2022-01-31: Initial Investigations
- Log: 2022-01-31 Initial Investigations
- Cast: Kaworu Nagisa, Shinji Ikari, Asuka Shikinami Langley, Alexis Kerib (NPCing Ako Furuma and Ramo Marusa)
- Where: Tokyo-3 into Tsutsujidai
- OOC - IC Date: January 31, 0096 (2022)
- Summary: Kaworu, Shinji, and Asuka take their first foray as a group into the mysterious town of Tsutsujidai.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
As winter stretches on and reaches that part of the year where the festivities are long past and there's nothing left but cold and slush and gray skies, it can be a struggle to find something to take joy in. There is Valentine's Day in a couple of weeks, but a holiday dedicated to romantic connections is of little consequence to those who struggle with regular day-to-day connections. Things like that carry their own stressors too, which can sour the atmosphere. And beyond all that, this is a world in which battle is constant... in which battle occurred literally just over the weekend. What, then, to soothe the soul and settle the nerves?
As always: music.
Kaworu strolls through the hallways of Tokyo-3 Municipal Middle School alongside the class representative, Hikari Horaki, hands in his pockets as she gives him a tour of the place. Having just transferred in this morning to, conveniently, Shinji, Rei, and Asuka's same class, it's Hikari's responsibility to make sure the new kid gets situated.
"...and over there is the cafeteria--you can buy bread and milk and things like that during break if you have to," she says, pointing towards the appropriate doors as they pass by. "Just in case you forget lunch again like you did today!"
"Thank you," Kaworu, for whom eating is optional, says.
"Miss Ayanami's always doing that too," Hikari mentions, looking over at him. "You two really should take better care of yourselves."
Kaworu's smile broadens, a hint of laughter in his breath. "That's very kind of you to say, Miss Horaki. I appreciate it."
"Oh--it's no problem!" Hikari replies, smiling back reactively. "So that should be all the important places. Is there anything you'd like to ask about before I go?"
"Yes. Could you please guide me to the music room?"
"All right!"
And so, a few turns, a flight of stairs, and mostly one-sided talk about clubs and whether Kaworu will be joining one later, the two arrive at the school's music room. Hikari is about to tell him they've arrived when he simply opens the door and strolls in himself as if he already knew. Which makes sense, considering there's a sign right above the music room saying MUSIC ROOM. It's empty of any students today. Hikari hurries in after him, but he's already heading towards the piano set up inside.
"U-um, do you need anything else?" she asks, a little poleaxed.
"No. Thank you again, Miss Horaki. I'll see you tomorrow," Kaworu says, just before seating himself and beginning to play.
Hikari opens her mouth. She shuts it as those delicate notes waft out from beneath his long, slender fingers. For a moment, she listens in wonder; then she smiles in appreciation. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Nagisa."
Already absorbed in his playing, Kaworu doesn't respond. Hikari leaves him be and heads back to the classroom where--in theory--her classmates on cleaning duty should be finishing up with straightening the place up. Whether that has *actually* happened or not is another story, but at least she'll know where to find Kaworu if anyone needs to know.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji Ikari needs to think about something besides nearly dying in space.
The Third Child has decided that he's been a little weird with his roommate, who seems to sincerely want to be left alone. So he'll handle the mystery of Tetsujidai himself. The problem is Shinji Ikari has lived alone for the vast majority of his life; he's not used to roommates, one of the reasons he overcompensates a little with Misato and Asuka. Using the recorder device on his phone, a solid three ring binder and a lot of internet time, Shinji Ikari researches missing places.
At breakfast (some pain pills artfully laid out for the three of them with cheese omlettes and seasonal fruit salad), "-STORAGE records go as far back as Alan Turing, who once confessed to a friend that after he proposed his theories of a virtual reality he was troubled by intense visions of a labyrinth of cogs and wires, where a dark figure ruleed. It was dismissed as drugs and stress at the time..."
At lunch, a map of Nouville Tokyo spread over the table. (A quick stir fry was prepared and divided evenly and neatly, of course.), little flags pinned into it to track missing time.
At dinner, Shinji skips the meal entirely to dig through archives. "You're kidding me. It's never been spelled that way? We're Japan, we love alternate spellings. Why did we all know what the place is called, then?!"
Misato Katsuragi cracks a beer open, visibly worried. "Obsessive tendencies run in families, don't they buddy?"
Pen-Pen the penguin looks at the giant evil pyramid hidden beneath a city and shrugs, continuing to read the sports section.
At school, Shinji is doing his usual 'bare minimum to avoid being noticed', but it's a little harder to get by on his old losing the genetic lottery excuse. His phone is on, and he's glaring at it as if it owed him money, flicking through files.
"I never should've given him that darkweb pass." Kensuke Aida says, leaning back in bemused contempt. "It's sad isn't it, when someone projects so hard onto a hobby they shut out everyone around them?"
