Seishoku Garasu Studios Presents…
The city of steal and glass slept. It was a quiet, peaceful sleep, one that was destined to bring good dreams to those whom the sandman had paid an early visit to their bedrooms. Unfortunately, buried deep within the ground underneath the technological marvel of Tokyo-3, a man sat alone in his room, untouched by the sands of sleep. Some would say that he never slept, as they had always seen him in this same room, in the same position every day, still others assumed that he had simply scared the sandman away. The latter people, when scoffed at, would always site that one day they found a twitching fairy-like figure in the corner of that room with black and blue bruises all over his body. Weird things like that, though, happened everyday with this man; this was life under Gendo Ikari's command. A life filled with half terror and half weird.
Tonight, like every night, the man who literally had the world eating from his hand still sat in that large room, in the same position he always sat in. To view this position was to know the depths of fear, for Gendo Ikari did not use this position for just any old day, no, this was his classic thinking pose. It was reserved for those times when his mind turned out evil plots that were meant further his agenda, to make his precious scenario come true. Tonight however, was different than the other nights in this respect. For tonight, Gendo was not thinking of plots, nor was he thinking of his many enemies. Tonight, Gendo Ikari was thinking of panties…or rather, the raider that stole them for a profession.
Gendo was not a stupid man, a fact that would belly his position and the respect, if not fear, that he was regarded with by the general populace that had had the pleasure of meeting him. He recognized talent when he saw it, and his short dealings with the panty raider had by and large impressed him greatly. He needed someone with that ingenuity, that daring, and some of those darn cool gadgets that he had heard rumors of the panty raider possessing. Hence, the reason for his thinking spell tonight for tonight he was thinking of way to make the praider himself come work for him.
The supreme commander sat like that all night, thinking and plotting. The sandman dared not approach that hallowed office that night or any other night while that man was there. After all, he didn't need another set of bruises to match the last set, did he?
When the night was finally over and the morning light entered the tinted window before Gendo's desk, the man stood up and smiled. He had a plan, and it was time to put it into action.
An Original Fanfic by Garasu…
Elsewhere, the morning tendrils of light were also just beginning to reach a certain other residence, and the occupant of the current room acknowledged them with a grunt and a tired yawn. It was time for Shinji Ikari to get up and get dressed.
Once his final morning reparations were completed, Shinji took the rare moment to himself to occupy his mind with simple chores of a personal nature, like checking his ill-used e-mail account and seeing if there were any jobs left in his queue from last night. This morning in particular gave the young man a general feeling of happiness as he checked the state of his many bank accounts. Today was the day he had hoped and planned for, the day he could finally use that one special account for the purpose it was intended. He had the funds transferred just the other day and now all it would take was the order and then everything would be squared away.
Momentarily, Shinji experienced a brief pang of nervousness as he picked up his phone and dialed the number that he had been given months ago by a friend to contact when he was ready to buy. As the phone rang, his sense of fear increased substantially. It was a very calculated risk doing something like this. He was never sure how the person he was trying to reach would react in this situation. He had never done anything like this before and despite the courage and strength that being the Panty Raider had given him, it had all seemed to leave him at this final moment of truth.
Shinji's fears were interrupted by a quiet answer on the other side of the line, and the young pilot schooled his voice to sound calm and controlled as best as he could.
"Hello, is this Mr. Hans Rasche?" he asked quietly in his best German, which wasn't very good at all. Why did he always manage to sound like a bad dub when he spoke any language besides his own native tongue?
"Yes, this is. I assume this is Shinji Ikari?" The older sounding man replied jovially, instantly putting Shinji at ease. "Would you like to conduct this transaction in English? I'm afraid Japanese is not known to me, and German definitely doesn't sound like something you are comfortable with." Hans continued kindly in strong, heavily accented English. Japanese, he knew were expected to take one or two foreign languages when they went through school, one could expect with good results that one of these at least, was English. Still he was greatly impressed that this man had attempted to speak his own language.
Shinji breathed a sigh of relief as the man on the other end of the phone line switched over to English. Granted he did not quite grasp all the concepts of that difficult language, but he understood more than his flagrant non-ability with German. It had taken him forever and a lot of discreet questions to Misato, whom had lived there for a brief time, just to learn how to greet someone.
"Thank you, Mr. Rasche," Shinji said quietly in a little stronger voice, gaining some of his confidence back with the kindness and respect that Hans had shown him so far.
"Now then, I assume you're still interested in the item that we spoke about before in our e-mail correspondence?" Hans asked Shinji, getting straight to the point. It was, after all, an international phone call, and those didn't come cheap nowadays, even with the ever rising level of technology in play.
"Yes," Shinji answered shortly, a little bit of his nervousness coming back to kick him in the rear. This was a lot of money to be spending with no guarantee of results, but hopefully, it would be a good reaction. He prayed it would be a good reaction.
