2022-02-14: Valentine's Greetings

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<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

It's a chilly day in Nouvelle Tokyo. The weather in Tsutsujidai is typically warm unless its raining, and Rikka still isn't quite used to the chill just yet - she's had to break out a winter coat she can't remember the last time she had reason to wear. But there's a reason to brave the chill today, as she and the others have arranged to meet members of NERV and talk.

Kaworu arranged the time, and Rikka chose the place - one of Nouvelle Tokyo's parks, in a covered shelter with enough benches to seat everyone. It reminded her a lot of one of Tsutsujidai's own parks... except, the layout is different enough to be a little offputting. Still, it's familiar enough to lend some amount of comfort, and it fits the bill for what she was looking for in a meeting place - private enough that they can talk freely, but public enough to be safe.

Rikka is sitting down at the moment, scanning the surrounding park for signs of anyone approaching.

"Nagisa sounded polite enough in text, but I don't know what he'll be like in person... I'm not quite sure what to expect from the others, either." Rikka admits quietly to her friends. And then there was the matter of the one her school friends had warned her about... Well, worrying about it ahead of time won't help. They'll have to wait and see. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Yuta's arms are full, as he carefully steps towards one of the benches. For once, he wasn't in his seemingly ever-present school uniform, and instead was dressed in a red and white tee with black shorts, black leggings, and his favorite sneakers. "Hn.."

    Yuta Hibiki did not know how to make chocolate.

Besides that, he didn't even know if his friends like chocolate. He assumed most people did, but after thinking about it some more, he realized the best thing to do was to instead do something that showed the people in his life that he cared.

... and so he has an assortment of bagged and boxed gifts in his arms. Too many for one boy of his statue to carry, really.

I should have dressed a little warmer than this, huh? Yuta thinks to himself.

Having only arrived a few minutes ago to meet up with Sho and Rikka, he gives a little satisfied huff as he's able to relieve himself of his baggage. "Whew~..well, to be honest, I'm sort of nervous too .." Yuta admits to Rikka.

"But, I'm sure they're all good people." he asserts with a smile. Although the red one had been haughty, she'd still fought to protect the city, and he hadn't forgotten about the purple one protecting the hospital, either.

Reaching into one of his bags, he procures two items: For Sho, it was a candy dispenser with a Tarabaman's head. And for Rikka, there were two candy bars - a milk chocolate and dark chocolate one. "Sorry .. I didn't actually know if you had a preference." he admits.

"I also got an assorted box for Kaworu and his friends, hopefully they like it."

There was one for the Neon Genesis Junior Highschoolers when they got back home, too. And I'll have to be sure to drop by Akane's house to give her some candy, too. he reminds himself. 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

It is Valentine's Day. One of the worst days of the year for Sho Utsumi. For, you see...

He does not have a girlfriend.

But, oh well. That means he doesn't have to make ANYONE ELSE chocolate either. Theoretically he could bring a girl he liked chocolate, but he only can think of one and she's completely unapproachable, so.

He approaches the bench right before Yuta does, taking a seat with a "Yo." to Rikka. When Yuta comes and gives him the candy dispenser, his glasses glint. "Tarabaman OG, nice. Thanks, Yuta." He won't say that he has one, still in the box, because now he gets to actually eat the candy.

"So, do you think this will be the norm? Strangers from another world 'investigating' us?" 

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        After the text exchange he'd had with Rikka, Kaworu had consulted with Shinji and Asuka when they wanted to meet with the so-called Gridman Alliance. For some reason, both of them were eager to have something else to do on February 14, and so after school, they travel to Nouvelle Tokyo--not Tsutsujidai proper, but Nouvelle Tokyo--to meet up with Rikka and her friends. The place is a public park, which is sensible for meeting new people.
        
        Overtop his school uniform, Kaworu wears a dark grey, double-breasted winter coat with a pinstriped dark purple scarf wrapped around his neck and tucked underneath. His slacks and gloves are black, contrasting his white sneakers, and he carries *two* bags for some reason; one obviously his school briefcase, the other a sleek white shopping bag with a shiny pink logo embossed on the side about three-quarters full of chocolates.
        
        (Shinji and Asuka will both know that the bag, and its contents, were given to him by schoolmates throughout the day with varying degrees of blushing, shyness, and giggling. Kaworu graciously accepted each one, then later asked Shinji in pure befuddlement, "Why are people giving out so many presents today?")
        
        He walks at an unhurried pace, his other hand tucked in his coat pocket, and approaches the covered shelter with an easygoing smile. "Hey," he calls once he's close enough to Rikka, Yuta, and Sho. "So you must be the Gridman Alliance. It's good to meet you all." (At least he's straight to the point!) His smile broadens as his eyes shut. "I'm Kaworu Nagisa from NERV. These are my companions." He allows Shinji and Asuka to give their own names as he looks across Yuta and Sho, noting in particular Yuta's *own* armful of presents, before focusing in on Rikka. "And... you're Rikka, I presume? I thank you and your friends again for agreeing to meet with us."
        
        He doesn't remark on them 'investigating' them. *That* matter seems rather straightforward to him.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

The Detective Brothers In: One Last E-mail.

"I think I've finally solved the case." Ichiro Detective says, rubbing his chin.

"Applesauce!" Shiro Detective says, "We're at a dead end and you know it!"

"I don't know a thing, brother mine." Ichiro Detective says, "Nothing but the truth, and how to read an ISP's tracking file! They all have them!"