"One of these days da' irony fairy's gonna slit your throat, Aida." Toji Suzuhara says, napping openly.
"Probably a tulpa." Shinji says, not looking up from his work. "Apparently people can just dream so hard their brains try to choke them. Quick way to go."
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
BREAKFAST
Asuka rubs at her temples as she swallows an Aspirin. She didn't sleep well last night after the mission to Africa. "When did you decide to be this noisy at breakfast?" Grabbing a cheese omlette, she stands up and grabs her bag, "I'm going out."
The door is slammed on her way out.
LUNCH
Asuka is eating lunch in her room again. It's almost certainly convenience store food she picked up when she went out earlier. Whether it's negligence on intentional, her sliding door open only the barest crack. Laying on her bed sideways, she holds out her Wonderswan and plays the game...
A shadow passing over the light of the other room causes her to blink, and watches as Shinji obsesses over the map of Nouvelle Tokyo, the pins sticking out of it.
"How long is he going to be at this?" She mutters, hitting pause, and taking the time to get up and close her door fully.
DINNER
... Asuka comes out of the bathroom, drying her hair. Hearing a snippet of conversation between Shinji and Misato, she lets out the biggest groan and does a 180 turn back into the bathroom.
HOMEROOM
Kaworu's appearance in the classroom got a single outburst out of Asuka suddenly standing up at her desk. "What is he doing here!?" There's a single split second pause where her brain locks up as the answer is entirely obvious, before a second line comes as she sinks back down at her desk, "You have got to be kidding me."
LATER
Asuka's forehead strikes her desk once, twice, thrice in a quiet rhythm, not even wanting to bring out her Wonderswan after Kaworu snuck up on her using it the other day... and it felt as if every word between this trio were eroding her sanity. How much was she expected to take of this!?
Eventually she stands up, walks up to them, and grabs Shinji's phone to cover his screen as her palm strikes his desk at the same time. "After school - Daddy's Boy." She growls out, not explaining herself at all - before she takes her hand off his phone, just so Kaworu can't accuse her of assaulting a pilot.
AFTER SCHOOL.
Asuka STILL hasn't explained, only just having finished her cleaning duties, she shoulders her bag, "Horaki. Where'd you take the Understudy?" "W-Who?" "The Transfer Student." "Oh! You mean Nagisa-san. He's up in the Music Room." "Fantastic."
Asuka's out the door in an instant, leaving a bewildered Hikari wondering what that's about. Apparently Asuka just expects Shinji to follow - though she's not exactly checking to be sure he is. She's going through the hallways at a fast gait, tearing up the stairs two at a time. Winding around the hallways.
As she approaches the music room, she stops for a moment as she hears the melody, furrows her brow, and looks through the room's small vertical window inside... to see him at the piano. Standing there for a while longer eventually she shoves open the door roughly in a way not unlike a discordant note, "Hey Fifth String." As Asuka changes his nickname on the fly, upon the debut of his new musical talents, "We're settling things today!"
Is she picking a fight? her stance is aggressive.
"You're the one who put these delusions in his head about some backwater city existing only in dreams or some nonsense - and now I can't get a moment's peace! So we're fixing this right now."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
The pounding feet in the hallway send subtle vibrations ahead of them. Though they don't slow Kaworu's playing, he does breathe a faint sigh. It's a small curiosity that Asuka *doesn't* immediately shove the music room door open, but she does eventually do it, so Kaworu thinks little of it.
From 'Understudy' to 'Fifth String'. He'd almost think it a compliment if not for who it was coming from, her hostile tone and stance aside. Undeterred from his playing, fingers moving deftly across the keys, Kaworu nonetheless looks up, a faint, wry smile for her and--presumably--Shinji behind her.
"Settling things?" he echoes. When she explains, he flicks his gaze to Shinji. As he finishes up the piece at his own pace, he considers the ultimatum; then, once his hands still, he stands up and tucks them into his pockets.
"Very well," he states, strolling over to join the two. He doesn't bother to point out how Shinji hit upon the idea that Tsutsujidai was a dream world on his own; Asuka would neither listen nor care. "How do you propose that be done, then?, then?" He looks from Asuka to Shinji. "Have you determined what you want to do with what you've found so far?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"You can't just grab a man's phone like that, Red Devil!" Toji barks, going from a practiced delinquent lean to his feet in one athletic shift of his weight, "Who knows what he coulda been lookin at there! Privacy is a human right!"
"Isn't she a brunette?" Aida asks, adjusting his glasses and shamelessly hiding behind a textbook. "The nickname kind of fails."
"It depends on the lighting." Shinji points out, looking up at Asuka like she just grabbed his phone like a weirdo. There is a moment of tension and then Shinji shrugs, going back to his work. "Like an Irish Setter."
He follows, when Asuka leaves, figuring it's NERV business. "I cannot win with her." Shinji says to himself, trying to sound like a cool adult and managing 'moody teenager'.
