From: "Joyce K Wakabayashi" Subject: [Eva/Xover][FanFic] The Neon Mobius files [ ] will hold english translations of Japanese phrases for better reading. This is a follow-up I had in my disk that is kind of a sequel to the x-files cross over. This is a cross over of Neon genesis, X-files & Silent Mobius (Well, also Mobius Klein, which is like a prologue to silent mobius). i write stories in part to show that there is only one archetypal story. Well, enjoy. The Neon Mobius Files "Why are we going to Japan again?" Asuka says, glaring at the window at the soft, fluffy clouds roll by. The flight overnight had been less than satisfactory. How could anybody sleep in these chairs? she thought. Her eyes felt dry and the food had been nasty. She looked at Shinji who seemed unaffected. Baka-Shinji, nothing bothers him. "I've hear rumors of something strange happening in Neo-Tokyo," Shinji says, flipping through his case folder. "What happened to the first Tokyo?" "Something strange happened around July 1999. A good part of the city was destroyed. The official explanation was a terrorist attack with nerve gas that caused massive hysteria and hallucinations. The rumor is that it wasn't a terrorist attack, but an invasion from a parallel dimension. Despite all efforts by the government and various shadow entities to hide what really happened, there are some pictures of the monsters that attacked Tokyo." Shinji shows a picture of various monsters. He closes the file folder. "Neo-Tokyo managed to spring back to life and it's bigger than ever. However, there are still parts of the city that are still off-limits and the acid rain is even worse than Washington, DC." "What a crappy city, mooo." Asuka says. "Not only that, all the seasons disappeared in that area." "Really?" Asuka raised her left eyebrow in disbelief. "Yeah. It rains all the time, doesn't matter if it's spring or summer, fall or winter. Everything's mixed up." "Well, what kind of case is it?" "I'm trying to find about Project Gaia or G kei-kaku as it's also called. As you and I both speak Japanese, I thought it'd be worth a shot. There's been rumors of other dimensional beings. Perhaps it's all connected with Evangelion or Angels." "Baka-Shinji, you could've sprung for first-class, my legs are almost dead." "Asuka, do you want to pay for the difference between the prices of coach and first-class?" Asuka crosses her arms and growses. "Then be quiet." "Is anybody there going to meet us at the airport?" "Yes, Rally Cheyenne. She has some information about that project and she'd like to know about what I know. I've got a black and white photo of her." He takes a long wistful look at the photo of a handsome woman. "Kireii, nah." (Kireii means beautiful) "What!" shrieks Asuka. Looking at all these other women, chikusho.(bastard/literally beast) They land at Narita airport. A young woman is waiting for them. She was dressed in an expensive business suit, a bit severe for a woman who appeared to be in her mid-20s; but she was statuesque with a stern expression. She had an intelligent beauty with piercing blue eyes and a way of carrying herself that let everyone know that she was in charge. She also had long blue hair and two long earrings. She was definitely not a typical Japanese woman. "Hello, my name is Rally Cheyenne," she says in flawless English. "I'm Ikari Shinji and this is Sohryu Asuka Langley." She has blue hair just like my sister Rei, but her eyes aren't red. Strange, very strange, he thought. Could she be involved with Seele or Nerv? "Yoroshiku." Asuka says perfunctorily. (Yoroshiku means Glad to meet you) Rally said, "I hear that you are interested in what happened to Tokyo in 1999." "We should probably go to your office to talk things over. How did you learn English?" Shinji asks. The stern visage softened slightly. "My mother liked to take me and my sister all over the world. She herself was fluent in many languages. However, I've always considered Tokyo to be my home. I was born here. There's something about this city that makes it special. You probably wouldn't understand." "My parents used to live near here for a while. I moved away when I was little." Shinji said. "Is the traffic just as bad?" "Even worse. But we'll be going in my police car." Rally looks at Asuka without saying anything. "Is there something in my hair?" Asuka says, brushing through her hair with her hand. "No, my sister has the exact same hair color. It just reminds me of her, that's all." Rally says. They got into her car and it lifted off. "When did you decide to become a cop?" Shinji said. "In a sense I've always wanted to be a cop. I've always wanted to put my talents to good use protecting people. I decided it was my fate. Isn't that why you wanted to become an FBI agent?" "I basically am looking for the truth." "How about you, Asuka?" Rally says. "I'm an FBI agent