"If a VPN is free you can't afford it." Shiro Detective agrees. "So what's the scoop, brother mine?"

"The missing email wasn't words at all, but an activation code! Diddy Duit couldn't have done the crime...because his unthinking body was the murder weapon!" Ichiro Detective says, punching his palm with a fist.

"Holy MKUltra! What do we do about it!"

Shinji Ikari leans forward, listening intently to the latest episode of the Detective Brothers podcast, one of his favorite not quite true crime stories. It might've been true. Crime was wild in the old days, or so he's read. Online. It's like having a life.

For the curious, it's a bit chilly today for Shinji's taste so he's wearing a red turtleneck sweater (technically part of his formal NERV uniform but it doesn't count if you don't have the full thing on, Shinji rationalized, I'm not selling out.), his old jeans (a little scuffed and worn but Shinji keeps everything as compulsively in good repair as he can.) and his pilot's jacket (quickly becoming a favorite; it's waterproof AND there's a compass built into the zipper, amazing.), and black school loafers. SDAT blaring in his ears, Shinji barely has to pay attention to anything at all while they make their way to Nouvelle Tokyo.

Technically, this place is under the protection of NERV through the GGG organization. Shinji can't remember which version of the acronym they're using now. It should be one of the safest places in the Federation for them, but Shinji finds himself falling on old habits; hunching just a little so as to look too busy to be a tourist, keeping a hand in a pocket that doesn't have his wallet or keys, fingering about twenty gilla worth of mug me money just in case some idiot in a robot suit decides to get grabby. He turns his SDAT down without removing the headphones, so no one knows how much he can hear. Despite the clear and obvious signs of the supremacy of NERV here, Shinji feels like he's in enemy territory.

"Have you seen their new commercial?" Shinji says for something to say, jerking a thumb at a Treasure Robotics building. "It's just one of those QED codes flashing in different colors for a minute to white noise. Kind of creepy."

(Shinji did not exchange any chocolate this year, for the record. Who'd want some from the likes of him? It'd just make people uncomfortable. "It's an obligation thing." Shinji explains to Kaworu, raising an eyebrow at just how much honmei choco the snow-haired boy got.) 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


Asuka didn't give out any chocolate at school. Not a single piece. The few boys that mulled around her hoping to even get some Giri-Choco out of her ended up dispersing after the first who approached too closely got some amateur dental work performed on him for free. She did end up emptying out her shoe locker after school - which had a handful of new confessions. They all went into the garbage without fanfare as she put on her shoes.

The train ride over, she half expects to fall asleep. Rather than spend it on her Wonderswan, she'd stared out the window instead the whole way, elbow on her seat rest, hand on her chin. Though whatever she's thinking, she keeps to herself.

Asuka's currently wearing a red button down peacoat with black buttons over her school uniform, with a hint of a red ribbon and turquoise hem of her uniform visible, despite a checkered scarf around her neck and a pair of black gloves on her hands. She's wearing a pair of long black leggings that probably aren't school uniform legal that vanish into a pair of brown shoes. She's carrying a tan bag with dark brown straps with her.

The approach to the park gave her this disquieting sense of parallels, and upon arrival, the middle schooler crosses her arms, holding her bag out to one side as she examines each of the high schoolers in turn with a judging look as Kaworu introduces them. Then...

"What are you stupid? Why would you even bring up some commercial?" As she berates Shinji from the side before looking forward again, "Asuka Shikinami Langley." She replies tersely, before canting her head Shinji's way. "And this is Daddy's Boy."

Before then adding quite rudely, "So you're the Gridman Alliance huh? Sure doesn't look like much up close."

Eventually though her eyes fall on Rikka, as Kaworu pointed her out, "We encountered your friends." She must be the weirdly aggressive one they were talking about. "Are you three really the only ones that realizes there's something wrong with Tsutsujidai?"

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        "...His name is Shinji Ikari," Kaworu adds, a touch dryly, after Asuka's introduction.

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

"What?" Shinji says, looking up. "Oh, damn, we're here. Sorry Kaworu, season finale."

His eyes narrow, slightly, at the crossroads between irritation and enjoyment. "And don't mind the Princess. 

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

"Probably," he says to Sho. " .. I don't like it," he adds a moment later, "but at least in this case, I don't think it's really a problem. When you get down to it, we're basically just going to spend the day hanging out, right?"

    What an optimistic outlook.

With the EVA squad arriving and introducing themselves, Yuta smiles warmly and responds in kind, "I'm Yuta Hibiki," he pauses to allow Sho and Rikka to introduce themselves properly as well, if they desired to, before continuing, "It's nice to meet you all."

Asuka Langley is the one who was piloting the red giant, I'm pretty sure of it .. well, her voice is pretty unforgettable. That's one way to put it, anyway. If that's true .. I can guess that Kaworu Nagisa and his friend, Shinji Ikari, were the ones using the purple and blue giants.

Repeating their full names to himself in his head so he could remember them all better, he reaches down to pull out one of the boxes of assorted chocolates, candies, and goodies he'd bought for the occasion -it was a mostly non-descript white box, except..

For the weight sticker declaring it to be two pounds of sweets, along with the word in BLOOPERS in a bold, black text over the top.

"Since it's Valetine's Day, I thought it'd be nice to share this. I don't know what all's inside of it, it's supposed to be a mystery .. but don't feel pressured to accept something from someone you just met, or anything."