"Looks like the newlyweds are at it again." Aida says, a little loud to be safe.
Toji looks at the pinched, subtle expression on the class rep's face, and slaps his best friend upside his dumb head.
Shinji catches up about the time Asuka stops to listen. Pachelbel, he thinks, and claps a little as Asuka ruins the moment. "Didn't know you played, boss." The boss is intended to be humorous but he half expects Kaworu to insist on being called by his first name anyway. 'My door's always open' kind of manager. "Though the piano's actually a percussion instrument, Asuka, so I don't know if the nickname really, uh, works?"
Shinji twitches then as the girl throws him under the bus. "Are you tattling on me AGAIN?!" Shinji snaps, for him, which means he hunches over and his voice cracks. "I don't get you! I've been giving you all kinds of space and you're still mad! Is this becaus-" Shinji pauses as Kaworu addresses him like a colleague instead of whatever Nagisa usually does. Like a kid brother, Shinji guesses.
"-I, uh." Shinji's face colors as the situation stops being an escape. "Look, I think what we saw up on Side Five, what happened isn't just suspicious, it's dangerous. Evangelions can do a lot of damage, and the three of us know they're tied intimately to our mental health. I don't want to end up some orange eyed cultist on a giant space turkey talking Intro to Philosophy nonsense about how great the heat death of the universe is."
"And, uh." Shinji deflates, then. "I don't know. I have no idea how to get back to a place that doesn't exist. Maybe we could ask those Gridman Alliance kids? But they didn't go off with any Federation ship, how would we even find them again?"
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
Toji and Kensuke's exchange just gets a glare which seems to ask 'What are you stupid?'
For just half a second Asuka looks murderous when Shinji says that her hair color's shifting perceptions are like that of an Irish Setter to his friends. But strangely...
She doesn't respond in the usual way. "You're really asking for it Daddy's Boy - but guess what?" She lets go of his phone, "I'll let this one go." And turns back to take a seat.
If Shinji is looking REAL closely he might notice her sneaking a peek Kaworu's way after... not looking happy in the least.
Kensuke is thankfully saved by Asuka moving so fast that she doesn't pick up that remark, halfway down the hall after.
-=-=-
"What are you stupid? The Piano is both." As she answers Shinji calling it a percussion instrument, instead replying it's considered both Strings and Percussion. Still that's rather pedantic of her isn't it?
Tattling though? Asuka gives him a look like that's the weirdest accusation she's ever heard.
"What do you mean tattling!? You didn't tell me any of that conversation you had with him about all this was confidential? What, are you gonna claim a conversation between two men is sacred or something? You were so eager to share it!"
Asuka crosses her arms and rolls her eyes, before jabbing her finger his way, "And anyone with ears could hear you talking about your new obsession with your friends! What you think the Fifth String doesn't have ears? They're probably way better than yours!"
Shinji seems to calm down as Kaworu talks to him as a colleague though, which causes her to roll her eyes yet again and recross her arms. "Don't be stupid Daddy's Boy. You're just mistaken... I was there and you were there, and it sure wasn't some dream. Our Evas weren't air dropped, which means we took the NERV's secure train lines."
She then gestures Kaworu's way, "The way I see it, we just hit up Nouvelle Tokyo and check the station when we get there... someone probably just forgot to update the maps of the more rural prefectures after Second Impact."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Asuka's lucky, if this can be called 'lucky'; at the time that she slaps Shinji's phone down and growls at him that they're meeting after school, Kaworu is conversing on the other side of the room with Hikari about, appropriately enough, touring the school after classes are done for the day. He does give the mini-group a sidelong glance at the time of impact, but... by the time Asuka peeks his way, he's back to his conversation.
---
Balance in all things. Shinji applauds Kaworu's performance, but also calls him 'boss.' In return, Kaworu smiles at him. It's subtly pained for a scattering of seconds. But it is true, this time, that he is his boss. "I play several instruments," he replies, accepting it for what it is. "Music is a sublime refuge--a way to express the thoughts and feelings that well up within." His smile warms. "How about you? You seem familiar with instruments yourself."
Not that they'll really have time to talk too much about music, since there's also the topic Asuka has pushed. Kaworu listens to the both of them. The argument about tattling is their own; he doesn't attempt to intercede on that matter. He simply waits until they get to the point.
"I agree," he tells Shinji, expression now serious. "The idea that any of us might be affected by Triple Zero energy is alarming." He pauses. "Are you suggesting that there is a connection between that and the place you and the Second fought in recently?"
Asuka suggests that they took NERV's train lines to that battle rather than getting airdropped. Kaworu gives her a long, inscrutable look... but then he nods. "If that will satisfy you," he replies. "Then let's take the train to Nouvelle Tokyo and investigate the stops as we go. If we're fortunate, perhaps we'll find a member of the Gridman Alliance along the way."
