The Hasegawas and the Hakone Caravan had gathered outside of the onsen; Zenkichi was speaking rather seriously with the local police from the Nishiawakura substation, whilst bystanders gazed nervously to the column of smoke rising a few hundred meters to the north, coming from some point beyond the ridge. As this was going on, Junpei and Ken were gathering stories from all of the teenagers regarding what had happened in the onsen.
(That Shinji had not disclosed the reason he left for the sauna in the first place — namely, the perverted topic of conversation between Toji and Kensuke — made him a minor hero to the teenage lads.)
However, even more striking than the sudden Ghost attack, even
more surprising than Jin Shirato's appearance...was the fact that Shinji had had a one-on-one conversation with the infamous Takaya Sakaki himself.
"...man, your luck is
awful," blurted out Toji.
Kensuke elbowed his friend in the side. "Not the time!"
After regaling as much of what he could remember of Takaya's words (while consciously glossing over anything and everything related to the Usurper), Shinji finally concluded with the man's cryptic warning about the Olympics.
"...same as Shirato, then." Ken Amada grimaced, looking over towards Ryuji. "We have to warn people."
"...you're still an Agent, so you can do things all 'official' like. I'll call the Commissioner, and make sure that security
does get increased," said Ryuji.
"Wait, we're not gonna cancel the rest?" blurted out Junpei. "That's
stupid!"
"They're not going to cancel the Summer Olympics over a mere threat," admitted Ken. "Political violence and terrorism have never resulted in the cancellation of Olympic events from what I recall...suspended,
yes, but outright cancelled? There'd have to be an all-out war for that to happen."
"And what, a terrorist organization aligned with an enemy dedicated to wiping out humanity
isn't a war?" growled Junpei, irritated by the prospects of Takaya and Jin causing havoc. "Do I have to remind you about what happened during the last
new moon?"
"And the Olympics Committee will simply respond that the ceremonies will conclude before the new moon," rejoindered Ken.
"And, going by what Ikari and the girls said, they can apparently summon friggin'
Ghosts now!"
Ryuji huffed loudly, drawing both of their attention. "You both raise good points...but right now, Okayama is probably home to more individuals with cognitive and metaphysical fighting capability
per capita than anywhere else on the planet right now. And that'll hold until the Olympics are over and done with. And if there's something that requires the firepower of an Evangelion...well, we're a hop, skip, and a jump away, eh?"
(Mana frowned, looking curiously at Shinji. "...how far can he hop, skip, and jump...?" she murmured to herself.)
Finally, Zenkichi walked towards them, a stern frown on his face. "The police found the cause of the explosion: a car loaded with a bunch of fertilizer that had been left on the side of a mountain road. Judging by the plates they were able to dig up from the wreckage, the car had been reported as stolen just this morning from the city of Maniwa, about fifty kilos west of here. No word yet on if they were able to get any surveillance footage of the car theft itself...but beyond some singed trees and shattered asphalt, there wasn't any collateral damage from the car bomb."
"In other words...it was a
distraction!" exclaimed Kensuke with a dramatic gesture.
Toji elbowed his friend in the side. "Not the time!"
Sakamoto, tellingly, agreed. "Probably. Judging by their disappearing act, they must have slipped into the Metaverse during that instant we were distracted...cheeky bastards." With a gruff sigh, he added, "pardon the language."
"And my patrol on Trismegistus didn't turn up jack," grumbled Junpei, kicking at the ground with his feet. "They gave us the slip...
damn it."
"...so...what does that mean now?" asked Shinji.
"As far as you kids are concerned?" said Ryuji. "Not much. There's still nothing stopping you from enjoying the rest of your summer vacation...and if we need your help, you'll be the first to know."
"Okay..." he murmured, looking quietly at the sky.
"...is everything okay, Ikari-san?" quietly asked Mayumi. "Takaya Sakaki didn't do anything, did he...?"
"...physically? No..." Honestly, the heat of the sauna had been more demanding (and it had been an exercise in
determination...). But
mentally was another story altogether. "I'm just...wondering what's going to happen next, is all..."
(Akane stared quietly at Shinji Ikari, trying to square her memories of Ikari with that of a boy who talked one-on-one with a serial killer and came out unscathed. As with so many other things over the past few days, it was yet another oddity that grabbed her attention.)