In other words - if they didn't want it, he understood and wouldn't press the issue. Especially considering that he could see that certain parties had already been showered with plenty of Valentine's gifts.

" .. also .. no, I haven't seen it," he looks to Shinji with a slightly tilted head. "What a weird advertisement, though. But I'm sure there's someone out there who likes that sort of thing."

With a brief pause, his eyes shift to the side in discomfort before he responds to Asuka's incredulity, "Well, there's a few more .. but they had something to do today. I'm sorry. But I'll try and answer any questions you have, and I'm sure Rikka and Sho feel the same way." 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

Sho grunts as a reply to Yuta, before nodding to the new kids. "Yo. Sho Utsumi." He takes immediate offense to Asuka. "Ah, the girl who told us to call the Federation when we need assistance. Do you understand now why we couldn't do that, huh?" He's being a little dick.

Shinji and Kaworu get politeness, though. "So, what brings you to our Alliance? Hoping to meet real life superheroes? Or are you just interested in Tsutsujidai?" 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Rikka returns Sho's 'yo' with a nod of greeting, while Yuta gets a smile... which soon turns to a look of surprise as he offers her chocolate! She... hadn't really expected to receive any gifts today, or she would have brought something of her own.

"Oh, um... thank you. It's alright, I like both of them." Rikka replies. She likes dark chocolate a bit more, but she's not going to say that out loud. It's a sweet, kind gesture.

Doubtlessly, Hass and Namiko can never know of this or she'll never hear the end of it. She can already imagine Namiko's smug, cat-like grin.

"...I don't know. I guess it's not unexpected... we're the only ones who remembered what happened, after all." Rikka replies with a shake of her head at Sho's question. Further questioning will have to wait, though, as the people they're here to meet arrive!

...And they're kids around their age? Wait, no - they might be younger, actually. Rikka's brow furrows a bit at that. And they're representatives of NERV?

"...Yeah. Nice to meet you in person." Rikka replies with a nod, as Kaworu meets himself. "And you two are..."

Langley, and Ikari. Rikka nods, then looks briefly in the direction he points out.

"Um... no, sorry. That does sound weird, though..." Rikka replies. Not that she knows what goes for normal for commercials in the outside world. Her attention turns toward Asuka, then. The way she talks... she's definitely the one from that tall, red, lanky robot from before... and she's definitely the one she was warned out.

Yuta takes the diplomatic approach. It's probably the smart thing to do, she should be careful. Rikka, though... she can't help but take the bait.

"...Are you really from NERV? I expected someone a bit more mature, honestly." Rikka bites back. She then sends Sho a brief look of solidarity. For once, they appear to be on the same wavelength. As for her school friends... "Yeah, I heard about that. ...You shouldn't bother them."

Sho and Yuta ask the important questions, so Rikka leaves it at that for now. 

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.

        ("An obligation?" Kaworu had echoed. He'd looked from his bag of presents, to Shinji's lack of bag of anything, with furrowed eyebrows. But it had been time to go, so he'd left it at that.)
        
        So it's fortunate that Yuta presents the Evangelion pilots with a Valentine's gift of his own. Kaworu gives it, then him, a curious look. He says they don't need to feel pressured to accept something from someone they just met, so it can't be the obligation of having met a new person. And at school, some people had given out chocolates while others hadn't. It was fascinating to watch, but Kaworu hadn't *quite* been able to work out the rules of the obligation.
        
        "Why do you feel obligated to give us a gift?" he thus wonders. The question might sound a bit confrontational, but his tone and expression are purely curious. Beyond that, though, he smiles at the young man. "Yuta Hibiki... that's a fine name."
        
        To Shinji, when he apologizes for getting absorbed in his podcast, Kaworu smiles fondly. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he reassures him. He tilts his head up at the Treasure Robotics building. "I have," he says of the commercial. "It's a curious message. I wonder what it is they intended to convey?"
        
        He laughs a bit when Sho asks if they wanted to meet real live superheroes or if they're interested in Tsutsujidai. "Some of both," he replies. Rikka wonders if they're really from NERV; Kaworu nods, unbothered by the sniping that's starting up between them and Asuka. "We're NERV pilots. Shinji and Asuka Shikinami Langley were pulled into Tsutsujidai for that battle, and that prompted us to investigate further."
        
        His smile fades somewhat as he considers Rikka, Yuta, and Sho. Tsutsujidai natives... How deeply curious. "Don't worry. We don't have any intention of bothering your friends further; they wouldn't be able to tell us anything useful, anyway." He pauses, looking the three over. There are many questions he could ask, but he chooses to start with: "You call yourselves the Gridman Alliance. What exactly is your relationship to Gridman himself, and what brought him to Tsutsujidai?" 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

"What?" Shinji says, looking up. "Oh, damn, we're here. Sorry Kaworu, season finale."

His eyes narrow, slightly, at the crossroads between irritation and enjoyment. "And don't mind the Princess." There should probably be something witty at the end there but Shinji is a little put off by a box of giri choco from an older stranger.

Like how do you even process that.

Any hard one confidence kind of blisters under the attention of these older kids, who are again judging them like...everyone else. So much for understanding between teen pilots, Shinji thinks, taking the smallest piece out of sheer politeness."Um, thanks."