They won't find any Gridman Alliance kids during the trip, unfortunately. But after a certain point, the area outside will get so foggy it's impossible to see anything outside. For some reason, Asuka and Shinji will find themselves both so tired that they can't help but doze off...
Until Kaworu clears his throat, awakening them both. "If we don't hurry, we'll miss our stop," he tells them, pointing to a sign just outside the window.
TSUTSUJIDAI STATION, it reads.
How does Kaworu know that this is their stop? The answer is quite simple. The train doors have just finished sliding open--they're right next to one, and so can feel the air outside rushing in. And although the three of them got on in weather cold enough for them to need coats, jackets, and the like, the blast of air that hits their faces is summer-hot.
It's supremely abnormal. Which means this must be the spot.
The train's trilling chime starts to ring, signaling that the doors are about to close. They really will need to hurry if they want to catch this stop. Kaworu is already on his feet, ready to go, at least.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji's defiant look melts the second he realizes what he inadvertently called her. It was just the only description of the color he knew! Shinji's eyes widen as he prepares to get, for once, rightfully slugged. "I, uh, just realized how that-"
Asuka lets him off the hook.
What the fuck?
She must, Shinji realizes as she stares at their superior officer, really have a thing for this guy.
Then she totally gets what he was mad about wrong. It's embarrassing having your behavior brought to a kid in your class! "I wasn't doing anything wrong, I just."
Kaworu is talking. Shinji looks a little embarrassed. "It's, uh, a long story." The long story is Shinji's 'teacher' got paid in an old cello for a job and foisted the thing off on his ward, but Shinji's a bit embarrassed around all of these posh people. "And..not directly, but it could be something similar. Unusual phenomena that can effect the Eva is worth looking into." Shinji looks away for a minute.
The Third Angel's death mask glowed bright, and he didn't feel a damn thing as he broke the monster's wrists like a pair of breadsticks. It could, Shinji thought, feel fear and the thought is so alien he screams from the pain of it.
Shinji's thrown a jacket on; second hand but well made, and a little big as if someone was expecting it to need to survive a growth spurt. It's a pilot's jacket with warm wool lining and for some reason Shinji looks supremely embarrassed to be wearing it.
Kaworu must've seen the sign first, Shinji thinks. Good eyes and ears. Maybe he's an elf. "Warm, isn't it?" Shinji says, getting off of the train and looking around. Everything looks...like he remembers. Real, but not real. It reminds him of nothing less than the strange dreamscapes that sometimes assault him within his Unit-01. Things are here, and in the shape they should be, but it's like God lost His eye for details. "Maybe there's a malfunctioning weather control unit or something?"
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
"Tch." Asuka makes an irritated noise as Kaworu brings up that he plays several instruments, wondering where he had the time to do that given where she believes he comes from. Still though she doesn't even comment on Triple Zero energy. Yes it was disturbing but she doesn't think it's likely that the worst case possibility Shinji brought up will happen to her after their experiences up there. Maybe A.T. Fields actually do shut it out, and they're in little danger because of it.
Likewise she doesn't say anything to Shinji calling his musical talents a long story.
"Let's just get this over with so I can get some peace tonight."
Eventually however, they board the trains, Asuka's in her school uniform, having come to school with a pair of tights on today... but over her uniform itself is a cream colored sweater under a red button down coat. Given where she came from, her winter wardrobe is pretty extensive.
It's unclear if she noticed Shinji's jacket, she certainly doesn't look like she has.
At some point though, she starts to wonder if the exhaustion of the last few days is catching up to her as she closes her eyes for what was intended to be just a moment.
When Kaworu clears his throat, Asuka is half slumped over in her seat, a fleck of drool on the corner of her lip. Her hair draped lopsidedly onto the seat, with a nasally snort of breath she suddenly jolts upright, wiping her eyes with her hand, and the side of her lips.
Eyes flicking from Shinji to Kaworu to see if either says ANYTHING... but otherwise trying to play it off.
"Right." Grabbing her bag, she's hurrying off the train and...
... immediately complaining not five steps off the train. "What is with this weather? It's still January..." Asuka grumbles as finds herself baking in her added layers, starting to unbutton her coat. And when that's not good enough, take it off alright. Draping it over her arm. Soon enough, the sweater follows as she shakes her hair out the moment its pulled over her head. "Must be, yeah..." She agrees with Shinji, "...though it shouldn't shift temperatures this much. Geez... it's like they installed colony-grade solar mirrors throughout the whole city or something... what gives?"
Upon looking at the sign though, Asuka brightens up instantly. "Ha!" Fishing out her phone she holds it up and takes a shot of the station sign with her camera - which displays Tsutsujidai prominently, tapping on her phone after to switch apps.
"And the GPS shows..." Asuka holds it up for Shinji to see, "...We're in part of Nouvelle Tokyo. Probably the outskirts. Didn't I tell you that your occult club special was a waste of time?"
