Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ A View From the Wings ❯ Chapter 2

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As Michael and I made our way towards downtown Tokyo-3 to pick up some things we needed at home, I thought about the events of this first day. It had been one of the strangest days of my life. I wrote most of it off to being the new kid. Granted, I hadn't been the new kid for a long time. If anything, I had always been one of the kids who had always been around. Now I wasn't, and I sure did miss the security that position gave me. I suppose it's never easy to accept a change like this, so sudden and different.

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I sat at my desk, trying desperately to figure out what I was reading on this terminal. If this is what I'm going to have to deal with during the rest of the term then I'm going to fall so far behind there will be no catching up. I need a translator program or something, anything to figure out what is on here. I hope someone has time to help me out with this stuff. I looked up and saw two more students enter, a tall guy in what looked like a black track suit and a shorter fellow with glasses thicker then mine. They were talking about something, their speech too quick for me to pick up with my rather basic understanding of the language. Hikari talked to them for a quick second, and I assume one of them said something she didn't like, because she started twisting the tall ones ear. Mental note, do not piss off Hikari. She pointed in my direction, and I could make out my name being said by her. After she finished what sounded like a lecture and released the boy in black they came towards me, an odd look on the face of the boy with glasses. Somehow, I'm very worried by that look.



"Hey, how's it going?" they great me, seeming to be rather friendly. Hopefully I wouldn't offend them due to my almost complete ignorance of the culture.



"Alright," I responded. I was not that sure of myself in this situation, lack of understanding aside, due to the complete unfamiliarity of it all. The shorter one with the glasses was looking at me with an expression somewhere between disappointment and excitement. Maybe he was expecting a girl to be the new student, but was still excited to see a new face.



The taller one seemed rather weary of me, almost as if he's sizing me up as a threat. Not that I'm surprised, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.



"Hikari told us who you are already. I'm Kensuke, this is Touji. Welcome to the class!"



Boy, this guy sure was… hyper. He reminded me of a few of the obsessive-compulsives I knew back home. I hope he's not gonna try to get me to trade cards or something.



"Thanks, what do I need to catch up on? I'd like to not end up too far behind."



"You know about Second Impact?"



"Yes."



"You're fine." They both said in unison. Odd.



I didn't quite know how to take that. As the duo settled into their chairs I decided to take out my notebook. My trusty notebook, the one I had used for at least five years. I kept every set of notes I thought might be useful in there, cleaning out the past assignments as the years had ended. I even kept notes on some things I had taken an interest in over the years. I still had notes on a paper I had done on Alien Abduction from a few years back. Granted, people had thought I was weird for it. Granted, people thought the pictures I had drawn for it were a bit too realistic. But that didn't mean I WAS weird, just talented in some ways. Okay, I'll admit I wasn't exactly normal back then. I'm not normal now, but I wasn't and still am not crazy.



Kids kept filtering in to the room. I saw boys and girls talk with each other, but I found it odd that no one went near the blue haired girl. I got a few glances from some of the other students, some of the nicer looking girls, some of the guys wondering about this new factor in their world. I minded my own business for now, taking the time to get ready for class. I'd have time enough to get to know more of my classmates later.



Suddenly, the light chatter of before class gossip was broken by what I would call an explosion. In fact, the amazing sea of red that walked in seemed to confirm this. Or rather, the girl attached to that sea. My first thought upon seeing this form was summed up best in one word.



DAMN!



Now, I have seen several girls in my time. A lot of them were very pretty, but they were always a bit shallow for me. Looks wise this girl had most of them beat. She had a nice body and a lovely face that must have been the ire of several of her female competitors. She moved with a sort of grace that was more that of a dancer then of a student. But there was something that ended my dreamy interpretation of the girl. Two things actually. Her eyes seemed to tell of some nightmare she kept chained within, even though they were of the brightest blue. They seemed much darker and older then a girl our ages eyes should have now that I look back.



The other thing was her voice, or rather her yelling at the poor bastard who she had dragged in with her.



Boy, was this guy the meekest thing I had ever seen. Obviously he didn't know how to handle himself around people, let alone the firebrand who was know cursing at him in what sounded like German to me. I couldn't make out all of it, but from what I could make out I was glad I didn't have that much of a knowledge of the language. It now became apparent that one word summed up this girl and the boy.



Bitch and wimp.



Not that being a wimp was necessarily a bad thing. Some of us grow into our own faster then others, and some take a bit more time. It's possible that this boy was a lover, not a fighter. He could very well be and artist or musician for all I knew. He did have the look of a few people I knew who had been art students of some form or another back home. Fact was, however, that he was letting the girl walk all over him. Not much you can do about it, and it wasn't my problem to begin with. Someday he may be able to either tell her to go to hell, or marry him.



Not that I gave a damn. I had just gotten there.