"...we're not trying to hurt anyone." Shinji says after a long minute, "But that place sucked us in. The Evangelions, they're dangerous. I'm worried they might interact poorly with your home. I, uh, don't want anyone getting hurt." It might sound like a threat, though Shinji's tone of voice is more fearful than fearsome. 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


Asuka rolls her eyes as Kaworu corrects her, "He can say it himself if he doesn't want me saying it for him." On 'Princess' though... She then walks over to Shinji, and pulls up one of his headphones from an ear as she murmurs, "If you want to finish your podcast on the ride home... or ever for that matter. Then you won't call me 'Princess' again." Wow that isn't fair at all of her is it?

She then releases his headphone to let him get back to it if he so chooses, though she doesn't snap it hard or so many other various things she can imagine.

Eyeing Yuuta's chocolate, she clucks her tongue in annoyance "Tch. Don't expect me to get anything back to you more expensive come White Day." Before he indicates that no, they're not. And she raises an eyebrow, but eventually nods, "That's fine I guess."

She then gives Shinji a dark look as she mutters, "Maybe your Unit-01 is dangerous with you at the wheel."

She then looks sidelong at Sho, eyes narrowing as she sounds irritated, "And how was I supposed to know your whole town is some weird... dimension?" Is that even what it is? She's not even sure about that. Either way she recovers quickly, "Besides... I'm going to present a theory, given that we couldn't find any record of Tsutsujidai at NERV. Not even something categorized as a 'crank call'. I'm guessing even you didn't know about the state of the Federation at the time that I said that - right?" As she presents a guess with a piercing look Sho's way, lifting her chin haughtily as she looks down on him, "Most people in your town have an account of history that's warped after the One year War - no more wars. No major conflicts. A city so peaceful that it doesn't even have evacuation plans or infrastructure to support it. Nothing. You probably wouldn't even assume the Federation could help - until we showed up?"

Of course it makes the assumption that they would have called for help, rather than do everything on their own. However, it's still a theory she's making from the facts she has at hand, she doesn't assume everyone is like her and tries to handle things by themselves.

Before she then looks Rikka's way giving her a withering look, "Think what you want about me but I was a Captain fighting on the front lines of a war before I joined NERV. If you'd prefer some polite pencil pusher... that's fine, but they're not gonna be able to do the slightest thing to help your town when a Kaiju wakes up and starts stomping around."

Taking a breath, she seems to deescalate just a fraction, "As for your friends... I've got no reason to bother them. It's obvious they don't know anything else - that most people in Tsutsujidai won't. Poking around blindly obviously isn't going to get us anywhere. That's why I'm here."

For now though, she lets Kaworu ask the question, though the focus on Gridman well... she just rolls her eyes... but doesn't interrupt that question.

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Yuta stops to seriously consider Kaworu's question - did he do it out of an obligation? Of course, it was Valentine's Day, so he did feel that it had something to do with it, but .. The point of the holiday has always been to connect your heart with others, right? Friends, family, uhm .. - 'special people' .. could you really call doing that an obligation?

It was a tough and complex question that he doesn't have a good answer for, "Well ... it's just something I felt I should do, because I wanted to." he ultimately decided. "Because I want to become closer with all of you."

Though, even Yuta understood that there was a gradient to these things. Rikka, Sho, and Akane had their own Valentine's Gifts, after all, even if he was not quite able to put to words why he didn't feel it was appropriate to just get everyone an even bigger box of goodies and calling it a day.

"I appreciate that you're being understanding about this," he mentions in regards to them keeping things centered squarely on the heads of the Gridman Alliance.

He shifts back and forth with the rising tensions, which comes to a relative boil with Asuka's verbal counterattack. It's here that the mild-mannered and passive Yuta gently, but firmly, puts his foot down.

" ... at the end of the day - insulting eachother can't be the right way, can it?"

" .. though, while we're probably older by a year, or two at most, that doesn't mean people won't get upset at being treated badly, so there's a kind of limit to 'being the bigger person' .. I think." he says to Asuka, touching the tips of his fingers together with his lips pressing into a thin line. "Kind of like how you didn't like being called 'Princess', I'm sure he doesn't like being called a 'Daddy's Boy' - and .. that Sho and Rikka don't like the way you talk to them."

"A 'pencil pusher' might not be able to fight kaiju, but having the power to fight doesn't give you the right to say or do whatever you please around others. Don't you want to be treated nicely? Or, do you treat others badly, so you don't feel bad about being treated badly? .. but even if you don't have a nice personality, I can accept that you're a good person, probably."

Yuta smiles, "You fight to protect people, after all."

" ... uhm, I'm sorry, I got really off topic. You asked a question," he turns to Kaworu. Rikka and Sho probably have their own opinions on this, he realizes, so he only gives a simple, "Gridman came to protect Tsutsujidai .. that's all I really know about him. I guess you could say our relationship to Gridman is that, he inspired us all to give our best, in every way." 

<Pose Tracker> Sho Utsumi has posed.

Sho's glasses glint again with a nod as he gets that look of agreement from Rikka. He's going to verbally recoil at Asuka's powerful points, though, when Yuta steps in and is the voice of reason and care. "Tch." Is all he says, before straightening up and focusing on Shinji and Kaworu. "Yeah. That wasn't your fault, don't worry about it. Scary Mobile Suit you have, but, it saved lives, didn't it?"