Asuka though takes her phone back a moment later, flapping it over and over like some makeshift fan. "Well whatever... we might as take a walk around or something... get a bite to eat."
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
"I'm happy to hear it, once you have time to tell," Kaworu prompts, smiling at Shinji. "I'd love to have a fellow musician to play with."
Either way, there's certainly no argument about looking into phenomena that might affect Evangelions. Triple Zero is a huge problem, regardless of anything else it comes to intersect with. It looks like there's no argument about heading to Nouvelle Tokyo, either. Kaworu, for his part, puts on a long, dark double-breasted coat and a scarf when they leave school. Like Asuka, he doesn't pay any mind to Shinji's jacket. No need to put him on the spot by paying attention to something he seems embarrassed by. And, lucky for Asuka, he doesn't pay any mind to her having drooled in her sleep on the train. If Kaworu himself nodded off at some point, he doesn't show any sign of it, though maybe he just woke up before Shinji and Asuka did.
With the two of them up, they disembark. Kaworu is the last one off, and the train doors shut behind him. Slowly, the car pulls away, picking up speed as it leaves the station. The trio is left to head out of the station to more hazy-hot weather.
"Quite warm," he agrees, looking up at the brilliant blue skies. He doesn't chime in on what might be *causing* the warmth, though he does remove his scarf, folding it up and tucking it away in a pocket.
As Asuka holds out her phone, Kaworu retrieves his own. He messes with it briefly, then puts it back in his pocket. "Yes, let's do that," he says, nodding to Asuka. Then he walks off past the station gates into the town proper, slipping his hands into his pockets too. His pace is steady but not too fast, so it'll be easy for the two of them to follow.
The buildings look... well, like buildings. It's hard to say much of anything definitive from the ground. Still, as the three of them walk around, it becomes increasingly clear that this really is the place where they'd fought against those kaiju--except for the part that there are no signs whatsoever of any recent destruction. There's no rubble, no construction crews, no people passing by in the street talking about any recent attacks. It's just an ordinary town full of ordinary people going about their ordinary lives.
Except for several massive, unmoving kaiju that loom over the city. No one else seems to notice them, and they aren't doing anything. They're just... there. Being a silent promise.
After a decent amount of wandering around, the trio happens by a hybrid Chinese restaurant-ramen place. The sign over the door proclaims it's called Ryuutei. It's fairly small--clearly a hole-in-the-wall place. Like many hole-in-the-wall places, the smell wafting out the door is absolutely *scrumptious*. It's open, too; a look inside the door shows a middle-aged man in a white chef's outfit behind the counter, and a couple of high school girls seated at one of the tables within. There's not too many other tables, but there's still enough room for the three of them.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji doesn't fall asleep on the train. He has a strange look on his face, leaning forward to rest on his elbows. There's a set to Shinji's features; he's afraid, like always, but it's a different sort of fear for a different sort of world. All it would take, Kaworu, is for him to raise those hands up to rest his chin on them.
This nervous focus only splits for just a second, as Shinji's ears perk at a tiny snore next to him. Shinji briefly has a bizarre urge that he shoves directly into the back of his mind; but for just a second, his face is unavoidably, inexplicably fond. This is quickly swallowed as they hit the stop, Shinji focused more on finally finding this kingdom of Pester John than the siren call of banter. Okay so the name's there, so what, because it's NOT on the GPS and that means they might be on Jupiter or something.
Maybe he's just desperate.
No, no he was always right and also amazing. "Hah!" Shinji says, pointing at one of the giant, still monsters no ones noticing. "Hah!" He hahs again, the unfamiliar headiness of victory making Shinji act, for him, totally out of line. "I knew there was something weird about this place!"
"Watch where you're going, old man!" A middle school girl with bright pink hair says, flipping Shinji off. "You're weird!"
"We're gonna get in trouble." A plain looking boy says, half hiding behind her.
A girl with basically the same haircut as the boy, with a little black eyeliner showing that goth lifestyle never dies, just peers at them and crosses the street. "You are...weird."
"Old man." Shinji says, "J-just because my face is a little worn...food! Food is good!" Shinji looks for the cheapest place possible: bingo, ramen shop high schoolers go to. "I'll buy." Because he got paid last week.
"Because I was right."
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
The walk is a normal one for Asuka, who looks mostly annoyed at the waste of time but perhaps determined to make something of it anyway. She's mostly looking around, at the cityscape. It's definitely the same place they fought, she recognizes that street over there... surprisingly well intact? That's... fast but...
... then she looks up into the glare of the sun as Shinji points and says 'Ha', shielding her hand across her eyes.
BGM for Asuka in Tsutsujidai: Prism - Dennou Coil OP - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSgcItx7DS0
And he gets treated to the look of surprise on Asuka's features. "What?" The girl holds up her phone and hits a few settings to filter off the sun, zooming in and... "You've got to be kidding me... that's not some... what the hell? What the hell Daddy's Boy?"
