i dont own NGE or any of the canon characters. those are owned by studio Gainax and Anno. this story containts coarse language, violence and some adult situations. reader discretion is highly advised.
enjoy
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7 months prior
Ragged breathing
"one day..."
drooling blood
"someone like me"
feeling cold
"is going to kill you"
going home
"and your whole...fucking...race, chinaman"
laughter
"im going to enjoy killing you, ruskaya"
a gunshot echoed through the trees, then all was silent except for the wingbeat of the few birds that were left, flying off into the distance on an otherwise peaceful day in the hielongjiang.
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"You're gonna be late you know!" misato shouted from her room as she finished plucking her eyebrows in the mirror.
Her eyes had dark circles again, age and beer were catching up to her, still beautiful as ever, just a little rusty on this particular morning
Shinji was busy packing bentos in the kitchen, something that he had begun to treat more as the daily routine that was happily checked off a to do list rather than a sign of servitude.
"todays the big day huh!" misato said to him. she sauntered out of her room wearing only a yellow half tank and shorts, a towel lazily draped over her broad yet feminine shoulders. She made a beeline for the fridge. Grabbing her usual hangover breakfast of beer and leftovers before sitting down at the table
"i dont know what you're talking about misato-san. Its just Tuesday" shinji said hurriedly tying off the boxes in nice neat bows interlacing his housemates chopsticks.
"dont be silly, shinji-kun! Its your birthday today!" misato said in an almost exasperated tone
In truth shinji had not forgotten his birthday, nor did he really wish to forget. Truthfully he felt sort of banal about the whole thing. He just wanted to have a nice day for the sake of having one, not because people felt they owed it to him. Besides, he always asked the heavens for the same thing on his birthday and to no avail. The last four years of living in this city and working for nerv had kinda taken its toll on his personal life.
He just wanted a friend. At this point he would take pretty much anyone. But his social status as one of the children of nerv had turned him into a rather popular pariah. Touji had gone off to college early to play basketball, despite his obviously less than stellar grades, somewhere along the way he developed a penchant for lose women.
Kensuke, his once most trusted friend had signed up for military service in the JSSDF and had left the city months ago. Now stationed in the north of the country some two hundred miles away. He still wrote Shinji quite often, but it was not the same as having the dork with the video camera grilling him every time he came back from training. Begging him for answers, secrets, training, and of course pictures of his guardian's "Awesome tits" as he used to say.
He felt very alone now. Still surrounded by a lot of the same faces. Asuka had blossomed from a firey young woman into a full grown dragon lady in no time flat. Now even more incredibly attractive, even by those with high standards. Rei of course was still Rei, demure, enigmatic, emotionally inexpressive. Although she had filled out a bit more in certain areas and got a little taller, the biggest change that Shinji saw in her was her new found ability to occasionally smile when something she fancied caught her eye. Like vegan restaurants...or his father.
"that's right Shinji-kun you'll be seventeen today!" Misato chirped after downing half a pint of ybisu
"well, I hope that no one decides to give me birthday punches today at school" he grumbled somewhat serious "uh, Misato-san...i gotta get going. If anything important comes up, give me a call...also, if uh...if Asuka comes home before I do, shoot me a message so I can just go for a walk or something"
Shinji rushed out the door while finishing his last sentence, well aware that a rebuttal from his guardian would have come soon after his exchange with her. He slid the door closed behind him and looked at his watch. A slight panic overtook him and he began a brisk jog down to the station where he would hop a tram to school
Misato on the other hand, stared at the closed door, eyes half lidded and thought to herself about her ward. 'if he doesn't want anything for his birthday...well he's almost a grown ass man, he can make his own choices'
she finished her beer and began slurping down her salty bowl of miso. She soon finished and opened the fridge to grab another beer to finish her breakfast ritual when she saw her phone buzz on the table
once, twice, three times.
"Hi, Rits" she mused to herself. It was a message. A short one, but the three words it read would shock Misato to her core, as she stared closer at it her mind began to race and her vision blurred a little bit. This was bad, but there was nothing she could do about it. Ultimately commander Ikari had the last say in what was going to happen at NERV and there was not a damn thing she could do about it.