"...I suppose that's fair enough," murmured Mayumi, an uncertain shadow coming across her face, one that Shinji couldn't help but feel as well.
His Other felt...a sense of foreboding.
The Beast, meanwhile, simply grinned at the thought of the carnage which would soon unfold.
Jin Shirato...Takaya Sakaki...Strega...the Angels...the Usurper. Shinji sighed.
There's just so much...
Alas, there was little to do except to retire for the day; thus did the Hasegawas depart, whilst the Hakone Caravan returned to Sojiro Sakura's place.
xxxx
Meanwhile, several hundred meters to the south, within a mountainous forest, Takaya Sakaki quietly observed Keita Asari and Musashi Strasberg. The blue mold connected to the audio transmitter — the means by which the two boys had listened to the conversations within the hot springs — slithered its way back into his body. "So...what did you hear from your dear sister?" he asked, sitting upon a fallen log.
"...she feels trapped," growled Musashi. "She still has to fight..."
"Even if her circumstances seem better...and more pleasant...Mana-neesan, Big Sis, and Little Sis are stuck doing what Tokita would be having them to do
anyway..." The boy, whose timidity was fading day by day, couldn't help but scowl. "...to the point where she thinks it might be better to leave us alone..."
"Misguided altruism, driven by fear," explained Takaya, as he handed the audio transmitter over towards Jin Shirato. The mold from the hot springs was still making its long trek back. "Fear over her lack of control, fear that her own power won't be enough to make a difference where it counts..."
Musashi snarled, rising to his feet. "Then what's the point of showing us all of this?!" The past weeks had been spent observing various aspects of human society from afar, in all of its wretchedness; swept from the idyllic memories spent wandering the countryside as proverbial nomads, the two boys had been shown a world driven by cold calculus and hot irrationality. "You trying to make us feel hopeless? That we can't change anything?!"
Jin snorted. "Power means nothing if you're not willing to use it."
"Indeed," concurred Takaya with a knowing smile. "Power is the ultimate arbiter...if you have more power than another, you can determine the fates of those with less power.
However, that means nothing if you lack conviction." The last of the mold slipped back in through his fingers, even as the veins in his chest throbbed. "People are capable of justifying so much of their own actions, cloaked in self-righteousness...but I prefer to cast away those foul falsehoods, and cling to simplicity: to live every single moment according to my own will, without thought for what others will think. Your sister, trapped by the concerns of
society, feels unable to cast aside everything to come and save you..."
"...but I don't
blame her for feeling that way," whispered Keita.
"Indeed; she is but a child, much like you. But the circumstances by which she attained her power, the humans who gave it to her, and the institutions which force her down a path not of her own choosing...are they not blameworthy?"
"...of course they are," hissed Musashi. "But what are we supposed to do about it?"
Jin snorted. "To make a choice, obviously." Rising to his feet, the man adjusted his glasses, tucking the transmitter under his arm. "I'll be making preparations for Sunday." Without another word, he vanished into thin air.
"...and what's our choice?" asked Keita, looking back towards Takaya.
The young man chuckled. "That is something that I cannot decide for you; I can certainly provide you the keys to power...and you've demonstrated a willingness to stare the reality of death in the face." Standing up, he said, "you've seen the power that the Angels have granted me...a power that has allowed me to protect you, and to do many things. Humanity and the Angels are both caught in an existential war...so my choice would have me branded as a traitor to my species. And yet, you've seen
quite well just how much our species is worth...isn't that right?"
Musashi and Keita looked uncertainly at each other.
"I will give you until the next new moon to decide:
eight days from now. If you wish to try and return to humanity...then I will let you go, for there's nothing you can do to me. But if you wish to lay waste to humanity, and join the Angels...if you wish to enact vengeance on a diseased society that would command mere children to fight for its survival, while so many adults bask in safety...then I will finally bring your Shadows to you, and provide the means of obtaining greater power." Placing his hands on their shoulders, he added, "you do not have to decide right now. It is a momentous decision, worthy of much thought."
The young boys grimaced, instincts warring with their passions...but they nonetheless nodded.
Without another word, Takaya and the two children disappeared into the Metaverse.
xxxx
/it occurs to me
//that Kensuke and Toji
///are two sides of the same idiotic coin