"She really is a fine specimen." Hans observed, remembering what the item in question was with practiced ease. "You really do have a fine eye, and I'm sure you will be more than pleased with her. As I mentioned earlier, all accessories will be included, top quality. You wanted no expense spared, I'm sure."
Shinji Ikari nodded to himself, quietly affirming for his conscious that this was the right decision. He had no choice really, when he saw the item for the first time, he had known since that moment he would get it, and he wasted no time in telling Hans that he was interested. Something like this only came around once in a lifetime, and they did not last for very long. Especially for something like this, which had been a stroke of immense luck at all that he had even ran across it.
"Is there any special way in which you would like to be paid?" Shinji asked the man, once the list of accessories that were to come with his purchase had been vocalized.
"I think I'll leave that up to you, young man. You have my account numbers." Hans answered confidently, he couldn't quite explain it but for some reason this customer sounded a lot younger than he should be for such a purchase as this, but he didn't doubt the seriousness of the initial offer that came through to him. It was more than generous, and after only haggling a little bit, more just for show than anything else, they had finally agreed on a price of ten thousand American dollars. More than fair in his opinion for the quality.
"I'll even ship her today so that she'll be there in time." The older man continued, smiling slightly on his end of the line. It was so nice to know that some people had at least grown up right what with all the hell that had happened almost sixteen years ago.
With the business transaction all but done, Shinji felt his tense body begin to relax. What happens, happens, for better or worse now he was in this deal and couldn't back out now. He quickly called up the secure connection to his special bank account and noted that even with this major purchase he would have money to spare. With a final sense of closure, Shinji pressed the execute button and watched as the wire went through and was approved.
"Thank you Mr. Rasche, you were a great help in this matter." Shinji told the elder man politely before they both exchanged a round of brief but heart-felt good bye's and then hung up.
Immediately afterwards, Shinji cast an eye in the direction of a certain room down the hall and mumbled to himself then smiled. She would like it.
Panty Raider Episode 4: Final Raid!
Asuka Langley Sohryuu groggily woke up from the previous nights' slumber, unconsciously echoing a thought of happiness coming from down the hall. Her reasons, however, were completely and utterly different than her roommate and fellow pilot's happiness. Within moments, she was up and had her arms filled with various sweet smelling soaps and shampoos. She had to look her best today after all, for today the Panty Raider, AKA the Stooges would be shot down in the flames of humiliation that would be so bright they would both never want to return to school again.
Asuka's smile grew wider and wider as she padded over to the bathroom, ready to begin the day of humiliation and disgrace, and start it off right. However, as she passed the section of the house that belonged to Shinji, she somehow managed to catch a brief phrase coming from her fellow pilot's room that set her mind into a state of confusion.
True, it wasn't that unusual for the baka to be up at this time of morning, but why in the world would he be on the phone at this hour? Surely nobody, not even his idiot friends would be up at this time of day! Then, of course, there was the fact that the phrase she had managed to catch was a horribly mangled, but still audible greeting in German. Asuka's happiness dropped immediately and she scowled to herself. The wonder child was up to something again, and anything that would involve him speaking German didn't sound good at all for her.
Quietly, the red head shuffled up to the door, careful that she would not be heard standing outside and placed her ear against the door, her bathing goods forgotten for the time being. Nothing set her on edge than a mystery, and nothing set her even worse on edge when that mystery involved the Third Child. Asuka strained with all her might to hear what was going on in the room but as her bad luck would have it, Shinji never said much of anything, but thankfully he did switch over to English after the first attempt at German, a language Asuka knew even better than Japanese.
What in the world is that idiot up to? Asuka asked herself as she continued listening to the quiet conversation that was going on in the room. "It sounds like…like…"
"A business transaction, perhaps?"
Asuka froze at those words, words that were not hers, even though that last phrase had been spoken to herself out loud. Slowly she turned around and cringed with every degree her eyes took in. Misato, it seemed was in one of her trivial wake up early moods, and the mauve headed major was now standing directly behind her, smiling for all she was worth.
"Good morning, Asuka, find anything interesting in Shinji's room? Perhaps a certain pilot?" Misato asked, with the smile on her face growing even bigger by the second. These were the moments she lived for. Shinji was fun to tease but after a while it happened too much, he simply gave her too many opportunities. Asuka, however, was almost never caught at anything she could tease the young pilot with so when they did happen, Misato seized them with an almost maniac glee. "Why don't you go on in, I'm sure he's arranging something nice for you and would just love your company."
"I… uh…that is to say," Asuka for all her genius was caught speechless by the unrelenting Misato. She couldn't find any way to properly explain why she had her ear stuck to Shinji's door and listening in to whatever the boy was doing. If she said that she thought he was doing something perverted Misato would simply point out that she appeared to be simply fascinated and that would give her guardian a whole world of things to open up into. If she said anything else she would be confirmed as an eavesdropper, listening to things that weren't any of her business. Simply put, she was screwed. Fortunately, though, Asuka had one defense left in situations like this, when in doubt get mad.