'I knew this day would come. Fuuuuuck. I hope this ends up better than the Magi predicted'
She went to her room, slipped on her uniform and looked at her phone one more time before exiting the building. The message read only three simple words, in bold, block text
WE FOUND HIM
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"i came as soon as heard the news!" the young woman sanding in the berthing to the interrogation cell was not the purple haired major. But the second child Asuka Langley Shikinami. Frankly she was pissed. and to be even more frank, she was intimidated by the look she was getting from the bottle blond doctor Akagi and her own guardian major Katsuragi
"how the hell did you find out about this asuka?" the major asked with a stern look on her face and annoyance in her eyes.
"i read your phone while you were changing, there is only one he that you could be talking about..." she said with indignation and privilege in ringing from her voice "the fifth"
the two older women stared at her then looked at each other, and with a slight shrug of the shoulders from one and a raise of the unbleached eyebrows from the other they turned to face their guest, Through a plexiglass screen. A young man of seventeen who looked to be in his twenties. His face was tired and bruised. He was wearing a bit that kept him from speaking. But his steel gray eyes were saying the only thing that he needed to. anger. He had a large frame, not overly muscular, but rather stout, he was easily over six feet tall and had a mop of spiky brown hair on the top of his head with the sides neatly shaved to the skin. He was heavily yet poorly tattooed, more so than any young man his age should be. But the most discomforting feature he possessed was the focus he had as he stared at the personel in the room across from him.
He was handcuffed to a bench shackled to the floor. He could not move more than an inch.
"why is he handcuffed?...and why is he wearing a gag?" Misato asked as she put her hand on her sidearm, all of the sudden feeling uneasy about this situation. Ritsuko calmly explained
"he thought we were Chinese. when we went to extract him from the hospital he was asleep. When we woke him up he though we were abducting him." she said as she pulled a dainty pack of extra slim cigarettes from the pocket of her lab coat and sparked one up.
"we weren't abducting him though right? I mean we cleared this with his home government, right?" misato asked. Holding out two fingers, asking for one of her own.
"well his government knew, but the hospital staff weren't told and the staff didn't tell him we were coming so...technically we were? He injured four people when we were trying to snatch him up" Ritsuko explained.
"...so...why the gag?" Asuka asked, a little unnerved
"one of our guys tried to take him down by force and he bit his face...so...i kinda tazed him" Ritsuko admitted with a tone of embarrassment.
"OK...wow! what the fuck, Rits!? Are we really that far into the bottom of the barrel here? we're picking up the criminally insane, now?"
"hes not insane, hes a soldier, and before that he was a partisan. Hes been fighting in the Russo Chinese war since he was about eight years old. The Marduk institute lost track of this kid then and we found him now. For the last two years hes been in the regular army. He was wounded a couple months back pretty bad and we figured now was the best time for a snatch and grab mission. His biological father worked at an Evangelion production facility in Novaya Zemlaya. He was staying with his aunt and uncle in the Amur region when the war reignited. He was unable to leave and all his family down there were either killed by the Chinese or starved."
"what happened to the father? Does he know about it this?" Misato asked
"Negative hes dead. Suicide just a few short months after the war broke out. The mother disappeared years before then, he probably doesn't even remember her. After the disappearance his father had to sent him to Amur. He couldn't do research on the Eva's and watch his son at the same time" Ritsuko lit another cigarette and took a long drag of it before sitting in the chair facing their new potential hire. She crossed one leg over the other and blew a smoke ring at the plexiglass. The boy sitting there simply rolled his eyes
Misato thought about the consequences of bringing someone like this into NERV. What would happen to the organization, morale, discipline, and of course the other pilots, whom she had come to love like her actual children.
After what seemed like far to long a silence, she asked the question on both her and asuka's mind
"is he safe?"
