Neon Genesis Evangelion Higher Learning Strike Fiss, 2000 Twenty-Seventh Lesson: "Catching Up" "Well well, look who decided to join us." Asuka chided as Shinji rushed to catch the elevator before the door closed. "Gomen! Just had to ask about some homework." Shinji smiled as a hand kept the doors from closing. The NERV elevators were made to be high- capacity, since often, you could wait up to a full minute for the next car to come around. Though they were the fastest way to get around inside of NERV, the sheer size of the underground complex made it a challenge to do without the transportation reaching supersonic speeds. Shinji took a double take as he realized the hand holding open the door belonged to Toji. Toji just nodded his usual greeting. "Hey, Shinji. We were afraid you got lost." Rei bowed her head slightly. "Ikari-kun." Shinji was still blinking at Toji, though. "Y...y..." The other boy suddenly looked embarrassed. "Yeah. They drafted me last week." Asuka, impatient, grabbed Shinji by the collar and dragged him into the car, letting the doors close and their descent begin. "Jeez. You act like you've never seen another Eva Pilot before." The ticker began to click away and they felt the rapid reverse-gee- force that came with the ride. Shinji spent a good part of the trip just stunned. "But...I thought you hated Eva?" he said, as the half-way mark ticked away. Toji was solid as a statue, unmoving. "I thought I apologized." he smiled slightly. "If you want to hit me again, though, I wouldn't mind. You still owe me one." Asuka blinked, not sure what that meant, but watched as Shinji shook his head. "No...but...what about...your sister?" he said, slightly flustered under the watchful eyes of the two girls. "That Doctor lady gave me a deal." Toji explained, arms crossed as he watched the ticker. "Me in the pilot's seat in exchange for my sister in NERV's best hospital ward." he looked to Shinji. "They can hack me up and put me in the blender. I don't care so long as she gets better." Asuka shuddered to herself...okay okay, so Hikari wasn't blind...the boy did have a bit of compassion in him. Still...it was eerie to hear such noble thoughts coming from a Stooge. "Oh..." Shinji nodded. "But..." "I know." Toji cut him off. "Remember? I was there. Kensuke and I saw. It doesn't matter. I'd march into that Eva and live through hell so long as I got to see my sister walking around back at home with a smile on her face." Shinji looked up at him, slightly embarrassed at how right his friend sounded. He had a good reason to pilot. He should be happy for Toji. "I'm glad you're here, then." he finally said with a smile. Toji nodded, letting a smile out as well. "Me too, Ikari. I'll keep an eye out for you if I can too." "That's okay, Toji." Asuka said with a smug smile. "Rei here loves being the human shield. We don't need two." Toji blinked at Rei. Rei just blinked back. "I will watch out over Ikari-kun and both of you." she said simply. Any reply Asuka had to that was cut off as the doors opened, now revealing the hallways of NERV HQ. Misato was standing just down the hall, kicking one of the vending machines, trying to get her yen back. "Grrr! Damn cheatin...ARGH! MY FOOT!" The four children all sweat-dropped. (nobody noticed it on Rei, though, as she is much more practiced at hiding her surprise) She turned, noticing them, then smiled brightly, her mood doing a 180 degree turn. "Hey kids! I see you've all met the Fourth." "At least you didn't pick Kensuke." Asuka mumbled as she shot Toji a look. He just ignored her. "Asuka, you know I don't pick the pilots." Misato said, kicking the machine behind her once more for good measure. Finally, her can of soda fell into the retrieval bin. "Ooh! Finally!" The four all sighed. "So how was school?" she asked as they began to walk down the hall towards the change rooms and testing facilities. "Boooooring." Asuka sighed as they walked. "Sensei Kaoru was telling us about the universities. I've already been there, so it was just a waste of my time." "You should listen to your Sensei, Asuka." Misato remarked, hiding a small, thoughtful grin with her beverage can. "He knows what he's talking about." "Bah." Asuka sighed. "I've met smarter sensei's. Sure, he's a bit easier on the homework..." "And you keep staring at his back side." Rei added helpfully. "Ye..." the redhead blinked. "I DO NOT!!!" Misato spat out a good mouthful of drink. "Asuka! You haven't been!?!" Toji and Shinji watched the exchange from afar, enjoying it thoroughly. "No I haven't!" Asuka defended. "You'd better be making jokes, Wondergirl..." she growled at Rei, rolling up her right sleeve. Rei just turned to Misato. "And the Major is mad because she has her sights set on him." Misato almost fell over. "W....b...REI!?! Stop that!" Asuka's eyes were wide and she turned to Misato. "No way! I thought you were all about Kaji-san! What's with..." "Now wait just a second here!" Misato yelled back, turning red. "This is none of your business, Asuka, and I must say, hardly very..." A cough interrupted the two, just as Rei was beginning to enjoy it herself. Damn, she