Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion and related things, including Anno's life and his depression. Also, yes, i still hate Q with all my life.
I decided to split the cut into different story. There are too many difference between both cut, and the story's format become...confusing with both cut taking the same space. So, there you go.
Also, the reasons for why i made Kaji the main character, is because i've read too much stories that made Kaji an unrepentant jerkass. I'm okay with the ones that made him a failure in his Casanova roles, but the one that made him allign himself with SEELE or a rapist are just way too much. Kaji was supposed to be EVA version of Bond: A guy who seemingly an asshole and playboy leech, but actually deep down, he suffered a lot, and definitely not a complete jerk. It's just as worse as those fic that made Ryoga and Ron bastards for example, so it's kinda justified for me to feel upset.
Ryoji Kaji. 31 years old. One of the worker for NERV. Less notoriously a double/triple agent for NERV, SEELE and JSDF. Even less notoriously the only man who managed to retain the previous memories of the previous time loops.
And just as even less notoriously…a prophet and a businessman. And with a load of money in that.
If it wasn't for the fact that he lives in Evangelion world, Kaji would've became one of the most fortunate man in Japan, probably even the world. He became a prophet, and soon after his status ascension into the messenger of god, he became a multi billionaire thanks to his affiliation with one of his earliest follower, who by coincidence, was a very rich businessman. Not that he didn't had any target for strategic follower, anyway. His earliest followers were combinations of rich businessman and scientist, pledged and focused themselves into putting their effort for the high-tech stuffs that's going to help their prophet's mission into saving the world as much as are included clone body for him, Kaworu and Toji, and even manipulation of the genetics of Rei's third body, in order to made her having conflicted feelings regarded her role as the catalyst of the Third Impact. In short, Rei's third body also included genetics of soldiers with natural strong value of justice and order, so she wouldn't give in the temptation so easily.
This is all thanks to his decision to made his tormented soul servants to had more purpose outside of sacrificed their own lives, which included giving him advices for his next steps, as well as provided him coverage in case of the soul that impersonated him. Thanks to their status in their past life as manipulative bastards on par with SEELE and Gendo, they knew all best steps to exploited the loop holes they could find. And the fact that God said by himself that Kaji was allowed do anything that deemed as necessary to give the world the happy ending it deserves for such a long time, made cloning, forgery and genetic manipulations were not concerns for his moral for his scenario.
Of course, since this's Evangelion world, nastier things need to be done as well.
The loop need to be maintained just like the previous loops as much as possible in order to avoid the unecessary events, which meant that for anyone else, things happened just like the usual Evangelion story. All horrible events that were mitigated secretly by Kaji and his followers, in the eyes of the others, happened just as it should be. All the pain caused by those events, were still the same for the others. For anyone else, Jet Alone was a failure, not something that was made to distracted anyone else from the real project. For anyone else, it wasn't Toji's clone that was crippled by the third angel. It was real Toji. For anyone else, Kaji's still an irresponsible ladies man that flirted with lots of his female co-workers, not the very hidden mastermind that secretly manipulated events around him.
And of course, for anyone else, Ryoji Kaji died after the kidnapping of Fuyutsuki.
" You late. You always late. Just like what he said."
The assailant, who was ready to shot him in the head, got stunned by this surreal beginning of conversation.
" What do you mean? What the hell are you talking about?"
" To be killed by an unknown, unimportant character in this epic story….such an anti-climatic ending for my life. But for what do I ask? Perhaps my sin is too great to even deserved a better death."
" Stop talking in cyptic!"
" Indeed. You're not worthy of such information to make everything clear for you. Why don't we just get back to the business and forget everything about it?"
With that, a bang from the gun of the opposing man, was heard.
Kaji was conflicted.
He was always conflicted with his role in the new story. On one hand, he managed to made everything better since the beginning. On the other hand, he was forced to make everything looked the same like before to fit his scenario. Knew all the pain that were showed by the others from the events just made him sad as if he could feel their sorrow, and regarding Misato after 'his death', he really saw her crying when he decided to sneak around her apartment.
" I'm sorry, everyone. I hope you can understand why I did it all when it's the time for you to find out about it." Said Kaji, as he slowly sneaked away from the apartment, after he felt guilty regarding Shinji and his insecurity and inability to showed his sympathy to Misato.
And now, he had to start the butterfly effect by his copycat's cryptic talk. Soon, the events will be different from the previous loops, and the difference will get bigger and bigger. What he needed, was a distraction. And his associates were ready to give the distractions he needed. They were ready to sacrificed their life now, for the glory of the God. With the lacks of information surrounded his copy's talk regarded what he meant and what he knows, SEELE and Gendo can do nothing but prepared themselves for the worst and did anything they could to retain their power.
Kaji then smiled. He knew that things were already different since a long time ago. The butterfly effect, was already happened long time ago. And it only benefitted him. Even if it already affected his enemies. And he knew they did.
" So, they secretly distrust each others?"
" Yes. You can thanked me for that."
Kaji could only sighed at this revelation from the body of Toji Suzuhara. Of course, he couldn't fully trusted the soul of someone whom sins were so great that history got rewritten to erased him from existence. And once he found out about this, his suspicion was just confirmed.
" Look. If this's because you got angry because you didn't die from the Thirteenth angel like we wanted-"
" No. I know that he didn't die from it, and I expected the same for me. And I know that my peace need to wait for a while. Also, for your information, no. I'm grateful enough to become the soul of Tabris."
" So, revenge is not what you seek, just like what I expected from your explanation. What's the purpose for doing that, then?"
" Because from what I see, God already made some subtle changes that's not regarding you. He already changed everything from the start, just like what we did."
"…Explain." Said Kaji, ignoring the shock and confusion regarding the fact that his associate already did it long before what he expected.
" Well, when God 'punished' you with that kinky bolt- no, don't give me that glance. I knew it's an unpleasant memory." Said 'Toji' with joking intent, as he saw Kaji's face filled with reddish blush as the sign of embarassment.
" So, anyway, he actually scarred the SEELE organization from that accident, since it actually made the sky seemed to be teared apart by the bolts themselves. It's so scary that it looked as if Ramiel appeared far sooner than what they expected, much less that it made the order of the angels's appearance messed up."
"…You think he actually…planned this since the beginning?"
" I don't know. But as you already learn, our God has a…rather wicked sense of humor. So perhaps he planned it to be going like that, but he decided to went with it with some…style."
" If it's really going down like that, then that joke should be going down as the funniest or unfunniest joke in whole plane of existance."
" Agree. So, anyway, the accident didn't make them expected the worst from the existance of other E.T. beings due to their own concerns, but they did got more paranoid from it. I just capitalized from it for our goals."
" What you actually did?"
" I turned them against each others by several informations and mis-informations."
" And…what did we got from it?"
" Well, first of all, there are some positive and negative consequences from this act. Which one do you want to hear first?"
" Just give me the most important news first…" Said Kaji while grasped his newly found headache.
