The elderly scholar looked at the costume. He was very curious about it; and not a little concerned.
He had had no serious issues with helping his old colleague and friend shape the end of humanity, as humanity was (in his honest opinion) fairly worthless as a whole.
Good people let pricks like Keele get away with far too much for him to feel otherwise, after the way Yui wound up. And the scholar had a persistent notion that the old men behind GEHIRN had known the generalities of what research on Evangelion would result in, if not the specifics of whose soul would be sucked into the living weapon.
As far as the Halloween party went, Fuyutsuki's only remaining personal pleasure was watching the children and Children enjoy themselves as best possible in the time remaining to them. Any drive toward seeking his own pleasures died with Yui, as the Professor had had a unexpressed love for her nearly as strong as Gendo's. Chaperoning the party was a way to witness the fun of the kids directly, and thus something he desired.
"And now, I have this. Is this a threat? Or is it a better sign, at long last?" Fuyutsuki looked at the subtly altering costume, deciding after a moment to wear the oddity. Whatever was going on, he was somehow certain it would derail SEELE's ambitions. That was sufficient.
As he put on the odd suit, he thought. Forgive me, old friend, but this might even accomplish your great goal. Here's- hope.
Asuka stormed into the apartment just in time to be brushed lightly by Shinji on his way out. She had no time to try to block him, not that she privately thought she could after his superlative performance at school earlier. She would rather be boiled in fermented yak lymph than admit to that aloud, of course.
Asuka started to growl, the start up sequence for a good rant on how his costumes sucked (she did like wordplay at times) while complaining about how she didn't even get one. This was derailed neatly by Misato's growls as they erupted from her private bedroom.
Deciding to investigate before erupting, Asuka looked in and blinked violently at the sight of Misato glaring at a very small garment bag. Besides that, there was another costume in a open bag. It had a silk choker with a heart on it and otherwise looked like a very mean but sexy motorcycle slut getup from a cyberpunk novel, at first. Then Asuka's research on popular Japanese anime before Second Impact returned to her consciousness.
Asuka walked over to the open bag numbly. "What's with the fine marker, cutout for tracing, and Poly Matrix Armitage costume? It really doesn't go with the push up bra or the Honey choker."
Misato's glare ended as she blinked in turn. She looked to Asuka as if seeing her for the first time in years. "Oh! Hi. I was distracted. What did- Oh! I was told that's Cutey Honey as Armitage. Sort of a hybrid costume. I'm not sure if Shinji was trying to compliment you or be sarcastic."
Asuka groaned, "Sheisse! I can't decide either!" At Misato's glare over the German obscenity, Asuka shrugged, "I'm watching my language, it's bright blue."
Misato visibly held back another groan. "That's just wonderful. I have such sensible roommates." Asuka ignored the obvious lie. Misato then opened her own bag for what was obviously another peek before closing it violently. Asuka's eyes widened at a glint before it was resealed.
Misato struggled for words. "I know I'm a tease. I love it even more than you do. How does Shinji get off handing me a paltry harem sex slave costume?"
Asuka's eyes narrowed at the choice of phrasing, as she regarded herself as merely opening herself to deserved praise. She shot back, "Fat lot of good you'd do if you did seek attention! But for your information, I saw a Chakram in the bag. That's another hybrid costume, Xena when she was dressed as a harem girl, I believe."
Misato opened the bag and found the Chakram and small weaponry along with body lotion and other costume aids. "It seems to be a warrior harem getup, all right. Hey wait- Xena? All right, how would you-"
Asuka's pride was raised again. She smugly related, "My mother was a fan, and we had the whole series recorded before everything went to Hell. Besides. It doesn't matter, since you obviously don't have the guts to wear the thing."
Misato was already embarrassed. Sure she liked getting a reaction out of Ikari, but it wasn't supposed to go the other direction. Now this? "Funny, I was just about to say the same thing, miss."
Asuka went for it. "Oh, yeah? That's it, Major. Here's the bet. We wear our costumes, we act the part, we STAY in character no matter what. And whoever blows it-" She thought about a suitably hideous fate for failure.
Misato wasn't about to let this one slide. "Asuka, whoever blows this bet is Shinji's uncomplaining, willing, total servant for a week! Is it a bet?" Her voice held the one thing Asuka could not endure. A challenge.
"Oh, you horrible slut! This bet is ON!" And with those words, they both stripped right down, glaring at one another's eyes the whole time until they were fully costumed. As she put her costume together, Asuka vowed silently, I know just how to make Misato blow it, too! It's not like the doll will mind, anyway!
Hitoshi and Fujika looked about for a costume place. They were the 'lucky' pair of Section 2 agents sent to check up on just where and how Shinji Ikari had gotten those costumes.
As they kept searching the streets and finding nothing but disappointment, string-bean Fujika turned to the shorter but burly Hitoshi. "I swear, I keep seeing a shop in the distance!"
"I know, man, that's why I'm not following through on the threat." Hitoshi didn't mean it in the first place, of course. For all Hitoshi's attitude and talents in military hand to hand, he'd never seriously taken a poke at Fujika, and he never would. The seeming clown was the nastiest practitioner of Dim Mak in Section 2, after all.
Fujika pressed on, "Seriously. I'm not trying to lead you into Soap-land. Why the hell is all this crap here, anyway?" He turned away from yet another love shack cum massage place.
Hitoshi figured he might as well answer. "Because with the lowered conception rates, everyone wants more sex. Places like that are just ways to get it without admitting why."
"I just hope we find something soon, pal. Boss man looked like he was about to chew nails and shit chain links!" Fujika wasn't joking by much. Their superior hated being anyone's errand boy, which was likely why the more confident Ikari kid had picked him to do so.
"Oh, fuck that wind bag. What gets me is that I felt that costume change in the bag as I carried it to the Professor." Hitoshi shuddered from distaste for the occult. This led to a outwardly odd but understandable respect for those that could withstand it, as shown by his high regard for Professor Fuyutsuki.
"You got saddled with the gopher job? Figures. Well, there's another possibility. I hope it's not another whorehouse when we get there. You think whoever is behind this wants us laid?" Fujika joked as they went on.
Hitoshi thought aloud, "Well, you, maybe. I'm married, remember. You know, I've been meaning to ask you this. WHY does the subject call us Section 9, when we're Section 2?"
Fujika grinned, "Dude. I thought you'd never ask. The kid's got M*A*S*H episodes on his computer hard drive, and a DVD of Plan 9 From Outer Space!" Recalling the covert checks on Shinji's gear when everyone was out, he went on, "I always figured it's either a Section 8 done one better, or calling our whole section the latest in a string of mistakes."
Hitoshi knew what a Section 8 was, as he recalled the American military presence in Japan of days past. "Oh, wonderful! Bad enough the Commander sends us to risk dismemberment at the hands of his own Security Chief so he can continue to obsess over his son. Now you're saying Ikari's on to us?"
"As paranoid of his father as young Shinji is, you had any doubts?" Fujika's tone was drier than a dessication plant.
Hitoshi shrugged, "When you're right- Hey, I think we got something!"
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(Posted Sat, 25 Mar 2006 20:01)
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