Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ One-Winged Angel ❯ One-Winged Angel Chapter Two Rewrite ( Chapter 10 )

One-Winged Angel

Chapter Two

By Suekeiichi Kaiton (suekeiichikaiton@yahoo.com)

---Matsushiro---

He awoke before dawn, a cool breeze billowing through his open windows and playing across his bare shoulders. He shivered slightly as he pulled the thin sheet down a bit to expose his chest. He rolled onto his back and opened his eyes, waiting for the ceiling to come into focus before rubbing the crusty bits of sleep from the corners of his eyes. Scrubbing a hand through his semi-greasy hair, noting how it had clumped during the night, he yawned and attuned his enhanced eyes to the circular drop lamp hanging from the rafters of his attic bedroom. It was going to be a busy day.

He stretched, nude in the gaining light of day, and could already feel that it was going to be a scorcher. The horizon was swelling with sunlight opposite this house near the mountains, growing like an enormous pustule ready to burst and spray the landscape with light. The crackle of vertebrae echoed in the still gloom as he twisted his neck to and fro, culminating in the backwards summersault that ended with him bouncing primly on the balls of his feet. Movements of arms and legs flashed out quickly, the sum total exercise taking ten minutes and leaving his breathless. The GP Academy taught that morning exercises were the backbone of a well-disciplined and healthy lifestyle, which they of course espoused for all their operatives. Add to the usual GP routines a heavy dose of Juraian self-defense maneuvers, all of which done at three times their normal speed, and one had a workout that burned away half the calories of an entire day's food intake.

As he so often did in the mornings, he thought back on the mistakes he'd made in his life on this dimension. Several were more glaring than others but in the broad scheme of things he'd fucked up far too much for his scant thirty-four years of the plane of existence.

The house was cool from the night as he drew a bath and closed the windows from last night. It was simply a fact of life that, at least in Japan, one was forced to open their windows at night to let the cool evening air into a house and close them before dawn to keep the heat out. It was a delicate balancing act between the natural cool and air conditioning, one which he didn't personally enjoy but was forced to put up with while he lived in the perpetual summer of Asia. He personally preferred the cooler climes of America or the frozen wastes of Africa to the strength-sapping heat of Japan. After the basic housekeeping was over with and the bath drawn, Ranma scrubbed down and soaked for a little while, less than twenty minutes was his norm but given the busy nature of the day that lay before him he only dipped in for ten.

After brushing his teeth and using the toilet, he dressed in one of his more casual suits and headed downstairs to make breakfast. Sakaki and Kaori were already up and pacing around the kitchen waiting for him to start breakfast, their eyes following him as he entered and opened the refrigerator. Both were of the same mind as he started the grill for fish and filled a pot with water for miso soup. They opened their mouths and told him to hurry up with breakfast, in their own way of course.

Ranma set the large pot on the stove to boil and turned back to the six fish he'd had defrosting in the fridge overnight. Then he heard the noise, those two voices he knew he couldn't refuse or ignore. Turning around, he knelt down to the clean white linoleum floor and snapped his fingers twice. The two answered his customary `good morning' with twin `meow's in response.

Ranma smiled at their greeting and put two fishes in each of their bowls, smiling happily as the two felines approached the meal and ate with thankful yowls. One of the upsides to Second Impact was the way that it seemed to revitalize certain species around the world, many of which were on the verge of extinction. In Asia, two endangered species bounced back faster than the human population: pandas in China, and iriomote cats in Japan. Iriomote cats, since they are mountain animals, were high enough to survive the flooding caused by Second Impact, and because it took humanity a few years to begin to recover from the disaster Iriomote Island was uninhabited by people for close to three years. Miraculously, by the time work crews from Okinawa and the Japanese government arrived on Iriomote to rebuild the tourist trade the population of yamapikaryaa had more than quadrupled. At that moment there was a massive problem with yamamayaa on the southern coast as people slowly began bringing iriomote cats back to the mainland as pets.

He remembered when several of the local children had arrived on his doorstep not long after he moved to Matsushiro. He'd been tending to his neighbor, Masao Katakuri, when the children arrived cradling a broken iriomote cat. The animal was already dead by the time they arrived but what bothered the children so much was the two iriomote cubs they'd found over the mother's body. Unable to think of anything else to do, Ranma had taken the cubs and promised the children that he'd take care of them. A truck had struck the mother as she crossed the street and she now lay under his vegetable garden. Still, Sakaki and Kaori were happy cats living in the mountains with him and he found he greatly enjoyed their company.