" Okay. What this change of event caused, first and most of all, is the confirmation of the creation of the monsters made from the DNA of the angels. And it also confirmed that SEELE members voluntered themselves to become this… smaller variants of angels."
" By voluntered, you meant they were the sole recipient of this new forced evolution method for humanity."
" Yes. I guess they wanted to at least become the superior species in case they failed their scenario from the unlikely events that may happen."
"…Okay. At least now we know that the transformation belts now have more purposes outside of the protection from JSDF's attack: To kick some Kaijins's asses." Said Kaji with weak joking intent, tried to make something positive out of his newly found predicament.
" Heh. Now, your childhood dream become true."
" I guess. Too bad that Rei and Shinji would never fully understand the joy from this."
" Well, I guess at least Shinji would. Tokusatsu was huge after second impact, right?"
" Well, yes. He once said that he used to thought that fighting monsters would be cool. But he got nothing but trauma from fighting in EVA, so I guess that he wouldn't enjoy this as much as I do."
" Hah….i guess you're right. So, for the next news, regarding their secret split…" Said 'Toji', as he took some time to spilled the informations.
" So?"
" Now, they knew that only parts of Lilith that were needed to become the god themselves. And as now, they already lobied Gendo to do it for the alternate scenario. Don't worry. They don't know about Lilith and Adam being the forbidden fruit for angels and all." Said the man. He knew that this information from Gabriel needs to be protected as secret as much as possible.
Indeed. From the story that he heard, Angels were used to be the sole race that were supposed to be the worshipper of the God. But no matter how much he made them more powerful, and more close to his power, they simply cannot have the ultimate free will, which were needed to cultivate the earth as he intended it to be used, just like his idealized description of his worshipper were not someone who are obedience to him for any reasons, but rather. His strongest archangels, Gabriel and Michael, were simply taken a hobby or two outside of their job
" Regarding the new scenarios, they wanted it for their own purposes. And the changes made their purposes different. SEELE-02, 04, 07 and 09, for example, still want to become god with the others. But SEELE-11 and 03 want it for himself. While the Instrumentality Committee want it for their own circle. Keel decided to split the parts into seven different parts that was held by the separated individuals so they would still work together, but once Kaworu's death and real role confirmed…"
" What?" Said Kaji, who got annoyed that his associate once again took some time to explain everything.
" Well, some have plan to get the parts for themselves…illegally. Which means secret war between them and the other SEELE members, and probably Gendo."
"…My head hurt." Said Kaji, with his other hand reached out the other temple that now holding the second headache. " I guess that Gendo now has other plan too?"
" Yes. But using Rei for instrumentality is still his preferred scenario. With some of it still on Lilith, it should've been more than enough."
" And what is this… other plan of him?"
" It's a collaboration with Keel. And it still involved Rei in some way. That's all I know."
" I see. Some things wouldn't change, after all." Said Kaji regarding secrets and the objective-no, a sheer will of someone.
" Yes. So…do you think I made it better or worse?"
" Better? You think that making countless amount of probability for future new chain of events and numerous new enemies that neither benefited nor helped us in any way is better? What kind of logic is that?"
" Now, now, Kaji. Relax I just want to see your reaction." Said the man, who saw the outburst of Kaji as amusing event.
" …Jeez. You're just like Lucifer in your need to get someone confused."
" Haha. Being the former most evil man in history will make you a bastard in some way."
" I should've know."
" Now, I have the knowledge that will make you assured that what I do is the best for us. But perhaps it will be the best for you to realized it later? I see that you need some teaching in being…a bastard like us. Hehehe."
"…Misato and Shinji could've hurt, or even killed from this vague revelation."
" You didn't apreciated yourself, Kaji. Misato will be fine, even if they made their move
And now, Kaji saw what's the benefit for his story. Gendo and SEELE, for all their global scale of epic control over the fate of the world, were not that smart and expert at manipulation at all. They just heavily benefited from knowing the future events and being very lucky son of bitches that somehow got everything they planned worked out of sheer luck, especially Gendo, who from the other view, could be seen as just as miserable as Shinji. And now, they're on the same ground and definition as him: A guy who wants to defined the future by his own hand.
The revelation, in addition to make the future as uncertain to anyone else as to SEELE, also made them splitted further, even if their splitted ideology is an open secret amongst themselves. SEELE, the former bastards of the decade that had everything on their hand, now forced to taste their own medicine that they force feeded into humanity: The feeling of paranoia from the future events.
Now, all he needed, is one small step. To put what's supposed to be her in the scenario.
And so, his phone rang.
Ritsuko…
He answered it immediately.
" So…"
" Kaji. I…I've made my mind. I'm sorry that it took me so long to realized it, Kaji."
" It's okay, Rits. What's your decision?"
Shinji was looking at the ceilings. A very familiar one in that. He always lied to himself about the ceilings, so he will forget about the pains that caused him to see the darned ceilings again.
Of course, just like his pains, he couldn't simply forget about it. And just like his pains, they keep coming back and reminded him on what's it to feel pain, sorrow, and all things related to both. He just couldn't take a break.
With that, Shinji then decided to see the inner self of himself. He decided to see something different from what usually came as the sight from his inner thought. No train of thought, no conner of woe, no creepy puppets of his associates.
It was only one word, standing alone in the dark: Selfish.
Shinji at this time thought to himself that he was a very self-centered person who couldn't give a damn about the others. Indeed, the logics for this conclusion were very flawed, but just twisted it enough, then it would make sense for everyone. Shinji knew that he just run away again, just like his yet another encounters with the not-so familiar ceillings.
All he wanted from the bloody mess that came from EVA fights were his father's approval, which he gave to him one time…only to be crushed, spatted and destroyed very soon by his fight against the thirteenth angel. And after that, he keep failed and failed to even showed a very simple thing that's called sympathy towards the other who needed it as much as he did. He failed to apologized to Toji, too guilty ridden to even faced him. He failed to comforted Misato after Kaji's death, weakly justified himself by claimed that he couldn't do anything about it since he's 'just a kid'. He then avoided Rei after he learned that she's nothing but replacable clone, and from Ritsuko's cryptic explanation, made from Lilith just like the Evangelions. This's despite she just faced death itself and muddled her own memories, and possibly had a much, much worse childhood than anyone he knew, including himself.
I'm pathetic. Sorry, Kaji. I..i just can't face the truth like you told me so.
The truth. That's the letter that Kaji left at his death for Shinji. He told Shinji to 'face the truth'. A very harsh string of three words for Shinji, but it became something that Shinji thought off after some reminiscing. He began to thought that his pains were caused by his-no, everyone's inability to tell the truth. His dad, Rei, Asuka, Misato…everyone caused him suffering from their tangled web of lies. And he thought that they also suffered from their own lies. Their inability to spill their horrible secret from the beginning that only leaked out at the worst time possible.
And then it struct him down: They were suffered from their lies. And they were close to him, although for his dad, it's a scretch of imagination.
And now, he just got a new friend. A friend that just declared that he loved him.
