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Please read the interlude I'm also sending before this chapter. And also
please find it in your kind hearts to C&C the story. You'll receive my
eternal gratitude and a complimentary kiwi. ^_^
Disclaimer time: Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Communications
own Ranma 1/2. Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Gainax and ADV Films own
Neon Genesis Evangelion.
A big thanks to my pre-readers for this chapter: James Merritt,
Merc-for-Hire and Thomas Hackwood.
Corwin (ely7@inter.net.il or corwin@virtuallyjeannie.com)
http://www.virtuallyjeannie.com/ranma.html
* Previous chapters can also be found at:
http://members.xoom.com/phu_lam/index.htm
http://tannim.anifics.com/rfics.html
http://ranmaxovers.tripod.com
--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------
A Couple of Angels
Chapter 12
"Ranma's Five Yen Kill!"
Toji and Kensuke let out a pained groan, as their drained bodies slumped to
the floor. Shinji crouched beside his fallen friends, shielded from the
attack by their collapsed bodies. He was about to ask them if they were all
right, when he noticed that their eyes were fixed on one spot.
Shinji looked up, locking his gaze with the girl standing some distance in
front of him.
"Hello," he ventured meekly, standing up.
"Hihi! My name is Usagi, but you must already know that! You're Shinji,
aren't you? Aren't you?!"
Overwhelmed, the boy just gaped at the youngster, as she continued
bombarding him with questions. Toji, who'd managed to gather enough power to
crawl over to the little girl, eventually saved Shinji.
Grasping her left hand, he asked, "What happened, Usagi-chan? How did you
get to be so healthy?"
Bouncing all around her brother's prone body, she shouted, "Yes! I'm healthy
now, big brother! My best friend in the whole wide world came last night and
healed me!"
Shinji suddenly remembered the first thing Usagi said when they met her.
"R-Ranma?! Ranma was here?"
The energetic girl turned towards Shinji with a huge grin plastered onto her
face.
"Isn't he the greatest?" she gushed. Pouting slightly, Usagi drawled out, "I
was kinda hurt at first when that big and heavy ceiling fell on me, and it
hurt at first..."
Brightening up immediately, Usagi was once again her cheery self.
"But then, Ranma came to visit me! He taught me how to get all better again!
See?"
Bounding over to Shinji, Usagi stage-whispered knowingly, "Ranma is an
Angel, you know?"
Turning towards her brother, who was slowly standing up, using a nearby wall
to support himself, she put her arms around herself in a hug and cried out
happily, "But I don't care, because he's the nicest person ever!"
"How did he teach you, Usagi-chan?" Toji asked, finally getting his strength
back.
"Umm," the girl replied intelligently, blinking a few times. "Didn't I show
this to you already?"
Shrugging, Usagi took out a fifty yen coin and cried out, "Moon Healing
Activation!" waving her hands at seemingly random patterns.
Toji, drained again, slumped over Kensuke who was trying to get up, both of
them falling on the floor in a heap.
"Ranma also taught me how to protect myself against all the bad people who
might try to hurt me," Usagi said excitedly. "Watch this!"
Setting her feet firmly into the floor, the blond girl concentrated, and
posed again, yelling, "Ranma's Angelic Punishment! Moon Spiral Heart
Attack!"
A section of the wall she had been facing blew up, showering everyone with
dust. Usagi's smile never wavered throughout the entire ordeal.
Shinji took that as his cue and fainted, joining his two friends in
unconsciousness.
--------------------------------------------------
"Oh, I get it now," Toji said, smiling at his little sister. "Ranma taught
you how to use other people's life energy to keep yourself healthy."
"Yep!" the girl replied between bites from the candy that Shinji brought
her.
"But isn't it dangerous?" Toji asked to make sure he covered all bases. It
wouldn't do to take his sister back home, only to have her get sick there
once again.
"Not at all! Ranma said that it only borrows a small amount of energy, and
eventually my injury will be healed, so I won't need to do that anymore!"
"But Usagi..." looking at the girl's big, pleading eyes, Shinji mentally
sighed. "Usagi-CHAN, what about what you did to your big brother and
Kensuke? They were out of it for almost an hour..."
"I know!" Usagi replied cheerfully. "Ranma asked me to do that to them! He's
so funny, isn't he?"