As the two settled into their seats, the boy close to me and the girl over by the class representative, an older man entered the room. I heard Hikari call out what I was able to translate as "Rise, Bow, Sit," and complied. It also meant I had to go up to the front of the class and introduce myself. I hate doing public intros, I never seemed to be able to sum up who I was in under thirty seconds. I stood up and walked to the head of the class, noticing that all eyes were on me. The sensei introduced me to the class and then it was my turn. Dear God, I bet I looked like a deer in the headlights.



"Hi, I'm Christopher Smith. You can call me Chris. I just got here from the US and I don't understand most of the language or writing around her just yet, but I'm very interested in the culture around here. If anything it should be interesting. Hope to get to know you all. Later."



I smiled to the other students and took my seat. I noticed a couple of the girls looking at me as I went to my seat. Didn't matter right now, I had all the time in the world. I broke out my pen and paper and prepared to take notes.



And that was where I wish I had some caffeine.



--



Mercifully, lunch came pretty quickly. Given the fact that I had given up trying to take notes, and had moved on to studying the local dialect and figure out some of the kanji, it had been the most boring period of time in my life. Kensuke and Touji weren't kidding when they said I was fine for knowing Second Impact.



I sat in the courtyard at one of the many tables. Mike had joined me as his class enjoyed the day. It seemed that he had already made a few friends, including one nice little girl by the name of Nozomi Horaki. I assumed that she was Hikari's sister, since the classes were rather small.



"I swear most of the class must have gone into a trance. The old man just rambled on and on and on with no end in sight. My neighbors just went to chatting on their terminals or catching up on sleep."



"Meet any cute girls?"



"That is so like you to immediately go for the basest discussion. There are more to girls then just looks."



"Not much more."



"You can be so shallow at times. Fact is that there are several cute girls in my class, but I won't try anything yet. I've already seen one who is beautiful on the outside, but her attitude is lacking. Another girl is simply too freaky to be concerned with right now. I doubt that she even cares for the other classmates."



"Really, you wouldn't happen to have been admiring their… physical attributes."



I shook my head. Michael, while my brother, was still young and a bit shallow. I was a bit better, but I had decided long ago not to allow my thoughts to be dictated by looks of people. I had learned the names of the red-head and the girl with red eyes. Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami. I assumed that Asuka was the other foreign student Hikari told me about. But it wasn't just their names. Something about the girls gave off a feeling of foreboding, as if they had some sort of field or a sign around them that said stay away. Come to think of it, the boy, Shinji Ikari, had the same aura around him. It was very… disturbing.



At that time our discussion, if it could be called that, was interrupted by Hikari coming over with Miss Soryu. Asuka had this weird look in her eyes, as if she were about to attack something. I got a cold feeling in my gut when I realized that I was the target of her glare. This probably wasn't going to be good.



"YOU!"



"Me?"



"You, what are you doing here?"



"Having lunch."



"Don't evade the question! Why are you here in Tokyo-3?!"



"My dad got transferred from Nerv 5 in Dallas, Texas to Central here. Why do you ask?"



I looked at Hikari for some clarification as to why I had been the target of the red-head. She must have understood my confused look, because she was the next to speak.



"We were just curious if you were a new pilot."



"New pilot of what?"



"You don't know? Your father works for Nerv and you don't KNOW?!"



"Dad's work is classified. I don't ask questions, it's not my business. Besides, why would I be piloting anything? I'm only fourteen, and there are laws against people under a certain age from being behind the wheel of anything."



"I can't believe you're so clueless. Don't you know about the Evangelions?!" Asuka questioned me.



"Of course I know about those, hard not to considering. But what does that have to do with anything? I mean, who would be stupid enough to put kids behind the wheel of a forty story super weapon? That's just insanely incompetent."



I don't know what it was that I said just then, but Asuka seemed to go from zero to pissed in about three seconds.



"DUMKOPF!" she shouted, following it up with a nice slap to my cheek. Asuka stormed off while I rubbed the now reddened skin. I looked at Hikari questioningly.



"You mind telling me what that was all about? I know you are her friend and all, but I would like to know why she just slapped me."



"You really don't know do you?"



I looked at Michael, he was just as confused as I was.



"Know what?"



"The Evangelions ARE piloted by fourteen year olds. Asuka is one of the pilots, so are Shinji and Rei. I'm surprised you didn't know about this back in the states."



"We didn't pay much attention to world affairs, that's our parents' domain. The two of us just try to get through school and life. You're only young and free of any real responsibility once you know."



Michael let out a disgusted snort. "What is it with you and the philosophy today man? If you don't stop it right now I'm going to smack you myself."



"Well it's true."



Our argument was stifled before it had a chance to grow by Hikari's giggle. What? We were not that funny to watch.



Before I had a chance to ask, the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. I said my farewell to Mike and me and Hikari began our trip back to classroom 2-A, or as I would soon come to call it the seventh level of Hell.



"And what pray tell is so funny class rep?"



"The way you and your brother went at it, it just reminded me of how me and my sisters are."



"Would one of your sisters be named Nozomi?"



