(As Asuka was getting introduced to the joys of the Boxing Club, the Literature Club was wrapping up...)
xxxx
Shinji Ikari had actually declined to continue reading
The Tragedy of Hamlet that afternoon; mostly because the other club members were going through their book reports: a process which had begun earlier that week.
It was honestly quite interesting, listening to their presentations. However, the absence of one club member from class 1-B had prompted a bout of subtle melancholy from Yamagishi. (Curious, that he could differentiate between melancholic moods by now...)
His Other rolled his eyes.
"Is it so surprising, that you are able to sift through other's gloom?"
He put on some glasses for emphasis.
"Or is it because you are surprised to be so familiar with another...?"
As people began to depart, Shinji quietly made his way towards Mayumi. "Yamagishi-san, are you okay?"
"Ah. I'm fine." Looking over towards the other club members, she remarked, "I guess I didn't expect Mizuno-san to be gone..."
"Gone?"
"...ah, you weren't here on Tuesday."
"What happened on Tuesday? Did something happen when Kensuke visited?"
Mayumi, oddly flustered, quickly blubbered, "I-It has nothing to do with Aida-san!" Briefly composing herself, she said, "It has to do with another club member; Mizuno-san said that she would be transferring schools, and so Tuesday would be her last day." Looking down at the small book in her hands, she added, "I think someone in her family passed away during the last new moon...and family obligations require them to move away to handle their affairs..."
"...ah." That sounded rather difficult. (
Like you're in any position to make commentary about someone's family affairs.) Taking a seat in one of the beanbag chairs, he asked, "Were you two close?"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRpJaY4z1MU
Mayumi, to his surprise, shook her head. "Well...until you joined the Literature Club, I rarely interacted with any of the members outside of it. You were the first one I spoke to outside of this club with any regularity...and then with the summer vacation, I made so many more friends, and...well,
you were there. You know what happened." Composing herself, she added, "Mizuno-san and I weren't that close."
"...so then why do you seem upset?"
"I guess it has more to do with her situation..." Smoothing out her skirt in an attempt to occupy herself, Mayumi said, "Two days ago...Katsuragi-san informed me that I have a cousin on my father's side. I still have blood relatives."
"...oh." That was actually a pretty big deal. "Do you know who it is?"
Mayumi shook her head. "Only that she's my father's niece, and that she lives in Osaka. Other than that...I don't know." Sighing, she murmured, "I don't
want to think about it, but I also can't help but think about it..."
"Why?"
"Hm?"
"Why don't you want to think about it?"
"...because then it makes me think of my parents." With a tilt of her head, her long hair fell like a curtain over her face. "I'd accepted their circumstances. I had tried to make peace with that."
Because their very existence had been corrupted by the Angel Armisael, she left unsaid. "But this? This tells me that before I entered the picture...they were actual people, with a tangible connection to others. And to think about that potential...and wonder how things could have been...it starts to hurt." For emphasis, she balled a fist against her chest. "And I wish it didn't..."
On some level, Shinji understood the desire to turn away from something painful. Yet on another level, given his own strange relationship with his father, and the mystery involving his mother...the prospect of finding out he had additional family would have been too appetizing to ignore. "...I don't think it's something you can run away from, though," he offered by way of encouragement. "Because this cousin of yours...does she know anything about your father?"
"...I don't know. Katsuragi-san made it seem like she did, if I recall..."
"Then she may have memories of who your father used to be. And I don't think that's a small thing." He recalled his various conversations with Fuyutsuki-sensei and Futaba Maruki: they had all hinted at a time where his mother had been vibrantly
alive, and his father had not been so distant. "Would it really be so bad, to have an idea of who your father used to be? As something other than what Armisael made them...?"
Mayumi placed her hands in her lap, saying nothing; however, from what he could see from her face, she was merely contemplating. "...objectively speaking, it wouldn't be.
Subjectively speaking, I feel like it would only result in more emotional pain...but that's not fair to whoever my cousin is. And it's probably not fair to my parents, either..." Sighing, she looked up, brushing her hair out of her face. "I know what the
proper thing to do is...but actually doing it is the hard part."
Obligations. Duties. A heavy burden that all had to carry, to some degree or another. "...it won't disappear just because you look away," he remarked. (Oh, how true that was; every obstacle and every stumbling block before him would remain, even if he ran away...and so what would the point be?)
"I know," she admitted with a nod. "I know..." Forcing a small smile onto her face, Mayumi added, "Thank you for talking with me, Ikari-san. I have a lot to think about..."
Shinji nodded, inwardly feeling like he understood her even more...
xxxx
As the evening rolled on, Shinji found himself back at the Izanagi Dorms.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zByoptQ2sS0
"Welcome back," said Kaworu, who was casually squeezing a stress ball. "So it turns out Asuka-chan joined the Boxing Club."
Toji — in the middle of studying at his desk — and Kensuke — reading from his
Sinbad book atop his bunk — both looked with alarm in his direction. "Wait, how long have you known this?!" exclaimed Toji. "Ken and I have been here for, like, an
hour!"
"Waiting until Shinji-kun arrives means I only have to say it once~"
Kensuke sighed dramatically. "Great, like Sohryu-san needs to be any
scarier."
Shinji titled his head. "Why would that be?"
Kensuke flatly replied, "Imagine her with Nagisa-kun's boxing ability."
Shinji thought about it, and it was his great fortune that a mission came up so that he
wouldn't have to think about it for the rest of the evening.
xxxx
Over at the Izanami Dorms, Rei Ayanami — after informing Shinji that the night missions were up to him to handle — entered her room.
"Welcome back," chorused Hikari and Mayumi, who were both studying at her desk.
Asuka merely grunted, as she was shadow-boxing in a corner of the room.
Rei, staring flatly at Asuka's movements, quietly turned towards Hikari.
"Ah...she apparently joined the Boxing Club this afternoon," explained Hikari. "Not that I'm
unhappy Sohryu-san's joining one of the extracurricular sports clubs, but it's certainly not one I expected..."
"To be fair, it's one with more applicability to our work in the Metaverse than most others," offered Mayumi.
Asuka, still in the midst of throwing out combinations, remarked, "I only joined so I can punch Kaworu Nagisa in the face. It's just a matter of time until the club captain allows me to spar with the jackass."
At this, Hikari and Mayumi couldn't even fault her, aware as they were of Nagisa's infamous reputation.
Rei, letting none of her true feelings show, simply nodded. "I see. I will be taking a shower." As she entered the bathroom to refresh, her mind quietly churned.
Kaworu Nagisa...
(September the 8th, 2015: As Kaworu stepped away from their table at KiKi Ichibanya, Rei quietly confronted him one-on-one as to what his plans entailed. "Planning? Planning is how things go wrong." With an ominous chuckle, he added, "Ayanami-san...the Second Child has no need to fear me. What purpose would there be in unduly harming her? If anything, she's in more danger from whoever will rise to face her during the New Moon. This whole little escapade of ours will be a mere sideshow.")
...I only hope this 'sideshow' is only that, she pondered, even as cold water streamed onto her head.
Such thoughts continued to trouble her, even as the night wound down...
xxxx
END OF 9/17/2015
xxxx
/Hermit is now at Rank 7
/it's funny
///but it's rather crazy how short most of P3's social link scenes are, relative to later games
////completely unrelated note
/////but Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is way too fun
//////at least I don't feel the urge to write fanfic for it like I did with Xenoblade 3, so that's a slight positive for me XD