Kaworu…do you-do you have any secret, too? No, Kaworu. I don't want you to sacrificed yourself for me, only to break my heart at the end. Just like Rei did. No. Kaworu, please…Tell me that I can trust you…
The tears fell from his eyes. Finally, the tears fell from the eyes.
" Shinji-kun, what's wrong?"
Kaworu was awake.
" You…you awake?"
" Yes, Shinji-kun. I'm not sleepy yet. Tell me, Shinji-kun. Is it something with home? Your father?"
" No, Kaworu. It's different." Said Shinji, as he wiped out the tears.
" Then tell me. Tell me what is it?"
" Kaworu." Said Shinji, as he took a deep breath. " I think I realized the cause of my pain."
" Really? That's wonderful, Shinji-kun! Tell me, what's the cause." Said Kaworu, smiled at his friend.
" It's…it's because we have secrets. Terrible secrets, and we can't tell the others what's wrong with them in the first place, even when we're close to each others."
" Like what?"
" Like…like me. I always tell myself about this unfamiliar ceillings, that I musn't run away. But the ceilings Are familiar. And I do want to run away. I lied to myself. And Rei…heh. You wouldn't believe what I know about her."
Kaworu didn't give a reply to Shinji, and then Shinji asked Kaworu.
" Kaworu…do you…do you happen to have some secrets as well?"
" Yes."
" Kaworu, do you want to make me happy?"
" Yes. Absolutely, Shinji-kun. It's my wish to make you happy."
" Then tell me your secrets, Kaworu-kun."
Kaworu took a glance at Shinji first. Shinji gave him a weak smile, but it didn't convince him at all.
" Perhaps later, Shinji."
" Ah. I see. You're just like the others." Said Shinji. His words that came from his mouth were filled with dissapointment and disgust. With that, and several minutes of silence, he's ready to cried himself to sleep again. His new friend, after all, was still the same as the others: People who couldn't trust him and will caused him suffering in the end.
Until Kaworu spoke again.
" I wish that I could, Shinji-kun. But the truth is, I don't know the fact about myself. I thought that I already knew about my true purpose, but now…"
" What you meant?"
" I'll be honest to you, Shinji-kun. I keep hearing voices. Calling out for me. Saying things about forgiveness and love. Saying things like this's not my purpose, I should forgive him."
Shinji kept listening to him.
" Like I said before, I thought that my purposes were clear. But now…I doubted myself. I'm sorry, Shinji-kun. I really want to help you with whatever it takes to make you happy, but until I figured it out, until I fully understood my own nature, I can't say anything about my own secret."
" I understand, Kaworu-kun. It's okay. I'm sorry that I doubted you before. But…what's your supposed purpose before, if I may ask?"
Shinji may still a very weak willed human being, but he tried to be savvy now, and had a slight success in it. He sensed something strange from Kaworu. His intents to make him happy were felt as genuine, he sure of it, but there are something that's…unsettling from him. Just like Ayanami, but at the different spectrum of uncannyness.
It's always the same. Someone close lied to me to protect our relationship, only for the lies to destroyed us at the very end. Kaworu…please, don't make the same mistake.
" I really can't tell it now, Shinji. Perhaps…perhaps sometimes later. But trust me, Shinji-kun. I do love you. And I do have regard for your sensitive heart."
Sometimes. Later. Shinji knew what it meant. It meant that someone will keep their lies until said lies destroyed him and the person who kept it. It meant that once again, someone would make a same mistake from the same thing that's called dishonesty.
Shinji can only stared at Kaworu without the knowledge from the latter who just fell asleep, felt that once again, the scarcest hope that he could find faded away from him. After a long stare, a minute or so, he finally decided to do the same thing as his newly friend did. But with a string of thought before his eyes fall into the dream world.
Kaji…how could I face the truth if it always kept away from me?
Another unfamiliar ceillings…
No. It's really different.
Shinji has awoken at a different room from where he slept before, and he didn't know where he was at this moment. Certainly, no place where he has stumbled into it before, but where?
The strangest thing from this scene in Shinji's perspective? He could've swore that he saw Kaji's shadow from behind the glass.
No. It's really him.
…I'm going insane, aren't i?
But as soon as Kaji entered the room, and gave Shinji several moments to convinced himself that everything that happens now is real, Shinji slowly gave a weak smile behind his confusion and terrified face.
" Kaji…I thought you were-"
" Dead?"
The smile was gone. Now placed with nervousness.
Kaji had a gun.
" Wh…what are you doing, Kaji?"
" What should I do since the beginning."
The gun was now pointed at Shinji, who was on a very dangerous thin line of crossing the stage that's called insanity.
" I've survived the future, Shinji. To say that it was a horrible mess was an understatement. Earth's dying, people dying. There's no hope. And now, I'm going to do what I need to avoid such circumstences happen again."
" You're going to kill me."
" Precisely. The EVA-01 will be useless without you piloted it, and as you can see, it has ascend the stage of godhood. You and Rei will bring the world into the end together, and I cannot allow it happened again."
" Where's Kaworu?"
" He has been…apprehended."
All hopes are gone…
" You know what day is it, Shinji?"
Shinji can only look at his father figure with disgust and fear. No answers ever came out from his mind, let alone his mouth.
" Payday."
Bang!
That's what the flag from the gun said, written clearly with drawn explosion on it.
The young man was confused. Very confused.
The adult in front of him now smiled. After several moments, he used his arms to make a body sign.
A sign that asked for a hug.
Shinji then got up from his new bed, got closer with Kaji with his steps. Kaji's grin, or smile, was getting bigger, and his hands were ready to embrace Shinji.
A slap. That was unexpected.
Said Kaji, as Shinji, now looks pissed and all, just did exactly that.
" You told me to face the truth, Kaji. You told me to never lies to myself again. But you lied too. You LIED TO US! How could you-"
Shinji stopped for a moment there, tried to string some more words to rant at Kaji. He finally managed to do it, while pounded weak fists at Kaji.
" You…you let Asuka tried to commit suicide! Now she's in a coma, and god know when she will wake. How can you let that happen! You said that you knew everything that will happen, and yet you let Toji, Rei, Asuka…you…you…"
" It was all necessary to let everything seemingly went according to the plan of Gendo and SEELE. I'm sorry, Shinji. But I couldn't risk to make everything went worse instead of better. But for your information, I worked behind the scenes to make everything secretly went"
" My…father? SEELE? What is it?" Shinji asked, stopped his flying fists at this moment.
" I'm sorry, Shinji. I knew that I'm such an hypocrite for not telling you the truth, and lied to all, but I don't have any choice. Even with my care, the world already changed too much. Things were just ready to get out of control now. So, about the truth…"
" Ah, damnit. I never thought it would be so hard. So, Shinji…"
A minute passed by. Shinji, now the angers has been greatly receeded, waiting for those words that asking for forgiveness.
" So, Shinji…will you forgive me?"
Forgiveness. Deep down inside his heart, all he wants was something good happened to him again. A genuine good thing. One thing. Just…one thing.
