took off running around the outside of the school to a side entrance near his homeroom. He got to the door, took off his shoes, and carried them with him to the classroom right as the bell rang. and saaaaaafe! He didn't look at any of the other students as made his way to his seat. Asuka was late. Toji wasn't in his seat yet either. Rei was looking out the window, as usual. Hikari looked distracted by something. I wonder if I should tell her Asuka and Toji are on their way.. nah, they'll be here soon anyway.

[[OOC: this next part happens well into the middle of the day, after introductions are made, etc etc. So some people might want to wait before jumping on this new development.]]

Some time later, Asuka, the two new boys she was with, and Toji had come back into the classroom. The new students were introduced, took their seats, and things seem to settle down. I'm not sure why, but I'm glad so many of our class is back. Things may be able to get back to normal around here. These new transfer students are definitely not normal. Asuka's never mentioned them, they're certainly not related. And that Kaworu, he doesn't act the way a normal person would, coming to a new school. Still, its probably nothing. God this lecture is boring. Any more of this babble about second impact and I'm going to die. I swear, all they want to do is tell us about how strong and great humanity is to have recovered. People are starving all over the world, and birth rates in the developed countries has plummeted. This lecture is worthless... I guess I'll log onto Dad's computer and see if I can find anything new about the attack. Maybe I can find out how Toji's sister was hurt without having to ask him.

Kensuke's father worked as a software engineer for NERV. He primarily worked with Magi systems. While he did not play a role in the design or creation of the Magi, he had played a pivotal role adapting the Magi computer system to handle the daily activities of Tokyo-3. His father had a computer at home that had access to NERV's network. A month ago, Kensuke had installed a keylogger program on his father's computer, and now, Kensuke could remotely send queries to the Magi system. As long as he restricted his queries to topics not classified as Top Secret, he could stay under the radar of NERV's automated security systems. Technical information and special projects were out, but information on maintenance and repair operations, personnel, city defense, and infrastructure were at his fingertips. Almost all information regarding the Evangelions and the angels were beyond his reach, he hadn't even known of their existence until out of focus videos appeared on the net the night of the incident.

Kensuke began to access his father's computer from his laptop. He got a hunch. Hmmm... Asuka mentioned last week she worked for NERV. I didn't believe it at the time, I thought she was just making stuff up so people would stop asking. Maybe she wasn't lying? Worth a shot. He sent a query to the Magi "Asuka Langley." Oh wow. She is in here. Asuka Langley Soryu, age 13. Born Dec 4, 2001. Rank: PILOT. PILOT??? they let her pilot?? Oh this is so unfair. Like someone as bossy and pushy as her deserves to pilot NERV's top secret new weapon. Augh, if I want to get anything at all out of her I'll have to put up with her.

Calm down. Before I do anything rash, lets look up this Shinji Ikari fellow. This query turned up nearly the same results. There was a picture of Shinji, but all other information was marked Top Secret, redacted right on the screen. Except for... Rank: PILOT. That was enough. Kensuke closed his connection to the Magi and brought up his classroom application.

He typed a short message to Shinji. "Is it true that you're the robot's pilot? Y/N"

"Yes." Kensuke was electrified. A bit of copy and paste, "send to class." Kensuke pressed return.

***Click***

Kensuke meets Toji at his house, walks to school, enters the classroom. After the new students are introduced, he does some digging, and reveals to the class that Shinji is the pilot of 01.

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MAL Profile

Legendary · Seed Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Age: 91 Gender: Male

GENDO

Gendo was not having a good day. The Council of Incompetent Old Fools (or, as they preferred to be called, Seele) had once again been complaining over unavoidable facts. As if it was his fault that his own son was the only person capable of piloting Shogouki. If Gendo had had his way, Shinji would be located somewhere far, far away with no chance of even accidentally bumping into his father.

Further, they apparently had infiltrated Nerv far more deeply than Gendo had suspected, for Seele was already becoming suspicious over the true nature of his work with Kaji. So suspicious that they decided to give Kaji an 'assistant' to watch his every move. Gendo had carefully but firmly vetoed most of their obvious candidates, before suggesting this Spier individual who didn't seem to have any particular loyalty to Nerv or Seele. It could be possible to win him over.

Malcolm Spier was sitting across from Gendo, looking out of the window at the impressive view of the Geofront. Whatever he was thinking of, Gendo didn't know.

Finally Kaji entered the room, smirking for an unfathomable reason (or at least a reason Gendo didn't want to hear about).

"Sit," Gendo said after Kaji had crossed the room. "I have some interesting news for you regarding your department."

"Depart-"

"You now have an assistant. Kaji Ryoji, meet Spier Malcolm."

Their reactions. Kaji might protest, might not.

"Seele has insisted upon this position, so you'll have to work with him. He is competent, and he's clean. He'll escort you to China, where you'll pick up our package, and escort you back."

any other reactions

"Now, you two should get to know each other. I have other matters to attend to. Oh, and Kaji... Don't forget to get me a 'souvenier.'"

their leaving

Gendo sighed in relief. That was one less thing to worry about. He thought for a few moments, and then decided to schedule a training session for both Shinji and Asuka that afternoon. He pressed the intercom button to get a hold of Ritsuko. They'd meet... personally... for this scheduling.

SHINJI

Shinji stood in front of the room, and gulped nervously. "Uh, hello," he said, bowing. "I'm Ikari Shinji, and I'm very pleased to meet all of you."

A few more words later, and he was able to sit down and watch Kaworu introduce himself. Then he sat down and the teacher returned to droning about history.

Shinji looked around the room. Everyone seemed to be bored out of their minds. Very few people seemed to be the least bit interested in even looking up at the teacher. A few students were doodling or reading.

He sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Except, just as he decided to look on the computer for something interesting to do, he was told that he was recieving a message. He opened it up cautiously, and the symbols began to appear on the screen.

"Is it true that you're the robot's pilot?"

Shinji blinked.

"Y/N"

He considered for a moment, and then decided to answer truthfully. Only one person would find out, and if there were already rumors... he'd only be delaying the inevitable by lying. He looked around for who had sent the message.

A couple of girls behind him were staring at him, giggling, but as soon as he looked they returned their attention to the computer screen. Well... if one of them had sent the message...

"Yes."

Shinji's eyes widened as nearly everyone jumped up and began to surround him, asking questions.

"How'd you get in?" "Was it scary?" "What are the Eva's weapons?"

Shinji hoped desperately that the teacher would do something, but when he didn't, Shinji sighed and answered.

"The Eva has guns... and also this thing called a prog knife... I'm not sure-"

The questions continued, and Shinji realized they were hardly listening.

"You're the class hero!" someone added.

It WAS going to be a long day.

Gendo intro's Kaji & Malcolm to each other, calls for Ritsuko. Shinji reveals to the class that he's a pilot, thinking that two girls are asking, and instantly regrets it.

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