From: mew3point14@doramail.com (Daniel Snyder) Midday. A blue sky and a blue boy. Like an incision across empty air, the front gates of Feuervogel Academy pulled open. Ikari Shinji slipped inside, unacknowledged and unobtrusive. He wore a uniform of a white button-down shirt and black slacks. A small backpack was slung over his left shoulder. In his right hand was a piece of notebook paper. Folded into thirds, it bore the marks of a much-read letter, with crumples criss-crossing the page. Shinji's glance shifted from the writing to his unfamiliar surroundings and back again. "Kazarashi Dormitory..." he murmured. "Kazarashi Dormitory..." Stretching out from behind the impressive gates was a verdant parkland. It was simply immaculate. Not a blade of the rich grass rose above three centimeters. Each and every tree branch extended so far and so straight out from the trunk, forming identical canopies at equal heights. When a gust of wind blew along the walk, at once the plants were in a rhythmic dance, waving and fluttering all across the sward; and the motion would die down abruptly, as if the green life itself could raise and quell the wind. There were no wildflowers in the parkland. The school proper looked European in design, with archways and white buildings that reminded the boy of a palace or a monastery. Shinji entered through an empty courtyard. He thought, _Everyone must be in class_. But even as he came to that conclusion, he realized how few signs of human habitation there were. No garbage, no footprints. The shadows in the courtyard were in razor-sharp focus. At length, he did notice a single person moving about. Between where he stood and the monolithic column that dominated the campus was a small greenhouse. From some meters away, Shinji could make out a human form moving around in the greenhouse, tending a forest of white roses. The boy debated whether to go up to the greenhouse for help, but thought better of intruding and set off in search of his rooms again. He explored the eastern edge of the campus for a quarter of an hour more until he located his destination. Kazarashi Dormitory was designed like the other buildings of the campus. Inside, it retained its western flavor. The entryway divided a kind of sitting room, with grouped couches and tables. Light flooded into the rooms from outside, removing the need for the halogen floor lamps in the corners. The carpet was shabby, with garbage and personal belongings dirtying the open areas. A pair of double doors opposite him lead back into the dormitory proper. Shinji had yet to come face-to-face with any human being since his arrival, and the apparent abandonment of his future home overcame his reluctant nature. He cleared his throat, and loudly but awkwardly said, "Hello?" There was a thump from outside a few moments later, and soon after that a young woman entered the room. She looked to be sixteen or seventeen, with short blond hair and a beauty mark on her left cheek. She was dressed in a long t-shirt and tights. In her right hand was a saucer, supporting a teacup and a burning cigarette. Her left hand held a stack of printed papers. "Good day," she said in a curt voice, "can I help you with something?" The boy was intimidated by her entrance. She was older, more knowledgeable, and more attentive than he was; and she was a woman, a kind of mystery he had never been able to fathom. Straightening up from his accustomed slouch, he stammered, "Uh, hi. You...are expecting somebody new today, right?" "That's correct," the woman replied. She had crossed the room and was struggling to smoke her cigarette. Once she had successfully inhaled and exhaled, she asked, "Are you her brother?" "Eh?" "Well, I assume you're some kind of family member." The woman set down the teacup at her feet and took the chance to look at her papers. "We're expecting a young lady named Ikari Shinji to move in today. You are Mr. Ikari...?" "Ah, I'M Ikari Shinji!" he exclaimed. "I am moving in today. I'm not a girl." "I beg your pardon?" "I said I'm not..." "Don't take me for a fool, you," the woman snapped, "I can see that you're not a girl. But Ikari Shinji is, and so if you please I'd like you to stop playing games with me." "Look, look." Shinji set down his school bag and pulled out a large envelope. From it he removed an identification card and his national health card. "You see? You see?" he said triumphantly. "I really am him!" The young woman looked over the documentation, becoming more and more flustered as she read. "This can't be," she said, "I was told specifically that Ikari Shinji was a woman entering the high school. Why didn't you call ahead and let me know you were coming, anyway? We could have avoided this whole unpleasant matter." She handed his papers back to Shinji, who declared, "I just didn't think to. My father said he had handled the whole thing. I only learned I was coming here three days ago." The young lady opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as the inside doors swung open. The pair turned to see a girl Shinji's age in the doorway. She was dressed in a blue yukata held closed by a green obi. Her short brown hair was all rumpled, and she rubbed sleep out of her eyes as she spoke. "Sempai? What's going on?" Shinji's companion clicked her tongue and cursed herself. "Did I slam the door, Maya? