Neon Green
Introduction : This series is a fanfic spinoff of Neon Genesis Evangelion, a story of how 14-year-olds save the city from horrible maruading aliens, by immersing themselves in a opaque tube, and being inserted into giant robots's necks. --;
Shinji was feeling old, and distinctly uncomfortable. Rei was handling Ikari's cracked glasses with a morbid fascination, as if it were some priceless treasure instead of the well-worn optical aid it was.
The Langley girl was in a straw hat and colourful sundress as usual, lying on her belly, chin cupped in her hands, perusing a magazine on cats. Misato was half-dressed in her full uniform, beetroot in the face and stone-drunk as usual, even though it was early in the morning.
There were times when Shinji felt terrified that he would be kicked out of the team, for his slow reflexes and not keeping pace, but Misato seemed to have the hots for him, and being the General's son didn't hurt either. The SEAL, a panel of disembodied voices that directed the General's actions in NERV, had grilled him mercilessly as to why he was so reluctant to make a move on Kaowaru, the 14th, beautifully perfect angel.
Did he not understand how much was invested in him? Was he not grateful for the cutting edge technology bestowed upon him to combat the foretold threats to Tokyo 2, the retractable underground city? How could he defend himself against these charges? Didn't they care that Kaowaru was the only friend he had? The only one who understood him?
He sighed as Pen-Pen slipped out of the fridge and proceeded to consume his raw fish in his customary way. A bow, a peck, and a tilt of his non-discernable neck upwards to swallow. The penguin seemed to notice Shinji watching and raised a red eyebrow enquiringly at him, before padfooting back to his fridge. Shinji buttered his toast and tried to force it down.
And the Langley girl. She had tried to kiss him. He was startled of course, but harboured no delusions whatsoever that she liked him – she was just acting on impulse, bending people to her desires like she always did. Shinji thought he had felt a ghost of a bond when they had trained their coordination together by playing Twister on double speed, but she was just jealous of Rei's stoic fulfilment of mission parameters, expressionlessly following the sequence of flashing light flawlessly. He mused on how the term 'red-haired stepchild' fit her perfectly.
Shinji had been having recurring dreams lately. He just couldn't shut out the voices in his head, even though the German girl had taken the brunt of the psychic assault. It was always the same dream, an elderly lady with piercing eyes but a sunken sallow face singing a soprano piece in a language which was strangely haunting –
The refrain still rang in his ears - 'Za Wu Gu Ko Na Zen Ni Shi D Ya Ka Li,' while a blue-white sphere of light inched up a complicated tree-hierarchy which glowed runic-like in greenish light - he Googled it later and found it as the "Tree of Sephiroth" from the Kabbalath cultic mythology.
He flipped the tape deck over and listened to repetitive music again. He saw the mouths of Misato and Asuka opening and closing, but didn't unplug his headphones to listen to what they were saying. God, he was becoming like Rei, the freaky mass-produced clone, being used by these SEAL-people to fight, and getting patched up, then sent into combat again – but there wasn't a single thing he could do about it. Ikari Sr only turned his considerable intellect and charm on people he could use. His stomach suddenly churned, and he turned green as the bile rose, and rushed to the toilet bowl.