Pouring himself a cup of tea after breakfast, he looked out the wide picture window in his dining room that overlooked the bustling city of Matsushiro, suddenly glad for the first time in months that he was alive. Soon there would be things to do, duty to perform, people to talk with, and hopefully a chance for him to leave this dimension and go home. He'd become an old man in this life, he'd become bored and unable to do much in the mainstream world - preferring instead to live in the mountains and have a small clinic. He had time to mull over the follies of his life here and muse on what might have been had he confessed his origins to those he held dear so long ago. No, he was too secretive about his old life, the life he had with Kiyone, and that had led to more than one heartbreak in his life. He'd been married twice, but foolish pride and no small amount of fear had driven one away while the other was taken far too soon.

As the sun rose over Matsushiro, Ranma silently cried for the times that could have been and the troubles that lay ahead.

A few hours later found the pony-tailed doctor walking along the canal leading into town. His suit jacket was slung over a shoulder and his tie sat rolled into a ball in his top pocket. It was already eighty degrees Fahrenheit at it was only ten. Ranma wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and continued following the deep concrete-encased river of azure to the business district, passing students enjoying their Sunday of freedom.

He'd taken a trolley from the mountains even though he had a car, enjoying the ambience of the quaint vehicle and the sense of normality it imparted even when he knew full well that nothing was normal. He would probably roof hop back home or simply run. He could run faster than most cars due to his GP nanomachine enhancement. He stopped for a moment in the shade of a low building and stepped inside, knowing it was a go parlor.

The inside smelled of geritol and cigarette smoke, table after table occupied by middle-aged and older men. Ranma smiled and took a moment to activate his disguise field under the limited Juraian power he could muster separated from his tree. When he walked up to the front desk he appeared to be just another geriatric, perhaps sixty, perhaps eighty.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ito." A pretty young woman with curly brunette hair chirped from behind the counter. "I haven't seen you in a while."

Ranma smiled in his best `benign old man' way and lay his hands on the counter. "I've been away on business. America was calling me."

"You really do get around, don't you Mr. Ito?"

"Please Noriko-chan, just call me Kai, I've told you that before." `Kai' was just a shortening of his Juraian name Kaitos, Kaitos Masaki Jurai. He smiled once more at the attractive girl and turned to enter the parlor, leaving 2000 yen on the counter. He made it a habit to always give generous tips; he figured that since the entrance fee was only 500 that extra 1500 would be nice pocket change for the working student.

"Oh, Mr. Ito…uh, um, Kai, is your nephew around?" There was a note of expectation in her voice as she took the bills from the counter and rang up the sale.

"I'm afraid that we're both leaving today for America. Just a business trip, we won't be living there, but we'll probably be gone for a year." `Kai' walked back to the crestfallen co-ed and set his wrinkled hand down on top of hers. "I'll tell him you wanted to see him though, what time are you working until?"

Noriko Hibino's face lit up again. It wasn't that she loved Ranma Saotome, Kai Ito's nephew, he just made her feel…special was the closest word she could think of and even that was somewhat lacking. He was just so sophisticated and dashing, so much more mature than the stupid jerks she saw around campus. The fact that he was a consummate lover didn't exactly hurt either although they were sometimes a bit too enthusiastic, the first time he'd taken her home she'd been so sore she couldn't sit down properly for three days.

"Seven. I'll be here until seven."

"I promise he'll come by. Even if I have to drag him here kicking and screaming." The mental image of the bony and frail old man even trying to lasso the young Saotome brought a devilish smile to her face. "Is `George' here yet?"

Noriko knew `George' as the older man Kai Ito played go with every week. The two old men acted like old friends, something she was surprised at considering that both lived through Second Impact. She shoved the 1500 yen tip into her apron pocket and laughed, pointing at a far table. "Jiji is sitting by the window. He's been waiting for a half-hour."

"I better not keep him waiting. He could sic the JSSDF on me," Kai responded with a smile and waved goodbye. It was well known that old Jiji had some connections in the military. He wove through the tables littered with tiles and cigarette butts, the musty old men in thin short sleeve shirts and khaki shorts complaining about the heat, until he sat down opposite a stern-faced old man. `George' looked up from the board and uncrossed his arms, gesturing for Kai to sit.

"You're late." George fixed the other man with his dark sunglasses and swept his hand over the table. "It's your move, Ito."