"Ugh, I can't believe you were trying to insinuate that I would even be trying to listen to that pervert!" Asuka said in a tone that conveyed as much anger as she could without making her voice immediately audible to the still quietly talking Shinji. "I would never ever want to listen to what that pervert says or does." With a final huff, Asuka gathered her nearly forgotten bathing items and walked stiffly down the hallways and slammed the doorway to the bathroom shut behind her.
Misato could only look after her young charge and smile, before she pressed her ear to Shinji's door and tried to make out what it was he was saying. It had to important if it got Asuka's attention, after all.
The walk to school was a quiet one for both Shinji and his companion. Asuka dared not bring up anything lest she let it slip that she had heard snippets of his phone conversation earlier that morning, and Shinji for his part did not want to say anything lest he slip that he was planning something big. The last thing he needed was her pestering him about what it was and whom it was for and when it would be arriving. She had a nasty and scary habit of getting what she wanted out of him, though he was proud that he had at least managed to keep his mouth shut over that fiasco a few days ago with the rope and chair. She didn't find out anything that would kill him and for that, the young man was very proud of himself.
Still, thinking ahead and what exactly Asuka was capable of, he should probably warn Touji and Kensuke that she might breach this subject with them in her typical loud and annoying fashion. They would at least find it pleasurable to prove her wrong. Shinji sighed, he secretly hoped that his red-haired roommate wouldn't take things too far, but judging from that manic gleam in her eye, she was definitely not planning to go along with his wishes.
Finally, after a few more minutes of interminable silence the pair arrived at their school and as with each morning broke off immediately to each find their respective friends. Shinji immediately spied his own group and made his way quickly over to them.
"Hey, Shinji, what's up?" Kensuke was the first person to speak as the young EVA pilot made his way over to where he and Touji were standing just outside of the door to their school, a little to the left of the entrance. Shinji smiled shyly in reply.
"Good morning, Ken, Touji," the young man nodded to each of his best friends and then settled into a quiet silence for a moment. He had to think of just how exactly he was going to break it to his friends that Asuka had gotten it into her head that they were the Panty Raider. With his luck they would take it quite well, after all they worshipped that character, and they would love for the opportunity to prove the perfect Demon Child wrong.
"Umm, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for both of you…" Shinji began, getting the full attention of his friends. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get any further than that.
"TOUJI SUZAHARAAAA!!!" The cry went up and despite the distance that had to be coming from, carried quite easily over the schoolyard. Oh man, Shinji thought to himself dismally as he instantly recognized the voice of the class representative. From the look of total and complete fear on his taller friend's face, Touji didn't take long in recognizing it as well. The EVA pilot hadn't counted on Asuka sharing the news to Hikari before she had made her general announcement. This wasn't going to be pretty.
"C-Class Rep!" Touji stuttered as he finally saw the thin brunette making her way quickly up to him. In a mere moments she was right in front of his face, and despite the centimeters he held over her, she still managed to instill him with fear.
"You, come with me," was all the girl said before she grabbed Touji's ear and began to pull him off to a quiet corner of the school yard, no doubt to maim the object of her affection and then bury him so nobody would ever be able to find him. Hell hath no fury next to the class rep mad.
"Oh, man, whatever did you do?" Kensuke asked, momentarily not thinking about what he said when the opportunity to tease his friend came up. "I promise, we'll remember you with…owwwww!"
Kensuke soon found that he couldn't really speak anymore with the pain radiating from his ear. Apparently, the class rep was very good at using both of her hands. "You're coming too," the brunette muttered angrily and set an expression on her face that brooked no argument from the war otaku.
Shinji just lowered his head and shook it slightly. This was turning out to be completely not what he expected. He thought that Asuka would announce it to the rest of the class or worse, the school, to try and embarrass his friends. This…this scene was much, much worse. Quietly, he watched as his two best friends were unceremoniously and quite painfully by the look of it, led off to a quiet corner of the schoolyard.
"Humph, those perverts deserve everything Hikari gives them," a new voice from just behind Shinji made the boy turn sharply and come face to face with the evilly grinning visage of Asuka. "Come on, baka, we'll be late if we stay out here too much longer."
"Did you have to tell Hikari?" Shinji asked quietly, as the Asuka grabbed his arm and began leading him up the steps into the school. "I thought you were going to announce it or something, you know to everyone in the class."
"Goes to show how much you know," Asuka humphed again, then she turned around and gave him a critical eye. "I thought that while the public angle would have been much more satisfying, causing those two pain at the hands of the class rep would be much more fun to watch. I wouldn't count on them returning for the rest of the day, Hikari sounded pretty ticked."
Shinji sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time that morning. Why did Asuka have to be so unpredictable? All he wanted to do was warn his friends. Mere moments later they arrived at their classroom and Asuka violently shoved him inside before anyone they knew could see that she had grabbed his hand to lead him into the school.