Toji grumbled a few choice words he couldn't risk to let his sister
overhear.
"What about me, Usagi-chan?" Shinji had to ask. "Why didn't you drain my
energy too?"
Usagi scrunched her forehead in deep thought.
"Ranma asked me specifically not to touch you. He looked kinda sad when he
said that..."
The thought of Ranma being sad ate away at Usagi's blitheness.
"Do you know where Ranma is, Shinji-kun? I want to cheer him up!"
When Shinji shook his head to the negative, Usagi asked, puzzled, "Isn't
Ranma your best friend too?"
"I... I don't really know him, Usagi-chan. I've only met him twice in my
entire life," Shinji answered, scratching the back of his head in
embarrassment.
"Oh," the blond girl said simply. "He knew a lot about you."
Glomping Shinji, she announced happily, "Well, when we find him, you could
become his friend!"
A muffled groan alerted everyone present that Kensuke had just awoken, and
saved Shinji from replying by drawing away Usagi's attention.
--------------------------------------------------
"The Fourth Child has become unusable, Ikari."
Gritting his teeth, Commander Ikari nodded curtly.
"We must replace him," the Sub-Commander said, looking out of the window of
the cart that carried them down into the GeoFront.
"I know that, Fuyutsuki. The schedule's appearance must be preserved to keep
Seele appeased. We can no longer wait for Unit 04 to be completed. Grab
someone from the spares... anyone, as long as they can synchronize."
"Are you sure, Ikari?"
A smirk replaced the irritated expression on Gendo's face.
"Yes. Ultimately, the other Evangelions are of no consequence. Unit 01 is
all we'll need."
"But you don't like to put her in danger, do you?"
"Unfortunately, other options have closed down before us."
"And what of Rei?"
"She'll pilot Unit 00, as ordered."
Fuyutsuki raised his eyebrow, but said nothing.
'So... Ikari intends to continue using Rei...'
--------------------------------------------------
The next morning, the doorbell rang, making Shinji's eyes dart towards the
source of the sound. Obediently, the boy went over to the front door of
Misato's apartment and opened the door, coming face to face with one of his
friends.
"Shinji! I must see Misato-san immediately!" Kensuke all but yelled,
grabbing the front of Shinji's shirt.
Grumbling at the noise, the purple-haired woman walked out of her room,
hastily adjusting her uniform.
"Shouldn't you boys be getting ready to go for school?" she asked, stifling
a yawn.
"Major Katsuragi, I came here to make a request to you. Please, make me the
replacement pilot for Evangelion Unit 03!" Kensuke said excitedly, his
glasses reflecting the light right at her face.
Misato recoiled, shuddering involuntary.
"I... I'll pass on your request, " she said shakily, going off to the
kitchen to grab a beer or three.
"She didn't outright refuse me!" Kensuke cried out in ecstasy. "I'm so
happy!"
Seeing his friend pull out a pair of victory fans, Shinji groaned and
grabbed his bookbag, leaving the apartment.
--------------------------------------------------
Ritsuko entered Commander Ikari's office and walked over to his desk,
asking, "Yes, Commander?"
Not even bothering to look at her, he answered, "Dr. Akagi, you are to pick
up the following student and run him through synchronization tests."
"For what reason, Commander Ikari?"
"Unless the results prove the following to be impossible, this will be our
Fifth Child."
'First Ranma, and now Ranko...' Ritsuko thought in surprise, while outwardly
managing to keep her calm appearance and saying only, "I see."
"You are dismissed, Dr. Akagi."
Bowing curtly, Ritsuko left the Commander's office, her mind already
compiling a schedule for the upcoming tests.
'As if I didn't have enough things to worry about as it was,' she thought
agitatedly, entering her office.
Misato, who was waiting for her friend there, greeted her friend cheerfully
with a wave.
Not getting a response, the Major took a closer look at Dr. Akagi's face.
"Geez, what's with the long face?"
Ritsuko sighed, getting herself a cup of coffee.
"C'mon, what's the matter? Is your cat sick or something?"
"It's Ranma, Misato. I think we have a problem." Throwing her hands in the
air in exasperation, Ritsuko laughed sadly. "Ah, who am I kidding? We're on
the verge of a disaster!"