"I'm going to Tokyo-3." Ito placed a white tile and captured two black.

"Ikari has no choice. You are the only one with sufficient experience in EVA design and biology to repair Unit-02." George placed a black and captured six white. Liver spots swam on his brow as he raised an eyebrow at Ito's defenses. "It is too early for NERV to suffer such setbacks."

"What about the pilot?" Ranma felt gratified as he watched his opponent's face grimace slightly before hardening. "I know all about it already." He dropped a white and took four black.

"You have very good eyes and ears." Again Ranma found himself staring into the smoky darkness of Jiji's sunglasses. Opposed to Ranma's casual suit, Jiji wore a loose green dress shirt and black slacks. He showed no sign of the intense heat outside.

"You're one to talk." Ranma watched as George placed his tile far away from the main group. It was a diversionary tactic. "You know I don't work for you anymore. I have no intention of following your plans."

"How do you know that you are not?"

Ranma leaned over the board and dropped his voice to a whisper. His words came out harsh and strained over the lazy noise of the overhead fans. "Don't play games with me, Kihl."

"The pilot is expendable. If you manage to save her it would fit the scenario more closely but a replacement is already selected." Lorenz Kihl sat back and looked at the man he knew as Ranma Ito, knowing he sometimes went by Kai Ito but was originally named Ranma Saotome before his marriage. The poor fool was sometimes too easy to manipulate. "It is your move."

"The game is over, Kihl." Ranma placed a single white tile and captured all but the solitary black piece Kihl had so recently placed. If the head of SEELE and mastermind behind the Human Instrumentality Project was stunned or angry about his loss he gave no sign. "I'll save the pilot but not for you or the scenario, yours or Rokubungi's; I'll save her because she's a human being."

He stood up and picked up his suit jacket from the back of the chair. `George' didn't move.

"Be careful around Ikari, Ito." Kihl said but the other man was already walking out the doors.

Ranma stormed out of the go parlor as he usual did when Kihl was feeling talkative and turned into a shady alley, dropping his disguise field. Young once more he slowed his breathing and brought himself back under control, banging his fist twice against the hard concrete wall. There was just something about Kihl's smug silence that never failed to piss him off! He'd enjoy wiping that stony stoicism off the old fool's face, him and the rest of SEELE. Any friendship they had shared twenty years ago had long since disappeared under Lorenz's mad ambition.

It was noon by the time he entered the shopping district and the sun was high in the sky. The temperature was ninety-six but the humidity was thankfully low. The shopping district of Matsushiro was small but bustling, full of small shops and carts without large-scale supermarkets or malls. On the whole, the main street resembled one found in a tourist town. Ranma had lived in Matsushiro for the past five years and as such knew most of the vendors and/or their children. Not that he ever asked or requested something completely out of the question, but some of his items were rather regionally specific.

His first stop was a quaint general store hiding in the shadow of an Angel Interception Installation, it's back facing the broad canal bisecting Matsushiro into business and shopping districts. It was a musty old dispensary of ramune for the children, sweet bean buns for others, and herbal remedies for the elders. The owner was a woman named Miyuki, whose husband died two years before and whose grandmother still managed the store. The Hondas started their little convenience store shortly after WWII (yet another similarity with Ranma's original universe with the exception of the battleship Yamato's deployment) and maintained it as a family business ever since. Miyuki's grandmother, Kin, was nearly one hundred years old and only five feet tall. On any given day you could walk by and see her sitting behind the counter reading a newspaper.

Miyuki herself was thirty-eight and in extremely good shape for her age. According to her medical records she was treated for breast cancer at age twenty and lost her left breast at age thirty-two. Her husband, Duncan Solomon, an American she'd met studying abroad, worked for a construction company as a comptroller and did fairly well until contracting Second Impact Syndrome. Ranma recognized the signs when Duncan and Miyuki first walked in his clinic door. Second Impact Syndrome or SISYN was the result of Angelic materials that were dispersed into the atmosphere by ADAM during the contraction process that constituted Second Impact. These cells floated down to Earth gradually and were absorbed by the population through air and water. Normally, the cells didn't constitute enough foreign matter to cause a problem, they were usually rejected and expelled, but in certain cases the material built-up and caused extensive septicemia. Duncan began to show symptoms in early March and by the end of July was dead.

