From: "JOYCE K WAKABAYASHI" Subject: [Eva][FanFic] The One You Want The one you want It was eight at night and three women were leaving NERV headquarters. "Good night, Sempai." said Maya. "Good night, Maya." Ritsuko said, then turned to Misato. "Shall we go drinking?" "Yeah, I'd really like that." I bet you would, thought Ritsuko. While Misato was driving to their favorite bar, she said, "Ritsuko, tell me." "What about?" "Maya." "What is there to tell? She's a smart and hard worker ever since she arrived here. She's a very quiet and sensitive person. She's easy to work with." "Oh, God, Ritsuko, you know she likes you. Sempai this and sempai that. All those parting glances and she got you those little kitty salt shakers for Christmas. You can't tell me that she doesn't like you." "Misato, stop talking like a hentaime." Ritsuko snapped, frowning those brown brows of hers. "Hentai? I'm not perverted. I'm telling the truth." Misato said. "I thought that Shigeru was interested in her." "He's striking out with her. You know why? He's not the one she wants." Misato giggled. "Well, what about Makoto? Doesn't he like you?" "You mean, Hyuuga-kun?" "Yeah, I mean him." "I just don't feel the chemistry." "You're just stuck on Kaji." "Am not." "Then why do you get so mad and flustered whenever he's about." "Well, you're the one who seems to be stepping out with him lately." "Well, he knows you'll say no so he doesn't bother. He's fun to go out with." Ritsuko smiled, watching at Misato steam at that statement. "Well, Maya would step out with you in a minute if you would just ask her." Ritsuko groaned. "Misato, I'm not like that." "Well, what do you like?" Ritsuko thought for a second. Well, I can't tell her the man's name, but. . . . "I like a guy who's very in control of himself and the world around him. I want a guy who'll be there and won't fall apart at the slightest disaster. I want a man who can keep a secret. I want to feel safe with a man who also knows how to surprise me. I want someone who shakes me with passion, yet retains my respect." "Well, Kaji knows passion. Don't know about the rest. That's a tall order." "Perhaps, but that's what I want. I should ask Maya to dinner." "Why?" "She's been working really hard lately. It's not because of what comes out of that dirty mind of yours." Misato smiles. "tell me how the date goes." "Shut up, Misato." * * * "Maya?" said Ritsuko. They were typing up a program for another possible test. "Yes?" "How about I take you to dinner as a token of appreciation for all your hard work." "Is this a group thing?" "No, just us two." "Sempai!" Hmmm, the enthusiasm of that was just a bit too strong, but it was too late to back out now, she thought. "There's a new French restaurant.The chef is a guy who's a former Iron Chef. He's really good. Or we could go somewhere more casual." "No, the French place sounds wonderful." "OK, I'll pick you up this Saturday at 7, as long as there aren't any Angel Attacks during that time." * * * Ritsuko knocked on Maya's door in the dress she had worn to the wedding party. Maya opened the door. What Ritsuko saw pretty much shocked her. Maya was wearing a shiny venom-green sleeveless dress that hugged her figure and ended at the knee. She was wearing two dangly crystal earrings, stockings, red lipstick, and two white gloves. She had also combed her short hair differently, making it more tousled and less business like. "Is this formal enough?" said Maya. "Oh, yes, Maya." said Ritsuko. "Do you like it?" "Well, yes, it's just that you look so very different." "Oh, good." said Maya, who giggled. "I think you look good, too." Ritsuko drove Maya to the restaurant. "Oh, by the way, this is my treat." "But. . ." "Don't worry, I'll put it all on my NERV card." "Thank you." "You look so excited. I would think someone like you would get taken out all the time." "Well," she said. "It's hard to find the right person. I don't like go out with just anyone. A bad date ruins my concentration for the rest of the week." "I guess so. It's hard to figure stuff out between men and women. I wish there was a program for that, too." "Besides, there's work." "That's right. I've been making you work so much overtime. I should let you go early more often." "I really don't mind. I don't have much going on at home, anyway." "Maybe you and Shigeru could go out." "Me and Shigeru?" "Mmmm, I overheard Hyuuga and Shigeru in the coffee room talking about you. Shigeru seems to have an interest in you." "I know, but he's just not that interesting to me even if he is cute. What does Misato think about Hyuuga? She's all he talks about." "Misato? Oh, she knows about his crush on her. He might even have a chance if Kaji disappears. Personally, I think she's too much for him. There's a lot of things he doesn't know about her." "Like what?" "It's just that she's not the same person off work as she is on. I wonder if he'd still like her when he finds out." Ritsuko said, thinking about the difference between the professional, cool Misato and the slovenly drunk who wore skimpy outfits in front of her teenage charges. "I think so. Besides, he's a nice guy, uncomplicated, solid. He won't drive her crazy. Besides, I think he likes a little unpredictability. Isn't that why you're friends with her?" "Well, I guess so. I met her in college. She hasn't really changed since then. Oh, here we are. Le Papillion." They went in and sat down at a small table. "Here's your wine list and the menus, mademoiselles." After ordering, Ritsuko said, "It's nice to relax." "Yes, Sempai." "Call me Ritsuko while we're here." "Yes, Sem. . .Ritsuko." Really, I've never seen Maya so happy, she thought. "Maya, I'm just curious about one thing." "What?" "Why did you join Nerv?" "I was chosen. I was the one of the best students in computer programming at Tokyo University. I was told by the recruiter for NERV that I'd get to work with the highest level of computer programming with one of the greatest polymath/computer minds in Japan, no, the world. When I was told it was you, I was so happy." "But why were you so happy?" Maya bent her head down a little. "You might not understand this." "Try me." "You see, if I had taken any other job, I could've ended up being the manager of a business network system or ended up writing high-end video games. I don't have the right type of personality to get ahead. Either way, what I'd doing wouldn't be very important." "So, being part of NERV makes you feel like you're doing