"It can't be that bad, can it? I mean, sure... he looked a bit shaken in the
elevator, but..."
"That's nothing compared to what happened at my office later, Misato.
Ranma... he looked so lost. I felt like I was talking with five-year-old at
times, for God's sake!"
"A five-year-old that can disappear from view, take on Angels without an
Evangelion, create AT fields..." Misato countered.
Noticing Ritsuko avert her eyes at the last few words, Misato decided to
investigate why the blond scientist had such a reaction.
"Speaking of AT fields, Ritsuko..."
Seeing that her friend wouldn't take no for an answer, Ritsuko sighed and
rubbed her forehead, thinking, 'I could very well do without all these
complications!'
"The Magi have registered one of them last week."
"Was it another Angel?" Misato asked anxiously.
"I... I'm not sure. The Magi didn't have enough time to analyze it properly,
but it seemed like an Orange Pattern." Seeing Misato's frown, she added,
"Yes, from what we know, Ranma is usually associated with that phenomenon."
Misato's frown didn't disappear from her face.
"There's something you're not telling me, isn't it?"
"The Magi also detected a brief flicker in the AT field," Ritsuko said
cautiously.
"It may not even be Ranma!" she added quickly. "For all we know, another
Angel..."
"What about that flicker, Ritsuko?"
"The AT field... it changed to a Blue Pattern for a few nanoseconds. But it
doesn't have to mean anything!"
Misato's frown deepened, and she took a step towards her friend.
"Ritsuko... what exactly is the Orange Pattern? In which way is it different
from the usual AT field Angels project?"
"The colors are used by the Magi for classifications, Misato. Blue is for
Angels, while green is for the Children. And orange... orange is..." Ritsuko
struggled with the words, twiddling her thumbs. "Orange means... undecided."
"Then, could an Angel try to mask its AT field, so that it'd be unrecognized
by the Magi?"
Waving her hands in the air exasperatedly, Ritsuko let out a loud sigh.
"This is purely hypothetical, Misato. We don't even know if Angels think the
same way we do..."
"Just answer the question, Dr. Akagi," Misato said coldly with a glare.
"If the Angels ever tried to use an AT field, while masking it from our
early detection system..."
"Ritsuko!"
The shout brought the Doctor short. Ritsuko locked her gaze with her
friend's, neither woman saying anything for a few long moments.
"In that case... yes," Ritsuko finally said quietly in the silence that
occurred. "Anything is possible."
--------------------------------------------------
"I've heard a disturbing rumor, Nabiki," Kaji said, without looking at his
co-conspirator.
The last remaining Tendo who was sitting on a nearby bench - one among many
in a quiet park in Tokyo-2 - pretended to feed the pigeons as she asked,
"What is it, Kaji-kun? Can there be anything more disturbing than that Angel
underneath Nerv?"
"I'll let you decide that," Kaji said mysteriously, turning to face her.
"Nerv is looking for a new pilot."
Much to her chagrin, Nabiki couldn't keep all of her surprise hidden.
"Are there any new Evangelions scheduled for arrival?"
"Not that I know of," Kaji replied, turning a page on a newspaper he was
pretending to read.
"What of the second American Evangelion - Unit 04?" Nabiki queried, having
gotten over her initial shock.
"It seems that EVA 04 will be eventually transferred to Tokyo-3; however,
the pilot Nerv is recruiting will replace one of the current ones."
"The Fourth Child," Nabiki stated flatly.
"Indeed. Ranko Saotome hadn't been spotted by anyone for the past month, and
even Ranma had been acting weird during the last Angel attack. I believe
it's about time I find out the real truth behind them, Miss Tendo."
"I asked you not to call me that," Nabiki replied, standing up and throwing
the remaining crumbles that were in her hands to the pigeons.
"I apologize; however, my request still stands," Kaji insisted, facing her.
"Perhaps you should be informed," Nabiki relented, readjusting the large
sunglasses that covered her eyes. "But the time for that revelation is not
ripe. Commander Ikari must have discovered something. Our main concern at
the moment should be to arrange a meeting with Saotome."
"Ranma or Ranko?"
"It doesn't matter," Nabiki replied, before noticing her slip.
"So... both are Saotomes," Kaji remarked with a smirk.
