Shinji reacted to Misato's proclamation with a strange detachment; just like that, a trip that had taken them all over Japan was going to end. It had accounted for little over three weeks of his life, and yet so
much had happened. "...it feels like it just started...and yet not."
Misato snorted. "Yeah, this
has been a busy month for you, hasn't it?"
"Not exactly what I bargained for,
that's for sure," remarked Ryuji, who somehow sported a grin on his face. Whether it was bitter or honest, Shinji couldn't tell. "But that's life, I guess..."
"Are we heading back immediately?" asked Kensuke.
"We'd like you kids to start heading back soon...but Sakamoto-san and I have to make a brief stop back in Nishiawakura."
Misato's comment elicited surprised blinks from all of them, even Mana. "Why?" asked Toji.
"My bike/My car," answered both adults simultaneously. Sakamoto elaborated on behalf of both of them. "Well, we're just gonna quickly step back through the Metaverse to Okayama Prefecture. Not like we can just leave our stuff sitting on Sakura-san's property."
"I guess that makes sense," said Shinji. "Are you going to leave now?"
"We might as well. Given the governmental reorganization that's going to be happening now with this whole 'Council of 47' thing that the governors cooked up, it might result in changes to how the Anti-Terror Task Force and Cognitive Freelancers are utilized," explained Misato, looking one last time towards Mana. "...will you all look out for each other?"
"We will," promised Kensuke, readily speaking on behalf of Team Statherós.
Misato turned towards Rei. "I know you've been out all night...but will you stick with them for a while? I don't trust Strega or Adachi to not make another move."
"I will," remarked Rei, who didn't let her tiredness show.
Ryuji, meanwhile, looked at Ren. "Amamiya-san, would you get them back to Tokyo-3 as soon as you can? You've definitely shown yourself to be pretty reliable."
(Ren, unbeknownst to everyone else, stifled his laugh at Ryuji's loaded meaning.) Amamiya calmly replied, "I can do that."
The two adults nodded, advising them all to be safe and to contact them if an emergency arose. "We should be arriving back in Tokyo-3 by tomorrow...I imagine there'll be a big debrief at NERV, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there." With those words said, both thumbed their distinctive badges and began the process of phasing into the Metaverse.
Once the two were gone, Ren sighed. "Well...I guess we should go ahead and get our things."
The older teenager took the lead, and the younger six quietly followed, all wondering to some degree or another as to what awaited them in the near future...
xxxx
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9J8HzTMf1E
Time passed; within the orderly chaos of the Metaverse, Seiten Taisei quietly soared through the sky. Upon his cloudy vessel, Misato sat at the forefront, arms crossed. Ryuji stood, hanging onto the big monkey's leg.
The hour or so that the Monkey King had spent sailing through the sky, the two adults had spent that time trying to mutually destress from the utter chaos of the past week: shooting the breeze, and stuff like that.
That, more than anything else, had been the motive for them to get away from the kids for even so short a time: to talk in a more unvarnished way than they were otherwise comfortable with.
xx
"...where do you think Adachi got an old CRT television from?" asked Misato.
"Metaverse trickery? How should I know?"
xx
"Do you think Mana's brothers are going to end up on anyone else's radars?" wondered Ryuji.
Misato thought long and hard about that one. "...if those two end up fighting other people and leave any survivors, they'll become wanted men like Takaya or Shirato or Minazuki. But until then...I'll do what I can to help Mana-chan."
Ryuji hummed noncommittally.
xx
"-but seriously, there was a Shiba Inu with wings who helped with the defense of the CPC?"
"Yeah. Was albino, wore an orange sweater-vest; it was kind of crazy." Ryuji looked curiously at Misato. "Why?"
"...because I met a winged Shiba Inu once, when I was busted out of Shiro Tokita's facility. It accompanied Mister P's Persona."
Ryuji blinked. "That a fact? Well...it's like he keeps popping up, helping out here and there..."