" Shinji…I promise. The truth won't hurt you again. Even if it do, then at least I can promise that I won't let you hurt anymore. Even if I need to sacrificed myself."
Somebody want to protect me…Without any lies.
And so, he embraced his guardian. No more thought were needed to do that. He just trusted his instinct.
Yes…this is all I need.
The younger man tightened his hug, having no intention to let it go sooner. He always wanted it before, the embrace of someone for him without any selfish desire but to comfort him, and he finally got it now.
" Kaji…thank you. Thank you for all of this. Please…never go away again from me. From everyone. From me…from Asuka…from Misato…"
Misato…
He shuddered from remembering that name. The name of the woman who had taken care of him, and just like Kaji, she acted as if she's his own mother, despite her abysmal cooking skill and all. But now, he has driven her away with his apathy toward her, and he didn't know if she would return back for him again. Just when he about to cried, another pair of arms embraced him, surprised him. And a sentence was spoken, came out from two different vocals.
" We won't."
The pair of arms were belong to Misato. Now, Shinji knew the truth: Some people do love him. The trio then smiled, ready for any obstacles that will be thrown to them with their bonds.
But they know there's still so much work to do.
"So Toji…how is it going there?"
"Ah, sorry, Shin. I can't hear you. Wait for a sec…ah. There you go. What did you say, Shinji?"
"Umm… how is it going?"
"Everything's fine here, Shinjiman. I still have Kensuke and my girlfriend, and Mari is now healthy enough to play with me. All thanks to your Kaji."
"Girlfriend? You two are officially… lovey-dovey now?"
"Yeah!"
"Well… it's good to hear another good thing come out from this war."
"There's another one."
"There is?"
"Yeah. Half-Life 3 confirmed."
The two young man were laughing at this, but the war indeed made Gabe Newell finally decided to initiate the next step in the making of Half-Life 3. At least, if the Third Impact finally happened, the gamers would have more than enough authentic ideas to make up their own Half-Life 3 in their dream world. Of course, being one of the believer and investor to Kaji, Gabe Newell also had his hope high to Kaji and his man.
Meanwhile, in the other room, two adults were also having a talk.
"Jeez, Kaji. I still can't believe that God chose you to become the prophet. I mean, you're unshaven, unloyal, uncaring-"
"Unromantic, a ladies man, and overall a man not to trust to?"
"And that's not all!"
"You know the world is screwed when the best candidate for the new prophet is me."
"Now you're being depreciative."
"It's all a joke, Misato. How much do you trust me, anyway?"
"A lot…kinda."
"Kinda?"
"I trust you, Kaji, but what kind of chance do you have to save the world anyway?"
"As much as the God put into me."
"Oh, did he?"
"Are you disbelieving in him?"
" I'm not, Kaji. I'm just…pissed at how much shit he threw into us! I mean, how can he let the SEELE playing god without we even know about their existance until you told us! Hell, even Shinji don't know anything about it! And even with you as the prophet, he still barely does anything! Why is he…why…." Misato was angry…and confused. She didn't believe that God was exist, because she thought that someone as holy as him would never let the world suffered into this crapsack pisshole like it is now. And now, he has returned and did many things…that still not significant in any way…in her eyes.
Kaji, knew that she's more confused than outright disavowed him and his god, tried to embrace her from the back. Misato allowed his arms to make their way into her body, knowing that Kaji meant good for her, and it was not another fake casanova façade like before.
"Misato…there are reasons for why he doesn't directly intervened us."
"He's supposed to be an all-powerful being…"
"He is. That's why he cannot takes the matter in his own hand. Remember 'the day when the sky torn away'?"
Her mind soon got puzzled, before it tried to solve the puzzle by itself. Luckily, it succeed.
"That was also the day when he declared you as his prophet?"
"Yes, Misato. And you know the scariest thing is? He used his weakest form. And he was just toying with me."
Misato can only gasped at the description about God's strength. Of course, Kaji left the detail about kinky thunder for him. God told him to keep it as a secret, and even if he didn't, the experience was way too embarassing for him.
"Yeah. Angelic beings are scarier than we thought, aren't they? And I also have met Lucifer and Gabriel, and trust me, these guys can melt your brain by their presence alone."
"I… see…"
"Well, that's the start for rebuilding our relationship. How about this?"
Kaji gave her a little peck to her right cheek, both to playing with her and to make her release some of her pressure, which prompted her to make a response. If it was his older self, he would be slapped right away. But seeing this more mature, responsible gentleman, she could do nothing but playing at his own game.
"You tease…" Said Misato, who tried to 'give back' the playful kiss that Kaji gave. But she missed. Instead of his cheek, she gave a peck to his neck. This's resulted in Kaji shuddered from the kiss, and Misato turned red from her…failure.
"I…I didn't meant to do that!"
"Come on, Misato! We have done… raunchier things before. There's no need to be so…embarassed!"
"But it's different! It's like that the Kaji I know is a different person than the Kaji I faced now. It's…different for me. And somehow make me feel embarassed."
"And what's the difference between me, and the Kaji that has been imprinted in your mind?"
"Well, for the starter, you're actually…responsible…also, you not acting like a jerk toward someone you love."
"Do you like it?"
"Yes. I like it. Not only you are nicer than before, but you also don't remind me of-"
"Your father?"
"Yes. My father. It just…I'm sorry, Kaji. I want to accuse you for doing this…jerkass mask thing. But it seems that doing it just make me a hypocrite. For hiding the truth of our breakup that day, and my reasons to stay away from you. God, I'm stupid…"
"Humans do make stupid decisions, Misato. That's why we learn. From everything we did, we gained knowledge to make ourselves better. Sometimes we did it immediately from those experience. Sometimes, we take time to applied it to ourselves."
"I guess you're right."
They were locked in Kaji's embrace, with neither want to let it go from them. They only released it after Shinji returned into their room, ready for another briefing regarding what he needs to do soon.
"So, Shinji, do Suzuhara forgive you?"
"Forgive me? He actually scolded me for my decision to blame myself when I have no other choice and it's all the old man's fault in the first place. And he said that I never considered his point of view. To be forced to hurt your friend, to feel your own hands ripping apart your own friends while you unable to do anything…Kaji, I was really stupid, wasn't i?"
Kaji was slightly surprised at Toji's lies to Shinji, but he felt that he did that to teach his friend a bit of lesson.
"Well…humans needs to learn, aren't we? That's our weakness and beauty at the same time."
Misato could do nothing but realized that the lesson he gave to Shinji was similar with her.
"So, Kaji…I guess there's more for me to do than this, right?"
"Yes, Shinji. This's only the beginning of our new journey."
"…I see."
Kaji could see his sadness at the need to fight again. They didn't have any choice, but Shinji needs an encouragement. Not the kind of emotional blackmail like his first fight. But the one that came from his own heart.
"Shinji…what does your heart told you?"
"It told me…to do the right thing."