Ranma walked into the dim shop and stood for a moment to adjust his eyes. A new TV was playing on a corner shelf behind the counter and Kin was flipping through the sports section. The store was comprised of several wooden tables that jutted out eh open walls with goods such as tourist souvenirs, clothes, and sweets. The back wall of the store was dominated by an enormous glass case filled with cigarettes, cigars, other tobacco products, liquor, ramune, soft drinks, and foodstuffs. Ranma was glad that his money was put to good use if the ice cream machine, new cooler, and sparkling clean steamer were any indication. Miyuki had mentioned that they would have pork and bean buns that last time he'd come over for dinner.

Miyuki had begun talking to Ranma shortly after Duncan's death and, as was a frightening occurrence around him, she developed feelings for the pony-tailed doctor. They maintained a steady relationship, nothing too major or concrete, just a few clandestine trips to hotels, a few nights spent in his clinic, and weekly dinners at the shop. When the UN began serious work on bolstering the NERV program as the time of the Angels drew near, many people began to move away from what was considered `The War Zone', or the areas adjacent to NERV installations. With such a rapid loss in business, the Honda's store was seriously in danger of closing. Ranma, knowing that if Duncan were alive his construction job would have more than made-up for the deficit, generously `loaned' Miyuki one million yen.

"Afternoon." Kin's dry, aged voice broke Ranma from his memories and he turned to look at the shrunken, grey, bespectacled woman. "Yuki-chan has something for you."

"Thanks obasan. How're the Giants doing?" There was an anti-Hanshin poster taped over the cash register.

"Oh, they'll win this year for sure."

Ranma pulled a tin of green tea from one of the shelves behind the counter and walked through the short curtains separating the shop from the residence beyond. The kitchen behind the counter was dark and cool despite the blazing sun and intense heat outside, and Miyuki was sitting out on the porch overlooking the canal.

Her thin, tanned legs swung lazily in the sunlight and her arms were swung back to brace her against the plain wood of the deck. Her dark hair shining, she turned to him and her glasses became twin orbs of light. Ranma set the canister of tea down on a counter and noticed a bag of mochi sweets sitting on the kitchen table. Apparently his order had been filled.

"When are you leaving?" The tall, for a Japanese anyway, woman stood up and walked out of the harsh sun. As she stepped up to him, Ranma could feel the residual heat leeching off her kimono. Like Kiyone, Miyuki wore almost exclusively traditional Japanese dress. Actually, that was a lie, he realized, Kiyone occasionally wore Juraian robes and a GP uniform.

"Probably tonight." He reached his arms around her thin shoulders, starting to embrace her when she pulled away. His stormy blue eyes let her know just how much of a blow it was and she instantly regretted the decision.

"You're going to Tokyo-3? To NERV?" She turned her back and began walking back to the porch.

"Yes. There are people there that need me. I'm sorry." He took the bag of sweets off the table, the canister of tea as well, and turned to leave. His head was down. "Goodbye."

She turned and rushed him, covering the scant few feet between them in two steps. As he turned in surprise at the sound of her footsteps she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shirt. Tumbling back a few steps, he grimaced, realizing just how devoted she was to him.

It seemed to be a critical failing in his character, this living nature. He loved Kiyone, his First Wife according to Juraian law, as much as life itself but also had amassed quite a devoted following in his years gallivanting about the galaxy. There was a Wau back at the GP, she'd been under him (both literally and figuratively) on his first command - The Shurin - and at last bulletin was regional commander of the Protected sector of Juraian space. They were simply friends, or so he thought, until the day he announced to his crew that he was retiring back to Earth. They hadn't spoken in the past twenty years. He hadn't recognized the power sexual relationships truly held until he became stranded here. Since that time he'd been married twice, had three children, but was denied visitation with two. He'd had two women walk out on him and two die. It was safe to say that Ranma knew something of sorrow, grief, and regret.

"Why?" Miyuki strangled out, her hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt in the process.

Ranma shuffled them both over to a western chair pushed into the dining table, pulling it out he set them both down. She crumpled further and fell to her knees between his legs. `This isn't going to work,' he thought with a grimace. It was somewhat disturbing to see an older woman fall to pieces like a teenager. `I wonder if I'm somehow cursed to have women fall in love with me?' It wouldn't be too far fetched if that were the case.

"Shh, just calm down." The rumbling of his baritone in her ear calmed her down to just sniffles and Ranma gathered her legs up and sat her down on his lap. She crumpled yet again against the crook of his arms like a baby, her arms clinging to the back of his shirt. She didn't want him to see her face. "Now `why' what?"

