Hello folks, glad to be here again. Here is the new chapter I hope you all enjoy. Thanks again to Stryp for editing and thank you to my good friend @Zeratoth for providing two of Kensuke's lines in the chapter. Thank you all for continuing to follow me on this adventure and a extra big thank you to all those who comment and contribute to the discussion. Without further ado here is the new chapter.
Chapter 11
Shinji kicked the tin can he had been nudging along since the two had left the school into the gutter, wincing as the sun's rays peeked through the leaves of the trees along the path to blind him. "The sun really hits you here, doesn't it?"
Kensuke shrugged and kept walking. He had kept a brisk pace towards Sakura's school since the two had left their own. Clearly, compared to everything else it was something he took seriously. It did not surprise him, according to the boy Kensuke was effectively a second big brother for the small ferocious child, since he and Touji were so close. "You're not scared, are you? It's just a trip to the arcade to kill time until her dad gets off work, nothing serious."
"You were not the one she mauled the other day. I just hope I have graduated from 'attack on sight'." Shinji said nervously, his stomach uneasy. He was still feeling guilty after what had happened to Touji and his own lukewarm response to it. It was probably one of the reasons he had leapt to agree to coming along for this when Kensuke offered. He liked to feel useful when he could.
Kensuke chuckled. "Trust me, I've been on the receiving end of one before. I know what you mean. Suzuharas can be scary no matter the size. Still, I think her dad talked to her earlier so I doubt she will go after your ankles again." A coy smile crept up on Kensuke's face as he looked Shinji over. "You know... no offense but you're not exactly what I imagined when I read about Marduk online."
"None taken? I think..." Shinji raised an eyebrow. "What did you think I was going to be like? And you read about Marduk? I thought a lot of that was classified?"
Kensuke shook his head, still smiling. "Just because it's classified doesn't meant no one talks about it. Just the opposite, in fact. You think NERV can build a bunch of seventy-five-meter tall neon-colored war machines and people won't say anything just because they ask us not to?" The boy chuckled again knowingly and pushed up his glasses.
Shinji sighed and followed along, he had been in the system so long, it was easy to forget there were people on the other side of the line. People without a hundred layers of security and clearance. "Ah, okay... well, I hope you believe me when I say there's a lot they don't tell me either." That was sort of true, Shinji knew. There was a lot that Mari did not tell him but at the same time, there was much she did that she said Asuka or the other pilots would not know. Hints at what the Evas really were and what was in them. Shaking his head Shinji tried to focus on the conversation at hand. "Still, I have to wonder what you thought I would be like. If only to know how much I have disappointed you."
Kensuke waved a hand. "Nah, you're okay. I just... well, I hope you don't mind me saying but I really thought you would be some super action hero you know? I expected you to ride in on a motorcycle with some cool leather jacket and shades and kick ass. All the girls would swoon over you and..." Kensuke went quite as he saw the incredulous look on Shinji's face. "Just.., more I guess."
At that Shinji sighed and laughed as they turned a corner. "Well, I have my jacket, but based on the reactions it has gotten I think people are more likely to call me a jackass then fawn over me. Not that that wouldn't be nice." Shinji let his mind wander for a moment at the image of the whole class falling for him, treating him like a rock star. "But I... well, I don't think its very 'me'. If you want big and bold you will have to wait for Asuka."
"Oh, your friend from Germany? What's she like?" Kensuke asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Asuka is... a lot," Shinji said trying to condense the many volumes of thoughts he had for the girl into a single sentence. "She's talented and smart with an ego to match, and she won't hear a word otherwise. She will take what she wants and damn the consequences." Shinji's voice went a bit wistful for a moment. "She's a real warrior."
With the heart of a scared little girl.
"Is she hot?" Kensuke asked absently. "she sounds hot."
Shinji stopped and sputtered. "I've known her and her sister almost as long as I can remember!" he said, going red. "They are practically my family!"
"Sister, you say?" Kensuke tilted his head. "Is she hot?"
Shinji just grumbled and wiped his brow. "Can we talk about something else, please?" he asked uncomfortably.
Kensuke shrugged again and kept walking. "You know you don't come off as very Japanese... if you don't mind me saying."