something important." "Well, yes. That's part of why I stay even though I feel. . ." "Feel what?" "You must think poorly of me sometimes. But I just couldn't help vomiting when I saw all those poor dummies floating in LCL. They're just things to be used as spare parts. And those poor pilots, I just feel sorry for them. I . . . guess I'm too sensitive." Ritsuko smiled, "Well, that's part of what makes you you. But why stay? The pay's good, but you could probably find better. Not that I'm asking you to leave or anything." "Well, because of you." Ritsuko sighed and drank some wine. "What's so great about me? You must know by now that I didn't create MAGI, I just created the uplinks. I basically maintain the systems, but I didn't design them." "When I was in college, I read some of your papers. You're regarded as one of the top polymath specialists. After all, you defeated an Angel without using an Eva, just using your computer skills. I doubt anybody could've done that but you." Ritsuko said, "Your praise is misplaced. Everything inside Nerv was designed by my mother. Even repulsing the Angel took a few of my mother's back door codes." "You're much too modest. After all, the Children didn't create the Evas, but they ride it. Does that make what they do any less impressive? Everyone builds on what someone has done in the past. Your mother didn't create the computer chip, right? Does that make her accomplishments less impressive because there was a little help here and there? Besides, you'vemade MAGI a hundred times better than how it used to be." A shade of pink suddenly went up all over Maya's face and she hadn't even touched the wine poured in her glass. "You've heard of Picasso, right?" "Of course." "Well, he's not a very good looking man, is he?" "No, he's not." "But he has talent, yes?" "That's what they say." Actually, thought Ritsuko, I don't understand his art, but I won't bring it up now. "Well, when someone has a talent, something that only he or she can do, the people around that person want to be near that person, to touch that person, to be like that person. It's like the person is a world apart. That you can do all this work, keep calm and be so modest, I respect that.I know that I'll never be as good as you are, but . . . I'm not sure if I'm making sense. But Sempai, I. . ." "Maya, the person you choose to see is a lot like the blond hair I have on my head. It looks blonde, but the roots are just as dark as yours. It's been a bit damaged trying to be blonde and keep being blonde. But in the end, it's just fake. Sooner or later, I know that you'll be disappointed in me. There's a lot you don't know about me, things you'd probably rather not know." Maya would've said something more, but the waiter brought Ritsuko her roasted pork loin with a side of seared foie gras while Maya received her pasta with chanterelle mushrooms. "How did you meet Kaji?" said Maya. "Oh, I met him through Misato. He was her boyfriend in college. He hasn't changed much. His hair is longer, but he still doesn't shave everyday and he needs someone to straighten out his tie. He's amusing, but he's a bit on the careless side. He's really not my type." "How are the kitties?" "Oh, the black one, Shadow, is doing fine, but my grandmother is a bit worried about Snow. She says he hasn't been eating properly and seems to be sleeping even more than usual. The vet says that it's probably old age." "How sad." "It's just how things are." While they were driving home, Maya said, "Ritsuko, are you in love with Commander Ikari." It took a miracle of concentration, but Ritsuko managed not to plow into a telephone pole. "What did you say?" "Uh, never mind." "You asked me if I was in love with Commander Gendo? Why?" "Well, you spend a lot of time in his office and whenever he spends time with Rei, you get this little crease between your eyebrows and your mouth gets really thin. It looks a lot like jealousy." Ritsuko didn't say anything for a while, then realizing that Maya was looking guilty, said, "Maya, when I was younger than you are now, I fell in love with someone. I least I thought it was love. He was a quite a bit older than I was. My mother talked about him like he was the smartest, greatest man in the world. From what everybody else told me, nobody else liked him. My mother said that was because he didn't suffer fools or idiots. When he wasn't paying attention to you, he could be so cold. But when you had his full attention, it was like being at the other end of a laser beam. Underneath that chilly exterior, there's drive, ambition, passion. He's not a sentimental man, but I don't care for those. There's a hunger that he doesn't show to other people, a directness. Yet he's a man in total control of himself. Something about him intrigued me. It's something that's not based on logic." "After I joined Gehirn, my mother died. I wasn't sure anymore of what to do. Gendo took a personal interest in me. I was flattered that he did so, there are very few people who get to talk to him on a regular basis. I was about your age then. He told me that he thought I was capable of being the chief scientist of the Eva project. I told him I wasn't as good as my mother. He told me that I was even better than her. The affair started soon after. We've been keeping it a secret so it wouldn't affect work. I guess you must feel a bit disgusted with me." Maya shook her head and on her face was a radiant smile that surprised Ritsuko. "No, I'm glad you told me." "But why?" "Because this is the first time you were ever this open with me." It finally struck Ritsuko how much Maya loved her. They finally reached Maya's apartment building. Maya turned to Ritsuko and said, "Goodnight, Sempai and thank you very much." "Goodnight, Maya." Ritsuko said, watching the young woman walk into the apartment building before riding off. Strange, she thought, I've felt ice and I've felt fire, but I've never felt warmth like this from Gendo. Ritsuko went home and went to bed after taking a shower. The phone rang in her bedroom. "Hello," she said. "Ritsuko, it's Gendo. Mind if I visit you?" "Not tonight." "Oh?" Surprise added feeling to the usually cold voice. Was it jealousy or worry, Ritsuko thought. "Why?" "I had dinner with Maya and I'm very tired. I'll be up to it tomorrow." "See you tomorrow at work." "Good night." she said before hanging up the phone. She looked at the kitty salt shakers on the little table next to her bed and went to sleep. THE END