because it's what I'm good at. It beats being a cop, any old time." "Asuka!" Shinji blushes, absolutely mortified. Rally, however, seem unruffled. "Well, the police over here are very different from the police in America. The police over here are armed with mobile police suits with major fire power. It's a little like having an army police the streets. I plan to command my own bunsho. I'm already head of a squad." "Is crime that bad?" Asuka says, looking uneasy. "Things in general are bad and are bound to get worse." "What does your sister do?" Shinji said. Shinji could see Rally tense at that question, then Rally relaxed. "She's fallen with a really bad crowd. I'm doing all I can to get her out. It's not something I like to talk about much." "Gomen." (gomen means sorry) "It's not like you'd know. Anyway, what is it that you want to know." There's a bit of a buzzy ring. "Excuse me, "she said. She took her cellular phone from her jacket and put it to her ear. "Hello, it's me, Rally. Oh, Mana, hisashiburi neh. (long time no see) You're back from visiting Genvara. You can tell me more about it later. I'm with some people right now. Well, anyway, say hello to Nana for me. No, I can't imagine her in a police uniform, either. Bye." She clicks off. "As you were saying?" "What is Project Gaia?" "I've been wondering where you got your information." "I have my sources." Shinji said. Kensuke and Kaji, were great at hacking into computers. . "I've heard a bit about you two." "Like what?" says Asuka. "That you've been checking to see if aliens or angels have been visiting this planet." Asuka crossed her arms. "Well, actually it's baka-Shinji who believes in all that sort of stuff." Shinji was furious at being called baka-Shinji right in front of Rally. Most of his friends and co-workers understood, but this was too much. "Asuka, yamete kudasai. (please stop) . . ." And she never calls anyone else stupid like she never says, baka-Toji or baka-Misato. "Hai, hai." Asuka said, "Tell us all about Project Gaia." Rally continued, "Project Gaia was an experiment that failed. My mother was part of the magic guild, one of the many groups involved. They were trying to use a cyclotron to find a new energy source for this world. Instead it caused the destruction of most of Tokyo. It was an experiment that should never have been done." "Could you tell us anything more about this project?" "Well, most of the information was destroyed in the accident. What remains is buried along with the cyclotron. It's been sealed up so nobody can re-start the cyclotron. Even the location has been kept secret. However, I was in Tokyo when the accident happened." "According to my sources, it blew up a hole in the time-space continuum." says Shinji. "Actually, it wasn't the cause of the hole." "But there was a hole." "Yes." "Have you heard of an international group called Seele?" Rally seemed genuinely puzzled. "Can't say that I have." "There must be some technicians from that time, who know about the project." "There were a great many people associated with that project. However, a lot of them died. The survivors have scattered all over the place. Now it's your turn to tell me what you know." "This information was heavily buried and in code. However, what we could make out was the names of several people involved in the project, most of them members of the magic guild. Avalanche Wong, Gigelf Liquer from Paris, Lufa Cheyenne; I assume she's your mother. I got some partial names like Brighton & Flex, but I can't get a fix on them. Could you tell me their whereabouts." Shinji said. Rally looked sad. "Gigelf Liquer is dead. He's survived by his wife and daughter. However, his wife wasn't part of the project, but quit being a TV personality to be his wife. Avalanche has gone back to Hong Kong. As for my mother, I've already tried to talk to her about what happened that year, but she won't tell me. That was the year that time ended. As for Flex, he was simply Gigelf's asst. and if you know anything about magicians, assistants don't know very much. I don't know where Brighton is. Maybe he went back to New York. The Maverick family is from the US from southern California, Los Angeles area. I still have some limited contact with them." "There's also been some rumors of heightened activitity in this city, heightened paranormal activity." "It's a big city." They then landed on top of the 00 bunsho. "This is my station." Rally said. "I've gotten a couple of rooms set up inside. I hope they're to your liking. I assume you want to recover from jet lag first." Shinji and Asuka went to their separate rooms. Shinji was about to put to unpack his shoulder bag and listen to his tape player when there's a knock on his door. "Who is it?" Asuka walked in looking a little disgruntled. "Well, aren't you going to join me for dinner?" "I was just about to unpack, but that can wait." He went to her room next door and sat down to a dinner that had been prepared for them beforehand. It was a big platter of sushi and two covered bowls of soup that was clear not brown like miso. Asuka sighed, "Sushi's not my favorite. I'd rather have pizza, but I heard Tokyo pizza is mazuii.