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I've got myself quite a problem. This boy," she pointed to Shinji, "is the girl who's supposed to be moving in today." The girl Maya stared blankly at Shinji for a second, trying to parse the explanation through her sleep addled brain. Stuck for the moment, Shinji bowed. "I'm Ikari Shinji," he said politely, "I'm pleased to meet you...Maya?" "Ah? Yeah, Ibuki Maya." She returned the bow. "This...you can't live here, Shinji-san. This is a girl's-only dorm..." "Meaning, of course," said her sempai, "that I have to sort all this out as soon as possible. I should have introduced myself. I'm Akagi Ritsuko, I'm the dormitory president and a member of the Student Council." Her gaze fell back to the stack of papers in her hand. "I suppose that all this crap is null and void now...but I need to find someone else to take responsibility for you." Maya nodded earnestly. "It's school rules. Anyone who is in a position of authority must look out for everyone, and they do mean everyone, below them. It's like a shepherd and sheep." At a loss for something to say, Shinji's gaze fell to the culpable paperwork; and from Ritsuko's he saw a glint of metal. There was a ring on her hand. Curious, Shinji tried to steal a better look. "What's all the commotion out here?" Two more girls had come into the sitting room. Both were dressed in identical high school fuku. Holding open the door was a girl with brown hair in pigtails. A few freckles on her cheeks highlighted the topography of her frown. Still half-hidden in the doorway, with her hands on her hips, was a red-haired girl. Her most captivating attribute was two piercing blue eyes. From across the room, Shinji found their gaze inescapable, and yet terrifying to be beneath. "Who're you?" she called out loudly. Her voice had a slight Western accent. Without squirming, Shinji replied, "I'm Ikari Shinji. I just arrived a few minutes ago..." He fell silent as the red-haired girl came into the room proper and walked right up to him. Shinji noticed a second mystery, something sticking out at the girl's waist, something the shadows had hidden before. She wore a red scabbard on her back, tilted at an angle. The scabbard looked thin; perhaps it was a fencing epee or a saber. The girl looked all up and down Shinji's front, attracting a few titters from Maya. After two passes, she concluded, "Nope, you're not a girl. Looks like you won't be staying here, eh?" "No, I'm not..." "I need to figure out to do with this boy," Ritsuko groaned to the group. "I should probably go to one of the boys' dormitories and see if they have room, and also over to the main office. " "I'd take him to the dormitory first, sempai," said the freckle-faced girl. "That way, he has a place to stay and can get settled in while the paperwork gets sorted through." "Unless," Ritsuko interjected, "the office needs him for who only knows what reason. I'm very sorry, Ikari-san, but I think you'll have to wait--" The front door flew open as two more newcomers, arm in arm, staggered into the room. They were brashly drunk, as the open bottle of whiskey in the man's hand emphasized. Both were as old, if not older, than Ritsuko. She was dressed in a girl's uniform identical to the others', in teal blue and white with a red cravat or ribbon around the collar. He wore what looked like a men's winter uniform, with a high collared jacket and slacks. On one shoulder was an epaulette, perhaps a badge of rank. Their laughter sounded hollow and merely Epicurean, not free and gay. At their entry, Ritsuko lost her composure and shouted, "What the hell do you two think you're doing? Barging in like this in the middle of the day when I haven't seen _you_ all night, and you, Kaji, have specific instructions not to set foot in this dormitory..." "Sorry, sorry," he gasped, while she managed to say, "It's all right, Rit- chan. We haven't missed a moment of school...haven't missed anything important..." "Important or not," Ritsuko snapped, "your behavior is setting a terrible example to the rest of the student body, nevermind that it's against the rules." She paused for a moment to breathe, and the man called Kaji jumped in. "Oi, who's the young fellow with the love posse?" Shinji missed the taunt and simply introduced himself. "I'm