"And what do you think that count as the right thing."
"To fight. To join with you."
"And what is the thing that made you hesistate?"
"I…it's"
Shinji then realized something. His doubt. It…
"…it dissapear. What happened, Kaji? I doubted myself there. But now, I become confident again."
Kaji then smiled at the confused Shinji.
"Shinji…that's the power of the seed of truth. Once you know the right choice to do, it will remove any kind of doubtness in your heart, as long as you have the will to do the right thing."
"I see…"
"How does it feel, Shinji?"
"It's strange, Misato-san…but good at the same time. What can I say, is that it..eases my mind."
"Well, good to know that Kaji doesn't pull any harming tricks on you."
"But this one will be. Not for him, anyway."
"Huh? What are you talking about, Kaji?"
Okay. This is it.
Shinji took a deep breath before he did his next task. He remembered what Kaji told to him at their little journey into Ayanami residence.
"I really need to talk to her?"
"Yes. Rei is the key to all of this."
"Heh. I should've know."
"…You're scared of her, aren't you?"
"How can you be not scared of her when you found out that she is nothing but a disposable clone?"
"Now, now, Shinji. What do you feel for her?"
"I…I feel sorry for her. But I really don't know what to do."
"Now, would you do something to make her get her happy, if you have the chance?"
"I…I guess. No. I must."
"I see that you have feelings for her that's more than sympathy, Shinji. What is it. Attraction? Love?"
"St…stop that."
"Well, it's good to see that my Shinji is still a nervous wreck around woman."
"Misato!"
"Well, let's put this teenage crush thing down for a while. Sorry, Shinji, for started it. And Misato, stop blushing at me. It's weird to see you going teenager crush around me too."
"You ass…"
"So, Shinji…my main task aside from saving the world, is to give everyone a chance to live a decent life. That means you, Misato, Asuka, and even Rei. Now, as Rei was a clone of Lilith and your mother-"
"Wait. She was made from my mother's genes too?"
"Yes. Wait, Ritsuko didn't tell you about it?"
"No. She was…mumbling about EVAs being human while gave the vaguest hint about Rei being half-angel. She was going insane at that moment."
"I see. She still had her doubt, after all."
"What are you talking about?"
"Let's talk about this later, Misato."
"So, Rei was a clone of Lilith and mother. What does that mean?"
"It means that Rei has no identity of her own. Poor girl exist for nothing but a trophy resemblance of Yui Ikari."
"Father…how much of a bastard are you for being capable of doing this?"
"A very misguided bastard he is. Now, Shinji, I know that you're very angry right now, but let's focus to the more urgent task. Shinji, just like you, I gave Rei a message that questioned herself. But I also gave her something more."
"..An identity?"
"Yes. Now, Rei is no more a trophy memoirs of your mother. She has more than enough genetics to make her an entirely new human being. Don't question me about how I made her still looks the same. It's a long story. But…it's only an initiation step. She needs more than that."
"And this is has something to do with me, right?"
"Yes. Shinji, you're the first one to have any kind of real relationship with her. Even if you're not that close, you're the first one to give her genuine concern without any kind of selfish interest. If there's someone who can help her in her next step of embracing humanity, it's you."
"…How?"
"Rei's more difficult than you to be changed, Shinji. She has suffered much more than you, in a sense. She has been taught to be detached from the world since she was born, as you can see from her old room. She's a much harder task to be convinced to embrace her chance, Shinji. She needs something…extra to be free of her old self. And it's not going to be pretty for her. And as a wielder of wisdom, she needs the truth."
"Wisdom?"
"Well, to explain it, the wisdom is more about 'what will Ayanami do in this situation?'. In short, it's more about herself than the others. To make the best of her wisdom, Rei will needs to know the truth. And you, Shinji, will give her the advice to make out her newly found freedom."
"I see, but…is it kinda strange, that someone with wisdom needs to be nursed?"
"Not at all. This is Rei that we're talking about."
"Heh. I guess so. Still…what if she rejected me?"
"She won't."
"What if I failed?"
"You won't."
"Okay, so you're pretty confident in me, Kaji. Is there anything else I need to know?"
"Wisdom only means something if there's someone else that can give another look on it. Good luck, Shinji."
Yeah. Good luck for me.
Again, Shinji took a deep breath. To seek someone that he had avoided for a few weeks is not an easy experience, especially for the meek boy like him who struggled to even has a normal conversation with normal people without embarassment. But now, he know that he needs to do it. Somehow, he wished that his guardians shouldn't have to leave to take care the other problems.
Knocking the door, even with knowledge that the door is not locked, Shinji patiently waited for Rei to open the door for him. With those seconds spent to wait for her, Shinji amased his courage to meet her face to face again.
By the time she opened the door, his fear is already gone.
"Ikari-kun…"
"Yes…It's me."
"It's late."
"Yeah. It is late."
"What do you want, Ikari-kun?"
"Ah. I want to…speak with you. A bit."
A strange silence took the momen between both of them, before Rei gave her nod of approval.
The room was still as messed up as he remembered, but with one small, but important detail: The commander's glasses, is cracked and bend.
"What do you want to speak, Ikari-kun?"
"Ah, it's about…well…"
Another strange silence took over the situation.
"I..i want to…I want to say sorry."
"…Sorry?"
"Yes. I learned something…terrible about you, weeks ago. And I was…kinda scared, you know. So, I kinda…avoided you until now. But…"
Yet another silence took over both of them. Shinji, realized on how awkward their conversation become, decided to acts as if he was less embarassed. After all, his fear already gone by the time he's arrived here.
"But I feel that it's…kinda selfish, you know, to avoid someone just because he's different from you. Ah, sorry. I didn't mean it."
Ah, what have I done!
"So, um..i decided to have some talk with you, to get your acceptance for my apology. Yeah, that's why I'm here for. So, um, Ayanami-san…will you forgive me?"
"I accept your apology, Ikari-kun." Said Rei, after several seconds of gap. She already knew what he meant by different, since she no longer had her dummy plug maintenance schedule run like it was supposed to.
"Why, thanks, Re-Ayanami-san! So, may i-"
"It's my turn to ask you, Ikari-kun. Also, you may call me Rei from now on."
Shinji did nothing but nodded at her, not knowing what to do with this new action of…intimacy from her, to ask him to call her by her given name. She told him to call her Rei?
"Now, Ikari-kun-"
"You can call me Shinji, too, if you want to."
"Very well, Shinji-kun. Shinji-kun, I have a nightmare since a week ago. I never dreamed before, and now…"
"A nightmare?"
"Yes. I dreamed that I already done my job, my purpose…but someone decried that this is fake, this is not what he wants to. The cry soon become louder, and I can't help myself but to agree with him. But when I tried to return it back…I can't."
Shinji was listening to her. It's kinda weird for him to see Rei spoke more than two sentences, but from it, he could see that Rei was stressed from this problem.
"Shinji-kun, if you have the chance to make everyone around you happy, to throw over their borders that keep them away from everyone, their problems, their pain, but at the cost of their identity, would you take it?"