"after I get done with him he will be. He's not irrational, he was just scared." a smirk crossed the bottle blonde doctor's face
"scared? What a fucking baby" asuka laughed "just wait until you see an angel. These jackboot goons will look like ants in comparison"
The boy smiled and mumbled something. His eyes looking deceptively warm despite their fatigue
"remove his bit I wanna hear the dog bark" asuka chirped, somewhat excited
"asuka! This really isn't professional. You're going to get him riled up again, I had just brought him back down. Im trying to avoid using sedatives here.." the good doctor said as she snubbed out her cigarette
"no, she's right..." misato said "remove the bit, I wanna talk to him."
ritsuko looked at one of the gaurds in the corner of the cell and nodded. The guard politely went over and yanked the quick release of the gag before depositing it in a box in the wall.
"what's your name?" misato asked, doing her patented command stance, standing up all of five foot four, her hands on her hips.
"you take me here and dont know who I am?" he laughed then looked at misato with an earnest smile
"you're Vasily Illyich Komanov, a child chosen by the marduk institute, lost as a child and now found" misato said with a rather stern and somewhat cocky look on her face. She knew the child would try to intimidate her, she also knew it wasnt going to work
"you know my name...why am i here"
"i swear to god if we have another wondergirl on our hands im going to lose my shit" Asuka seethed
"what do you mean? Could you elaborate?" Misato asked in a somewhat more concerned tone "we need to know if you're worth our time or not"
vasily paused for a moment and looked down at the recently waxed floor. The shiny boots of the guard reflecting the halogen lights in the ceiling. he imagined the smell of the three women in the other room. It had been a long time since he smelled a woman. At least one that didnt smell of decay or filth or hospital soap.
"...give me a cigarette, please" vasily asked in a tired and listless tone
the guard looked at the three women in on the other side of the lexan as if asking for permission before the major gave a slight nod. The guard took out a crushed pack of menthol cigarettes and put on cautiously in Vasily's mouth, struck the wheel on his lighter and lit it.
Vasily inhaled deeply and let the smoke fill his lungs, a familiar feeling that he had waited all to long for in this cell and an aura or calmness began to emanate from him. He smiled slightly and closed his eyes, giving himself pause as the three women in the room waited to hear his response, some more patiently than others.
"my name is Vasily Illyich Komanov" he stated flatly "I don't know why I'm here. But please don't torture me, I have nothing you want anyways."
to this request three different reactions spread across the features of each woman's face. Shock for Misato, worry for Ritsuko and disgust for Asuka
"What a baby" Asuka said in much more calm tone.
Ritsuko stood up from the chair she was in and briskly took the short three steps to the plexiglass screen before standing next to Misato and hurriedly stating
"we're not going to torture you in any way. I can assure you, any treatment that you have received thus far is because of your violent actions toward our personnel and me. Now, are you really Komanov" she folded one arm over the other and held her cigarette lazily in her left hand
the young man shook his head
"yes, I'm Vasily Illyich Komanov, from the Amur...now could I please get some food, ma'am. I'll answer all your fucking questions, just please get me some food that doesn't suck, please"
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like any other day. On the way to school. Riding the train, a somewhat short ride, nothing really out of the ordinary. The dead eyed minimum wage workers getting on the train and heading home from their night shifts, unwashed hands clutching the sleek silver poles. Older more clean cut types in suits with briefcases headed to god knows where. And of course the obligatory homeless man reeking of urine and sleeping while sitting on the seat marked handicapped.
Shinji looked up from the world of music that he had surrounded himself with only to find that they were nearing the stop that his favorite red eyed crush would always sit at before boarding the train. Creepily he had to admit that occasionally he had left early just to see her walking to the train stop and waiting. A perfect picture of inhuman poise sitting amongst the grey concrete of the fortress city. An orchid in a gravel pit.
He had made his intentions about her known some time ago albiet in his own way. A meal he cooked especially for her. The request for just a simple walk around campus during lunch, walking her home from school, that sort of thing. Today, he felt, was going to be different. Today was his birthday. Even if he had a few mixed feelings about today, generally good things had happened on the last few.