True to Asuka's words, just before the bell rang Hikari walked in dusting off her hands as if she had something unpleasant on them. Kensuke and Touji were no where to be seen. Shinji just added another sigh to his list and placed his head down quietly on his desk. All he could really do was hope that his friends weren't hurt too badly.
The morning went by pretty slowly for the bored young man as he fought to stay conscious much less pay attention to what the teacher was talking about. Just as Shinji was about to nod off, however, a familiar buzzing sound emanated from his school bag.
Hmm, maybe another job? Shinji thought to himself, no longer at the edge of sleep. Since he had bought the gift that he wanted just this morning, technically he could retire from the panty raiding business, and certainly he was going to make sure he did soon. With Asuka hot on his trail, for she would probably soon figure out that Ken and Touji were certainly not the panty raider, it was getting too dangerous to be in this business. But, of course, I haven't announced my retirement yet.
That thought brought Shinji a brief amount of private amusement as he hit the proper button sequence on his laptop to bring up his encrypted chat screen. It was definitely time to think of retiring if he was beginning to enjoy this job a little too much. Sometime, it had become more than just a moneymaker for him, and that kind of worried the boy.
As soon as he entered his chatroom, Shinji's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. It seemed that he has a repeat customer. Something that he had not had ever since he had begun this job. But this guy paid him really well the last time, so he might as well hear him out, especially if the job this time was as easy as the last one was.
praider Ah, the mysterious Riakfan returns. It is good to see you again. What may I do for you?
riakfan Actually I thought that perhaps I may do something for you this time around.
Shinji raised his eyebrows a bit more. This was definitely getting interesting.
praider I'm listening.
riakfan I have a slight business proposition to make. You see, I'm in charge of a certain organization. An organization that desperately needs the skills such as the ones that your possess. I would love to meet you directly so that we may discuss what I'm sure can be a very beneficial compensation package for your services.
Shinji blinked. This...was…different. He had never had anyone suggest before that he could do the whole spy thing professionally. Truth be told he did like it, but what would kind of things might he be required to get if he went to work for this person? Suddenly the boy shook his head. That was impossible. He was an EVA pilot, he had to be ready at all times. There was no way that he could manage a super secretive job like this for very much longer as long as the angels were attacking, as much fun as he thought he would have, it was just impossible.
praider I wish I could take you up on your offer, but unfortunately I have a standing rule about never knowing who my customers are and them never knowing who I am. Things could get quite dangerous if they were to find out certain things.
Shinji smiled slightly. That was as good a reason as he could come up with. It was, after all completely true. If any of his clients found out that he was an EVA pilot it would be all too easy for someone to let that slip or even worse extort him or his friends. It was just the way things were.
riakfan That is truly a pity. If you ever change your mind, you know where to reach me.
Hmm, he agreed a bit too easily for that. Shinji thought, staring at the blank screen questioningly. I wonder that was all about anyway? Oh well, best not to think about that right now. Just as he thought that, the lunch bell rang and Shinji closed his laptop and gingerly got up from his seat. It would be a lonely, lonely lunch without his friends. Maybe he should try and find them and see if they need any medical help. With that the young man made his way out of the classroom and blended instantly in with the crowd as it milled around for the lunch break.
Rei Ayanami watched the figure of Shinji get up and walk out of the classroom. Outwardly, she showed no emotion whatsoever, business as usual for her, but inside was a completely different matter. Inside, Rei was smiling brightly with anticipation. She had been monitoring his connection like she always did. It seemed that he had been contacted again by a client, and while there had been that one strange blip on her watcher program indicating that something was tracing him, it only lasted for a few milliseconds. She supposed it was nothing much to concern herself with though, after all she would be able to follow him again tonight.
Rei happily occupied herself with that thought for the entire lunch hour. Maybe tonight she would even be able to use one of those cool new spy gadgets she had bought.
Gendo Ikari closed his remote connection with the Magi with a grim smile. His tracer had worked like a charm, and while he had been initially surprised at who the panty raider was, he held it hidden well. Shinji was his son after all, it was nice to see some of his genes beginning to show through in the boy. If anything, the elder Ikari was…proud of his son. It showed real initiative to pull off something like his son had been doing for the past few months as well as he did. Maybe he underestimated the boy earlier?
Such was life however, and the elder man didn't spend too much time thinking of his mistake. He had to make sure phase two went into effect and the mere fact that his son was the panty raider made it even easier to initiate. He wanted those cool spy gadgets and by god he was going to get them, along with services of the panty raider himself.
"Ah, Yui," he said quietly to the ceiling. "You would be so proud of your son, now." Then he went back to the planning of phase two without another word.
That evening, Shinji was wandering the halls of Nerv alone. He didn't really feel like going home at the moment and besides, Misato was still working. His guardian had promised that they would go out to eat tonight because Asuka had gone over to Hikari's immediately after the synch tests were done for dinner. Misato liked doing strange things like waiting for Asuka to leave and then taking him to dinner. He supposed it was just as well anyway, he didn't really feel like dealing with her. Shortly after lunch began, Shinji had found his two friends slowly trying to claw themselves to the nurse's office with two fingers each between them that were still capable of movement. If he hadn't been so concerned with helping them he would have found the situation quite funny. He had really hoped that Hikari would just drop it after this point. Asuka had certainly gotten her revenge, even if it was on the wrong person.