"...I
really hope so." Misato sighed irritably, clutching at the 'solid' cloud underneath her. "With everything that's been going on, my investigation into him keeps being pushed back..."
xx
As they neared Nishiawakura, Misato finally asked a question she had been wondering for some time. "Sakamoto-san...do you regret signing up for this mission?"
Ryuji snorted. "Don't pull that shit, Katsuragi."
"I'm
serious," she stressed, looking over her shoulder at the Freelancer. "Even if you took on Suzuhara as an apprentice, you didn't
have to agree to be a chaperone for this road trip of theirs-"
"The 'what if' game doesn't help anyone," he insisted, tapping his gun-cane with emphasis. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't regret it just a little, because they weren't just my old teammates...they were my
friends. But if we hadn't come along, what would have happened on the ferry? The kids might have been in Tokyo-2 when that whole mess went down...or maybe when Minako showed up, it might have been you or one of the other kids who died. 'If if if.' Too many things would have been different to know for sure...so why bother?" Tapping at his heart with his fist, he added, "they got their funeral; they got their badass sendoff...and I've got a ton of good memories. Can't ask for anything else."
Misato frowned, unsatisfied by that answer. (
Only because you have too many regrets of your own.) "...I envy you, Sakamoto-san."
"Eh, ain't much of me to envy. I mean, you can beat me in a sprint, for one."
Misato snorted at the bit of dark humor. "That's not what I mean..." Alas, the conversation trailed off there, as Nishiawakura's cognitive double came into sight; setting down on a familiar hill (where the cognition of a statue in the shape of a Porsche 356 sat), they both shifted back into the real world; the sight of the DeLorean sitting alongside the Alpine Renault and Yamaha Royal Star initiated another wave of melancholy. "It's a shame; that's a sweet ride," remarked Misato.
"I
still can't believe their wives were okay with it being left to me," Ryuji murmured with a grimace. "Still haven't figured out what to do with it..." His voice trailed off with uncertainty.
"Sakamoto-san?"
Ryuji suddenly looked back toward the ryokan, frowning. "...hey. Katsuragi. Any idea why there would be yellow fog around Sakura-san's house?"
"Yellow fog?" Misato looked over her shoulder, gazing at the traditional dwelling; sure enough, the front doors were open, from which hazy vapor colored mustard and goldenrod could be seen. "...that's odd," she wondered aloud.
(Inwardly, their minds were
screaming.)
(
You MUST remember!)
"...we should check it out," said Ryuji with a frown, hobbling up the hill with purpose.
"...yeah," agreed Misato, even as she subconsciously prepared for battle. The two quietly proceeded, looking around with concern; the felines that called this place home were absent, hiding within the bushes and trees bordering the property. "I don't like this."
"Me neither." Ryuji and Misato both stood in front of the doorway, gazing at the thick cloud of fog. With one last shared glance, they stepped through-
(The immediate sensations of what had happened in Tokyo-2 immediately came roaring back.)
(
More cognitive manipulation; you know that this could only mean-!)
-and were ready for a fight when they crossed the threshold, nonetheless expecting to witness another tragedy.
Instead, they saw Tohru Adachi, sitting in an easy chair...and eating curry.
Sojiro Sakura — with arms bound, legs tied, and mouth gagged by cloth — sat in an easy chair across from him. Despite his obvious discomfort, the old man looked unharmed.
"...the
eff?!" exclaimed Ryuji.
"Ah, was wondering when someone would show up." Adachi looked at them with a smarmy grin. "Can you believe this guy? Not only a great cup of coffee, but he makes some pretty sweet curry, too!"
Misato, having manifested her A.T. Agent attire the
moment she entered the fog, whipped out her pistol and fired.
Instead of an A.T. Field flashing to block the bullet — as the two halfway expected — Adachi's head briefly splattered into strands of saffron mist; as his face slowly reformed, his right eye flashed with multiple colors. "Yeah...turns out when you're bonded with an Angel, you're a
bit more difficult than usual to kill...and I should know: the government certainly tried their
damnedest before handing me back to the Task Force to lock away in their little prison."