Now what the hell is she talking about?
"I…I don't think I would."
"Why?"
"Rei, I know the pain and the feel from me being sucks at being close to everyone around me, and sometimes I feel that the world need to just go away from me so I can be alone with myself. But, to lose the identity in doing so, it…it feel just wrong, Rei. And wouldn't it be selfish, if I did it without their consent?"
"If it made them better, then what would you think?"
"I…look, Rei. I want people's warmth. Real warmth. And I got-remember what is it to feel their warmth. To loss your identity to make your pain gone, it's…it's just wrong, Rei! You may feel better initially, but once you give it some thought, you will find yourself wanting your old world back, because you found that the new identity-less world is fake. That's it. Fake."
" I still don't understand about this being wrong."
"I don't know to describe it, Rei. I just don't know. But I think it's close to be nothing but…imagination. And I don't want to be trapped in my own illusion."
Human's mind is so…unpredictable. But I can see his reason.
"Shinji…there's something I need to tell."
"What is it, then?"
"When I said that my purpose to live, is to pilot the EVA…there's more than that. I used to feel that's my only real purpose, but after my…revival, I'm not sure that what I bring is the best for everyone."
"What is your purpose actually, then? I already learn something about you, anyway, so"
"…To initiate the third impact. To unite everybody as one, by a forced evolution ignited by my ."
Shinji's eyes widened in shock. His heart thumped faster than ever. His fear clouded his mind more than ever. Here, the girl that he tried to help, is not only a memoir of his late mother, but also a maiden of apocalypse. The fact shocked him. 'What', is the only word he can say, but the way he released that word was more than enough to show his new fear toward her.
But the seed of truth made it work again. Soon, he no longer feared the blue-haired angel in front of him anymore. What he saw is no longer a destroyer of the world, but another victim of his father's game instead. Soon, he remembered the reason for why he's here: To save her.
"Rei…why did you tell me this now?" Said Shinji. There are still things that he needs to learn by himself.
"Because I trusted you, Shinji-kun. I don't know why, but I feel that if I want to discuss my decision here, regarding fate, then you're the one that I want to talk to."
"Rei-chan…"
What kind of decision?
"There's a box in my bathroom. You can open it to see it by yourself, to see my decision. To see my wish."
Shinji complied to her command, which then prompted him to move his feet to get into her bathroom. As soon as he opened the box, he glared again at what he found:
A syringe, and a supplies of Sodium thiopental.
"Rei…what's the meaning of this?"
"That's my wish, and my answer, Shinji-kun. I wish to return to nothingness, now that I'm no longer expendable."
"…Nothingness?"
"No past, no family…no connection to the world. I have no one that would care should I gone from the realm of existance."
"I DO!"
Startled at the screaming Third Child, the blue-haired girl then took some moments to regain her composure before she spoke again.
"Shinji-kun…what do you wish from me?"
Now, it's the Third Child's turn to be startled. He regained his composure faster than the First, but compared the events that startled both of them, it would be logical to have the Third Child as the one who put himself back faster.
"I…I only wish to help you, Rei."
A silence followed them. Perhaps for the last.
"Then so be it. Farewell..Shinji."
Shinji's mind was engulfed in silent chaos as the pair prepared themselves for the will of Ayanami, tried to process itself into concluding whether her decision was the right one or not. His logical mind saying that it was a…logical decision, with her death immediately rejected the possibility of enduring Third Impact show. While his logical side took her wish for nothingness positively, his emotional side took a much more negative stance, as he wished nothing but her well being, and saw her took her death as if it was nothing showed on how good his father raised her. Boiled with rage, muddled with confusion, and heart-broken by soon to be sadness, the seed once again showed him the path.
They're going to give everyone second chance of happiness.
With that, he decided his next decision. And he filled the syringe with the liquid.
"Thank you for your assistance, Shinji-kun. You have done your job well….Goodbye."
With that, Rei's eyes went to sleep.
To say that Shinji was traumatized by this unpredictable set of events was an understatement of the month.
To say that Shinji never expected the stuff he carried from where he met Kaji also contained some sort of liquid that looked like the drug from the box was an obvious statement.
To say that Shinji was scared at the sight of Rei trashing around her was another obvious statement.
"Rei, what's wrong? Rei."
No response from Rei, who right now was at the floor, still trashing around.
"REI!"
Shinji was scared again. He didn't know what he did wrong this time, for all he know that he placed the stuff he carried in place of the lethal injection.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
He then remembered.
Wisdom only means something if there's someone else that can give another look on it.
No…it was meant like this.
Not knowing what else to do, Shinji then did what he thought as the best thing he can do in this situation.
He embraced Rei, hugged her from the behind as he also forced her to take a sit in the floor. It seemed to be working, as Rei now stopped failing her arms aimlessly, stopped at his embrace at her.
Perhaps she will forgive me again…
*Smack*
Shinji now no longer wrapped his arms around her, both from shock at her action, and from her punch that made him fall to the ground. For the first time, Shinji saw what he thought as pure anger from her eyes. Not the annoyed one like when she slapped him at his rude, but justified comment regarding his trust on his father. The one that was made out of anger, rage, and sense of betrayal.
"Liar…"
Unflatered Rage.
"You lied to me!"
Anger.
"I just have one wish, and you still screwed it!I trusted you, Shinji. I trusted you…"
Betrayal.
"Rei…I'm sorry for this. I…I can't fullfish your wish for nothingness. But I'm honest about wanting to help you, Rei…"
A silence took over them again. The last one, was really not.
"Why?"
Shinji took a deep breath before he speak again. It's really been a long night for him.
"Because I care about you, Rei. I wish for your happiness."
Not knowing what and how to response to this, Rei then went into fetal position, muttering to herself.
"This feeling…I never feel something like this before. Not even when I cried for the first time. Not even when he saved me. Not even when…you…"
"Rei, i-"
" NO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
Shinji's heart was truly broken. Here, he was tried to do what he thought as the best thing he could do at this situation, and all he got was a dissaproval, outright rejection of his actions. Perhaps Kaji was wrong…
No.
At this time, it was not the truth that told him to keep himself up, but rather, it was his logical side. It told him that she didn't hate him, but rather confused at the new feelings that filled her in such a short time. He needs to give her more time. Perhaps…
"Fine, Rei. I'll be waiting outside."
With that, he's gone from her view. Her mind swore that she heard faintly 'I wish you change your mind', but she couldn't make anything out of it.
Indeed, her mind was not on it's normal and stable condition, even at her standard. The…fluids that Shinji gave to her forced her mind to replay her memories, but for some reasons, they felt more…intense to her. It's like as if she experienced them as what normal people should be, without her medications and all of her upbringing. It's like she was forced to embrace humanity by every way possible, and it hurts. It hurts so much.
'Why Ikar-Shinji wants to stay this way? It bring me nothing but pain. It's not worth it. It's not.'
' It's.. worth it.'