(yucky)" "Are you kidding, Asuka? When sushi's fresh, the fish has a certain sweet flavor." He drank from the bowl with both his hands. "Oh, this is made from really good fish stock. Later, I'll take you out to really a good ramen place I've heard about. I know you like that." "This'll be fine." Asuka starts to eat quietly. After eating a few pieces, she says, "Do you think Rally is prettier than me?" "What?" "Do you think Rally is prettier than me?" "Well. . . I. . . uh, it's not like that. why?" "Why? You keep staring at her like your eyes are going to bug out." "No, it's just. . ." "Man, can't you just finish a sentence without trailing off." It would help if you didn't slap me and interrupt, thought Shinji. "She has blue hair just like Rei and her mother was involved with Project Gaia. I keep wondering if there's a connection between Project Gaia and Project Eva," he said. "Is that it?" "Well, she is pretty." "Hmph. Baka-Shinji has a hentai thing for blue hair, neh?" After all, red hair is sooo much prettier, she thought. Baka-Shinji has no taste. "Stop bothering me. I'm only going to talk to her about business. After all, you're not the only beautiful woman on this planet." Then Shinji stopped abruptly. Oh, my God, how is she going to take it? Asuka gasped and was about to raise her hand when she processed exactly what he said to her. She put both her hands on the table and leaned towards him with an expression of complete surprise. "What did you say?" "Ah, nothing." Shinji got up and bolted from the room. Once safely in his room, he thought, God, what a coward I am. I'll have to face her in the morning. Well, she'll go into denial and I can blame it on jet lag. Meanwhile, Rally sat at her desk, working overtime again doing paperwork. While she did have the rank of captain, she spent a lot of time doing paperwork and dealing with city officials. She also managed to meet with Parliament members and certain business men, especially the ones who privately operated the city's police to talk about the upcoming threat. Still, she felt as if she wasn't doing anything useful. They should be actively recruiting for a specialized squad, not just expecting the mobile police to handle everything. If I was head of , say, an Attacked Mystification Police department; maybe I could come out from behind this mountain of paper and actually do something, she thought. She looked out at the city with its perpetual grey sky of pollution. Acid rain began falling. Ame, mata ka, she thought. Tokyo, this city, is still beautiful, soiled as it is. No matter how many times you're razed; you'll come back to life just like the people who build you. Maybe that's why I turned down the chance to walk into the darkness of Nemesis. Nemesis has nothing as alive and amazing as this city and the spiritual power that protects it. Why can't Rosa see the same things that I see? She finally put down her pen. "If I don't stop, I'll die of karoshi," she said to herself, mockingly, referring to the Japanese phenomenon of dying of overwork. She got up and walked out of her office. Rally drove home. She waited at the apartment she and Rosa shared. She slept, but awoke when she heard Rosa walked into the apartment. "Where have you been?" Rosa was dressed in a slinky red dress with matching high-heeled boots. Rally pressed her lips together very tightly. Probably out carousing at a Shinjuku bar with some low-lifes. "It's none of your business. Stop acting so much like mom." "I promised mom that you wouldn't get into trouble." "You're just worried I'll get you in trouble with your police friends." The same old arguments done over and over, thought Rally. But how can we get away from them. "Rosa, you're my sister." "Yeah, your little sister." "I didn't say that." "Yeah, but I can hear it. I hate this place. I work as an office lady, for Christ's sake. God, I can't stand it. That boss leering at me. Just one spell and I could shove him out the window. Kersplat!" Rosa giggles at the thought of the sight of the man after hitting the ground from 20 stories up while Rally frowns. "I'm so much smarter and talented than everyone else. Why can't everyone see it? As for you. . ." "What about me?" Rally said. Maybe you'd get ahead if you weren't so damn. . . she thought. "I can't believe you're satisfied being some pencil-pusher at a police station. With both our talents together, we could change things. I know you hate having to deal with all those stupid men in Parliament. You could be Prime Minister of Japan at the very least. You wouldn't have to put