She peeled her face off his starched cotton shirt and looked into his eyes. Her dark irises were overflowing with tears. "Why can't you take me with you? I could be a good wife to you."

Ranma's face went white. "You knew our agreement, Miyuki, I told you I wasn't the marrying type."

"I'm pregnant." He juggled her until an arm was free and pressed his palm to her abdomen. There was definitely another signature nestled together with her ki. His entire body began to shake.

"A-are y-you sure-"

"Yes. I haven't been with another man." The tears were flowing freely again.

"Do you want to have it-"

"Aborted? No, even if you leave us I'll still want the baby." She swung her right leg around his torso and straddled his lap, her arms clasping each other by the wrists behind his neck. "Take me with you…?"

Ranma's mouth was dry and his words came out like grains of sand. "No. It's too dangerous. I won't have you at risk! You have to stay here in Matsushiro. It's reasonably far enough from important NERV installations so you can be safe here." Impulsively he kissed her on the lips and she responded passionately, even as her tears continued to flow down her neck. He leaned forward and laid her flat on the table, the legs of which wobbled unsteadily with the weight. He parted the thin folds of her kimono and discovered she was sans undergarments and dripping. The thick, dark hair surrounding her pouting lips was glistening with fluid and her labia were already dilated and partially open.

He took her there on the kitchen table, with the doorway open to the shop and the cicadas chirping madly in the yard of long grass connecting the store to the water canal. She was crying as he entered her, her hands clawing at his back, and enthusiastically bucking her hips against his motions. They made love three times in three separate ways: first in missionary, then from behind, and finally to reverse missionary before the spindly wooden legs of their `bed' snapped and the couple tumbled to the floor at the very moment of climax. They rested for a half an hour in the remains of the table.

"I'll come and visit in a few weeks, after my work is done." He sat up and started dressing. Miyuki pulled her kimono back around her shoulders and stared at the floor. She knew that deep down in her heart there would never be space in his life for her or her child, after all didn't he already have a daughter studying abroad in Tokyo-2? "It's going to be an October baby."

"Will it be a girl or boy?" She ran her hand down his spine. "Do you have any ideas for names?"

Ranma grimaced. "It…I don't know. If it's a boy why don't you name him Shun? If it's a girl why not Eri?" He turned back to face her, a cigarette dangling from the crook of his mouth. He could tell she knew he didn't love her, at least as a wife. She began to cry again, looking down at her hands that lay on her thighs.

"Shun…Eri, those are both good names." She turned away from him and wiped her eyes. "You'll come and visit?"

"Sure." He felt like shit, he felt like he had failed, he felt that he should just end this poor facsimile of a life before he fucked-up another poor woman's life.

He finished dressing quickly, withdrew his checkbook from his jacket pocket and left a blank on their counter as she finished dressing. He took the tea and sweets before leaving, trying to get out of the shop as fast as possible without arousing any attention. He was just batting 100 in this dimension, not only did he leave three women hanging in his original world but it seemed his lot to ruin the lives of every female in which he was even casually interested.

It was early afternoon, about one when he plodded into the dry cleaners and picked-up a parcel from the previous day. It wasn't exactly the best outfit in his wardrobe but he figured that the meaning would be perfectly clear to any who recognized. The sun was high in the sky and casting a melting light on the town. He realized that he still had quite a few errands to run in town, items that needed purchasing regardless of how depressed he felt after the fiasco he'd made at Honda's. And so he wandered, walking all over the district picking up odds and ends, a pair of glasses here, a pocket comb there, a new tie, a new shirt; he ate lunch at a quaint little ramen stand and whiled the afternoon away at the go parlor (after paying a visit to Noriko).

Ranma dropped by the shoe store on his way back to the bus stop that lay on the outskirts of the town proper. An elderly man, Jin Hyuga, and his wife Kaori ran the store. The couple had bought the property in the sixties and started their own shoemaking business based on the western-styled leather shoe fad. Thus, the young cobbler and his bride set up shop and hawked their leather boots and soft-soled shoes. The fad had come and gone in time, by the late eighties their business was far from brisk, but they'd saved their hard earned money unlike most people who simply folded after the economic bubble burst with the rise of recession. When Second Impact hit their savings were swept away along with most of the postal system and two of the largest banks in the country; thankfully, the Second Impact Restitution Bill passes the first Diet of the Post-Impact Administration under the direct auspices of the Heisei Emperor. The bill effectively restored/redistributed land for those displaced and disenfranchised by the catastrophe and assured the people that they would be granted special pensions in lieu of their lost assets. So, Jin and Kaori, both rapidly approaching their nineties, were enjoying their retirement on the government's dime.

