`You live here by yourself?' Ikari asks, softly, looking at a pile of dusty motorcycle parts that once were, and might be again, a GT-500. `Yes.' `Who's Naoko?' `Akagi-hakase.' `Ritsuko?' `Her mother. She had me welded.' `Oh,' Ikari stands up, and walks over to me, `Why did you live with her?' `Because I wanted to. Because she made me. Because Ikari-shirei was not allowed to keep me after they realized what he was up to with me.' `What? He was . . . ' Ikari looks shocked, dismayed, angry. I blink, then cut him off, `He was using me as a tool to destabilize NERV operations he did not approve of, and to spy on things, and had me attack Naoko-chan verbally one night. She was very upset, and had me welded to find out what he was up to.' `And that doesn't bother you?' `Does it bother you that you have toes? Or eyes?' `I was born with them.' `I've been altered for half my life. Not all that much difference, in the long run.' `Where did she go?' `Naoko-chan?' he nods, `Sao Paulo. She ran, about a year ago.' `Why?' I shrug, unwilling to talk about it. `Oh,' Ikari goes silent, and watches me for a little bit. `Come,' I tell him, leading him into my room. I seat him on the bucket I'd set out by my bed, `Is that pillow enough?' `Yes.' `Good. Watch.' My fingers play over his shoulders as I type commands into the home system, calling up the next episode. He tenses a little during the op, then turns to look at me a few minutes in, `What is this?' `Tashimi,' I tell him, `_Taiho Shichau Zo, Migi_, which aired in the middle nineties. Fifty-two episodes, aired biweekly, along with it's companion, Tashihi, which focused on Miyuki and Natsumi, rather than Aoi and Yoriko.' } Aoi and Yoriko, in civilian clothing, are talking to a man seated behind a desk, and Aoi continues `--so, what do I need to sign?' `I can't let you--' the man begins. Aoi takes a step back, fists clenched, clearly frustrated. Yoriko places a hand on the small of Aoi's back, then turns towards the man Aoi had been talking to, `You, my friend, will tell me why not. It is a very simple request. You agree that she's Aoi Futaba. You agree that I'm Nikaido Yoriko. You have the Aoi family register. Why "Can't you"?' `You're both--' { `Aoi is trans?' Ikari asks over his shoulder. `Non-op.' `Wow.' } `And even if she wasn't, you're supposed to make the transfer anyway,' Yoriko says firmly, `Are we going to have to call you up to SPTF-27? I can't believe this is the first time you've tried to fuck with people because they were perverts.' `It's not right--' he starts. `Maybe not,' Yoriko cuts him off, `but it is _our_ choice, not yours. You could be fined, jailed, or, if the Sailors get ahold of you, beaten. CPS could do worse things, if you endanger anyones children by it.' `How could I,' he pauses, turns a bit green, `Oh.' His hands clench together, and his knuckles turn white. `Yes,' Aoi says softly, `Oh.' That jolts him into action, and he walks off, returning after a moment with some paperwork, `Just sign here, Aoi-san, and here, and here.' Aoi does. `Nikaido-san, here, here, and here . . . Thank you, Aoi-san. I apologize for the inconvinience.' `There's no need,' Yoriko says, `I'm just glad we got through to you, finally.' `I'm truely sorry, Aoi-san, and it shall not happen again.' `Thank you, then,' Aoi says, and bows slightly. He bows more deeply. Outside the rather non-descript governmental building, Aoi gathers Yoriko into a hug, `So, that is over with, Aoi-san, what shall we do now?' `Tell the others we've set a date?' Yoriko smiles up at her, `I won't be showing for a little while longer, but . . . ' Aoi blushes to her collar, `Getting the dress refitted is a pain.' `Yes.' { `You mean?' Ikari asks. `Yoriko's pregnant?' he nods, so I continue, `Yes. They got together very early in the series, and they've been having outside problems for most of their time together.' Ikari shifts uncomfortably. `What is it?' `Seems kind of like they have inside problems right now.' I blink, then hug him, then slap him gently upside the head since it was so very tempting, `Yes. They figured out Yoriko wasn't sick a couple weeks ago, series time, but haven't told anyone yet.' We watch the rest of the episode, and the matching episode of Toshihi, then I stop it and retract the screen. `So, are Miyuki and Natsumi just friends?' Shinji asks, `I don't know for sure, but they're really close.' `Right now, they're just friends, with the occasional shot to show that Natsumi's pining, and so's Ken, and it'll all blow up in a while.' `So you don't know what will happen?' `Natsumi and Miyuki live together happily ever after, and so do Aoi and Yoriko, but it'll be a hassle to get there.' `Good,' he gathers up my hand, and cuddles it close. `Do you need to go home?' `No, I told Misato I was with you.' `Good. Did you eat?' `No.' I look at him a moment, then point, `The kitchen is over there. Fix something.' `Yes, Mistis?' he asks, hopefully. `Go.' --- Appendix: In case you couldn't guess, Toshimi and Toshihi are, respectively, _You're Under Arrest: Right_ and _You're Under Arrest: Left_, and set in the _DKR_ universe. I don't know if Fujishima would have done them this way, even if he could have gotten them animated, but I'm pretty sure they never would have been made in our universe. SPTF-27 is the Special Task Force created when the Diet bowed to Dark Kingdom pressure in 1995, and banned many forms of discrimination. They are overworked, underpaid, mean, and like it. Log: 2005/Sep/7: Continued. 2005/Sep/8: Continued.