up with the crap not when you're so much better than them. You keep complaining what a bunch of dummies they are." "Rosa, I've said this before. Power such as ours. . ." "Is barren and should not be used frivolously. Yes, yes, I've heard it all before. Hate this world." Rosa sits on top of the kitchen counter and bangs the heel of her high heeled boot against the cabinets below it. The rhythmic banging sounds starts to really steam Rally. "Rosa, you're scratching the surface." "Rally-nesan, (nesan means older sister) " she said. "You know an interesting man came up to me today." She jumps off the counter, knowing she's pushing her sister a bit too hard. She opens a bottle of wine and pours herself a glass. She takes a few sips. "What did he want? He didn't want you to work at a massage parlor, did he?" This was said as a joke, but it had a half-serious side. Rosa had gotten heavily involved in the past with some guys that were only a step away from being yakuza. Rosa snorts in derision. "Rally, give me some credit. He just said that he knew about my talents and that there's a place where I could use them and get all the things I deserve. He had long hair like Genvara, but not tied back." "What was his name?" "Mmmm. I believe it was Ganosa." Rally frowned and the air around her seemed charged with electricity. Her hair seemed to rise slightly. "Was his last name Maximillian?" "Yes, yes indeed. Do you know him?" "I've seen him once and mom knew about him. What did he say to you?" "Said there was a whole other world for me. A world called Nemesis." The glass in Rosa's grasp shatters. She drops the rest of the glass on the floor. "Now who's using her powers frivolously?" she said. "Ganosa is a man who sold his soul to the devil. Don't go anywhere near him!" The crest was apparent on her forehead, the crest that glowed whenever Rally was about to use all her powers. "Don't tell me what to do. I'm not a child any more." But Rosa lowered her voice, knowing that an angry Rally was a scary Rally. Rally smoothed out her forehead. "Rosa, he sold out the entire world out for eternal life and ultimate power. You can't trust him. You know what happened to Tokyo that day. Thousands of people dead, what he wants will cost millions of lives perhaps billions of lives. You want to be partially responsible for that outcome? You want to live among a world of monsters?" "Well, that's what everybody says I am, isn't it? I feel like I'm already living in a world of monsters." For a second, Rosa was quiet. "You don't understand how I feel. All you do is hide behind that huge mountain of paper." With that, Rosa ran to her room and slammed the door. She heard Rosa throw stuff around and punch the walls in absolute frustration, screaming that she hated everything and everyone in the world; that nobody gave a damn. Rally sighed, "You think I don't understand, but i do. Rosa. I really do. I care, why isn't that enough? Why don't you believe me? I'm in the same situation as you." Tears began falling down her face. I must be tired, she thought. She wiped them away and took a shower before nodding off in her own room. When she woke up, Rosa had already left the apartment. The next day, Rally invited Shinji and Asuka into her office. They stared at the foot tall pile of paper in her in-box. "What information do you have?" Shinji said, "According to the information I received, many of the same scientists who worked for Project Gaia, were also part of that expedition that was lost in the Antarctic. Others began working for Project Eva. One of them was Dr. Naoko Akagi; they say that her daughter Ritsuko also works for Project Eva. The senior of the two had briefly worked with Maverick. Dr. Katsuragi, Dr. Gendo Ikari and Dr. Yui Ikari were working on a project involving S-2 principles that would've meant unlimited energy; rumors were that somehow these two projects are somehow intertwined." "I've heard of Dr. Maverick and some of those names seem familiar. There's much more behind this than I thought. Every question we ask brings up even more questions." Asuka said, "What use is this information if we can't use it?" "Because maybe it'll lead to information we can use. Something terrible is going to happen. . ." Shinji said. "The fate of the world hangs in the balance." says Rally. Hmph, thought Asuka as she watched Rally and Shinji talk, if the world depends on baka-Shinji to save it, the world is doomed. Shinji pulled out a picture from his jacket and showed it to Rally. "This is a long shot, but I wonder if you've seen this girl before." Rally looked at the picture, frowning. "I've seen that girl on the subway. I noticed her because she was the only other person with blue hair like mine. Why?" "She's my sister. My father took her away from me when I was young. I managed to get this photo from . . . a friend. I've been looking for her