Still Shinji couldn't help overhear the impetuous redhead muttering something about how she couldn't believe she had showed that picture to those perverts. That they probably had it saved somewhere on their computer. Something told the boy that he probably wouldn't be hearing the end of it for quite some time.
Silently, the young man leaned against the railing that he was currently standing near. Somehow whenever he had things on his mind and he began wandering the halls of Nerv he had always ended up in the EVA cages. This evening seemed to be no different, apparently as his gaze took in the hulking mass of his own unit-01, resting comfortably within the protective LCL that came up to its chin. Shinji's ears suddenly perked when he heard a muffled shuffling behind him and he began turning around to see if it was Misato, ready to go.
A voice however stopped him mid turn. It was a voice he instantly recognized.
"Shinji," Gendo uttered softly as he came up next to his son.
"Father," Shinji replied with no less steel in his voice. He had gotten better at imitating his father's voice lately.
"Somehow, I expected you to be here," Shinji's father continued as he echoed the younger man's position against the railing and stared up at the form of the evangelion.
"I see." Was all the younger Ikari answered with.
The apparent lack of interest in his son did not phase Gendo one bit. If anything it made him even prouder of the boy. He was truly learning. That fact made his decision even easier in his mind.
"I'm curious," Gendo finally said after a moment of silence spent regarding the smaller boy next to him. "It seems that your synch scores have gone up, even after the addition of your night job. I'm curious as to how you managed to keep them both separate.
Shinji's eyes widened imperceptibly at his father's admission. Outwardly he tried to remain calm and summed his best Ikari Business Mode face.
"Night job? I'm not sure I understand, father," Shinji intoned flatly, sparing a moment to look up at his father, directly in his eyes. Something he had never been able to do before, but he would have to celebrate this little victory another time. He had a secret to hide.
"I see. Do not worry, Shinji. If anything once I realized it was you I became quite proud of you. It seems you are finally growing up into a young man."
Shinji was no absolutely floored. Although the voice inflection was still flat and with the hint of steel that his father's voice always carried, the man just complimented him. His father…just complimented him!
Stay calm, Shinji, stay calm. The young man took a few breaths to collect himself, and swallowed his joy with difficulty. His father still knew about his secret, this was still bad news in his book.
"I was wondering if I could continue my proposition earlier and once again offer you a position along with me. You would still have to pilot but just think of it, you could actually continue what you were doing, but for more…legitimate dealings." Gendo finally spared another moment to gaze down at his son and gauge the young man's reaction. Still nothing readable, he really was learning.
Earlier proposition…earlier proposition…oh my...god. My father is riakfan? That would make...oh...oh dear. That would mean that the 'riak' stands for Ritsuko Akagi. Oh god oh god I stole Ritsuko's panties! She wears leather panties? No…no! Don't think about that! Shinji stared up at the man next to him, completely and utterly shell shocked now, he wasn't even bothering to hide it anymore.
"You…you are 'riakfan'?" He asked his father shakily.
"Correct. But that is irrelevant." Gendo extended his hand out to Shinji, willing the boy to take it. He wanted those cool spy gadgets, dammit!
"Join me, Shinji. Join me and together we can overthrow SEELE and make our own destiny as father and son. Together we can bring back Yui."
Shinji backed up slowly, staring hard at his father's hand, the he raised his eyes back up to his fathers. Those cold pits of steel blue, the same color as his, behind amber colored glasses and Shinji could feel the fear beginning to return to him. Join his father…his father complimented him, was proud him. Join his father. Bring…back…mother? No! It wasn't real, it couldn't be real!
The young pilot began backing away from the man in front of him even faster. Gendo saw his position begin to slip. He had to try one least time.
"Join me, Shinji. It is your destiny," he repeated trying to close in on the boy as he backed away.
I'm sorry, Father I can't…I just can't!" Shinji turned and ran as fast as he could. He ran away, as far away from his father that his legs could take him without physically leaving the center of the Nerv complex. Ironically, he ran directly to Misato's office.
"There you are Shinji!" Misato called cheerfully, as he came within her sight from around the mounds of paperwork that always graced her desk. "Ready to go? I know this great little place just around the corner from our apartment. We can go teppan tonight if you want to?"
"Yes, let's go." Shinji calmed his mind for the moment. He was safe now. Misato would protect him. He slowly let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and willed his beating heart to slow. Yes, Misato would make sure he was all right.
Meanwhile, Gendo stood frozen in place until long after his son left his presence. Finally after a virtual eternity, the supreme commander of Nerv straightened and adjusted his glasses.