Shinji sighed, this was something he didn't need reminding about. "I was raised in Europe by Mari and then spent the last two years in America. It's... been a while since I have experienced this stuff. Mari always made sure I didn't lose the language but the culture was separate thing entirely. From what I have gathered she is not the biggest fan, either. Too restrictive."
Kensuke smiled at that. "She does seem like a wild one," he said warmly, his thoughts clearly somewhere else for a moment until he remembered who he was with. "Er... She seems like a smart and professional person as well. Just an all around square character."
Shinji rolled his eyes and decided to change the subject to something unrelated to the women in his life. "So we're taking Sakura to an arcade? I am surprised there still ones left with home consoles and all." Memories of Asuka with her ever-increasing skyscraper of game machines entered Shinji's mind, making him chuckle under his breath.
Kensuke turned at Shinji and beamed his eyes going wide as it seemed Shinji chose just the right thing to say. "Well, after Second Impact a lot of people were just scraping by. Most people could not afford to even power a big stupid game machine, let alone buy one. But a few quarters here and there? They became kinda community centers with lots of folks buzzing about... some of them less than savory but that's a different conversation. So yeah, basically, they're still huge. Actually, this year's been really huge! We just got three big releases, the latest in a bunch of long runners. One of them's a 3-D, two of 'em 2-D, though one did a crazy trick with the engine to make things look really cool. Actually, that's probably the one I'll be keeping my eye on the most even though it was 'just' an update. Its got the craziest pressure stuff I've ever seen, but I guess that's what happens when you literally punish players for blocking. That reminds me, on the topic of setups, I should show you some stuff I saw one of the really good players do a while back, its this crazy fifty-fifty that works no matter how they tech and leads back into the same setup. Its even meter positive! I wish I was good enough to land it a real match but the timing on the safe jump is really precise, especially if the other guy has a DP..."
At some point, the things that were coming out of Kensuke's mouth stopped being recognizable words and descended into excited babbling leaving Shinji to only smile and nod while Kensuke told him far more then Shinji suspected he would ever need to know about arcade fighting games. It all reminded Shinji of the time back in Nevada when Mari tried to explain metaphysical biology to him.
Kensuke continued like this until they reached Sakura's school, a warm, red brick building with a sign outside announcing the dates for the upcoming field trips. Once inside it was a quick walk to the office where they found Sakura waiting, kicking her bag in time with the clock on the wall. Seeing the two Sakura ran over and hugged Kensuke's knees before the boy, in turn, laughed and ruffled her hair. Shinji could not help but feel a pang of jealousy at the whole display. His stay at the Nevada base was not bad, but it was lonely. He had Mari but she was often busy with work with little time to spare for him and while many of his teachers and combat trainers were friendly Shinji would hesitate to say any of them had gotten close.
After the second of laughs, Sakura let go of Kensuke and looked up at Shinji her eyes filled with a sad frustration. "Dad said I should say sorry for hitting you. You did your best to help my brother."
Shinji nodded and tried to smile, hiding his own fears for her sake. "I'm... I hope he gets better soon. Or... as good as he can be," he stammered out weakly, unsure what to say.
After signing her out on a clipboard on the desk, Kensuke nodded for them to go. Smiling at the secretary and one of the passing teachers as they left. "How was school?" He looked down at Sakura taking her hand as they walked down the street.
The girl shrugged. "I read a book on dinosaurs, which was cool, but then we had to do fractions which are so boring." She looked at Kensuke, pleading for sympathy. "Dad put strawberry cookies in my lunch though, so that's okay."
Kensuke chuckled. "Glad to hear it. Maybe if you're good we can get something after the arcade. Shinji?" Shinji turned his head as Kensuke caught his attention. "You hungry? You didn't eat anything at our lunch and Ayanami didn't share any of hers with you."
Shinji tried to laugh. "Yeah, I guess I am. Sorry, I guess I just forgot." He didn't need to eat but he did like to keep up appearances. And it was true what Kensuke had said about Rei, the girl had kept her distance since their car ride together. No doubt she was still sore about what he had said. Shinji sighed. He didn't mean to hurt her, and indeed some part of him wanted to reach out and apologize, but he didn't know any way to do that without having a conversation he had no way to start. Shaking his head he looked back at Kensuke. "Is there a coffee shop around here where I can grab a doughnut or something?"