all these years. Her name is Rei. She may be using the family name of Ayanami." "I've been keeping tabs on her. Her name is Rei Ayanami. She hasn't done anything, but there's always strange activity around where she is. Very strange activity." Rally, Shinji and Asuka were walking towards the apartment complex when they see something in the nearby alley. A monster with multiple legs and sharp claws jumped towards them. Rally frowned and her forehead had a glowing red crest on it. A shield sheltered them and the beast was blown to thousands of icky pieces. A shield, Shinji thought, an AT field? What the. . . Rally smoothed her forehead and had no visible change in her expression. She wasn't even sweating. "What the heck did you just do?" shrieked Asuka. "Oh, what the hell was that?" Shinji yelled. "What the hell indeed." said Rally. "It was a Lucifer Hawk." "Lu. . . What are they?" "That hole that you were talking about. It wasn't just a hole. It was a door, a forbidden door that never should've been opened. It was always open just a crack, but the cyclotron and Ganosa Maximillian blew it open. My mother and her friends tried to shut it, but Ganosa and his minions prevented that. That is one of the interdimensional creatures that you wanted information on. The guns that you use would be worthless against it. You would need a graviton gun to kill one of these things unless you knew magic, which I happen to know." "Was it sent to attack us?" Shinji said. "No, I think it was sent to attack someone or something else and sensed our presence." "Shit." says Asuka. "What was with that field?" "I'm a practioner of magic," Rally said. "What was going on in Project Gaia was that it was trying to merge magic and science to create something totally new. In that sense, it has some parallels with Project Eva. My mother was part of the magicians guild. She was one of the few women involved. I acquired her talents," Rally said while thinking, while I inherited even more from my father. "That's right," said Shinji, remembering his data. "I've never seen magic done by a human before." "If I had magic," said Asuka. "I'd use it more often." "You would, huh?" Rally said, pursing her lips tightly. She's so like my sister. "Of course. Hmph. Talent never goes to the one who deserves it." "You'd probably blast half of Washington, DC with it." says Shinji. "Urusai." says Asuka. (Urusai means shut up.) They walk to Rei's door and knock. There is no reply, but the door was open. They walk in. The room is spare with only a bed, a dresser, and a stove. A pile of used bandages are on the floor. A blue-haired girl in a blue school uniform is standing near the window with bandages wrapped around her head. "Rei!" he shouts. She turns and stares at him, blankly. "Yes, can I help you?" "Rei, don't you remember me?" "I can't say that I do." "It's Shinji, Ikari Shinji. I'm your twin brother." "Really?" The look on her face remained blank. The glad look on Shinji's face starts to fade. "You don't remember me?" "It's probably because I'm not the original." "What does that mean?" Asuka stares at her, then says, "Do you know who Gendo Ikari is?" Rei said nothing, but her face brightened a little as if the person means something to her. Rally pulls Shinji back. "Look at her, Shinji. She's too young to be your sister. She's a high school student. She might be a clone." "A clone?" says Shinji. "Yes." Rally turns to the girl. "Do you happen to know where either Gendo Ikari or the original version of you is?" "I can't really say." "You don't know or you won't say?" "I can't really say." "Do you know anything about Eva or Angels?" says Shinji. "I can't really say." "What the hell are you, a doll?" says Asuka. The first flash of spirit flashes across Rei's face. "I'm not a doll." Rally pulls Asuka and Shinji out of the apartment. "There's no use asking her about what's going on. She won't or can't tell." Shinji sits down on the steps of the outer stairway of the apartment building. "I really thought she was Rei, my Rei. She looks so much like her. I thought I wouldn't have to search anymore. But that girl in that room; she's just a stranger who looks like her." Asuka stands for a minute, looking uncomfortable, but then sits next to him and hands him some tissue. She puts her hand on his shoulder and says, "Shinji." Ugh, she thought, I hate it when he's like this. I don't like to see that yatsu cry. Rally also sits down and says, "Shinji, sometimes even sisters are strangers to the ones who love them. It's something I know. The sweet girl who called me ne-san without sarcasm when I was eight turned into a headstrong, angry woman who hates me." Shinji looks up, startled by her statement. "She can't hate you?" Rally shrugged. "She's angry at me and resents me; that's pretty close to hate." "Ikari-kun." They turn around to see Rei standing outside her apartment. "Yes, Rei." says Shinji. "There are others of me. Perhaps one of them is the sister you are looking for. If I happen to meet her, I'll tell her that you're looking for her and I'll ask her to contact you through Rally Cheyenne at 00 bunsho. That's all I can do." She was about to go back inside when Shinji said, "Rei." "What?" "Arigatogozaimasu.