Ikari Shinji. I'm new here today." Kaji nodded. A smug and selfish smile spread across his face. "I thought I recognized you. You're the son of someone famous, aren't you?" "He is?" the redheaded girl, half-forgotten in the chaos, said in surprise. "Asuka, Hikari," Kaji announced, "that boy is the son of Ikari Gendou." The name was spoken, and in an instant Shinji was abandoned in the room. All around him were hateful masks. Shinji was frightened and confused. His father? Famous? Notorious, maybe? "What's the matter?" he said. "Is your father..." Maya spoke low and gravely, as though to a mad dog, "...really Ikari Gendou?" Shinji swallowed, then nodded. Ritsuko tossed her handful of papers into Shinji's face. "Get out of here," she snarled, "get out of here, and don't come back! You've got a hell of a lot of nerve, to come here, impersonating a girl, to sneak into my dormitory, and I don't know what else you've been up to, you get out of here this instant and don't let me see your face ever, EVER again!" "Wait, wait!" Shinji gasped, even as he took a step backwards to the door. "You can't do this. I'm a student, and...and...and I'm still your responsibility, right? Right?" Her scowl faltered for a moment, and Shinji seized on the point. "I'm not leaving unless you come with me, and you find somewhere for me to spend tonight, and you arrange for me to transfer out of here. I'll do it, but you've got to do it right." _So there,_ he thought to himself. Shinji's sense of victory was mitigated by Ritsuko's hostile glare; and the glare would likely have been followed by more if Kaji had not broken in. "There is, I believe," he said casually, "another...arena...to settle this matter." -- Somewhere in the Feuervogel Academy was a particular room. In the room, atop a table, were three computer monitors. They were connected to a like power source, but their screens were still dark. Sounds came from the three, as if emanating out of the screens themselves. "Do you know? Do you know? Do you know who is Ikari Gendou?" "Ikari Gendou? I've never heard the name." "Wait. Wait. Ikari...yes, that name sounds familiar." "Ikari Gendou is who Rokubungi Gendou became." "Rokubungi Gendou. Of course, of course. I know now." "Ikari or Rokubungi, whatever is this man famous for?" "Ikari Gendou broke the final taboo." "'Broke the final taboo'?" "Did he eat his own filth?" "No, he did not eat his own filth." "Did he rape by skullfucking?" "How awful! How dare you suggest that!" "No, he did something more terrible still." "Something more terrible?" "What could it be? Tell me. Tell me." "I shall not." "But I must know. I must know who this Ikari or Rokubungi is." "Why will you not tell us?" "Because to comprehend is to contemplate. As soon as you know, you will be guilty of contemplating the final taboo." "Then that is a sin I will accept." "Even if I cry for eight days yet, I must know." "Very well. I will tell you about the final taboo." -- >From an aesthetic and a mathematical viewpoint, the shape of the rose design was perfect. The thirteen petals were aligned exactly on an equiangular curve, spiraling out from the center. The height of the ring was 1.6 times its width, yet viewed from above the length and width were equal. The inner diameter of the ring was 2 millimeters greater than the bones at Shinji's knuckle, producing a snug but not tight fit. The ring was a heavy alloy, a blue-silver in color. The rose setting was too heavy and the wrong color for ivory, perhaps it was alabaster instead. "It was a gift from my father," Shinji explained. "Really, it's the only nice present he's ever given me." "You are to proceed to the central tower," said the man called Kaji Ryouji, "where you will go inside and hold your hand aloft, like you were reaching up to the sky. You will then be transported to the Dueling Arena, where you will face your opponent. Everything you need to know will be explained there. Is it clear what you are supposed to do?" "Yes," Shinji said reluctantly, uncertain of the circumstances. Kaji pressed a shinai into the boy's hands, then made the evil-eye ward with his right hand. "God be with you, boy," he said and turned away. Shinji turned as well, and walked the few steps up to the base of the column. Seeing no door present, he lightly pressed his hand to the side; and was rewarded a moment later by a soft clicking. A door, so tight- fitting that it betrayed no crack, swung open inwards. Shinji crossed the threshold inside, and was startled to find the door close behind him. The base of the column was smaller inside than it was outside, at most a meter and a half. It struck the boy as odd. The walls behind him didn't seem so thick, but perhaps it was a trick of perspective. The interior of the column was painted a creamy white, and lit by an unseen source of