Kaworu's question gets a long thought. Sho's clearly trying to figure out how to phrase this without spilling all the beans. "Me and Rikka assist him in our mobile suits, since you probably figured. Yuta does support. Otherwise, he's a powerful superhero, like Tarabaman. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he kicks kaiju butt...so I guess Yuta's right. Our connection is that he inspires us and he helps protect our city." A shrug. 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

So, they're definitely NERV. Rikka doesn't know how to feel about that. They were fighting because they wanted to, but... It feels strange to her.

"...Thanks." She replies with a nod as Kaworu assures her that they won't be bothering her friends any further. "I don't want them getting involved with... all of this, if I can help it."

Shinji says something important, then. So, they were sucked into Tsutsujidai too... Rikka considers that. They have some of the points lined up, but more information couldn't hurt.

"Do you remember where you were before you find yourself there? We're trying to figure out how far it reaches..." Rikka asks. When he talks about the Evangelions, though, her brow furrows. At first thought, it sound obvious that they'd be dangerous, but... it sounds like there might be more to it than that. "You... don't mean in the same sense that any mobile weapon is dangerous, do you?"

And then, Asuka. ...Asuka. Her mention of being a Captain fighting a war before ending up at NERV... well, the thought of her fighting at that age just makes her feel sorry for her, more than anything, but her attitude just riles her up. Rikka opens her mouth to response... but, Yuta's kind, measured response causes it to die on her lips. She folds her arms in front of her and looks briefly grumpy, but doesn't want to stomp on Yuta's attempts at diplomacy by retaliating again.

She nods, as Yuta and Sho give their own reasons, their own answers.

"...I hated it. The thought of Gridman putting his own life on the line for us all, and not being able to do anything to help him... That's why we got into the suits." She explains, for her part. "That's why we support him." 

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        Asuka rolls her eyes at Kaworu and then whispers sweet nothreats into Shinji's ear. Kaworu side-eyes her back; then he shrugs at Rikka, Sho, and Yuta and gestures her way. "As you can see, she's simply like that. I recommend you simply don't engage with her more caustic remarks."
        
        Kaworu watches and listens as Yuta gives his carefully considered response. His smile broadens as a result. An obligation freely chosen because he wants to become closer to them... And that's Valentine's Day? "That's wonderful," he replies warmly. "I'll happily accept your gift then, Hibiki." Before he does, though, he turns to Shinji, expression softening with genuine contrition. "I'm sorry, Shinji. I didn't get a gift for you. Next time, I'll be sure to do so."
        
        If he has the opportunity during the next time. But there will be many, many more next times, he's sure.
        
        When he *does* accept the present, he pauses to listen to Yuta gently chastise Asuka. It's going to be a futile effort, he already knows, but he smiles to see the young man attempt it. Yuta's actual response gets him to slip his hand back into his pocket as he considers it. Gridman came to protect Tsutsujidai... and that's all he knows. Though his expression is mild, there's something piercing about his vermilion eyes and his searching look.
        
        At length, he breaks it by smiling broadly at Sho's reassurances. "The Evangelions do have a frightening manner about them," he acknowledges. Sho describes Yuta's role as support, and he laughs a little. "I can see why Gridman chose you to support him. You have a kind heart," he says to Yuta. To Rikka, he nods and adds, "As do you."
        
        Where were they before they came to Tsutsujidai, though? "I didn't participate in that battle," Kaworu says, truthfully. He lets the others field the question of how the Evas might be more dangerous than the usual mobile suit. Instead, he smiles at Rikka. "You all feel very strongly about him, don't you? I can understand why. To you, he's an inspiring protector, after all." He pauses a beat. "Is it possible that I could meet him directly?" 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

The SDAT is so sacred that for just a second Shinji considers the nuclear option.

He then feels ashamed, which is pretty normal, and tries to verbally deflect her like he saw that Kaji guy do around the office when Misato lost her composure around him for some reason. N-not that he thinks the dude's cool or anything, but he also doesn't get his ass kicked all day. "You'd prefer duchess? It's a demotion."

Shinji does a double take at Yuta's words. He wants to become closer?! It's a similar reaction to early days Kaworu, where Shinji seems unable to believe or trust that level of positivity. He tries to bury his reaction, both to not cause a scene or draw attention to himself but someone people watching would see a flash of naked cynicism on Shinji's face.

And then he gets to Kaworu. Shinji grimaces, clearly embarrassed. He should've explained fully, Kaworu's from the moon. "It's fine, man, it's, uh, I'll explain the rest on the train." Shinji, in his secret heart, cannot bring himself to take giri choco seriously, but telling Kaworu that kind of cynical thought is like kicking a slightly unnervingly well connected kitten.

Shinji can handle Riika, who just seems to want to exchange information and get them out of her hair. Thank goodness. "Well I was in the training room." Shinji says, avoiding the finer details. "So I wasn't even in Unit-01 at the time, and it takes a while to boot the Evas up."

Asuka's logic, while kind of cruel, is difficult to argue with. The time distortion effects of the phantom neighborhood are perhaps the most disturbing. "I mean the fact of the matter is the cat's out of the bag. We're not, uh, NERV's top investigators, and if we figured this out, who knows who else is looking into it? Not to mention what happens if the phenomena changes. It almost sounds like the rumors about the Kyushu Zone, I, uh, did some cross referencing."