Kensuke thought for a moment and shrugged. "I don't think so, but there is probably a convenience store or two if you want an onigiri or whatever."
Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Is that... like a doughnut?"
Kensuke sighed and shook his head. "You really weren't lying before about not experiencing Japanese culture much, were you?"
After a bus ride and a short walk, the three were downtown. The streets were filled with bustling businesses, restaurants, and shops. Following along as Kensuke took them down a street Shinji saw Kensuke was right when he had extolled it previously: the arcade, a brightly lit den of buzzers and cabinets was packed with people. It made Shinji smile to look at so many kids having fun. Some part of him felt a little pride in knowing he managed to save this. Looking down he beamed at Sakura as they made their way inside. "Have you been here before?"
She smiled back knowingly. "Ken and my brother have taken me here lots of times. It's fun!"
Looking around Shinji saw no shortage of options. Near the entrance were some claw machines and whack-a-mole to rows of driving games on the far wall to some light gun games further along and some fighters beside them, while in the back past the prize counter and the bored looking man helming it Shinji heard the distinct stomps from what Shinji assumed to be dance pads. "What do you like to play?" Shinji asked over the din of people and machines.
Sakura put a finger to her lips, thinking for a moment. "Well, I am good at the bubble pop game, but I like Ninja Killer better. Ken and my bro let me play it with them as long as I don't tell dad."
Shinji looked over at Kensuke and raised an eye. "She does, does she?"
Kensuke laughed nervously and showed Shinji the way to the machine to get tokens for the games. "I would take it easy at first. You would not believe how fast it adds up."
Shinji shrugged. On the great list of his fears and anxieties, money was not one of them. "Mari said it was fine. Besides..." Shinji smiled as he scooped the little copper coins from the machine and put them in his pocket and turned to look down at Sakura. "Not every day I can make someone happy."
The girl looked up at him curiously. "Why do you call her that? She's your mom right?"
Shinji's smile faded as he tried to formulate an explanation simple enough for Sakura "My mother passed away a long time ago. Mari has taken care of me ever since. Where I grew up..." Shinji paused for a moment. "There was a lot of people around. Doctors, teachers, trainers and the like. Mari told me to call her that so I would know that we had something more than all the other people floating about."
Sakura nodded after a moment. "That makes sense. I'm sorry about your mom. My mom died too." Sakura looked down at her feet.
Kensuke grimaced and took Sakura's hand affectionately. "Come on, I think I see Ninja Killer open." That seemed to brighten the girl up and the three of them walked down the rows of machines to one at the end which proclaimed itself as the aforementioned game in large bloody red letters. Taking two tokens from Shinji, Kensuke put them in the cabinet then took off his backpack in what looked like a practiced maneuver, setting it on the ground for Sakura as a stool.
Shinji watched for a moment as the two chatted happily about the game, with Sakura gleefully picking someone named Skullernaugt while Kensuke played a ninja girl who Shinji only could guess was feeling quite cold. Not wanting to intrude, Shinji stepped away to leave them to their game. He took a walk around the noisy, flashing building as he tried to combat the growing sense of unease he felt below the surface.
Kensuke talking about Asuka reminded him of a lot of things he would have preferred to ignore. She and her sister would be coming to Tokyo-3 soon, and Shinji had no idea what to do when they did. Would the three of them just pick up where they left off before Nevada? Was that even possible? Absently, his right hand made his way to his chest, hovering above where his heart would be and where the engine now resided. 'What would they think of this?'
Shaking his head, Shinji walked over to a light gun game in the hopes it would distract him. After putting in his coins and watching a brief tutorial he felt his mind fall into the familiar rhythm of aiming and shooting as he dispatched wave after wave of monstrous aliens.
After what felt like only a moment Shinji heard a familiar voice over his shoulder. "Holy crap Shinji! You're racking up points like its going out of style! You sure this is your first time in a arcade?"
Shinji shrugged and tried to keep his focus on the game but found it difficult with the addition of a observer. "It's nothing compared to the stuff in Nevada. You just have to be efficient in your movements and..." Shinji swore under his breath as he lost another life to a surprise attack. "These later levels have huge difficulty spikes, huh?"