light. >From where he stood, Shinji couldn't see the ceiling. Silencing his inner turmoil, he raised his left hand upward and clenched his right hand around the shinai. Faster than he could react, seven iron hooks sprang out of the wall and gripped Shinji to an unseen sled; and he was catapulted skyward, held in place by his shoulders, waist, hips and groin. Although the hooks only held him and did not pierce his body, Shinji screamed. At g-force acceleration, he was almost castrated. He was blinded with terror. His eyelids naturally closed as he began weeping. "Kaasan," he moaned, blindly praying to a mother figure he barely knew. Before the prayer could be finished, Shinji was thrown out into an arena...somewhere. The air was pure and light, as if they were at a tremendous altitude. Above him stretched a sky of twilight blue, scattered by wispy clouds. The arena was walled off by walls of white stone that looked gray in the half-light. The stones beneath his hands felt rough to the touch, sandstone. The arena looked to be fifty thousand meters square. Halfway across, Shinji could see two figures. One he recognized as his challenger. Akagi Ritsuko had changed into a uniform much like the boys' uniforms: slacks and a jacket. The only adornment was a single red orb, about the size of a human eyeball, above Ritsuko's left breast. Shinji saw it glimmer, or catch the sunlight, for an instant. The other person was a young girl Shinji's age. She was seated on a throne composed of the same stone the arena itself was made up of; but its colors were different. Like bands in the stone's very sedimentary pattern, swashes of color ran down the throne: red, yellow, white, orange, green. In the very center, the widest stripe of all, was a blue band, much lighter than the color of the twilit sky. It was the color of the girl's hair. She had blue hair in a raggedy bowl cut and vermilion eyes. She herself looked to be ornamentation of the throne, not the other way around. When Shinji had approached them, the girl stood and walked, as if in a trance, to Ritsuko's side. In perfect synchrony, the girl's legs buckled and Ritsuko caught her fall. The girl's body convulsed twice. Her jaw dropped open and her skull fell back at an inhuman angle. From out of her mouth came white light, so intense and blinding that it was almost liquid. Shinji held his hands up to his face, and barely made out Ritsuko's figure as she reached into the light... ...and drew forth a sword. It was not a kendo or fencing sword, it was a one-handed saber of western European design. Its two blades were slightly angled to each other, producing a pair of magnificent cutting surfaces. As she extracted her weapon, Ritsuko turned the flat of the blade to the boy, displaying an intricate pattern of purple and gray metals that wrapped from the handguard a quarter of the way up the blade. In that split second, he thought he could see a ring, similar to his own, on Ritsuko's left hand. She held up the sword at arm's length towards the heavens, and shouted, "Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ!" So saying, she moved aside to let the young girl stand again. The girl crossed over to Shinji and lightly pressed her hand to his left breast. When she took her hand away, a sphere exactly like the one on his opponent, but white in color, was in position. The young girl spoke softly. "The victor is the first one to knock the Angel's Heart off from his opponent. You may begin." Shinji was barely listening. The girl's approach to him had wakened something inside of him. He was aware, for the first time, of her nudity; and that her innocence was something to take advantage of, to eat. He savored the memory of her body, pressed close to his left side. Even as he sought to quell the rising tide of lust and rage inside of him, he felt it waxing. "No," he whispered softly. His grip on the handle of his shinai strengthened. Ritsuko lunged at him with the sword, aiming for a fast kill. Shinji leaped aside, half-turning his back on his opponent. Even as he regained his footing he turned back around and readied his attack. Ritsuko slashed fiercely, then back again, keeping Shinji at arm's length away. He swung the shinai downward, aiming for the sword's grip. She caught the tip at her handle, digging into the bamboo struts, and flicked it aside. Stymied, Shinji withdrew. His mind was clouded, but clearing. His opponent's grip on her sword, the technique of fast speed and wild slashing, were easier and easier to analyze with every second; and yet, each analysis was coupled with an increasing desire to batter and wound the young woman. Ritsuko raised her sword and edged towards the boy. Shinji shook his head to clear it, then shifted his grip and stepped in to attack. He feinted at Ritsuko's midsection, and then lunged at