"Yes," Nabiki shot back curtly. "But make no mistake, Kaji. Ranma may very
well be our last hope. Without him, both of us are as good as dead... not to
mention the entire world."
--------------------------------------------------
"Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!"
"Umm, what's wrong, Kensuke?" Shinji asked his friend, looking at him
strangely.
"Yeah! You're making a fool out of yourself, man!" Toji added, blissfully
missing the unbelieving glance Shinji threw at him.
"Cool! Cool! Cool! Cool! Coo..." Kensuke continued to cry out in ecstasy,
before stopping abruptly and rubbing his forehead, muttering, "Ouch!"
"Kensuke..." Toji drawled out ominously, shaking his right fist.
"I know, but I'm so excited! Akagi-sama picked me as the Fifth Child! It's
so cool!"
"Oh," Shinji said intelligently, blinking. "But I didn't know we had any
spare Evangelions."
"Ritsuko Akagi-sama said that when the construction of Unit 04 in the States
will be completed, I'll probably get assigned to it."
"So, what's the fuss, man?" Toji asked, beating Shinji to the question.
"In the meanwhile, I'll get to be the backup pilot for EVA 03!"
Both Toji and Shinji recoiled, as if shot.
"Hey, what's wrong with you, guys?"
"Kensuke, that is Ranko's EVA. Do you know what she'll do to you if she
catches you playing with her toys?" Shinji asked carefully.
Kensuke just waved his hand dismissively.
"I think she's run away or something. Besides, don't worry so much! I'll
only be borrowing it for a while."
"I don't think you should do it, Kensuke," Shinji said sternly to the
hyperactive boy. "You weren't there, but she warned everyone not to try and
synchronize with her Evangelion. That's also why she refused to do any synch
tests with our EVAs."
"Oh, you mean the imprints the pilots leave on them and all that?" Kensuke
asked with a small laugh. "Come on, it's got to be bullshit! Worst case
scenario, I'll get to see a few of her memories... Ranko changing into the
plugsuit, Ranko in a shower, Ranko touching her..."
Toji promptly smacked his bespectacled friend, when Kensuke's glasses fogged
up.
"How dare you think those dirty thoughts of my Fiery Tigress!"
Whipping out a bokken, he proceeded to smack Kensuke with it, the latter
trying to run away and wipe his fogged up glasses at the same time.
Embarrassed beyond belief, Shinji edged away from his two friends. Swiftly
turning around when he was far enough from them, he continued to walk
towards his seat.
Just as Shinji was about to sit down, Asuka walked over to him.
"What were you three idiots talking about just now?" she asked arrogantly,
idly twirling a lock of her hair.
As the boy moved in his seat uncomfortably, Asuka narrowed her eyes.
"If I find out that you've been discussing something perverted again..." she
warned him, leaving the threat open as she glanced at Hikari meaningfully.
"No! We didn't talk about Ranko!" Shinji protested desperately.
"Oh?" Grinning, Asuka asked, "So, you were talking about the second best EVA
pilot behind her back..."
"Kensuke's going to pilot her EVA."
"W-What?"
Blinking, Asuka looked at Shinji's face intently.
'I must've heard it wrong. Shinji couldn't have said what I thought he
did... could he?'
Noticing Asuka struggling with the concept of Kensuke as a pilot, Shinji
confirmed it by nodding his head meekly.
"But... Wonder Girl specifically told everyone not to touch her EVA... or
else!" the red-head stammered.
"I know. Maybe father is doing this on purpose. I don't think he is afraid
of Ranko."
"The Fourth Child wasn't threatening anyone when she asked people to stay
away from Evangelion Unit 03," Rei commented listlessly, her words just
barely heard by the other two pilots.
Exchanging a surprised glance, Shinji and Asuka walked over to the First
Child's desk, looking at her.
"What did you mean by that, Rei?" Asuka asked her, Shinji nodding to the
question.
"Pilots imprint on their Evangelions. If anyone was to use Unit 03, they
would be in danger."
"What?!" both Shinji and Asuka yelled at the same time, drawing a few stares
from their classmates.
Asuka glared at the nosy students, immediately altering their priorities for
the moment.
"But you said that you could pilot Unit 01 instead of me several times in
the past," Shinji argued. "You never said it was dangerous."