Shinji quietly offers a memory stick to whoever's willing to take it. "It's not much, but I thought it might help you." Because it sounds like you three have no clue what's going on either. Shinji twitches at Yuta's non-answer about the nature of Gridman, though Sho clarifies it among more material lines. "Is there any intelligence behind the monsters that you all know of? Like that Beast person..." Shinji's face twists into a full on scowl at the thought of her. "And even if they are natural, I'm sure some science criminal might want to take advantage of the place." 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


"I'll give you a demotion." Asuka threatens, yet doesn't act upon immediately - not even looking Shinji's way. A look Sho's way tells her all she needs to know. Kaworu's remark causes a roll of her eyes sidelong. Though then... Yuuta steps in.

Asuka glances at Yuta out of the corner of her eye as he says that. Raising an eyebrow - as he lays out what he thinks on the matter of her insulting others, the fact that she didn't want to be called 'Princess'. Yet his thesis is that she fights to protect people, thus she is a good person.

And when he says that, Asuka doesn't look him in the eye anymore. "What are you stupid? You think you know me because of just a few things you've seen and heard? I don't care if I'm treated nicely. Or any of that - when it comes to how people treat me, I'd prefer if I were just left alone. What I do care about is doing my job... and my job is defeating the Angels." Her eyes flick back down to meet Yuta's eyes once more, "And Kaiju. And I can do that on my own in my Eva."

Strangely, that's a more straight forward answer that she typically gives to anyone. "Don't mistake that as me being a good person."

Or being a person at all, she doesn't say. She hasn't had a choice for her life's purpose since the moment she was born. One has to choose to do good, to do good. It is simply her duty that people are protected but she cares nothing for the people she protects beyond that.

A quick assessment of Rikka's grumpiness afterwards also tells her what she needed to know. The three of them are such good friends, and that...

... irritates her. She hates it. She hates seeing it...

Shinji though brings up that they're not NERV's top investigators - but even moreso saying where he was that day, "Hey - you don't need to say unnecessary things." It's a mild rebuke, but still a rebuke.

Yet, after a moment, she lets out this prolonged, perhaps long suffering sigh... even putting a fingertip to her forehead as she considers how best to answer Rikka's question. "I was at our apartment in Tokyo-3. That's about an hour from here by rail. My last memory before being in my entry plug was being in my room." She darts a look at Shinji as if DARING him to say something about being right that it was a dream, "My next was being in my bed. I assumed the gap in my memories was due to exhaustion."

Shinji offers them intelligence, Asuka... decides to omit some that she has. There's no need to say anything about that weird kid. She doesn't even know his name. "Have any of you tried removing those inert Kaiju from city limits? If so - what happens? We have a branch of NERV devoted to removing inert Kaiju like that... so it'd be useful for them to know... also..." She gives them all a long look, "...those two Kaiju that were town that day during the battle, were they one of the ones around town? Did they wake up?"

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

Yuta smiles back as he reaches something resembling an understanding of Kaworu. However .. I feel like he's sharp, incredibly so. Even sharper than Asuka Langley, somehow .. - but, I just get the impression it's because he knows much more than he lets on. It's just a hunch, but..

The look in his eyes put him on edge. Not that it's a bad look, but one that was perhaps, too knowing for its own good. "It'd be nice if we could talk to Gridman whenever we wanted to," Yuta admits. "But, he usually only speaks to us when there's something we need to know - usually, a kaiju attack."

That was part and parcel truth and white lie. While it was true that Gridman rarely spoke with them if they didn't need to, he was sure that if they took the EVA team to Junk, Gridman certainly would speak with them.

But he felt unsettled about the idea. That someone might put something together they weren't supposed to. But what would that be? He didn't know. It was an irrational sensation brushing the back of his brain erratically.

In the end, he decides to leave whether or not to bring them to Junk, up to Rikka and Sho - mostly the former over the latter, exclusively because Junk was her property, and more tacitly, currently located on her property. " ... "

Yuta looks to Shinji in concern. He more he'd learned about the world outside of Tsutsujidai, the sadder it made him. Almost out of the blue, he asks, "You've had it tough, haven't you?"

To be fighting in a paramilitary group at this age. The world hasn't been kind to any of them. "Sorry. That was a weird thing to say, huh." he says, a moment later, "It's alright to take things at your own speed."

And he lets the subject of Shinji and Asuka's internal dilemmas drop, wincing at his own lack of tact.

"Am I kind? - If you say so, I'll believe you. I've never given it that much though .. at least, I don't think so."

Maybe he did, but didn't remember it? The notion brings a frown to his face, that he wipes off a moment later. Changing subjects again was a good call. "I don't know who you're talking about," he stops briefly, " .. but, as far as I know, only one kaiju has ever displayed intelligence and feelings like a human .. the one that attacked the day you two were brought to Tsutsujidai." he explains to Shinji.

"And according to him, he was 'made to kill Gridman' .." he thinks back to the brief exchanges he'd had with it. Him? Or maybe her, the voice made it hard to tell.

"So that implies that there's 'something' guiding the kaiju, and creating them. Maybe it's the 'god' of Tsutsujidai." he muses - the entity spoken of by Nidaime. "I don't know anything about that, though."

Yuta gives an appreciative look to Sho and Rikka - that they decided to indeed, be bigger people and stop verbally sparring with their new..friend? Acquaintance, he decides on, for now.

"We haven't tried messing with them," Yuta answers, "Atleast as far as I know. They're completely mysterious beings, but ... the idea of doing anything to them - "

His head hurts. " - it gives me a really bad feeling."

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

Kaworu gives them some very good advice on dealing with Asuka. Rikka just nods - any response to that she could make... might just be enough to spark another fight.