her sword arm. Drawn in to the feint, Ritsuko cringed as the sword's blunt tip rammed her bicep. She hacked again at him, aiming for his legs, but missed. Even as she threw herself wide open to attack, Shinji's self-control faltered mightily. It was no longer enough to win. He had to inflict pain. It was imperative that she suffer, and that he watch her suffering. His next lunge landed square on her belly. Ritsuko lost her breath, but retained enough presence of mind to block the shinai as the boy swung for her left breast. The sword's blade cleaved into the bamboo, and a portion of the tip was cut loose. Suddenly, it was unclear whether Shinji would have a sword to win with. Before he could asses the damage, Ritsuko swung at his wrist. Shinji caught the blade right on the handguard. Ritsuko smiled. It was a bad sign. She twisted her sword. The torque on the shaft's very base broke the bamboo, and Shinji was left with only the handguard of his shinai. The shaft swung freely, impotent, from the handle. The sight of its uselessness, his own failure, enraged the boy. He seized it by the tip and tore its end off, leaving behind a few jagged struts of bamboo. Passion overcame reason. Revenge was paramount. "What are you going to do?" Ritsuko shouted at him a dozen paces away. "Are you going to throw that at me or something?" With a yell, Shinji charged, still holding the hilt as if it were still a real sword. Seven steps, eight, nine, he was in her range. Ritsuko came in from above, stabbing directly at the Angel's Heart. She knew what to do, how to strike. If he was lucky, the boy's lung might not be punctured. Deflection. Ritsuko watched her blade bend upwards to the boy's shoulder, and then she could see nothing but his ogre face. Shinji slammed his forehead against her, carrying his unchecked momentum onto the bridge of her nose. The young woman's face exploded in red tendrils of agony. There was only time to move her hand up towards her face before her backside slammed down onto the sandstone floor. His next blow was a straight jab to her midsection; just when her dazed body and mind called for oxygen, it was driven from her in a gust. She rolled limply onto her left side, and was less surprised then resigned when his fist pounded her jaw, just where the muscles met the bone. Akagi Ritsuko was crying even before Shinji tore the Angel's Heart off her shirt. "It is over," the young girl announced. "The victor is Ikari Shinji..." -- Shinji woke up to the reality of his situation by degrees. First there was his name, his identity. As he looked around to see where he was, and what had happened to him in his stupor, he grew aware of his pain: the searing pain coming from his left shoulder; the dull ache of his knuckles. What had happened? Then he saw the woman at his feet, barely hanging onto consciousness. Her jacket was torn all over, and underneath her blouse was soaked with blood. She was whimpering as she breathed. Even as his fear told him to run, to escape the responsibility of what he had done, he acknowledged the very inescapability of his guilt. He had committed battery, and inhumanely endangered another person's life. "No," he gasped. "No. This can't be...this can't be happening..." He turned away, tried to run, run blindly back from where he had come, but there was no place to run to; as he took his first steps the tiles beneath his feet dropped away, and he plunged forward, struck by the awesome beauty of the Academy from five thousand meters above, suddenly tiny between his fingers and far, far away, too far to cry out to as he fell... When Ikari Shinji came to his senses again, he was sitting on the steps that led up to the column. It was night. Hours and hours had passed since he had stood there last. Had he ever stood there? Or was it just a terrible dream? He looked at the rose signet ring he wore. It betrayed no answers. It was still a ring his father had given to him for another birthday he was not present for. Reluctant to stay and dwell on his memories, Shinji stood and glanced around. Whatever the hour had gotten to, there was nobody around. >From where he stood he could see lights coming from the dormitories; so people were, indeed, alive and well in the Academy. He brushed off his trousers and began walking east, towards where dormitories were. Next to the courtyard was the library. Shinji walked along a lit path that ran along the library's southern edge. He had passed the library proper, and was in the shade of a maple tree, when he saw the girl. She was wearing clothes now, a uniform, but her identity was unmistakable. Shinji cringed. Somewhere in between dreams and reality, what he had been through--what he had fought--was the truth. "Ikari Shinji," the girl said. "I am Ayanami Rei. I am Shekhinah...I am your bride, now and forever."