Kensuke nodded. "The last few levels are almost impossible, from what I've heard. They really want you to have to throw more tokens at it for..." Kensuke stopped as Shinji lost his last life, "And there you go. Still, your score is damned good if I say so. I wonder..." Kensuke scratched his chin. "Why don't you play some Xgauge-Cross-Fighter Overdrive with me?"
Shinji blinked as he took in the long rope of tickets being dispensed by the machine, ignoring the repeating animation of his space marine being eaten by a circle of drooling aliens and the machine's countdown begging for him to continue. "That sounds... fun. Just let me trade in these for something for Sakura, then I'm all yours. Where is she?"
"Beating up something that isn't you," Kensuke smiled. "She doesn't like this area, some of the games make her a bit... antsy."
Shinji followed Kensuke's gaze to a game behind him, a cop-themed light gun game where your elite SWAT member was attacked by terrorists and gangsters. Walking towards the counter Shinji shrugged. "What does she like?
"She loves teddy bears!" Kensuke shouted after him. "Even if she pretends she doesn't."
Shinji took a moment to look over the assorted collection of prizes and toys behind the counter. From what looked to be looked to be sticker sets to a old fashioned looking toy ray-gun to some stuffed animals and even a gleaming mountain bike on the highest shelf. Deciding on a toy based on vague memories of what Rebecca liked as a child. Asuka never liked dolls or anything like close... for rather obvious reasons. Shinji called the attention to the clerk, a bored looking young man with a scraggly beard wearing a washed out shirt. "How much for number sixteen?"
The man glanced at which one Shinji was referring to. "Forty tickets for the bear."
Shinji glanced down at his mittful, taking a moment to do a quick count. "I have a thirty-four. Is that good enough?" The man did not dignify the question with a response, simply raising an eyebrow. "Okay fine. Can you at least set it aside for a like ten minutes while I get some more? It's for this kid and she could really use a..."
"Shinji?" Shinji turned around to the voice behind him to see one of his classmates still in her uniform. A plain looking girl with long black straight hair with thick bangs on her face, she wore large round glasses. She smiled at him awkwardly as she looked through her bag. "I heard what you said and well... I can lend you six tickets to get the bear for your friend."
Shinji smiled widely as he tried to recall her name. "Oh, thanks, Mayuri. You're a life saver." He reached forward as she handed him the tickets, their hands touching for a brief moment.
Blushing the girl looked down before pushing up her glasses. "It's Mayumi, actually... but I am glad I could help."
Shinji gave the tickets to the man behind the counter and took the blue bear from him. "Thank you then, Mayumi. Sakura will love it. I will get you those tickets back, though. Just let me play some games with Kensuke..."
The mention of the nerd's name made Mayumi withdraw a bit, frowning as she took a step back. "Oh... you're with him? Ah w-well..." she stammered a bit as she picked up her bag. "Well, it's not a big deal. I was leaving anyway. I hope I will see you at school tomorrow, though!" She brightened up at the end, smiling at Shinji before doing a quick bow and walking off.
Shinji wondered what that was about but tried to smile and wave as the he saw the girl leave. He did not want to spoil the day, and so, like the growing twisting pit in his stomach, he pushed it out of his mind and went back to Kensuke and Sakura. The latter of whom was smacking plastic moles with a mallet with a big smile on her face. "Hey, kid, I got you something," Shinji smiled as he saw her eyes light up when she turned to see the blue bear.
"Aww, that looks great!" She said excitedly after the round was over. Hugging the creature close before a look of forced detachment swept over her face. "Well... I mean... it would be if I was a little kid..." She stopped when she saw the earnest look on Shinji's face. "Thank you."
Shinji could not help but smile. This was most of all what he wanted, even if he felt guilty for wanting it. A small slice of normalcy and fun. "You're welcome. Now, Kensuke you said you wanted to show me that... game?" Shinji was not sure what Kensuke had described before but it did sound interesting.