Kaworu says she has a kind heart and Rikka looks away, briefly embarrassed.

"...Anyone'd do the same, I think." She replies hesitantly. As for meeting Gridman, Rikka glances Yuta's way as he explains that they can't always speak with him. He doesn't say one way or the other - she judges from his silence that he's leaving it up to her and Sho.

"...We can try asking next time we get a chance to speak with him." Rikka decides. In other word, it might be better to talk it over amongst themselves first before giving a decisive answer here and now. It would mean showing them to the Aya... but after talking with them long enough she's pretty sure there wouldn't be any harm in that. "I still have your number, Nagisa, so if he says 'yes' I'll let you know."

Shinji and Asuka answer her questions, then, and their answers cause her to frown uncertainly. It's not that she doesn't believe them, but...

"You just appeared there...? And you weren't in your units at the time..." She murmurs. That's new information! It's also incredibly baffling information - she doesn't know what conclusion to draw from that, other than there were more ways to enter Tsutsujidai from outside than she thought.

Shinji has done some research, though, and offers a memory stick. Rikka's pretty sure she's the best at technology out of the three of them, so with a nod she takes it.

"...Thanks. Anything would be helpful at this point." She replies.

She doesn't know who Beast is, but as for the inert kaiju...

"Oh, you can see them too? I guess I shouldn't be surprised..." She replies, then shakes her head at the question about if the two they fought were among them. "No, they weren't. I'm not sure where the kaiju that fight come from - they just... seem to appear."

<Pose Tracker> Kaworu Nagisa has posed.


        Kaworu sees Shinji's grimace, his palpable discomfort, and his features soften in a different, more bittersweet sort of way. "...All right," he says, and doesn't push beyond that.
        
        Next, though, Shinji offers his research to the Gridman Alliance and points out that science criminals might want to take advantage. "They've already taken advantage," Kaworu reminds him. "Remember, the one who called themself the 'protector of Tsutsujidai' was piloting a Death Knight they said BioNet gave to them."
        
        The matter of them not being NERV's top investigators, and Asuka's (relatively mild) rebuke, get a shrug and a nod. "We're investigating out of our own personal curiosity, not because we were ordered to. But we *do* represent NERV." For good or ill.
        
        Is Yuta kind? "You seem kind to me. I'm sure there are others who might think otherwise," Kaworu admits. He nods slowly, thoughtfully, when Yuta goes more into the kaiju and the 'god' of Tsutsujidai. "What do you mean by the 'god' of Tsutsujidai?" he prompts--for even if Yuta really doesn't know anything about it, surely he must have some inkling about it to suggest it exists in the first place. Rikka's comment on the kaiju just *appearing* does seem to imply that he's being otherwise sincere, though.
        
        When Yuta goes further to say that he doesn't like the idea of messing with the strange, still kaiju through Tsutsujidai, Kaworu nods again, this time in agreement. "There've been plenty of incidents where kaiju awoke and became violent because someone tried to move them," he comments, glancing Asuka's way. "As long as those kaiju remain inactive, it doesn't hurt to leave them where they are until we've had more chances to observe them and gain more data."
        
        When Yuta says he can't introduce him to Gridman, though, Kaworu smiles faintly. "I see... In that case, it can't be helped." He glances at Rikka when she suggests they can ask him when they speak to him next; his smile grows. "Thank you. I'll wait to hear from you then, Rikka." He looks at Sho and Yuta, and around at Shinji and Asuka. "Though since we're all together and we've been talking for a while, it would be best if we all exchanged contact information, agreed?" 

<Pose Tracker> Shinji Ikari has posed.

One of NERV's pipe dreams is to discover the intelligence, if there is any, behind the Angels. At least that's what Misato told Shinji once, though the cynic in Shinji wonders how much she actually knows. Plenty, right? She's tactical officer, why keep things from her. But: the Angel War was a defensive war, right now, and those can't last indefinitely. You either have to find a way to exhaust the enemy or otherwise force a concession, which you can't do when the enemy is silent except for a screaming sense of contempt.

If there's a 'god' of Tsutsujidai sending these things at Gridman, than it can be stopped. That's hope, right?

Shinji frowns a bit at the dime store psychoanalysis, though some childish part of him is kind of happy not to be told how pathetic and unimportant his troubles are compared to more interestingly traumatized people for once. To just be acknowledged instead of having someone try to fix him or demand he man up for the sake of the strongest bushido in the world or whatever.

"Bionet..." Right, Kaworu's right. It's already getting worse. But at least there's something to be done, right? It's not an indefinite situation like the Angels.

"That's a good idea." Shinji says, giving his info out, wondering if that counts as unnecessary. Still.

"Hey, uh." Shinji doesn't want to out Yuta to his friends so he goes for vague. "Sorry for this. I hope you know we didn't get involved in this on purpose." 

<Pose Tracker> Asuka Shikinami Langley has posed.


Asuka just looks sidelong at Shinji as Yuta says he's had it tough, "There's no need to coddle him. He's choosing to be here." She says a little snappishly. Maybe Asuka always complains about Shinji's presence, but her way has never been to manipulate him into leaving. She doesn't even turn up the misery beyond her normal out of some idea of him leaving because of it. He'll either choose to leave, or get fired... or quietly phased out, that's the way she sees it, no matter how many times Kaworu tells her otherwise.