Today was the day he would ask Ayanami on a real date. A real grown up date. He let in a breath sharply as his SDAT player wound back up and thought to himself I musnt run away
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walls. Grey. Cold. Unfeeling walls. The incredibly spartan apartment had not changed much in the years that she had lived here. With the exception of a few small curious that dotted the pale girl's small dresser. A pair of glasses neatly secured inside of a black faux tortoise shell case. A small picture of the three children wearing the pristine and sterile clothing given to them by the sea life park. A completely wilted and black sunflower given to her by Shinji just a few days after she had shielded him while he waited for positron cannon that his Eva wielded to recharge. The kind of things a usual girl would have, although given during or after unusual circumstances.
A pair of clean white panties clung to her petite frame. Usually the only thing that she wore around her apartment. It sometimes worried her that she had not fully felt the affects of puberty as she had read about in the health books at school and as she had heard about her classmates gossiping about or like Asuka rather loudly and brashly announcing.
She examined herself in the mirror. She still had a small frame, just a couple of inches over five feet tall. Although she did not look unhealthy, She couldn't have weighed more than a hundred pounds No ribs showing or vertebrae poking out, no knobby knees or protruding collar bones. Her breasts had grown to a full A-cup and her hips had widened albeit only slightly. However, her lack of body hair was a troubling thought to her. her armpits and above her womanhood where you would expect to see patches of azure were as smooth as linoleum.
It didn't normally bother her, nothing really did. She didn't do a whole lot of non mission oriented thinking. Unless it came to the two other children who she had learned to care for in her own more subtle way. The relationship she had with Shinji had become an irreconcilable. She knew not what to call him, how to treat him, what the level of appropriate intimacy was. She knew that she had feelings for him and she knew that she liked him more than she liked most people. But the young woman had no idea how to possibly express these feelings, and frankly the young man had not given her much to go on except a few unexpected gifts, impromptu walks and the occasional attempted hand hold that only ended in a blush and apology.
She finished putting on her school uniform, once again inspecting herself in the mirror, before heading out the front door and into the dirty interior corridors of the now decrepit building she had lived alone in since she was a child.
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bing-bong
the train door closed behind Ayanami and she casually glided through the ever growing crowd of people on the train until she found the person she was subconsciously looking for. The brown haired boy with his faced longingly gazing at the dirty floor. His ears plugged with music to shut out the world, and at this moment embarrassment.
Once the first laid eyes upon the third, she realized that she had embarrassments of her own as the only place on the train left to sit, was next to her unrealized crush. She hesitated before sitting next to him, her hands neatly folded in her lap as she stared out the window on the opposite wall of the train. The two of them were rubbing shoulders but knew not what to make of the situation.
Shinji's cheeks felt hot and he felt butterflies in his stomach as he looked up to see Rei, consciously trying to not look at him. He did not feel sadness at this obvious display of perceived indifference. But instead a warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest as he took out his headphones, cleared his throat and said the only thing that he could think of.
"Good morning Ayanami-san, its my birthday today" 'im a fucking idiot'
Rei looked at the boy and gave the tiniest wing beat of a moth smile that was there for a second and then gone as she replied.
"happy birthday ikari-kun" 'im not sure where to go with that' before turning back to face the window.
A far to long silence came over the both of them. Shinji could no longer muster up the courage to speak to the supposed love of his life. And the bitter thoughts that became his friends once again clouded his brain.
I thought today would be different...Fuck...
despite this, he did still feel some comfort at her presence. But this was quickly shrouded in a fog of self loathing and doubt. The words came to his mind in Asuka's chastising voice
stupid, spineless shinji.
He tried to let go of himself for just a second and actually talk to Rei. Something which he had not been able to accomplish with much depth in years. The self judging and infighting within his own troubled mind continued until a small voice came over the loudspeaker, letting the passengers know their current location, and letting Shinji and Rei know that they had arrived at the stop for their school.
The two pilots sat up. Shinji, awkward and jittery, and Rei, smooth and poised. As they exited down the platform to the street, Shinji continued to steal glances at Rei, not saying a word. Almost wishing that Asuka was here at the moment just so that she could break the ice. Even if she was belittling him, Rei either wouldn't catch it or wouldn't care. But this time something else managed to kill the deafening silence between the two pilots.
An unexpected voice. Not loud and brash, but calm and collected. Small in volume but big in meaning.