"Come so far, yet still falls short," the elder Ikari muttered and then with a push of his ever present glasses, he spared a look up towards unit-01 standing guard over the darkened cages before leaving. "I tried Yui, I tried."
Much later that evening, as Misato lay snoring over her latest victory against the Evil Six Pack of Yebisu, a shadowy figure moved among the shadows of the three-bedroom apartment. Shinji Ikari moved with the quietness of the wind as he maneuvered himself to the porch door without waking his sleeping guardian or the unconscious penguin beside her. It turned out that the young raider had received another job later that afternoon while he was away and the money promised to be good. This was the last job that he agreed to, as tomorrow, the Panty Raider was officially retiring from the business.
Silently, Shinji moved out onto the porch and looked down, looking for anyone out at this time of night that could spot his unique exit from the apartment. Spying no one, he adjusted his rope and jumped over the side of the railing, exhilarating once again in the feeling of free fall that rappelling over dark buildings gave him. Ate the end of his downward journey, Shinji hid his rope so he could easily find it later then disappeared into the darkness, unknowingly being tailed by a figure in black, and still another figure in hastily donned shoes and jacket.
Asuka Langley Sohryuu was officially confused. She hated that feeling. It seemed that just when she thought she was able to figure her roommate out, he went and did something like sneak out of the house in the middle of the night. Of course it had been just sheer luck that she was able to spot him, when she had gotten up to use the bathroom mere minutes ago, he had seemed to be able to hide himself well. What was even stranger about the situation was that he had not gone out the front door, as she had expected normal people did when they left the house, he had to go out and then right over the ledge of the back porch.
Asuka sighed and sucked in another lungfull of air as quietly as she could and then picked up her pace to keep up with the rapidly running black figure ahead of her. It seemed as if Shinji had been doing some illicit exercising as well. He was getting fast. No matter she was going to get to the bottom of this tonight, no matter what. With that resolve she stared hard at the running figure and continued to run after him into the night.
Why is the second child involved in this?" Rei thought to herself quietly as she padded silently after the red head, who was in turn chasing Shinji. She was fairly certain the pilot of Unit-02 did not know of the third child's activities at night, and would probably react badly should she find out. This thought process led to only one conclusion within Rei's mind, she must once again protect Ikari.
Quieter than a running cat, Rei increased her pace slightly and turned off the main road that the pair ahead of her was following. She had to get ahead of them if her plan was to work. Quickly, Rei set her new course and waited for the right time to act.
Shinji, blissfully unaware of the scheming and plotting going on behind him, ran on into the night. The house that he was going after was actually quite close to his own apartment so he didn't have very far to run. Within ten minutes he was approaching the street that he needed to turn down in order to access his final job. Excitement coursed through his veins as he finally saw the street sign and made ready to turn down it. This was it, the Panty Raider's final raid. He wasn't completely sure that he could give it up, the fun, the excitement of sneaking around, the exercise from all the running and climbing he had done over the last four months. But it had to end sometime, Asuka was getting to close, his father knew his secret, things just weren't the same anymore. He knew he must end it after this job or face being caught.
The young man was so caught up, however, in the elation of this being his final job he did not notice the figure approaching rapidly from the right. Within moments the two collided and bounced off of each other. Shinji reeled from the contact and twisted sharply to avoid spraining his ankle or worse. How could he have been so careless? Hopefully the person wouldn't say much to him and he could be on his way as soon as possible.
With an apology on his lips Shinji looked towards the figure that just collided with him and stared. They were already getting up and beginning to run to opposite direction that he should go. Before he could say anything the figure, identically dressed in black, strangely enough, was on its feet and running away. Shinji openly spared the back of the fleeing figure a few seconds of confused regard before he turned around and began running the opposite direction, completely unaware of the effect that collision had with another figure following him.
"Shiest," Asuka swore under her breath when Shinji collided with the figure. "That moron is such a klutz." In stopping, though Asuka took her eyes off of Shinji for just a few seconds, enough for her to find a hiding spot just in case he turned around. This momentary break was just enough for the switch to occur, and when Asuka looked back there were two identically dressed figures running in opposite directions.
"Shiest again!" Asuka swore, a little louder this time. "Which one is that stupid idiot?" She spent only a small amount of time regarding one or the other retreating figures before making up her mind which to follow. They would disappear shortly and if she hadn't made a quick choice she would lose both of them and go home empty handed, a case Asuka felt was not an option. Quietly, she began running after the fleeing figure from the left, her expression set in an even more angry countenance than before. Shinji would pay for this little jaunt later.
Through some strange luck, Asuka chose Rei to run after, leaving Shinji to go on with his business.
"Got them!" Shinji whispered to himself happily as he shoved the target into his backpack and made for the door he had entered through just a few minutes before. Without another word he reset the alarm and the made sure the doors were once again locked before he jumped off the slightly raised porch and began to make his way back home. It was fitting, in his opinion that the final job went off without a hitch. It couldn't have ended more perfectly. Tomorrow, the Panty Raider chatroom would be closed for good and he could go into retirement without another worry. His father would never reveal his secret, and Asuka would never again hear about the panty Raider's exploits. She would go on believing that she had stopped Touji and Kensuke from performing their 'job' and he would have a marvelous birthday present for her.