Yuta does bring up the Kaiju that talked though, "Yeah. That one was strange. It'd be easy if we could just attribute him to 'The Beast' but the reports said neither of the Beast's Kaiju talked. It did say it had orders though."

Before Kaworu then brings up the 'Protector of Tsutsujidai' "I was getting to that!" She says his way, irritated. Though she doesn't... before Yuuta starts answering her question on the inert ones... as she raises an eyebrow that it gives him a bad feeling, "'A bad feeling'?" She lingers on that, and for a moment one wonders if she's going to berate him for it, Kaworu backs him up and one wonders if she'd reject it primarily just due to him being the voice of reason here... "Obviously." Is all she says instead to him, I was just asking anyway to see if you'd tried it. There's no need to risk one of them waking up until we know if it can be removed safely."

At the very least it makes a certain amount of sense even if she can't believe in his reasoning for it.

Rikka stating that's new information though causes Asuka to nod after a moment, "It's even stranger than you think. Evangelions require... transportation, infrastructure to support them. I can't say too much as it's classified, but it would have taken a whole team to even set up an Eva... for it to even be able to run once it got there. When I arrived I heard radio chatter which made me think... that staff was there." She then cants her head Shinji's way, "But he didn't even hear that much."

Kaworu suggests they exchange contact information, and Asuka seems to at least take out her smart phone and start the process. Whether people WANT to exchange with her is another story.

Rikka though asks if they can see them too and states she doesn't know where the ones that fight come from. "Yeah. Not just see them either..." Asuka touches her phone a few times, and pulls up a picture of one of the Kaiju looming over the skyline, showing it to them. "... we can even take pictures of them. Bring them outside of town. As far as my tests have gone - anyone outside of Tsutsujidai can see them. But noone from Tsutsujidai can except..." She pauses for a moment, considering the matter of that weird kid. "... well apparently, those who are aware something is unusual with Tsutsujidai and is able to leave."

Before she then adds, finaly getting to the topic of Tsutsujidai... "Anyway... as for the 'Protector of Tsutsujidai' I don't know how much you heard about the incident ... he was attacking the central train station here. So, it's my theory that the pilot thought he could knock out one of the primary methods of voluntary entry into Tsutsujidai."

<Pose Tracker> Yuta Hibiki has posed.

When it comes to exchanging contact information, Yuta is more than happy to oblige - yes, even for Asuka. Cellphone numbers are exchanged, and now, they're all connected; it was a nice feeling. "I see.." Yuta acknowledges what Kaworu says, and takes it as it is. He could see the truth between the lines, that ultimately, whether or not someone else sees you as kind of cruel or anything in-between varied greatly on the perspectives of the people involved. It was entirely possible for someone to be an utterly mean spirited individual without ever once accepting that being the case about themselves - or,there could even be people who would deny that their behavior is mean or out of the ordinary.

Likewise, even if someone were to be conventionally kindhearted, that kindness could be seen as a cruelty on its own. "It's alright. Somehow, you just wound up being victims of circumstance, and are making the best of it." Yuta replies, with a small and almost imperceptible smile that twinges at his eyes. I'd be kind of surprised if it did come out that they got sent there on purpose, really.

"Well - all I really know is that it exists," he says, " 'What does this god want?' 'What is Tsutsujidai, and just how exactly is it a god of such a place' .. are questions that I don't really have an answer to."

    "But."

"If you think about it - the oddities of Tsutsujidai .. people only began to notice them when Gridman appeared .. if that's true, then - the kaiju attacks .. the disappearances .. and even now, with people from another world appearing there, and us being able to travel outside of it .. these are all things that exist outside of Tsutsujidai's 'natural order' .."

Yuta grimaces, just a little, "From that perspective, then Tsutsujidai is the way it is because its 'god' had made it that way. And now that the world is diverging from that course ..."

" - uh. Sorry, I kind of lost the forest for the trees," he realizes, coming out of his cryptic mumbling. "To more directly answer your question, all I can say for sure is that I believe that entity is real, and that it probably uses the kaiju to excise unwanted elements from the world, like a kind of - immuno response."

"As for this 'Protector of Tsutsujidai' ... yeah, I haven't heard anything about that. It doesn't sound like anyone we know, but if he was attacking the train, then -"

Yuta's brow furrows, "It's a sure thing that he was trying to prevent exit, and entry, to Tsutsujidai .."

"As for what that implies, I'm not really sure." he finishes, lamely. "It sounds like your EVA units are really complicated to deploy - I'd been thinking, that more or less lines up too with what that Captain York told us about when she and her crew were transported in. I wonder, what is it that you all had in common that you were brought there? If there wasn't anything, then it seems almot - random."

Yuta looks up to the mildly cloudly sky, "But, life is like that, sometimes .." 

<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.

The 'god' of Tsutsujidai, as well as someone appearing claiming to be its protector, trying to prevent entry... that's all news to Rikka. She frowns at that.

"I hadn't heard bout this..." She comments.

And then there's the matter of the Evangelions. It sounds like they aren't exactly easy to field on a whim - and yet, there it was.

"...That's even stranger." Rikka replies with a frown. She looks over the picture Asuka took, too. ...Yeah, there it is alright.

But Kaworu suggests sharing contact information and, after a moment of consideration, Rikka nods.

"...Yeah. That'd probably be a good idea." She admits reluctantly and draws out her phone. She draws out her phone, taking a moment to share it with the others.

Her profile icon is a picture of herself eating cake with two other girls. It's a cute moment!

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