"was there something you wanted to talk about Ikari-kun" the young woman said, not taking her eyes off of their school, just a few short blocks down the street at a T junction.
Shinji's words didn't so much as choke in the back of his throat, as much as they simply failed to materialize. He thought for a second before simply and eloquently putting his thoughts out there in the most embarrassing way possible.
"i like you" 'ouch, strike one'
as soon as the words left Shinji's mouth he regretted them. He instantly wished that he could have gone back in time and kept himself from saying anything at all, let alone something that stupid. However, this concise gesture of affection was not lost on the girl. And she simply replied with
"i like you too Ikari-kun"
with those sweet little words Shinji's entire world lit up. A sudden rush of heat washed over his cheeks and before he could even think about what the next step should be, their hands brushed together while the two of them were in mid-stride. Their fingers intertwined and almost by accident the two of them were holding hands. contentment was starting to wear holes into his mental blanket of negativity. And for a few brief blissful minutes as the two of them approached the school, all seemed right with the world. Sure it was ending, but at least in Shinji's mind they would watch the skies fall together.
However, this heaven on earth was short lived. As Rei turned to Shinji, smiled ever so slightly and said.
"i'll see you at second period Ikari-kun"
and with that she unlaced her fingers from his and was gone, walking through the front door, into the school and into the crowd of teenagers, just becoming a speck of blue amongst the masses. Shinji shifted his book bag, looked at his wristwatch and then headed into school himself. Thoughts of what could be playing out in his head.
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the whine of a the major's European rally car on empty streets was the only sound that Asuka cared enough to hear. She was done with the berating remarks. Done being treated like a child. She had accomplished more in her short life than most people twice her age, so why all the bullshit. In her mind she deserved to have a say in what goes on in not only her Evangelion, but the now growing squadron as a whole.
Misato took her eyes off the empty highway into nerv, stealing a quick glance at Asuka who was preoccupied with staring out the window and musing about her multitude of gripes. Misato downshifted, realizing that she had topped out at almost 150 kilometers per hour. Driving with Misato while she was frustrated could be a intimidating for anyone that hadn't ridden an Evangelion launch catapult.
Finally Asuka broke the silence.
"i don't trust him" she said. Still gazing out the window, trying to glimpses of the city skyline
Misato thought for a second. She agreed with the younger woman. She did not trust that...man...in there either. How could that be one of the children the Marduk institute picked to be the pilot of the most destructive, dangerous and awe inspiring war machine that mankind had ever engineered.
"i font like it either Asuka. But we have to get used to it. He's here until he walks away. And from the sounds of it he doesn't have a whole lot to go back to."
Asuka said nothing in response. She didn't even grace her guardian with the attention that a statement of that nature deserved. She simply continued staring out the window. Deep in angry thoughts about the entire situation.
"...when are those tech geeks going to finish retrofitting the multitarget missile system to my Eva?"
Misato pushed her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose and thought for a second. She figured asuka would change the subject if it made her too uncomfortable.
"they're working on it now. You'll also be getting upgraded progressive knives and a prototype small arms system is also being installed"
a small smile began to grace Asuka's face. Sometimes Misato knew just what to say to take the girl out of a downward spiral. A short silence again began to overtake the car. Then Misato decided that there was only one logical thing to do.
"im not going to work today" she said without taking her eyes off the road.
"im not going to school then" Asuka agreed before adding "can we get some ramen or something?"
"well, I suppose. Then we have to do a little bit of shopping for Shinji-kun."
Asuka rolled her eyes at the thought. Although she had softened her stance on the boy in recent months, she still looked at him with contempt for his lack of resolve and his indecisiveness. Two things she found very unattractive. She had hoped over the years that the scared little boy would fade away into a determined and capable man.
"what are we supposed to get him? A pair of balls?" she mused
"i was thinking along more simple lines. you know, something you can buy at a store?"
"we're just going to get him gift cards like we do every birthday for him. He doesn't like anything" she turned to mock her guardian.
"that may be, but we need to at least throw him a party...or something." Misato realized that once again she was going well over 150 and decided to downshift yet again.