Ranma knew the two from when he'd passed through Japan on a refugee survey in 2001, and of course they remembered him since they were running the refugee camp. He recalled the seemingly endless expanse of tents, shanties, and cars taking up most of the pace on the land that became New Matsushiro. It was a frightening memory.

"Good afternoon!" Ranma entered the musty shop and inhaled the sour scent of shoe polish and leather. Racks of sandals, clogs, slippers, dress shoes, casuals, loafers, pumps, any conceivable type of footwear one could think of was out for display. "Hyuga-san? Are you in?"

A rustle cam from further in and Kaori stepped out from the backroom. "Is that you Ito-sensei?" The Hyugas were the only residents of the town that recalled his former name, that of Ranma Ito, which in actuality was two names past. Most everyone called him Saotome and four or five called him `Kirishima-sensei'. He, Megumi, and baby Mana moved to Matsushiro in 2003 after he left the Peace Corps; they bought a sizable chunk of land up in the mountains and the construction was provided by a kind gentleman whose nephew, the only relative of his to survive Second Impact, was saved by Dr. Ito. Sadly, he had more bad memories of that year than good - the pall of GEHIRN and Ikari hung heavy over his heart.

"Hai, Kaori-chan. Where's Jin-oyaji?" It was most irregular for his mustachioed face not to be behind the counter.

"Jin's feeling a bit ill today, the rheumatism's starting to act up again." Jin suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis in his hands, no doubt from careful stitching most of his life. "He did leave your order here for you to pick-up, thought."

"I hope he didn't work all night on them…"

Kaori pulled a brown parcel from underneath the counter and unwrapped a pair of shining black leather shoes. "Ho, ho, it would serve him right if he did! I swear that man'll work himself to death one of these days."

Ranma picked up one of the shoes and examined the craftsmanship. It was a pair of black leather, loafer-style shoes, no laces, just a rim of hardened leather to clasp the ankle. The top of the toe was one piece of leather with a partially cut flap etched into the whole acting as tongue. The soles were soft leather and Jin had the foresight to place arch supports and hell cushions inside. In all the pair was made to Ranma's exacting specifications.

"Excellent work. How much?"

"'Free' is taped to the package." She looked up at him through her cataracts and smiled.

Ranma placed 20,000 yen on the counter and bid the good woman farewell, charging back into the heat of the waning day.

---NERV Headquarters---

"Well, today's test was a success. Your synch rose five points since last week, Shinji, and Rei, your response time has become ten percent faster with the repairs." Akagi and her assistant were standing in Briefing Room 221b with the pilots seated in front of a projection of their EVAs while Misato leaned against the far wall. "Good job you two."

Shinji fidgeted as the LCL dried on his plugsuit, he didn't understand why they wouldn't allow them to shower before the debriefing. He glanced towards Rei as she sat impassively beside him, her white suit showing the fact that she was very healthy in the chest region. His mind went back to the day nearly a month ago when he'd gone to delivery her ID card. The feel of her warm, soft skin, still moist from her shower; the feel of her subtly softer nipple pressing into the palm of his hand…

He quickly realized what these thoughts were doing to certain parts of his anatomy and fought to suppress the images, knowing all too well how little the plugsuit hid from view.

"Ho-How is Asuka?" His surprise vocalization achieved the desired effect, directing attention away from his squirming. Rei glanced at her fellow pilot and decided that perhaps further investigation was in order as her initial understanding of the relationship between Ikari-kun and the Second was in error…

…But it could also be simple concern for a teammate. It was probably best if she did not pursue the subject.

Dr. Akagi glanced quickly towards Misato, her steely eyes silencing the words threatening to bubble up out of the Captain's Swiss cheese of a brain. "Asuka should be out of intensive care tomorrow or the day after."

Shinji frowned beside Ayanami in the briefing room. He knew enough to catch Dr. Akagi's curt reply, knew enough to realize that Asuka was in worse shape than they cared to admit. The rest of the briefing went by as normal and Ritsuko left with her protégée in tow. Ducking out to visit the little girl's room, Misato left her two pilots alone in the semi-dark of the slide room. He grew nervous again, not quite sure how to speak to the blue-haired girl sitting beside him especially after the fiasco at her apartment.