Shinji returned home as fast as possible, and happier than he had ever been that he could remember, he tossed off his clothes, changed and sank into his sheets.
An hour later, a very tired Asuka entered the apartment breathing heavily. She had just been led on a midnight tour of every place in the entire vicinity, and she was not a happy camper. She had seen Shinji shuffle back up the rope to the porch and was determined to catch him in the act of changing and really rip him a new one for this little quest of his. No one sane just got up and went for a little jaunt through the neighborhood. No one!
Angrily, the simmering red head shuffled over to her roommate's door and without any advanced warning through the door open, fully expecting a half naked Shinji that she could berate and scream at until she felt better. So it was with endless surprise that she found the boy silently sleeping within his covers. Apparently having been there for quite some time.
Asuka stood at the threshold of the boy's door for a few moments, absolutely stupefied. She had sworn she saw him exit out of the glass doors and then slip over the side of the porch. She had never bothered to check his room to see if it really was him.
"I must be delirious," She muttered under her breath before she closed the door and wandered back to her own room in a complete daze. "Abso-fraggin'-lutely delirious." With that she slammed her door shut and dropped her jacket, not even bothering with her shoes as she fell across her bed and went to sleep for the second time that evening.
Asuka completely missed the black clad figure slip over the porch edge, out from one of the plant shadows and then begin running back down the street in the general direction Rei Ayanami lived.
The weeks passed for Shinji and Asuka without any further incident. No one heard from the Panty Raider ever again, though several people still tried desperately to get a hold of them, he was indefinitely retired from the business. Soon after that final night, Touji and Kensuke were released from the hospital and were currently trying to work themselves back into the good graces of the class representative, complete with full arm casts.
Asuka's birthday snuck up on everyone quietly and without much fanfare. As much as she liked to call attention to herself, Asuka wanted her celebration to be small, with only her friend, Hikari, Shinji and Misato. Grudgingly, she allowed Touji, Kensuke, and Rei to tag along when Misato insisted that the party be just a tad larger. Still, everyone seemed to have had a great time, as evident by the large mess that she was currently in the middle of cleaning up, along with Shinji after everyone had gone either home or as in the case of Misato, passed out.
"Hey Asuka?" Shinji asked shyly, stopping from his job at sweeping the floor to regard his companion across the room.
"Hmmm?"
"Umm, I know that I got you a small card and birthday present before but, you see…I kind of got you something else, and I guess now would sort of be a good time to give it to you."
Asuka stopped picking up the various plates and cups from her corner of the room and stared curiously at Shinji.
"You got me something else? It better not be anything perverted, idiot. Because my answer is and always will be no way."
"Umm, no. I think you'll like it." Shinji replied, then smiled thinly. "I'll just go get it now."
Moments after disappearing into his room, Shinji once again came forward, this time lugging a sizeable box that was nicely wrapped and contained a card with Asuka's name on it.
Asuka, despite her curiosity, managed to hide her excitement well. She liked big gifts. They usually meant a little more money spent on them.
"I'm surprised that you didn't give this too me earlier," she commented as Shinji handed her the box and quietly wished her happy birthday, yet again..
"Well, I didn't want to make it a big deal. I thought this should be something that you and I…" Shinji paused, only now aware that Asuka was still staring at him. He never truly realized how pretty her eyes were when they weren't mad at something. "Th...that you and I could share." He finished, taking an audible gulp of air. The butterflies in his stomach were beginning to get unbearable.
Asuka, for her part, only gave the third child a quizzical stare before gingerly setting down the box and opening the wrapped present. What in the world could that idiot be blabbering about, now? Something that he and I could share, as if! But still, it was rather nice to get this present from him I wonder why he decided to give it to me now? In a few short minutes, Asuka found out.
The wrapping paper gave way to a cardboard box that was strangely covered with the German word for 'fragile' written on all four sides. The box gave way with some difficulty as the tape was well placed, but eventually, the ever more curious redhead got it open. Once the box was cleared however, she froze.
Resting comfortably within the packing peanuts was a violin case, a beautifully designed one as well. It's soft leather skin spoke of age and antiquity, but was no less oiled than the day it had left the shop. It had obviously been loved very greatly in its lifetime. Asuka turned to Shinji and raised her eyebrows, "How did you know I played the violin?"
Shinji just shook his head and smiled in that annoying shy way. "Just open the case."
Shrugging off the attitude that she would normally use when Shinji was acting funny, Asuka decided to be nice for just this once and comply with his request. Slowly, she found the zipper that was hidden underneath a small flap of leather and ran it along the length of its path. The case opened easily and with no hint of sound at all, the sign of well oiled joints, but Asuka never even noticed that fact as the image of a violin filled her vision.