"Correct. However, the Forth Child's case is different," Rei replied with a
hint of sadness in her voice. 'Very different...'
"Different? How?" Asuka wondered.
She never found out whether Rei intended to answer her question or not, as
the bell chose that moment to ring. The history teacher appeared shortly
afterwards, and Rei refused to say anything else for the rest of the day.
--------------------------------------------------
"...and if you win, I shall allow you to date with me!" Toji announced at
the end of his long welcome speech, posing dramatically with his bokken.
"Excuse me?" the new transfer student, Juri Arisugawa, asked him, eyeing
Toji strangely.
"Ah, thou must be awestruck by my magnificent persona! Fear not, fair
maiden, for I shall strive to cure thou of thine shyness as we dine at the
most exclusive of Tokyo-3's restaurants!"
A frown replaced the confused expression on Juri's face.
"Are you for real?"
"Aye! I am known among my peers as the True Bonker of Tokyo-3!"
In the silence that followed that statement, everyone wisely moved away from
Toji at that point. Their precaution was proven to be justified, when Juri's
eyes ignited with righteous female fury, and she grabbed the wooden sword
from Toji only to stuff it down his throat.
Wincing along with most of the male population at some of the phrases he'd
heard Juri use, Kensuke thought that Toji was fortunate his mouth was the
closest orifice to the orange-haired girl.
--------------------------------------------------
As everyone greeted the math teacher and sat down, Hikari walked over to the
front of the class. After exchanging a few words with the teacher quietly,
the brown-haired girl coughed into her hand politely, getting her
classmates' attention.
"Listen up, everyone! I have an exciting announcement to make!" Hikari said
happily, making quite a few students raise their eyebrows in surprise.
"Is it about your hot date with Ikari?" Kenshiro asked, causing several
laughs among the male population of the class, while the girls blushed and
chattered animatedly amongst themselves.
"W-What? N-No!" Hikari denied hotly, blushing all the while. Getting her
thoughts together after a few moments, she explained, "Our class has been
selected to perform a play!"
Over half of the students made faces at that announcement, collectively
groaning.
"Aww, man..."
The class president winced internally, feeling that she was losing her
chance to interest her classmates. Seeing the math teacher, Mr. Kobayashi,
glance at his watch with a frown, she decided to play her trump card in a
desperate attempt to appeal to the class.
"Come on! Don't be like that! I've been told that although it is set in a
fantasy universe, this play is actually a very authentic representation of
Japan before Second Impact occurred."
"Really? Cool! I wanna be in it!" Kensuke shouted immediately, jumping to
his feet and knocking his seat in the process.
Toji got up, and was about to take out his bokken, when he glanced at the
scowl that appeared on Juri's face and thought better of it.
"The True..."
"Su-zu-ha-ra-kuuun," Hikari drawled out dangerously, glaring at him.
"Right. I'm game, class rep," Toji finished lamely, his resolve crumbling
under the combined glare of two girls.
"We'll participate too, Horaki," Asuka said lazily, waving her hand at
Hikari. "You and I... we'll show them how magnificently real EVA pilots can
perform, right Rei?"
The blue-haired girl returned Asuka's gaze, and said, "Yes," quietly with a
curt nod.
Seeing all of his friends and coworkers volunteering to participate in the
upcoming play, Shinji raised his hand shakily and blurted out, "I... I think
I want to try acting as well, Hi... umm, I mean, class rep."
"Aww, how cute! He's blushing!"
"Hey, it must be contagious. Look at the class president!"
The murmurs of the students caused Shinji and especially Hikari, who was
facing the entire class, to blush even deeper.
"Umm, well... that is... that is all!" she exclaimed nervously. "Are there
any questions? Good!"
Hikari then wasted no time to thank the math teacher for generously
providing her with the time to make her announcement, and was about to go
and take her seat to escape all of the attention, when Kensuke raised his
hand.
"Hey, class rep! I have a question!"
"What is it, Aida-kun?"
"Well... you forgot to tell us what's this play of yours is called," Kensuke
said, laughing nervously.
Still flustered, but for a different reason this time, Hikari bowed her head
in shame.
"Thank you for your question, Aida-kun. The play's title is 'The Tragic Rose
of Ohtori'..."
--------------------------------------------------
End of Chapter 12.
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