She snaps a picture and suddenly rushes up to Kaworu, grabbing at his arm for a second to get his attention before letting go, "Are you not seeing those?! Those aren't some installation - those are Kaiju!" As she holds up her phone for him to look, so surprised that she's not even calling him Fifth String.
Yet she doesn't slow down their walk.
"Shouldn't we call this in Mister Administrator?" For once not calling him her normal nicknames due to the chain of Command, "They look inert right now but... Kaiju removal operations of this sort is STORAGE jurisdiction right?"
Still, despite Asuka's sudden burst of energy as she realizes (but does not admit) that Shinji was right about SOME things... she walks into the restaurant too.
Asuka steps into the restaurant, still staring at her phone, grimacing as Shinji says he'll buy because he was right.
"Shut it!" She snaps at him, "Just because it's weird doesn't mean it's something out of a dream Daddy's Boy. Here let me show you..."
As Asuka takes a step towards him, fingertips held up like she's going to pinch him, then... she gives Kaworu a glance...
"... you know what? I'll demonstrate later." Her hand falls back to her side, looking positively irritated as she looks away.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji does doze, at the last second, which sort of ruins any ominous portents that may have been building. It's a relief! He doesn't drool, the implications of which are debated on the forums for ages but really is just because he didn't hydrate enough today.
<Pose Tracker> Alexis Kerib has posed.
"Take a seat," the man says, glancing over to the new arrivals. He seems... tired. A little sullen. Oh, to be sure, he's doing his job, but there's a sense of exhaustion in his whole bearing. Something weighs on him a lot.
The girls don't seem that interested in the new arrivals, by comparison. One of them -- a blonde in an outlandishly-colored purple stadium jumper -- moves around the table to the other for a moment. The other -- a somewhat plain, slightly tired looking brown-haired girl in a grey school uniform with a purple tie -- tilts her head slightly to one side, making it easy for the blonde to fuss with her hair. This seems like a pretty typical shape of interaction for them; they're plenty comfortable. The brown-haired girl *does* glance over, though.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Shinji points at one of the giant, still, looming kaiju, and Kaworu's gaze follows his finger. "Certainly so," he says, nodding once. He seems quite undisturbed about the sight of them--which might make it even stranger when he looks briefly bewildered by Asuka grabbing his arm, even if it only lasts long enough to get his attention. He settles quickly, at least; his hands didn't even leave his pockets.
"I see them. All three of us do," he replies, back to his usual calm. He takes a moment to consider what she says about calling it in, though. "Let's take more of a look around," he suggests. "Perhaps if we talk to the locals, we can learn more. There's no point in calling in without a complete report."
Shinji points to a nearby restaurant and offers to treat, while Asuka moves to flick him--but then decides not to at the last second. Kaworu gives her a level, unamused look; it gives way to a smile when he looks at Shinji. "Let's head in, then."
He holds the door for Shinji and Asuka, then walks in last. The man running the restaurant doesn't have much customer service for them, but Kaworu accepts his offer and picks a table next to the high school girls. When the brunette glances over at them, he gives her a friendly smile as he seats himself.
"Do you two attend school around here?" he asks politely. He doesn't reach for the menu.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji blushes a little because he usually doesn't go that crazy. Must've been the nap on the train. Why did I nap on a train?, Shinji thinks, and then smirks a little and.
That again. Shinji frowns as a bunch of weird looks are exchanged. What does she think I'm going to run to the commander because she treats me like a person?
"What do you two like?" Shinji asks, then, enjoying the smell and then his eyes widen as Kaworu sits right next to two older girls.
And then talks to them. "Dude!" Shinji whispers, sounding like a 14 year old boy instead of some world weary misanthrope trying to find meaning in his father's doomed war with heaven. "Those are high school girls!"
Shinji sits back, clearly thrown off by this braisen and totally out of bounds act of social dynamism. No wonder they're crawling all over him, Shinji thinks, digging himself into a menu.
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
Asuka listens to Kaworu's evaluation, eyes narrowing slightly but she can't argue with the logic of wanting MORE information than just what they have. "Fine. Whatever. We'll get enough for a full report." With one last glance upright at the inert Kaiju... she enters.
Kaworu takes a table, and as he asks his question Asuka gives him a look like he's just wasting time. Shinji asks what they'd like, and Asuka instantly replies, "Who cares about that?"
Suddenly monofocused on the inert Kaiju weirdness over eating.
As she steps up to the table and puts her hand on the seat right as Shinji notes... those are high school girls to Kaworu.
Rolling her eyes, suddenly Asuka drops her bag and jacket/sweater combo she'd been carrying on the chair... and walks straight over to the table those girls are sitting at, focusing on the brown haired girl in particular, but showing it to the whole table...