As her mind began to replay her other memories, she began to reject her own recently made conclusion.
The first memory come from her first smile, at her first angel fight against Ramiel. She remembered on how she didn't know on how to react at this acts from him, and smiled as he told her to do so. The memories then flooded her more, and all of them were nothing but her experiences with Shinji, from the heartwarming one like when he cleaned her room, leading to her first time to said the word of gratitude, to the funnier one like when they and Asuka had to enter the Geofront without electricity running. All of them were about Shinji. The memory then ended with her memory as her previous incarnation sacrificed herself at 16th angel's fight.
I…I remember.
She was again overwhelmed by the sensation, but it's different from before. This time, she feel…warm from inside.
She then decided.
Loneliness is her darkness, and Shinji is her fire.
Shinji was there, squatting at the balcony.
At his hand was a twig.
He snapped it. His expression was blank, but yet filled with furry.
At this point, Shinji really didn't know what he's going to do next. Neither part of him really know what he's going to do next, nor his seed of truth said something else but that he has done the right thing.
Right now, the only thing that can help him out of this condition, is Ayanami's word of gratitude.
His eyes were filled with water, reddened with sadness. Despite his logical side told him that Rei's more confused than angry to him, her rejection at his attempt to comfort her still hurt his feeling pretty bad. The twig was thrown to the ground, leaving his hand free to carress his face again.
He then decided it was the time to face the truth. To hear her wisdom.
He then hesistantly moved his feet into the front of the door to knocked on it again, despite the fact that he's already accepted as visitor before. His mouth, also hesistantly, uttered his words.
"Rei? Are…are you awake?"
No response.
"Rei, if you can hear me, I'm..i'm sorry, Rei. I didn't mean to hurt you. Like I said, i..i just want to help you."
Still no response.
"Rei…if you don't want to see my face for now…I guess I can go away from you for now."
"No."
Finally a response, although he couldn't make out of this. He then opened the door by himself.
"Rei? I-"
"NO!"
Rei tackled him, hugged him as hard as she can, as if his existance would fade away if she released him ever so slightly. The sight of Rei suddenly bursted and embraced him this tightly was an unexpected one, although very pleasant one in that. He blushed at this unexpected chain of event, although he also wished that she would put less pressure on him so he can breath freely for a while. She was sobbing, making this situation even more awkward than already is.
"Please…don't leave me again. Don't… ignore me again like before. I don't want to lose you again."
Shinji, regained his composure, finally answered her.
"I won't leave you Rei. I won't."
She sounded relieved from this, despite her lacks of answer from the form of lingual. However, she soon sobbed harder than before, making Shinji worried if he did something wrong again.
"Rei, what's wrong?"
"I'm not a doll. I…I'm not…a…doll…"
Rei was stumbled at her words, struggling with her sobs. She then buried her face inside his chest, cried her next words loudly.
"Shinji! Please tell me that I'm not a doll!"
"You're not a doll, Rei. You're not…a doll…You're a human. You're Rei Ayanami. My friend. My…"
Shinji answered her with ease, knowing that now, Rei was fully accepting him and his actions. He felt so happy now that he immediately ignored his almost slip, and he wished that she also did.
Rei was shaken away from her cry, as she felt another falling tears into her head.
"Shinji…you cried. Why?"
"Because I'm happy, Rei. You can cry if you feel happy, too."
Rei has been wondering about this for a while. After he assured her that he saw her as a fellow friend, her sorrow was washed away by the warmness of his words. And yet, she still cried. And she got confused further as he also cried. But now…
"I see. I understand now."
A silence engulfed them, but this time it brought warmness alongside it. Rei enjoyed Shinji's gentle stroke at her hair, and she unconditionally returned it with her massage on his own.
"I'm sorry for asking you these kind of redundant questions, Shinji…I still don't know how to react at emotions like this."
"It's okay, Rei. It's okay…this is all we need."
With that, they continued their embrace, as if they were going to dissapear should they let go their arms from each others. It felt as if the night has been reserved all for their own to spend, as if there's no problem in the world to cared about. All they want now, is for this to never stop, for this to never end.
God is in heaven, and all is right with the world.
A/N: I'm sorry if the story feels bad, rushed, and cheesy. It's my first try to make Waffy, sappy chapter, and after tons of funny things i wrote, i feel...inexperienced in this sector.
Also, i know that Rei's DNA percentage thingy is kinda overused, but i feel that it's necessary, since Kaji's role here was meant to give everyone a second chance. Shinji got to feel true happiness again, Misato got her relationship with Kaji and Shinji restored, and Kaworu would got his angel title and his place in heaven back, so why not give our biggest woobie in the show one of the mean to get her happiness too outside of her relationship with Shinji? And as far as i know, it's not defined on how much of Yui's DNA that was written into her, and i've read many different story on how much Yui's DNA that was on Rei, from just necessary lines for her face to being the dominant genes, and there's even one that made Lilith's DNA mutagen, so i just used one of the plausible plot device to make her less squicky, but it also meant to be the symbolism that she's not just a clone anymore, but a girl that was given a chance to become her own. And symbolism=win in EVA. I mean, there are people who still loves Q. So this fic will become good! YAYYY!
Also, the next chapters will have more actions. They would become the riders next, after all.
And finally, in case you wondered what caused Rei and Kaworu to went OOC, well, let's just say that both of them experienced a very, VERY unexpected feelings, hammered by questions that never strike their mind and it keep haunted them. However, while Kaworu had it good and all of it only made him confused, Rei kept getting hammered by those feeling and questions with the subtlety of a bulldozer on rampage. And yes, in next story, she will return to her normal emotional state.
AAAAND It's Omake time!
A very different Rei.
"Ayanami!"
The blue haired and red eyed girl, who somehow survived the suicide attack against the sixteenth angel, was now covered in robe. Only her strangely colored eyes and hair that gave the indication that it's really her. The robe just gave the already mysterious girl more aura of mystery, which, by now, was really unecessary.
The girl now sat down in a hospital bench, and the boy leaned against the wall. Several minutes passed by before the anxious boy managed to start the conversation.
"I guess you're okay...and my dad is not around here."
Rei stay silent. Just as expected.
"So, Ayanami...Thank you for saving me."
"For what?"
Strange. Her voice sounds more...masculine?
"What do you mean? You saved me by sacrificed the Unit-00."
"I see. I really saved you, then."
"You...you don't remember?"
"I do. I'm just not sure about it."
"Do you lost your memories, or something like that, Ayanami?"
"No. It's probably because...i'm not the Rei that you know."
Gendo's office. Later that day.
"May i speak, Commander Ikari?"
"Sure. But what's with the robe? Remove it. Now. It give me some...unsettling vibe."
"If that's your wish...Commander"
What the? That's the only words came from Gendo Ikari, who just saw the change from Rei's body as she, er, he took off the robe. Gone the slender, fragile looking body of her and the beautiful face that's also bear an uncanny resemblance of his late wife. What appears instead was a muscular, male body and a face that's only appropriate for the prettiest of all boys.