Kensuke nodded, the enthusiasm from before returned in full force as he practically dragged Shinji to a machine at the end of the row covered in colorful anime characters. "See, the great thing about this one? They've worked out a really cool meter gain system that rewards more than just hitting buttons! See, you gain extra meter for stuff like blocking at the last second, dashing, teching throws... it rewards you for playing aggressive and skillfully. You'd think that'd make the game really hard for new players, but that's why they made the easier to use characters like the grappler so powerful, so new players can use them to get into the game. Oh, and the Shoto of course. There's actually a really cool thing they did with him. Remember when I was talking about DP motions earlier? His DP isn't a DP motion, its just down, down! Which means it also autocorrects for you against crossups! Stuff like that gets new players in, then the Reactive Meter system rewards higher skill. Oh, and speaking of meter, there's this crazy thing they added that you can spend it on. Besides just supers and cancels, you can also..."
Shinji shot up his hands. "Just let me play. I am sure I will figure it out as I go."
Kensuke nodded, clearly slightly embarrassed by his own displayed intensity. After the tokens were inserted the two went into a versus mode Kensuke jiggling with some parameters that were all alien to Shinji. At the character select screen, Kensuke locked in quickly, clearly experienced enough to have a favorite. Shinji wavered, spoiled for choice as he looked through his options, in the end, picking a large hulking robot out of some sense of twisted familiarity.
Once in the game, Kensuke let Shinji get a feel for the controls and set up. It was not the first of these games he had tried. Back in Germany, he would sometimes play Asuka at some fighter she had on her console but that was a long time ago and he felt the rust in his fingers. Once he had given the go ahead they began the game in earnest with the results being predictable. Kensuke played like a well oiled machine barely letting Shinji a moment to recover from one combo before starting another. The game ended quickly with the next one and the match following it with Kensuke's commando standing over Shinji's robot, now a pile of scrap in victory. The whole thing made the knot in Shinji's stomach tighten.
"I thought you said they gave you lots of fighting training?" Kensuke asked his voice without a hint of sarcasm. Beside him Sakura smiled and watched, amused by the beat down.
Shinji almost laughed and shaked his head "I did and they did. It's just that stuff has very little to do with..." Shinji looked on the screen and remembered the flurry of speed lines and lasers that he had just witnessed "That. Trust me I'm better in real life." The confidence in which Shinji said it seemed to give Kensuke some pause, a concerned look ghosting over it before Shinji patted him on the back "one more?" That seemed to make Kensuke smile again.
"Sure thing," Kensuke smiled. "I can play someone I am less good at, maybe give you a better shot." The better shot Kensuke offered proved to mean that when Shinji lost lost again it took slightly longer to do so. Patting Shinji on the shoulder, Kensuke chuckled. "Better luck next time. It took me a while to really get the hang of..." Kensuke stopped as he saw the pain on Shinji's face. "Hey, you alright?"
Shinji winced and pinched the bridge of his brow as he felt a pressure building. Whatever this was, it was more then nerves. He would try and stick it out for Sakura but he would definitely try to get something from Mari when he got back to the base. "I'm fine, I just..." Shinji tried to push it all out of his mind as he looked at Sakura, "Just a headache is all. Nothing to worry about."
Kensuke laughed. "You're probably just still hungry. There is a burger place down the road if you'd like. Something close to home?" He nudged Shinji in the ribs as he scooped up Sakura's and his bags.
"Sounds nice," Shinji said as they made their way out of the arcade and into the greater square, past the crowd of teenagers standing around on their phones. "I could definitely use something to eat. You know I am actually a pretty good cook if you guys ever..." Shinji fell to one knee as the ache in his head graduated from annoying to a searing pain.
"Shinji!" Sakura rushed over to him, concern in her voice.
"Dude, what the hell is..." Kensuke fell silent as did the crowd around him as they heard something in the distance. It was far, far too loud to be an animal but far too guttural to be just be mechanical. A sickening, rolling, screeching thunderclap that made everyone shiver.
Shinji looked up at them, his face white. It was so obvious, this whole time. "It's an Angel," he managed weakly before something hit a building on the opposite end of the square. All heads turned to see what looked like a writhing mass of metal embedded in the skyscraper before it exploded sending burning shards of glass and steel in all directions as strange colored fire poured from the now shaking building like blood from wound. Panic followed.