"stupid shinji...even ruins my days off." asuka griped
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a sterile room. White walls. Bright halogen lights. The only difference between the previous room and this one was the that guest was sitting at a table. Albeit still handcuffed, he had been given the opportunity to quickly shower and eat before the evaluation. He had been given new clothes. Changing out of the grimy and bloody hospital gown and into a blue short sleeve boiler suit similar to the kind that prisoners wear in western countries.
He kept his hands visible as he looked over the table to the good doctor. She was perusing through a few manila folders. Everything from birth certificates to enlistment photos to hospital records. It was all there. His whole life.
Vasily opened his mouth to speak. But Ritsuko held up a hand to stop him and he complied. Not even a single syllable escaping his mouth.
"see, what I dont understand." she said throwing a picture of his basic training graduation. Is how you got in the goddamn army.
"i used a fake name. My dead cousin. When the borzoi were routed, I decided that fighting in the regular army was the only way to stay in the fight"
"ok. That explained why your DNA matches but your enlistment records dont. Now for the obvious question. How do you know Japanese?" she put a folder down and looked over her glasses at him.
"well, my father knew Japanese as did my grandmother. She was a teacher at a university before she retired. My whole family is well educated. Well, not me. I never even got through the fourth grade. I managed to stay fluent by speaking with aid workers as a child. They would give me candy and things like that. They thought it was cute. A little white child speaking Japanese"
"well, it is a little bit strange to find that. Especially such a young child" she gave a half hearted laugh
"i also speak Spanish" he said as he cautiously reached over the table, grabbing a cigarette from the pack and lighting it.
"ole" he said as he exhaled.
Ritsuko looked rather impressed.
"¿dónde aprendiste a hablar español" she asked resting her head on the backs of her hands.
Vasily looked at her with an expression of surprise.
"i was kidding" he said "i have no idea what you just said" he started laughing before biting his lower lip.
"what is an angel?" he fired the question at her like a fucking rocket. To the point and unexpected. "that redheaded girl...before she left she mentioned something about me not having what it takes to 'kill an angel'...What did she mean by that?"
The blonde doctor straightened her posture and smoothed out her coat. There was no longer any hint of a playful demeanor on her face. Now sitting there instead of the almost friendly psychologist was the professional and closed off Doctor Akagi.
"you will find out when the time comes for that. You'll find out what this massive expenditure of time and money is when I figure out if you're even able to commit to the life altering burden that is working for this organization."
anyone else would have crawling skin at the foreboding tone of the woman sitting across the table. She sounded like a medium telling a detective that he had dug too deeply into a case and was in over his head.
Vasily shook his head.
"oh my god. Are you fucking serious?" he put his face in his hands. "i don't even fucking know where I am right now. Am I on a ship? Am I like on a military base? What the fuck is going on here? You people abducted me out of my bed, then beat me up when I freak out about it. I've been really patient and I think I deserve a few answers here, Doctor" he leaned over the table to emphasize his point
Ritsuko leaned over the table and narrowed her eyes at him, sizing him up.
"are you sure you want this? What I'm about to tell you is quite shocking" she said
"lady...shocked me stopped existing when I was like eleven years old and I pulled a PP2K out of my schoolbag and shot up a group of Chinese officers."
Ritsuko didn't even look the least bit taken by this. she expected him to try and flex a little bit when he was uncomfortable with her. She quickly reasserted her dominance
"alright...but don't say I didn't warn you. The truth is a lot more dangerous and a lot weirder than you could possible imagine." she mused as she leaned back in her chair.
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... END CHAPTER 1
...
on my previous profile i think it was named 'laughingjackal' i published a poorly written and not very well executed story called 'manic depressive' i soon lost interest in writing it when i realized that it was a literary abortion filled with bullshit and OOC behavior. i took out almost every element of the story and stripped it down to bare bones including the OC. i decided to fine tune him and make him a little more a person rather than a mouthpiece. if there is any wondering why i don't remove the old story its because that email account doesn't exist anymore and i don't remember the password. it was about four years ago that craptastic piece was put up.
all reviews are welcome. i hope to publish the next chapter very soon.