Turning to his fellow pilot, he was unaware that she was already staring at him. Their eyes met for a brief moment and Shinji felt his soul tugged into those carmine eyes as if the entire world became compressed and rolled into a ball under the influence of that gaze. He noticed all kinds of things about her in that brief span of time. He noticed how her eyebrows were a deeper color blue than her hair, how her posture appeared relaxed but was stiff and formal, how her lips parted as she talked-

"Pilot Ikari."

Shinji would have jumped up if the dried LCL would have allowed it but as it stood the dried viscous fluid had dried and adhered to the metal of the chairs and he merely yelped in surprise, blushing as he realized that he'd been staring. Off to the side Misato, who'd returned from the toilet, was snickering. "Y-yes, Ayanami?"

"You do not look well." Her eyes were crimson pools rippling over his body. She assumed he was aroused given the careful positioning of his hands.

"I woke up kinda late I guess, and I didn't get much sleep last night."

"That is unwise. You must sleep for a normal eight-hour cycle or your synchronization will deteriorate."

He blushed and looked away, picking at the dried crust of LCL on the rim of his plugsuit collar. "Oh, thank you for the tip, Ayanami."

"You are welcome," was her simple reply before she resumed her intense stare at the far wall.

`Those two make a cute couple, `Misato thought, `maybe I should try to set them up? Having someone to talk to might get them to open up a little…hmm, but how to start? It's not like either of them are going to break the ice…I've got it!' It was in Misato Katsuragi's experience that when all else failed, tease.

"Rei?" The First Child was aware of her superior walking to the front of the room.

"Yes, Captain Katsuragi."

"Why don't you come to dinner tomorrow night, hmm? We can all get together and have a little coming-home party for Asuka!"

"I do not have other orders after the tests are completed. I will join you."

"Great!" Misato was beaming as Rei accepted; it was a beautiful thing to have a plan work out so brilliantly. She gave Shinji a wink and a thumbs-up over the girl's mop of blue. "Don't forget, Shinji-kun, Rei doesn't eat meat so make sure to prepare some veggie dishes, okay?"

"Okay…I guess…" Shinji was blushing fiercely.

Misato pouted. "Come on now! You can act a little more excited that your `girlfriend' is coming over for dinner!"

Shinji's eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he tore himself loose from the dried LCL moorings, jumping to his feet and warding gestures towards his teammate. "Wh-what? G-girlfriend?"

"I do not understand. Ikari-kun, am I considered your girlfriend?" Rei cocked her head to the side, making a crinkling rasp of hardened LCL.

"No! I mean…I don't really think about stuff like that…" He averted his eyes.

Rei stared impassively at the Third, a neutral expression directed at him that was completely unreadable even with his extensive knowledge of her blank stares. "Do you not find me attractive, Ikari-kun?"

"I…" Shinji opened and closed his mouth like a fish, his face turning bright red and his eyes glassy. "I guess I do…but not in that way… I mean…"

"Don't worry about it Rei, he's just infatuated with your beauty." Misato snickered at her roommate's unease and patted the girl on the shoulder armor. "Why don't you two go and get cleaned up? I'll treat you both to ramen tonight, okay?"

"…Okay…"

"That is acceptable."

"Great!" Misato exclaimed. She was going to set those two up if it was the last thing she did.

---Matsushiro---

Ranma arrived back at the house around six. The sky was already darkening and the crickets were chirping loudly in the forested area around his house and surrounding lands. Walking in, he found Sakaki sitting primly on the smooth flagstone tiles inside the entrance, her feline eyes flat and unreadable. He was late and consequently their dinner was as well, a situation that he knew annoyed his usually laid-back pets. Smiling and making kissing sounds, the lithe feline ignored her owner and turned back towards the kitchen. Before following he hung the dry cleaning parcel in the hall.

It was a two piece uniform, beige with a stripe of dark blue along the front zipper of the top and collar reaching down to the outside of the sleeves. The pants were similar but only had two wide bands of navy on the outside of the legs and around the bottom cuff. A freshly washed and pressed red silk dress shirt hung beside the drab garments. Any further musings were cut off by the advent of Kaori clinging to his shoulder. He could tell she was getting impatient by her soft nipping at his ear. He padded softly into the kitchen and opened the freezer - retrieving two dressed fish. Her thick, bushy tail thumped against his back as he thawed the vittles in the microwave and poured kibble into their bowls.