thought. Ritsuko sighed, arms crossed. "Can't I leave you kids alone for five minutes without you fighting?" Misato and Asuka both blushed terribly and turned away from each other. "Assuming the Major didn't quite have a chance to...brief...you..." Ritsuko edged on the word, making Misato squirm slightly. "...today we're testing a few new refinements to the Eva's systems. Shinji and Asuka get to try out the new plugs first. It should be a seamless test. You both won't notice a thing." "So long as everything works." Misato added helpfully. Ritsuko sighed. "Yes, but everything WILL work." she turned to Toji. "As for the new member of our group, we've configured Eva 03 to you, and we should get a much better sync ratio than last time. You might even be able to move an arm today, Toji-kun." "Yuppie." Toji smiled grimly. "Can't wait." "Now now, Stooge." Asuka said in her best 'wise' voice. "We can't ALL be invincible Shinji's at the start." Shinji blushed terribly. "Asuka!" "Well, I'll be in the control room. No peeping in the change room, Toji. Asuka has a mean kick." Ritsuko smiled and walked off. "You coming, Major?" Misato sighed. "Hai hai. Right behind you." she hurried after her friend. When out of earshot, Ritsuko smiled. "So what was that about?" "I swear...that girl has it out for me..." Misato sighed wearily. "Every man I find, she sees too, and clings to him until he goes away." "Now now, it can't be THAT bad." Ritsuko smiled. "Besides, you've only just started dating Kaoru. She couldn't have clung to him THAT fast." "You'd be surprised." Misato groaned. "Well, maybe you'll be lucky and she'll cling onto Shinji for a while." Ritsuko smiled. "Very funny." Misato grumbled. In the false calm of the entry plug, Shinji always found time to think. Often, hours at a time. Sometimes, that time was filled with calm, repetitive ideas...such as piloting Eva was right, and he must not run away from it. That he should try to forget how much everything smelled like blood. How he should forget the pain and focus only on the calm. This time, however, his mind was racing. Once in a while, Ritsuko would interrupt his thoughts, saying he should try to focus on syncing and clear his mind of unwanted thought. He would comply, but his mind always returned to his previous train of thought. The blackboard and chalk. The train tracks. The fact that...sooner or later...he was going to see those tracks. Going away from here. Away from Eva. Away from all the pain. It didn't matter where. He would finally be free. Free. Such a thought used to be frightening to Shinji Ikari. Where freedom had only meant more pain in varying forms. Where every blessing eventually turned into silent torture. Not anymore. Freedom now meant a future. He never used to think about the future before. He never considered he deserved one. He never needed one. He needed only to exist and feel pain. But...university sounded very nice. People were beginning to enjoy his music. He felt a sense of closure with his father just around the corner...his chance to finally say goodbye if that was his father's wish. And...he had love...even if it was just in the initial stages, he knew it had to be true. Asuka would never holt back the truth from him. She would just as easily tell him to go away if she meant it. For the first time...he had something to look towards. Even if it was just a road. A way that was paving itself if he wanted to take it. Somewhere else to go. Somewhere to aspire to be. They had a new Evangelion, and a new pilot. It was no longer on Asuka and Rei's shoulders. Toji was a good man. Strong and dependable. A natural fighter. Despite the circumstances, he was probably a natural pilot. "Shinji-kun." Misato's voice interrupted his musings. "Is there something on your mind? Your sync-rate is a good ten points below normal." "Just a bit tired, Misato-san." Shinji said. "I'll try harder." "No need. We're going to end the test for now." Misato said. "We'll pick it up tomorrow morning so you all can get a good night's sleep. Ritsuko says she wants to do some fine tuning with the new systems anyway." "Hai." all the Children replied. Shinji relaxed as the view around him un-synced and his thoughts were again his alone. "You seem aloft today, Ikari." Toji yawned as he straightened his jacket. "Asuka beat you in the head too hard this morning?" Shinji found himself staring at his shoe. His fingers still hooked around the laces. "Pardon?" "Listen...if this is about me..." Toji sighed. "You know my reasons. You can't talk me out of it." Shinji smiled slightly...a reaction the other boy hadn't quite expected. "No...it's not that. I'm glad I have someone to talk to in the change room now." Toji smiled. "Yeah, I guess it must have been weird. Outnumbered by the ladies." he chuckled. "Half the guys in class would kill to have our jobs, I suppose." "We used to share one room." Shinji said. "They had a curtain between Rei and I. It was nice to have her to talk to before getting into Eva." he looked away. "Once Asuka came, she demanded separate changing rooms, so then, it was just me." Toji smoothed out his hair and looked in the