Ranma, still stuffing pocky into his mouth, came back into the store. He stood beside Misato, as she watched the DVD, and tapped her gently on the shoulder. "Can I ask a favor of ya?"
"I guess so, sure."
"Ya've figured out already dat I don't really b'long here, right? Dis ain't my world. Dis Shinji Ikari kid, he's da one ya was s'pozed ta meet."
"Yes, I believe you now. But..."
"But what?"
She smirked. "It seems to me that we may have gotten a better deal."
"You ain't seen th' whole thing yet, then. Well, o'course, it's 26 episodes, an' a movie or two at th' end too."
"What do you mean? This Shinji kid seems a bit, um, I don't know, lacking."
"Yeah, dat's what I wanted t' talk to ya about. See, I ain't seen th' whole series, but I watched parts of it with Nabiki an' Kasumi an' Akane, an' dey talked about it fer weeks after dey saw 'End of Evangelion.' I've read some o' da manga too. An' I'd like ta ask ya t' make me a promise."
She glanced at him. "What do you have in mind?"
"Well, 's like dis. I ain't da brightest guy ever ta come down da pike, but I know some things, an' I didn't pay attention ta everything in da anime but I sure heard Akane an' 'er sisters talk about it. An', ya know, Neon Genesis Evangelion ain't normally da kind o' TV show I like. I like da martial arts ones, like Fist o' da North Star, ya know? I ain't so interested in dis stuff wit' all da giant robots fightin' da kaiju, 'specially when ya start ta notice dat it ain't about da robots an' kaiju fights so much as it's about da people an' da," he tried to imitate Nabiki's voice here, "da psych-o-logical drama o' it all." He paused, to wait for her to give a sign she understood where he was going.
She nodded, still watching the screen.
"What I'm tryin' ta say here, is, if one mornin' I should disappear an' dis Shinji Ikari appears in my place, I think ya should be nicer to 'im."
That got her attention. She paused the DVD player and put her hand on her hip as she turned to him.
"I'm sayin', I respect da guy. In da anime, at least, I could tell everybody around 'im saw a kid when dey looked at him, an' treated 'im like one. Da scriptwriters made 'im da comedy relief character in between da big kaiju battles, an' in da parts ya just fast-forwarded past, every embarassin' thing ya can imagine happens ta 'im, whenever 'e ain't puttin' his ass on da line ta save all yer lives. He goes out, saves da world, den 'e comes home an' cooks an' cleans fer ya, an' ya take every opportunity ta tease an' embarrass 'im."
She frowned and began to speak.
"Wait a minute, I ain't finished. See, I'm a martial artist. I fight. 'S what I do. Pop started trainin' me in da Art from da time I could walk. Da Art is what I live for. Fightin's all I know, an' I promise ya, I'm da best dere is. But dis kid, Shinji, he ain't no martial artist. He don't like ta fight like I do. He ain't trained. He's just some scared kid ya basically drafted an' den bullied an' blackmailed inta fightin' yer war fer ya."
She frowned, and nodded.
"An' in spite o' all dat, da kid spends twennysix episodes fightin' fer ya. He may be only fourteen, but he fights like a man. I wuz raised ta be a warrior, an' I know another warrior when I see one. He's tougher 'n 'e looks, maybe more so 'cos he's scared outa his mind every time he goes out ta fight, but he does it anyway 'cos he knows what's at stake. Da kid's got heart, lady. He's got da warrior heart, an', even at da end, when everythin' goes ta hell, it ain't 'cause he ever failed ya."
He paused. "Kasumi also thinks he's more 'n' halfway in love wit' ya long before da end, too, but she's kind of a romantic. Anyway, please promise me, if ya should meet him, please be nice ta him. I ain't askin' ya ta marry 'im, I ain't askin' ya ta have his babies (Kasumi thinks it'd be sweet if ya did, though), just show 'im some human kindness. He saves all yer asses over an' over, does what no one else can do. I know dere's a bitchy foreign girl bein' trained in Germany right now, an' she thinks she's da best, but she's foolin' herself. Shinji kicks ass like Heero Yuy, even if he acts like a shy scared kid da rest o' da time. I know we ain't got much time here, an' I know yer prob'ly tryin' ta fast forward ta da more important parts, but da kid goes through hell by da end, but even at da very end he fights. I'm askin' ya ta remember dat an' treat 'im like it. 'Cos he treats ya as good as he knows how, an' I didn't even pay attention but I can still tell he cares a lot fer ya. An' 'cos he deserves better."
She reflected on this for several seconds, and nodded.
He stared thoughtfully into the distance. "Nabiki said dis was a tragedy, a story 'bout people what wasn't as bad as dey thought dey was, people what deserved better. Yer friend, Dr. Akagi, she's sleepin' with Commander Ikari." Misato jumped at that revelation. "An' she's really an' truly in love with 'im, but she deserves better. She thinks she don't, but she does. Shinji deserves better, everybody does. Ayanami deserves better an' she ain't even human. Ya deserve better too. An' Akane an' her sisters agree, at least, dat da story mighta had a happier endin' if ya'd all tried ta treat one another better."
Misato stared at him for several seconds, digesting this. She nodded slowly. "I definitely need to watch all of this when we get home." She popped the DVD out of the player and put it back in its case, which she put in her purse. "And we definitely need to get moving here."
Together, they stepped out of the store to continue on their way.
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(Posted Sun, 24 Sep 2006 06:49)
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