"Yes, how did you know?"



"My brother is in her class. Don't worry, if we're careful he won't be able to try anything on her."



Hikari simply giggled again. When she wasn't in her class rep mode she was quite pleasant to be around. Who ever it was that she had her eye on would be a lucky man in the long run.



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My reflections on the day was interrupted by a horribly loud siren. I wasn't sure about what it meant, but the way the locals were running told me what I needed. I grabbed Michael's arm and dragged him with the flow of humanity. He protested as he always did.



"What do you think you're doing?!"



"Look at what these people are doing, we got to get to safety NOW!"



"You sure about that? Shouldn't we get home?"



I stopped a man about 30 years of age, he had long hair which was pulled back in a pony tail and I could tell he needed to shave.



"What's going on?"



"Its an angel attack, you need to get to a shelter now while Nerv takes care of it."



"An Angel? We just got here in town, we don't know WHERE the shelters are."



A wry grin came on the man's face, probably wondering who'd be crazy enough to bring children into a war zone when they knew it was one. While he kept his thoughts to himself about the subject, he did decide to help us out.



"Follow me, and stay together."



We did as told, and arrived at the shelter with time to spare it seemed. As we went in I noticed our would be savior wasn't coming in.



"Aren't you coming in to?"



"Can't say as I am, I'm needed elsewhere at the time. Just stay here until the all clear siren sounds and you two will be fine."



And so we did. It was a long wait.



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No matter what the problem is, the worst part is always the same.



Waiting.



We sat in the shelter, waiting for death, waiting to be saved, just waiting. It was a trying experience, but from what I had come to know this was in fact the safest place for us to be. If what I had heard about these Angels were true though, a focused attack from the angel would make short work of this structure. I tried not to think about that, so I could keep myself from going mad with fear.



Fear is an interesting thing when you think about it. It heightens your senses to a point where every touch, every sound is magnified. If you don't focus it, it can drive you to the breaking point. So I did what I did when ever I was nervous about something.



I paced.



I picked myself out a small part of the shelter and paced back and forth, letting some images and stories I liked flow through my head so I could calm down a bit. When I got scared or nervous, or just hyper, I could talk a mile a minute.



My brother however became easily annoyed by my speech.



"Would you please SHUT THE HELL UP?!"



"I'm sorry, but I'm nervous. You know how I am when I'm nervous."



"So what? Sit your ass down and shut up. You are driving me crazy."



"Alright!"



So I tried to sit down. It worked for a bit, then my foot started tapping. Then my heal.



Pretty soon my entire leg was shaking and tapping all over the place, keeping a nice beat. It seemed that sitting down had simply taken me one step closer to the edge of my own sanity. So I said to hell with it and started pacing again.



I could see Michael roll his eyes at me and give up while I went to my pacing and rambling.



I had just begum my rant on government conspiracies of the 1940's and 1950's when someone place their hand on my shoulder. I turned to see who it was and same one to the girls in my class.



She was at the time the most beautiful site I could have hoped to see at the time. What was her name? I hadn't asked anyone aside from a few people who they were today.



"Hi."



"Hi, aren't you new to our class?"



"Yes I am."



Now, I was never good at conversation. Made ramblings yes, conversation with people no. But a part of me decided that I should at least try to get this girls name. Then I could at least have a place to start from.



"My names Chris, what's your's?"



I saw Mike in the corner of my eyes just roll his eyes at me again. So what if I was inexperienced with females? Have to start somewhere.



"Mana, I couldn't help but over hear what you were saying about the Roswell crash. I thought I'd ask you more about it."



Eh?



This girl, who I had just met, actually WANTED to hear about the Roswell cover-up of 1942? She actually wanted to listen to what could have been one of my more knowledgeable theories?



Cool.



So I went into it, telling her of all the reports and explanations given over the course of half a century. She simply listened and asked a few questions here and there. We went on like that for a while, even going on to the Alien Abduction phenomenon and crop circles. She actually had a few theories of her own, even going as far as to propose that they had been a prelude to the angel attacks.



I think it was then that I decided I had found my first real friend here in this new place. And maybe, just maybe, the change of place wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.



To Be Continued…



Authors Notes: Give you three guesses as to which Mana this is, and the first two don't count. Yes you are right, it is Mana Kirasawa, the Queen of the Damned ACC's herself if you ask TR his opinion of her. I figured a love interest for this story would help with the general feel I want to convey here. Something I could get people to relate to how things are to those of us who don't fight, but have to sit down and watch others fight for us. Granted, it could be said I'm not the perfect choice to write this due to my military background. But hey, someone had to.



Thanks to my pre-readers on this one, you were a big help. TR, Sare, Isamu, Random1377, Angel17, Weltall Elite, ShinRyuKen, Ken Sohryu, Blue Taboo, Rommel, and Negs. You helped out a hell of a lot.



C&C as always is welcome at both webmaster@darkscribes.org and ld25@msn.com



Later