Once they were fed he fried the vegetables and started marinating the meat. While that was stewing he filled the furo and shaved. Then he finished he placed the meat in the fridge and went upstairs, taking the uniform with him.

After he bathed, soaked, and dressed, he selected several shirts and pants from his closet and zipped them in a hanging garment bag. Aside from that he had two suitcases, three jackets, and fifteen boxes packed and sitting in the tearoom. They held all his personal effects from the dimension, all the nick-knacks and mementos he'd accrued during his life, and he was sad to see the old house go. It'd been the first house he'd ever bought and owned in either dimension. The fact that it was the site of his idyllic days married to Megumi was the icing on the cake.

He hoped that Mana would forgive him for giving the house away, he'd sent word to her in Tokyo-2 through official channels but Kami-only knew how long it would take to reach her. Well, everything seemed to be set and ready.

The Katakuris, Masao and Terue, arrived just as he was finishing up in the kitchen and he quickly adjusted his appearance. When he opened the door he appeared to be in his forties or fifties and he ushered them inside. The husband, Masao was a bit on the husky side and prone to emotional outbursts if drinking. Terue, on the other hand, was slender and a bit hyper at all times. They and their family owned a small pension a little further in the mountains, not an expensive place but quant in its own way.

They sat and discussed his move, which was the main reason he invited them, over tea and appetizers before he brought out the grill and steak. The couple was shocked by the sight of so much sukiyaki and silently wondered just how rich their friend was when Ranma brought out the rice and soup.

"This is quite a meal, Ranma-san you honor us." Masao plucked a strip of meat from the platter and laid it sizzling on the grill.

"Don't worry about it, Masao, just make sure none of it goes to waste." Ranma winked at Terue who was reaching for more beef.

She blushed at the three strips between her chopsticks. "Where is your daughter, Ranma? We haven't seen her in so long."

"Mana's at school in Tokyo-2."

"I see. Well that explains it, you see Shizue is always asking if Mana could come and baby-sit." Masao laughed a bit nervously.

Terue was chewing a strip of meat when her eyes went wide. "This is delicious, Ranma-san! You have to give me this recipe!" `For when we can actually afford steak,' she silently added.

"I'd be happy to," Ranma relied, smiling as he poured them all a drink.

Their dinner and discussion continued for several hours and they never finished all of the sukiyaki but that was all right. The evening was cool and their drinks were easily refilled. Ranma just relaxed and enjoyed sitting with these people and talking just like normal friends. He liked the Katakuris, he really did, and he knew that their `White Lover's Inn' wasn't doing so well due to its location far in the mountains. Masao told him at least two years ago that he'd moved the family out to the mountains because he'd heard that a road was going to cut right through the mountains; that the road was made on the other side of the hills was a detail he'd failed to take into account.

Still, the fact that the Katakuri family took the loss in stride was proof that they were simply good-natured, positive people. That alone made Ranma want them to succeed and now he had their perfect way to help.

It was Terue who first noticed the two tall men in black suits standing outside on the porch. She'd screamed something about `being sorry' followed by Masao's confession that they'd buried something under trees with red ribbons. Ranma decided he really didn't need to know the details about that and stood up, sliding the glass doors to the egawa open and inviting them inside.

No sooner had they entered than the front doorbell rang.

"Don't worry, Terue, Masao, I've been expecting these people." `Great, now they'll probably think I'm some kind of super spy or something,' he thought as he walked down the hall to open the door. The Katakuris had a reputation in town for doing strange things, singing and dancing together or separately in the hills or in town, which most attributed to overactive imaginations. Ranma had seen Masao and Terue perform at a karaoke parlor about two years ago and had suggested they send out demo tapes.

There were two shadows standing on his front stoop. The displaced doctor slid open the door and was pleased to see his old friend looking good despite his age.

Fuyutsuki met his old friend's eyes and nodded. "Good evening, Ito."

"Good evening, Fuyutsuki. Would you and your friends like to step inside for a moment while I finish up?"

Fuyutsuki nodded to the Section 2 goons standing beside him and motioned towards the cars idling by the walk. "I'll be fine. You and your men can wait by the cars."

Ranma ushered Kozou inside and by the time they returned to the dining room the other goons had already fled.

"Masao, Terue, I'd like you to meet an old friend of mine: Kozou Fuyutsuki, Sub-Commander of NERV."

---To Be Continued---