"Hey...!" Asuka holds up her phone of the picture she took of the Kaiju and holds it up to them assertively, "Why's noone in this city calling these things in? A few weeks back there was a Kaiju attack not far from here and it was total chaos! Who handles this city's evacuation procedures? If this keeps up NERV may have to step in and set things straight."
<Pose Tracker> Alexis Kerib has posed.
The kaiju remain still. There are a lot of guests and none of the kaiju do anything about it.
The blonde offers a vague, "Uh-huh," clearly not accustomed to being approached so directly. Shinji's reaction is actually a little *more* what she expects. It puts her at ease, a bit, somehow, to have someone actually acknowledge 'what she was going for' with her look.
The dark-haired one is a little more able to converse. "We go to Tsutsujidai High School," she says, with a nod.
Then Asuka takes out a picture and shows it to both of them. That sure is a kaiju, but both of them don't seem to notice it's even in the picture. "... Calling... buildings in?" the dark-haired girl asks, blinking. "Is this a meme or something...? Rikka was talking about that kind of thing in class, too."
They look at each other a bit. Then at the others.
Then, the blonde asks her own question: "Evacuation procedures? NERV? ... We haven't had any incidents like that since the One Year War."
The brunette reflects, "I guess there could still be kaiju, but they'd get stopped way before they got to this ward... so we don't have any evacuation procedures or anything."
The older man glances over. "You gonna order something or not?" he calls, without leaving his position at the counter. He isn't in the sphere of the conversation. Even if it's weird, it's not really his problem.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Kaworu is about to pass on eating anything when Asuka shoots down Shinji's question about what they like. He glances at her briefly, then smiles at Shinji. "Let's see... It would be interesting to try the house special, if they have one here. I'd like to see what dish they consider their best."
That smile widens momentarily, a huff of an affectionate laugh on his breath, when Shinji hisses out a shocked whisper. "Yes, they are," he whispers back, exactly like if he were acknowledging that, yes, those certainly are clouds out there in the sky. At least one of those girls appreciates your attitude, Shinji.
Asuka takes this moment to shove her phone into the girls' faces and make a lot of very direct statements. The girls react predictably, to Kaworu. He leans an elbow on the back of his chair and his curled-up hand on his jaw, watching this interaction. Nothing since the One Year War, no evacuation procedures... and no memory of the recent incident. Naturally. It's all been 'fixed,' after all.
"'Rikka,' you mentioned? What was she saying about it?" he prompts. He leaves actually putting in an order with the (presumable) owner to Shinji.
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
"They'll throw us out if we don't order." Shinji hisses as if they're at a place of fine dining. "And these places; the whole district will know we're bum customers in an afternoon! At least order a dri-" Too late.
"Can't imagine why they didn't transfer her to the Brave Police division." Shinji says, aside, to Kaworu, outright hiding behind the menu now. "At least she's feeling better, that Africa thing had her so screwed up she didn't even slug me when I deserved it." They are RUINING this covert investigation.
Shinji sighs, and his demeanor changes a little. "Three house specials, and I'll know if you use the tourist broth. Whatever drinks are cold." That gives them at least as long as it takes to make the soup before they can get thrown out, there is no ramen stand on the planet that'll waste broth. Shinji tips a few extra gilla (so much for his allowance, he thinks) to make sure they don't get supermarket chicken stock.
Yes the local girls not seeing the pictures of the giant monsters are weird but now they have bought time to figure out HOW weird. This is teamwork. Ayanami would understand, Shinji thinks. "Wait you mean ZAFT, right?" The One Year War was AGES ago.
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
"Not the buildings!" She exclaims, exasperated, "Right-!" She draws her screen back enough to point her finger at it, "-there!" Yet, that's believable that maybe they just can't see the Kaiju like outline in the picture. What isn't so much is... "What are you talking about? You were here a few weeks back right? There was a deployment to handle a massive Kaiju incident!" Asuka looks back and forth between them, genuinely taken aback, "Even if you were out of town or something... there's no way you didn't hear about it!"
Asuka files away the name Rikka... at Tsutsujidai High School, right as Kaworu calls attention to them saying that a classmate was saying similar.
Asuka gives a dark glance to Shinji hiding behind the menu - seeming to hear that he's talking about her even if she didn't catch enough of it to berate him in public.
She doesn't even comment on being ordered for, eating is just no longer her priority. "Don't be stupid. We're so far from the ZAFT front..."
Though Asuka seems to cock her head strangely as things start to add up, withdrawing her phone and her tone grows more abstracted at a certain realization...
"... and they were talking about Kaiju incidents..."
Strangely for the first time Asuka seems to start to read the room, listening instead for the answer to whether they've even heard of ZAFT.
<Pose Tracker> Alexis Kerib has posed.