"I...-it's a trap!"
"Heh. It's a coincidence that my eyes's color and height has accomodated itself to change into more like her so i could trick you all. Just pull this old robe trick, acts indifference to everyone and voila. Everybody thought i'm Rei Ayanami. Works everytime."
"W...Who are you?"
"Rei. Rei of the Star of Justice."
"Star of Justice?"
"Yes. And i'm going to bring the justice for Ayanami...by killing you. Such a poor soul...turned into a puppet who struggled just to decide anything that's not came as an order."
"Ah, i see. It seems that somehow...Rei's soul crossed it's path with you, and you took her place instead. And somehow, your soul made her body changed into...you."
"Yes. And as i said, Commander of NERV, it's time to end your game. I'm pretty sure that little boy also suffered from you. All just to revive your wife back...such a selfish desire."
"It would took more than this to stop me from reunited with my wife, Rei the Justice."
The Commander then pulled a gun from the desk, and with several seconds, he pulled the trigger after he directed the barrel of the gun to the head of Rei. His body's no longer stand there. But it's not laying down dead, either.
He was nowhere to found. In fact, he maybe not dead yet.
"Where's his body?"
"Here."
"Nani-"
"SUUUUUUOOH!"
Gendo's vision are now sliced. And so his head too.
As soon as his body hit the floor, so does the existance of Gendo Ikari.
No last words from him. Commander of NERV has been murdered by the mutated clone of his wife.
Epilogue
With the death of the Commander of the NERV, Rei now set his foot into killing the members of the SEELE. The Third Impact was averted by his South Dipper Waterfowl Fist alone. The JSDF never attacked Geofront. Their commander was a fan of Fist of the North Star, and he knew better.
Meanwhile, the seventeenth Angel, Tarbis, would get his beautiful death at the hand of the other Rei. His last words to Rei were to protect the Lilim as the progenitor of Lilith. Manly tears from Rei were sheds. Tender tears came from Shinji and the others. They never pointed the fact that this Rei was not the...Rei.
The real Rei Ayanami got stuck into the wasteland of Hokuto No Ken. Luckily, her AT Field came in handy to kill all the gangs that tried to get their hands on her. She became the teacher of the new fist: Firudo No Terrora. Somehow, Bat and Lin became her successor. She kept wondering to her death if the world really went into Third Impact...or something close to it. Like Near Third Impact. Or even Fourth.
Rei of the Star of Justice succeeded in rebuilding the psyche of the childs, and now that the peace has been achieved, he decided to become a psychiatrist. He helped countless childrens and adults in his career. He got hooked up with Ritsuko after she managed to returned him into his original height. Steamy, passionate night were normal experience for them. Rei's definitely better than Gendo in..intimacy, although his name sometimes was a turnoff for her.
Omake 2 (finally, an omake that related with the story!
"So, Shinji...are you ready for the truth?"
"Yes, Kaji-san."
"Okay. So, here it goes."
Shinji has faced lots of cruel twists in his story that dented and shredded his will to life. His father cruelly used and dismissed him after he seemingly tried to reestablished his relationship with his surviving family member. His seemingly opposite redhead was proved to be mentally just as screwed up as him and had a similarly rough childhood. His distant blue haired faux-friend proved to be nothing but a part of dispensable clones. Those were just some of the moments that screwed his psyche, which he thanked the man in front of him that gladly want take him back on the track.
But even after all those twists, he's still found on the verge of confusion on the revelation that Gendo Ikari, commander of NERV is secretly a pimp.
And he's ready to blame his new light of hope for all of that.
"My father's what?!"
"A pimp."
"A Pimp? My father is a big daddy? It doesn't make sense..."
"No, Shinji. It makes just as much sense as that rubber ugly duckling's story about his quest of finding the ogre's bathtub, so he can be filled with muds and onions all day. I wonder how i could make that story after i saw Shrek's marathon, but i'm glad that i did."
"...What?"
"Nevermind. By the way, Shinji, it should be obvious for you since the beginning. Why else does the guy keeps hiring hotties if he acts so cold and calculated? I mean, look! Your first day in NERV, and you already meet three beautiful babes out there."
"..."
"And after that, you met Maya and Asuka, and got to live with Asuka and Misato! You're a very lucky guy, Shinji. If i was you, i would already scored with at least one of them."
"Kaji..."
"And did you get a good look at the female plug suits? I could've swear that thing's actually some kind of fetish suit for bedroom purpose. They were not just skintight like the males one, man. They accentuated the...assets! Oh, Shinji. You should've seen the picture of Misato and Akagi wore a mock plug suit before Aoba stole them from me and accidentally burned it when he playing with himself, firecrackers, feathers and lots of cream."
"Kaji. I think i heard enough, and know too much right now."
"And do you know that there's another Rei's clone tank? And the purpose for it was solely to get some profit from selling them? Some man were really lonely after all. They need something like an angel to cuddled to. He even has a plan to modified and sold them as celebrity in alternate universe! She could make a trend in entertainment industry!"
With that final knowledge, and the image of hundreds of Ayanamis selling 'flower' on their plugsuit, Shinji fainted at 0.04 seconds mark.
...Okay. I'll left the part about Uber Pimp and Prince for now.
Sauces 3
"Then so be it. Thank you for your assistance...Shinji. Farewell."Said Rei, finally called him by the first name.
I'm sorry, Rei. I have to lie to you.
The needle has finished in giving it's liquid into Rei's body. Rei was waiting for her return into nothingness. She was ready. After all, it was her choice to denied the world to give itself into nothingness. It was her wisdom.
But the images that came to her told her otherwise. They didn't took her away. They gave her something instead.
It's called pain.
Now, the blue-haired girl found herself screaming violently, with painful experience that she never tasted before. Her body snapped back into her bed with such a force that a wood from it's support was bended from it.
"Rei, what's wrong? REI!"
The girl now clutched in pain, cringed while twisting violently on her bed. Her body would soon found itself convulsed on the floor, tried to bring down her nerv into normal again. But she kept trashed around her room, without any indication that she would slowed down soon.
Shinji, who just manipulated the content of her liquid, now found himself at the most genuine situation where he had to make an apology. He tried to make Rei calmed down for several times, without any success. His heart sank. He wanted to help her just like Kaji did to him, not to make the situation became worse.
Of course, Kaji needs to destroy the drama in this heart-wrenching minutes.
"Hey, Shinji! How is it going?"
"How is it going? Why, yes! Everything's fine, Kaji! Except for the fact that Rei now whimpering on the floor worst than Pazuzu from Exorcist!"
"What? She should be not like that! The side effect should be like when you shallowed your seed of truth: None at all!"
"So, what's actually happened here?"
"Can you read the pill description?"
"...Gendo and Fuyutsuki's manokini ads?"
"HOLY Fuck! I gave you the wrong stuff!"
"My eyes!The AT-Field do nothing!"
And then, Rei exploded.
"Um, Kaji?"
"...We can rebuild her."