(Thank you ever so much)" He stood up and bowed in a most exaggerated fashion, but not in a mocking way. She smiled as if she was touched, then turned to Rally, "We are alike." "No," Rally said, "but we have similar problems." "So," Rei said. "Sayonara." Then she turned and shut the door. Rally drives a dejected Shinji and a frustrated Asuka through Tokyo. "It's strange, LH and Angels. Avalanche Wong had been studying some of the ancient texts. It may be that they're two faces of the same thing." "You think so." "I'm not sure. It's just a guess based on very limited data. Another possibility is that they're in direct competition with each other. Perhaps there hasn't been much activity is because these two forces have been duking it out between themselves before reaching out to take us. If that's the case, then I hope that they destroy each other; but the best I dare hope for is that one is destroyed and the other damaged enough so we have a fighting chance. But I know that LH would never join forces with anyone; they're not the sharing type; so I doubt we'd have to worry about them ganging up on us." "If only we knew what they wanted," said Shinji. "We know what they want. They want to kill us all." said Asuka. "That girl named Rei seemed to react to you. I think you were familiar to her somehow or perhaps she understood that you cared." said Rally. "Perhaps. But she seemed to also. . . " They hear a ring and Shinji picks up his cell phone. Shinji listens, then covers up the mouthpiece. "It's Skinner, he wants us to come back to the States. He says it's an emergency." "That's too much of a coincidence." says Asuka. "So neh," says Shinji. "Well, say no." Asuka says. "I'll tell him we can't come back yet." Shinji said. "Skinner, we can't come back yet. How big is this development? You can't tell me over the phone. Skinner. . ." He turns the phone off. "Well," says Asuka. "He says if we don't come back, we'll have to turn in our badges. We'll have to take a plane back by the end of the week." "This time, get 1st class," grumbles Asuka. Rally nearly smiles. While Asuka and Shinji crawled through Tokyo using robo-cabs following leads for the next few days, Rally was catching up on paperwork. One night, Rally was working on her own project at her desk. I'll have to work my connections with the LDP if I'm to get AMP developed. Perhaps I could get the backing of some of the larger corporations, she thought. There was a knock on the door. "Come in." Shinji came in with two bento boxes with rice, tsukemono, fruit & some fish. "Gohan desuyo. (dinner time)" "What?" "Well, Asuka went club-hopping by herself, and I hate eating alone. I don't mean anything by it except everyday I've been here, you've been working late. I guessed you'd still be here." "That was very thoughtful of you. How much do I owe you?" "Kore wa tada. (It's free) I mean I didn't have any omiyage (gifts), so this is the least I can do." She and Shinji started to eat quietly. She at her desk. He ate sitting on a chair facing her. "Shinji-kun?" "Yes." he says. "Why is Asuka your partner?" "Why do you ask that?" "She always calls you baka-Shinji and never has a pleasant word to say to you." "Because I feel compassion for her." "Compassion?" Shinji puts down his hashi and looks sad. "Don't tell Asuka I told you this." "I promise." After all, I have many secrets that I keep and will keep forever, she thought. "She was actually one of my childhood playmates, tokuno mukashi da ta a long time ago). She was actually quite nice, really. I used to call her Saru (Monkey) because she had a monkey doll. She got mad, of course. She's always called me baka when I made fun of her." "But something happened." "Yes, when we were both 15. Asuka was crying because her parents were divorcing. Her father had moved out of the house and was living with the woman he'd been sleeping with, a co-worker at the hospital he worked at. What nobody knew was that Asuka's mother had been taking pills to control her mood swings and hallucinations; she'd been self-medicating with some very scary combinations. She'd also been working on the Eva Project, being treated with LCL, a drug with psychotropic and hallucinogenic properties. I have a case file about those incidents. It looks like she was trying to contact an EVA. The data on this is not very clear. The results, however, were clear. She had become extremely mentally unstable, had been for years." "For days, Asuka didn't show up at school. In my family, nobody ever really tells