Well, here we go, the product of watching far too many Bogart movies. Read
and enjoy. C&C would be very much appreciated.
Disclaimer: What I own, I own. What I don't own, I don't own.
Spoilers: Wow, look at that, an EvaFic with little or nothing in the way of
spoilers.
_-_
Tokyo-3 Noir
-_-
By Adrian Forest
Episode 1
"I love this city. Some days it's like a mother to me. Other days
it's just a mother."
Shinji Ikari leaned back in his swivel chair and put his feet up on
the desk. He held the tape recorder in front of him like a
microphone.
"It's hard work being a private detective here. There are the good
times, sure. A case solved, a wrong righted. But the bad times..."
Just then, Shinji's secretary walked in.
He sat up straight. "Misato, you can't just waltz in here like
that. I'm recording notes for my memoirs."
"Oh, that." Misato posed exaggeratedly in the doorway, making
Shinji blush and lower his eyes. "Yeah, I got you a new box of
tapes. You were fresh out."
Shinji picked up the tape recorder and looked at the empty carrel.
Then he hid the machine rather clumsily in a drawer. Damn. Another
hard-boiled monologue, completely wasted.
"Anyway," Misato continued. "You've got a customer."
"A client, Misato, please. The word is client."
"Whatever. I think you'll like her."
"Her?"
"Yeah." Misato smiled teasingly. "She's a redhead. Fiery."
"Send her in, will you?"
Misato pawed at the air and grinned, then left.
A minute later, in walked trouble.
She was... Well, she was definitely a redhead. In a red dress.
Shinji looked her over in a long, long sweeping gaze.
Strong cheekbones, elegant nose... brilliant blue eyes... hint of
danger there, he should have seen that. Definitely European.
Austrian, maybe? German?
"Hello, Mr. Ikari." She said.
"Hello." Said Shinji.
"My name is Asuka. Asuka Langley Sohryu."
He glanced at her hand. No ring there. "How can I help you, Miss
Sohryu. Please, take a seat."
She sat. "It's my... A friend of mine."
"Male friend?"
Fire in the sparkling blue eyes. "None of your business! He's gone
missing, this friend of mine."
"Missing?"
"His name's Akizuki. I haven't heard from him in a few days."
Shinji looked at the lady over his steepled fingers. "This
Akizuki... Married man, is he?"
Sohryu glared at him, and Shinji almost did wish that looks could
kill. Even if it would have been a mercy killing. "Yes."
"Any chance then that he might just have decided not to..." He
shrank from the dagger eyes again. "Okay, okay, so he's missing."
"There's something I don't think you realise, Mr. Ikari."
"Hmm? Please, enlighten me."
The lady carefully re-arranged the straps of her handbag. "It's not
him I want you to find."
Shinji was more than surprised. "It... It's not?"
"No."
"Then... What
*do* you want me to do?"
Those piercing blue eyes met Shinji's own. He could have drowned in
those eyes. Drowned happy, drowned smiling. Swimming eternally in
those cerulean orbs...
He shook his head. "Well?"
"Something he had. He was into art. He bought a lot of things at
auction. There was this one piece he just bought a few weeks ago. A
statuette. I think..."
Shinji realised he was leaning forward over the desk towards the
lady. "Yes?"
"I think it might be why he's missing."
"And you want me to find this statuette for you, do you?"
"Yes. When he bought it, he had to bid hard against this other guy.
The other guy seemed to want it really bad. He came up to us
afterwards, and he was angry. He said Akizuki would live to regret
crossing him."
"Do you remember what this other man looked like?"
"Of course I do! What are you, stupid?!" The lady crossed her arms.
"He was about average height, with black hair and a beard. He wore
glasses too. And these white gloves. There was an older guy with
him."
Shinji frowned. Of all the people in all the world, it had to be
him... "One more question, Miss Sohryu... This statuette, what was
it?"
"It's a bird." Said the lady. "A falcon. The Maltese Falcon."
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Author's Notes:
This story was very much inspired by Joyce K. Wakabayashi and E. L.
Toh's 'EVA-Files' stories. I've always loved old Humphrey Bogart
noir movies, and the EVA-Files stories gave me a lot of material to
fit Evangelion in to that milieu.
Any and all references to Bogart movies are intentional. Even the
ones that weren't intentional. Heh, you just wait 'till you see who
plays the Peter Lorre character. ^_^
Yeah, I know, Shinji's character is a little OOC. At present I'm
writing him as a bit of a mixture between Shinji, Bogart and Dirk
Gently. So sue me.
WinAmp(TM) is now playing: Weird Al Yankovic-Jerry Springer
(Jer-RY! Jer-RY! Jer-RY!)
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"Gott ist in seinem Himmel, alles gut mit der Welt"
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Check out EVA 2055 at:
http://www.geocities.com/dalziel_86/index2.htm
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"Misato Katsuragi? You want to know the truth about NERV?
My name is Neo. I think I can help you. But it won't be
what you expected."
(Yes, I ripped this idea. Whoever's it was, hey, it was too
cool not too!)
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