For all his sullen-ness, the chef takes pride in his work. He sets to work on three house specials, from the Japanese side of the menu. Simple, easy. (He gets more chances to do Chinese than ramen, and he's been itching to get back to that.) Shinji's efforts pay off. He'll be occupied for a good, healthy while. Granted, Ryuutei is *very* fast with the broth and the food -- but Shinji has successfully bought the time he wanted.
"She was talking about there being a kaiju attack the other day... this might have been like a month ago," Marusa says. "But obviously there wasn't."
Having gotten to a stage where he can step away for at least a moment, the chef brings over three ramune, then returns to his work.
"ZAFT? Like... the PLANT militia...? I thought they disarmed after the One Year War," the blonde whispers, though she's loud enough to hear.
The brunette looks back at her and shrugs. "Anyway -- no, nothing like that has happened here. Are you guys from a ward more toward the coast or something...?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Ruining it? Or making it *awesome*?
(Definitely ruining it, but Kaworu seems wholly unbothered, at least. Best administrator ever.)
"It would have suited her," Kaworu murmurs back to Shinji, amusement shining in his red eyes. That look turns more thoughtful when he brings up Africa and Asuka not hitting him when he 'deserved' it. That's good, but... "Why do you think you deserved it?"
The chef brings the three of them some standard ramune, but is otherwise fully engrossed with prepping three piping hot bowls of house ramen. Kaworu gives Shinji a subtle nod of approval, but otherwise maintains his focus on the conversation with the girls. Not that he needs to say much; Asuka and Shinji both offer some very good, pointed questions about the current state of affairs in Tsutsujidai. It's even starting to dawn in on Asuka--or maybe more accurately, she's finally starting to accept it.
"We're from out of town, yes," he tells the two. He turns a knowing look at Asuka. "Clearly nothing like that happened here. You saw the city outside, didn't you? No rubble; no clean-up crews; no maintenance or construction. A city that doesn't even have evacuation procedures in place would normally never be able to rebuild so quickly after a kaiju attack of any magnitude."
'Normally' being the key word. Kaworu leaves Asuka to hear that for herself.
Either way, he continues to the brunette, "You can think of it as a 'meme' if you like. Perhaps a 'game' would be easier to comprehend. We're looking for others who are aware of it so we can cooperate. Could you tell us more about this Rikka, please? Or, better yet--would either of you be willing to pass on a message to her from us?"
<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.
Shinji waves a hand for 'later' at Kaworu's question; Asuka has ears like a wolf and he doesn't feel like making himself sound insane in front of anyone, but at least Kaworu seems accepting. The blatant insubordination is inherited directly from Misato "You'll know when I feel like being in charge." Katsuragi.
Shinji can't help but feel that calling what they're doing a game isn't going to get the results Kaworu wants; he knows he'd get REAL defensive at a bunch of people talking about giant monsters and then asking for a local girl's number.
Not that he's ever had the courage to ask for someone's number. Maybe it'll work. The Sigma Grindset of the neo-apocylpse.
Shinji sips his water, deciding that more questions are just going to confuse their interviewees right now. This also gives Shinji time to work around the horror of the situation. This isnt a fun little field trip anymore. The giant monsters should've been a clue, but lost time? Something about that chills Shinji to the bone.
<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.
Asuka listens to their answer in disbelief. It takes every iota of her will power not to list off many other events.
Second Impact. Devil Gundam. Axis Shock.
Somehow though, she starts to think better of it. The normally animated, aggressive girl, is speechless for a while, glancing to the sidelong as Kaworu tries to outline the other incongruencies that she wouldn't accept before.
"Yeah. It's a game." Asuka says - surprisingly cooperating with Kaworu's story as she turns around her phone to face her again, staring at the photo of the Kaiju she'd taken. "Just a game."
She doesn't do more to cover for her prior behavior. She doesn't lie more, say what kind of game it was. Apologize for taking it too far. None of those things. Doesn't even play along as Kaworu asks more questions
Instead she just stares at her screen for a while, then eventually clicks the screen off, and heads for her seat. And sits down.
It takes her a while to really wrap her head around it. This strange place...
...it's disquieting... and even a little bit frightening.
<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.
Blatant insubordination is fine, really. Kaworu isn't a stickler for things like that, as is obvious by now. He accepts Shinji's hand-wave for 'later'--it *is* true that Asuka's right there, and bringing up something that made her angry earlier is not prudent.
It's helpful that Asuka's willing to go along with it too. Kaworu didn't technically lie--he said they *could* think of it as a meme or a game, not that it *is* a game--so Asuka taking it that one step further is a boon. Maybe they can cooperate from time to time after all. That would be nice.
Upon confirming with the high schoolers that at least one of them is willing to pass on a message, Kaworu takes a moment to write a note, using a torn-out page from a small notebook in his school briefcase. It reads, in precise, elegant script:
'To Miss Rikka-
'My companions and I want to discuss the Gridman Alliance with you and your companions. Please call or text me at XXX-XXX-XXXX to arrange a meeting.
'-Kaworu Nagisa of NERV'