each other anything. I had to get my information from being invisible and listening. It was only later that I heard her mother had hanged herself and they had to take Asuka to the hospital to pump all those toxic chemicals out of her stomach. Her mother had tried to poison her with an overdose of her medication, then strangle her while unconscious. The only reason Asuka was alive was because her father had shown up early to see Asuka. Her mother had wanted to have him find both of them just dead. They said that she had had a seizure and went into a coma for more than a month. When she woke up, the first thing she did was scream, then throw the hospital bed across the room. She began screaming that she hated everything and everyone." Rally closed her eyes. "They were thinking that she might suffer permanent brain damage. It took her several months to recover. I wasn't allowed to see her during that time. Her father and her step mother took her and moved away. I lost track of her for a long time until I heard she'd been also in the FBI, working on breaking up domal & LCL drug rings." "I tried contacting her, but she didn't want to talk to me. I think I reminded her of what had happened and that she was angry with me for not visiting. I think she really wanted to forget. But, I didn't want to lose her like I've lost everyone else. I couldn't stand it. She had worked temporarily with Kaji Ryouji, but Misato pulled some strings and got him to work for her. As she didn't have a partner, I asked that she be assigned to my project." "Asuka, once she heard of my research and its connections with what happened to her and her mother, stayed because she wanted revenge against the people responsible for her mother's death. But at the same time, she doesn't want to acknowledge what had happened to her. That's why she makes fun of my cases sometimes even though she works hard on finding out what's going on. She doesn't believe in the same things I believe; she only believes that their experiments caused her mother to kill herself and try to kill her. She thinks that I'm just focusing on the trivial, the strange when it comes to aliens, Angels and the supernatural, but I tell her that it's not trivial to me if it get us closer to what we need. I remember that you said that your sister had gotten in with a bad crowd." "Yes," Rally said, thinking Oh, if you knew what kind of crowd. "You must argue a bit because you're a cop and your sister is liable to get into trouble." "You could say that." Rally says. Wow, understatement of the year, she thought. "But you still love her. You want to protect her from everything that could possibly happen and you feel guilty if something does happen. Well, that's how I feel about Asuka." Shinji then hangs his head down. "Even if she doesn't return those feelings." "You're a good guy, Shinji-kun. Here's something that I've learned. You can love someone all you want, but they're so involved with their own pain that they'll hate you for not giving them more. Or they'll mistake your love for a sort of condenscending pity because they hate themselves so much that it warps their perception. Sometimes, someone is so unhappy that they want someone to blame; someone they can hold responsible. The person they blame may be having the same problem, may have nothing to do with the reason they are unhappy; but it has nothing to do with logic. They'll turn away from people who understand them and accept other things as substitutes like power and fear. Sometimes all you can do is be true to yourself and wait for the other person to realize that nobody else will love them as you do." "I might end up waiting forever." "That could be the case with me as well," she said. "Well, we're both being gloomy. Fu, fu. Thank you for the dinner. It's nice to talk to someone about something other than business. You have a plane to catch tomorrow, don't you?" "Hai." "You probably better start packing." "Hai." Shinji put his empty box into the bag and was about to leave when Rally said, "Shinji." "What?" "Ganbatte neh. (Keep trying)" Shinji smiles. "Hai. Good night." "Good night." Shinji has just stepped out of Rally's room when he sees Asuka standing in the hall way just outside her door staring at him. "Hi, Asuka." "What were you doing in Rally's office?" "Just having dinner and talking. It was just two bento boxes." "Did you have dinner with her because she reminds you of Rei?" "I hate eating alone and since you decided to go out by yourself, I thought I'd keep someone company. It was nice." "You're not going to stay in Tokyo, are you?" she said, trying to look indifferent by turning her head towards her door. "You're not going to stay and try looking for Rei, are you?" "No." What was she going on about? he thought, then he smelled a small whiff of alcohol. She's been drinking. She was wavering ever so slightly