mirror, checking to see if he missed anything. "If it means anything to you...I think I understand you better now." Shinji blinked. "Oh?" "I know how hard it must have been for you." Toji said with a sigh. "I mean...I'm not even having to fight right away, and every time I get into the damn seat I get nervous." he admitted. "Honestly...I don't know how you pulled off fighting the first angel that came here." "I...it was nothing...I kinda...blacked out." Shinji said. "I was lucky." "I don't believe that for a second." Toji said gruffly, startling Shinji. "I see how you fight. You just don't realize your own strength. You don't think you can do it, but you can." he sighed and then smiled. "Me? They have to run me through more training programs in a week than you've probably had to do in months." he walked past Shinji and sighed, patting him on the shoulder. "You're a natural, Shinji. Face it." Shinji just blinked, not quite sure what to say. "I say I'll try to help and look out for you...watch your back..." Toji smiled. "But in reality, I'll just be trying to keep up to you." "A...arigato, Toji-san..." Shinji said, trying not to sound too embarrassed. It was strange, but he actually felt complimented by this...even when normally he would despise his position. Toji nodded and motioned to Shinji's shoes. "If you hurry up, do you want to come with me to visit my sister?" he smiled. "She's only a few floors up in the medical ward." Shinji smiled brightly. "Really? You wouldn't mind?" "Not if you hurry, slow poke." Toji nodded. "Meet you out in the hall?" "Hai!" Shinji nodded and quickly finished getting dressed to follow his fellow pilot. Ritsuko placed the documents on Commander Ikari's desk, hoping to startle him out of his seemingly endless silence. The old man wasn't about to give anyone that satisfaction it seemed, and he just looked up at her with those same calm, intense eyes. "Report." he said, as if he had all but ordered her to his office. "The Forth is adjusting well." Ritsuko said, pausing to let Gendo look over the sync test results. "He should be ready for combat when the next angel attacks." "And the Dummy System?" Ritsuko nodded. "No installation problems, and it is probable that they are working perfectly." The Commander looked up with a small smile. "Only probable, Doctor? You haven't ran this through the Magi?" Ritsuko sighed and pointed to Shinji's test scores. "The Third's sync rate was less than usual. It could be the new plug system. I ordered another test for tomorrow before we run active simulations." Gendo seemed tired of the conversation. "It will be nice not to have to rely on them." he said. "We have no time for childish things." Ritsuko wondered if that was Gendo's way of saying he didn't want to hurt Shinji. Probably not. "Run Unit 01 and Unit 03 in the tests tomorrow." Gendo said. "Prepare test-ground three." Ritsuko blinked. "Y...you mean out in the Geofront?" "That is correct. We will eliminate the simulations and try a real- life test. We both know a simulation might not be the same thing to the Dummy Plug, and we must see what it is capable of." "Hai." Ritsuko nodded, turning to leave. "Doctor." She sighed inwardly as she noticed the tone of voice. "Not tonight, Gendo. I'll have to prepare the test." A long pause, but finally: "Very well...dismissed." Ritsuko shut the door behind herself and scolded herself for almost saying 'yes' to his request. As she walked down the hall, knowing an apartment full of cats awaited her...his offer was looking much more appealing. Misato...the lucky bitch, had at least the possibility of a romantic night planned. Not just "Are you free?" and a roll in the office chair. "Damn Misato..." she wined to herself, then sighed. Maybe Maya would be up for a few sappy movies tonight. At least it was company. To be continued ... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Gomen! Not much time to stay around and chat. I'm going to see the Smashing Pumpkins. Whahaha! COWER BEFORE MY SPOOKY PUMPKIN-CONCERTING ASS! AHAHAHAA! Uhm...I mean, expect e-mail lags, and the usual non-contact stuff while I'm gone. ^_^ Should be back with plenty of time to finish HL 28 on time. Amazing, neh? I was going to have this lesson a bit longer...but then I realized I don't know Toji's sister's name. So I'm goinna do some research on that tonight or when I get back, so Lesson 28 should have lots of kawaii-chibi-sister stuff. As we all know, the toughest brothers usually have a kid sister that knows exactly how to embarrass or get on their nerves. ^_^ So it should be lots of fun. Havin a bit of fun with Ritsuko and Maya. Who knows, might keep going. :P The good Doctor has to compete with Misato somehow, eh? And as for this live-action test? Hehe. What will happen...will Unit 01 rip apart 03? Will Toji go berserker and kill Shinji? (oooh, that would be fun...heheheh...how many people would be expecting THAT?) And what about 01 and 02? :P Lots of fun up next on Higher Learning! Hehe. Stay tuned. e-mail: strikef@bigfoot.com homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9110 Strike Fiss, Ninja Crowbotics 2000. Khattam-Shud, EOF.