It was old. That was her first surmise as she expertly lifted the musical instrument out from its protective casing and held it delicately. The wood finish was absolutely expertly done and in the low light of the room, it shone with an almost red tint, the fine grain of the wood a testament to its quality. Still something that Asuka could not quite shake was a feeling of familiarity with this particular violin. With shaking hands that weren't quite dictated with her mind, she flipped the instrument over and looked down towards the right hand corner. There, written in black permanent ink was a name. A name she knew well for she had heard it all throughout her youth, someone she had never known personally but through stories, pictures and recordings was able to follow that person's journeys as if she were right along with the woman.
"Anja Zeppelin Sohryu," her grandmother from her father's side. The entire reason she began playing the violin in the first place.
Asuka sat, stunned from this revelation for a moment before Shinji entered her vision and sat in front of her, the ever present shy smile upon his lips. "I heard you playing one night, really late," he began in answer to her silent question. "Later, when I was looking for laundry I found your violin sitting on your bed. I could hardly believe it was yours, it was small and scratched. I thought you would have a better one."
"I've had that violin since I began playing," Asuka said tonelessly, not even thinking about the fact that she was revealing something of her past to him. "I guess I never had any time to get another one. But how did you find this one?"
"I have a few people whom I talk with on occasion. They were friends of my music teacher before I came here, for some reason after I moved a few kept in touch with me." Shinji looked down and blushed. "After I saw your violin, I sort of…well I started asking around. I got referred to this one gentleman's site and we began talking. Somehow, along the way I mentioned your name and how I wanted to give you a violin. Next thing I know he showed me this," Shinji pointed a thing finger towards the case and instrument that was still delicately clutched to Asuka's chest.
"With you being who you are and everything, he gave me a very good deal on the violin." That was no lie, the violin was easily worth twice what he paid for it, but she would never have to know that.
"I…I don't know what to say Shinji," Asuka quietly lifted her head and looked at her fellow pilot in his eyes. It was possibly the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her, and this spineless wimp did it. How did he manage to blow every opinion she ever had of him out of the water, and yet still behave in an utterly weak fashion to the general public at large? Who was this boy?
"Just say you like it. That's all I need to hear." Shinji smiled. It was truth, one hundred percent. All he needed to hear was that she liked her gift and he could be happy.
"I...I…love it, Shinji. Thank you." Asuka leaned over and let her feelings fall aside, just for this night, just for this moment. Tomorrow she would go back to normal, and everything will be fine, but for tonight she wanted to show to this confusing boy that she was truly and utterly thankful. With Shinji blushing at the close proximity, but holding his ground, Asuka took his head in her hands and lightly kissed his cheek.
"Goodnight, Shinji. We can finish cleaning in the morning." With that, the young German got up and placed the violin back in it's place and padded off to her bedroom but not before she turned around and gave the bewildered third child a soft smile. Then she was gone, vanishing into her bedroom with a silent sound of a door closing.
Shinji just stared at the spot where he had last seen Asuka, then slowly raised his right hand to his cheek. It was still warm with the furious blush that graced his cheeks. She had kissed him, she liked her gift…a million things flew through the boy's mind within the space of a second, but somehow through it all he knew it would only be a one night thing. Tomorrow everything would go back to normal but for one thing: he would have this moment. This one perfect moment in which made all his months of raiding panty drawers worth it.
It was enough for him.
End
Author's Endnotes:
Yatta! I finally finished this thing! It was a long time coming, I know. Probably lot longer than it should have taken but I wanted to make sure that I said everything I wanted to say in this fic. And yes, before you ask, it was my original intention to begin this work with humor and end on a serious note. I'm afraid some may not like this ending, feeling that it was perhaps not within the spirit of the story, but I'm afraid that this is where it all ends. This was what I wanted to say, and I have said it in the best way I could. I really want to thank my pre-reader, Dante, who has been here from the beginning and has always encouraged me to keep the good ideas and trash the bad ones. Without him, this story would have been a lot different, and certainly not as good, in my opinion. Domo Arigato, Dante-san! For everything.I meant for this story to incorporate everything. I hope that as an author I made you laugh, that I made you say 'awwww', but most of all I hope that I have created a story that was as entertaining to read as it was to write. As always, comments are especially welcome. Please be on the look out for my next work, tentatively entitled "Kindred Souls" to make an appearance sometime soon. I really have to think about Infinite Wills though before I seriously consider another involved project. With that said, I will bid you all happy reading, and happy writing. Please continue to write all the entertaining stories that have kept me inspired and enraptured for this past year!
--Garasu
P.S.- When my site, Seishoku Garasu, becomes operational within the next week or so along with this story I will be making available certain site exclusives including: pre-reader inspired outtakes from the previous chapters, various alternate endings that I have come up with and written during the making of this story, and the alternate third chapter that I alluded to. Be sure to check in with me at www.omicronceti.com soon!