on her legs. "Rally didn't invite you to join AMP, did she? I could see that you were having fun talking to her about all those bakemono." Is she jealous? "No, she didn't." "Well, of course, she could see that you're devoted to your job in Washington. . ." The scorn was creeping back into her voice. "Did you prefer that I stay here?" he said. "Do you want to go back to Washington without me?" Does she hate me, still? Or am I imagining it? "What?" Shinji wavered slightly on whether to say what he wanted to say what he felt. Then he said, "You've never forgiven me, have you?" Asuka looked dumbstruck, then her face had that sad vulnerability that it rarely had. "What do you mean?" "You hate me, don't you?" "What are you saying?" Her wavering had stopped. "That time when when you were in the hospital." "I don't want to remember." "I tried to visit you but the doctors turned me away. I called your house, but your parents told me that you were still sick and that I would upset you. I couldn't just drive over when your father had moved the entire family all the way to Germany. But I didn't forget you. I didn't try to ignore you. There were days I just wanted to hear your voice say, 'Baka-Shinji' because that would've meant you were OK. I know how baka that sounds. When I heard you were working for the FBI and I asked for you to join me; I knew you were angry. But I didn't want to send you away because I didn't want to think I'd run away again. But now. . ." "Now. . ." "We've been working two years now. I've saved your life and you've saved mine. I still have the feeling that you have never forgiven me. I can't go on like this. If you can't find it in yourself to forgive me, then there's nothing in Washington for me. I know that I am no Kajii Ryouji. If you want to find someone who doesn't bother you like I do, that's OK with me. This is all I have to say." "Shinji-kun." Her face was still, but her eyes were shaking ever so slightly and they were glistening as if she was trying to keep from crying. "What?" "You're so stupid!" Asuka says before going into her room. Shinji is left standing outside. I've messed things up, he thought. I'll call my uncle and see if he has a spare room I can stay for a while. The next morning he was in bed still when he heard a ferocious banging on his door like something inhuman was trying to come in. The door opened and he saw a really angry Asuka standing in the doorway. He said, "Asuka, what are you doing here?" "Baka-Shinji, you have a plane to catch to Washington. You're not going to sleep your way out of a job. Okinasai yo (Wake up)!" She pulls the covers and screams at what she finds. Shinji went to sleep without a stitch on. He hastily puts a pillow over himself. "What's going on?" "Do you think I'm going to face the wrath of Skinhead all by myself? You must be crazy, mooo. You think I'm going to leave you here in Tokyo in the hands of that crazy blue-haired woman; she'll frown and blow you to pieces for Christ's sake. You need me to protect you from yourself." The wrath of Skinhead, Shinji thought. It sounds a lot like one of those ancient Star Trek movies. He briefly imagined the Enterprise being invaded by Neo-nazis before clothes began to rain on top of him. "Hurry up and get changed or we'll miss the plane home." "Well, if you don't want to scream, you better get out of the room so I can change!" Then he stopped and remembered what he had said last night. "Oh, wait, do you remember last night?" "Of course, I'm not crazy like you are. I was mad for a while, but I was mad at everyone for a while. But that was a long time ago, everything else you've been thinking has all been in your head. I'm leaving the room and don't come out until you're decent! Moooo." Rally gave them a lift to the Narita airport, then lands near the entrance. She watched their squabbling with some amusement. If they were to only truly talk with each other, so many of their problems could be resolved, she thought. Well, I'm one to talk. A small dark voice in her head said, Humans, this is what they are, how sad. Asuka hops out. Shinji turns to Rally and says, "Rally, I'm sure everything'll eventually turn out OK." "I hope you get your sister back. Sayonara." "That sounds too final for me. How about simply 'Until next time.'" Rally says. "Ok. Until next time." Asuka fumes, then takes his arm and drags him out of the car and off to the awaiting gate. "Hurry up or we'll be late." Aoi kami na onna, minna dai kirai, she thought. "Asuka,enough." But Asuka held on to his arm all the way into the airport, which he would've enjoyed if her grip wasn't so intense. Rally sighs. Things were going to be hard, very hard from now on. Another battle will be coming soon. I may end up seeing you sooner than expected. A few wet drops began falling on her windshield. Rain again, when will it stop? she thought. THE END