Creation began on 11-24-15
Creation ended on 11-29-15
Neon Genesis Evangelion
I Dream of Evangelion: Refusal
"…You pass out, bleed or something to indicate that you've not recovered since we took you to that hospital," went Shinji in front of Misato as he offered her lunch, "and we're sending you back."
"I'm hardly injured right now," she responded, defending her injuries.
"You look like you need to be in a bed somewhere recovering some more," went Pema.
"Can we get to the reason why I'm here to see you again, please?"
"Yeah, let's do that," agreed Shinji, "though I'm pretty sure we all know the reason."
"Your father wants to have a sit-down with you two."
Shinji and Pema looked at each other and then back at Misato.
"He's not going to stop until I get back into that behemoth, is he?" Shinji asked her. "No matter how many time he tries to persuade me, he won't take 'no' for an answer."
"It's because you were able to sync with the Eva," Misato explained.
"And he got hurt because of that creature," Pema expressed her contempt. "Does the guy have no love for his son? Is he that desperate to send him into a battle so extreme that he decides to use a giant modeled after the Baron of Darkness to do so?"
"This is something I would suggest you try talking to him about."
"I don't trust him around Pema, Misato," Shinji told her. "He isn't someone I would leave alone with her. Pema is…all I have right now who matters more to me than anything right now."
"Despite the fact that she's older than you?" Misato asked him.
"Even if it was the other way," he expressed; even if Pema wasn't over five-thousand years older than him, he couldn't forget the way she made him feel, wanted and accepted.
Pema picked up her cup of tea and calmly sipped; all she wanted right now was to keep her master safe from these creatures for as long as she could. And, as harsh as it seemed, she required the demon she was bound to in order to protect him.
"If we were to see him, what's to stop him from trying to blackmail me into working for him?" Shinji had asked Misato. "Or from falsely accusing Pema of something that's far from the truth, just because he doesn't like her being with me?"
Misato knew not on how to answer those questions. She knew very well that Commander Ikari didn't like Pema being around Shinji…or seem to care very much for his son, either. But if any of them were going to find out, they would have to speak with Commander Ikari.
"I think the only way to know for sure…is to speak with him," she suggested.
"He's a man obsessed," went Pema. "Based on the last time we saw him, he has shown absolutely no interest in Shinji, but seems interested in something else that's probably better left unsought after."
"What is better left unsought after?" Shinji asked her.
"Many things people were simply not meant to have."
-x-
On the security cameras, Gendo saw Captain Katsuragi return to NERV with Shinji and the girl that he was with. He frowned at the sight of the pair holding hands; she was constantly interfering with his agenda. The longer she was with the Third Child, the harder it would be to try and attempt dominance over him.
"It looks like Captain Katsuragi was able to convince them to come back for your…sit-down, Ikari," went Fuyutsuki to Gendo, looking at the pair holding hands.
"Take care of things here, Fuyutsuki," Gendo told him, and left the room.
-x-
"…Oh, welcome back, Shinji," greeted Ritsuko Akagi to the boy.
"Ma'am," Shinji responded, being short and simple.
"And your friend," the faux-blond directed towards Pema.
"I pray that this sit-down is quick," Pema told Shinji.
"Likewise," he agreed with her, and Misato led them to where Gendo was going to meet them.
The room was quite sparse and occupied with just a large table and several chairs. On the table was a jug of water and a few empty cups.
Shinji and Pema looked at one another and chose to sit by the chairs closest to the door; if this sit-down went sour, they could just walk out.
Misato sat on Pema's right side, so as to reduce whatever tension there might've been during the sit-down between the two and Commander Ikari.
The door opened and Gendo came in.
"Ugh," Pema shuddered.
"Hello again," he greeted them.
"I think we can all see where this is likely going to go, so let's get to the obvious part," said Shinji. "You still want me to pilot the Eva, don't you? That's the only reason you suggested this would-be sit-down, isn't it?"
"That's exactly the reason," Gendo expressed, sitting down in front of the two.
"You're impossible," went Pema, expressing her disgust at the man. "Someone tells you they're not interested in doing something for you, and all you want is to hear what you want to hear, to hear what you want them to say. Is that all your son is to you? Someone you expect to do what you want of him to do for you?"
"That's none of your concern, outsider," Gendo told her.
"If she's concerned for my welfare, then that makes it her concern," Shinji countered.
"Is that so?"
"I trust her more than I hate you right now."
Misato was quite shocked to hear this. She didn't anticipate Shinji having more trust in a girl that was not just older than he was, but also not of Asian descent. She was certain that he didn't know everything about her, and yet he was willing to trust her with his well-being.
"How can you trust her?" Gendo questioned his son. "There's no trace of her on any background checks we did. Nothing on fingerprints, facial recognition for a driver's license, passports, social media, credit finances, not even a simple school identification card."
"So?" Pema asked.
"So, technically, you don't exist."
"And before people were smart enough to establish society where we had such things as registration laws, birth certificates, photographs and so on, people didn't exist to everyone as a whole, either." Shinji defended Pema's nonexistent paper trails. "Why should it matter who or what she is? Unless, of course, you're the only one that has a problem with her? Do you have a problem with her?"
Gendo put his hands in front of his face, not responding to that question, and Shinji suspected that it was because it was the truth.
"Who it is I choose to spend my time with is none of your business," Shinji then told his father, "and it's nobody else's business, either. And as for the Eva… Just give it a rest. My response will always be no."
"Then you would condemn us all to extinction," Gendo accused him.
"How can I be accused of something I had no prior knowledge of to begin with? I didn't know anything about any conflict until after you sent for me…and after you told me why. If anyone deserves to be condemned, it's you for choosing to hide truths and give less than half-truths. If there are others more qualified than I am not that can pilot the Eva, then get them to do it. I want nothing to do with it…and I want nothing more to do with you."
And with that, Shinji got up and turned towards the door.
Pema got up and followed him.
"Don't you dare walk away from me!" Gendo raised his voice. "Don't you dare walk away from the only reason you exist!"
Opening the door, Shinji turned back to face him, his face contorted with anger.
"The only reason I exist? I'm a person, not a drone for you to manipulate. I have free will and the right to make my own choices, for better or for worse. If that's your answer to how little I matter to you as a person, then, just because we're related, you're not really entitled to much."
He then walked out of the room.
Pema was about to follow him out, but turned to face Gendo, who looked at her with disgust.
"He's right, and you know it," she uttered out to him. "About everything. If he means so little to you, why send for him? If the only reason you wanted him here so much was just to use as a soldier in a would-be war where the more violence you commit stains more and more of your soul to the point that you may never know the peace of sleep, why have him come here when he knows nothing about what's going on before he arrived? He'd be dead the instant you put him in front of your would-be enemy to humanity. I consider it a miracle that he was fortunate enough to survive once. It would be an act of God if he survived a second time. Would it kill you to say something nice to him? To say that he matters to you as a person? Or are you as every bit the heartless man I see you as?"
"I should have you locked in the brig, outsider," he responded.
Pema sighed and left out the room, running to catch up with Shinji.
"I heard what you said, Pema," he told her.
"It probably didn't change anything or get something of actual meaning out of him," she responded.
"Still, thanks for saying all of that. It meant a lot to me."
"You're welcome. I do apologize for his complete disinterest in you as a person."
"You didn't make him hate me, Pema. He's just an idiot. I don't even want to know how he's my father."
As they walked out the base's front door, the pair held hands.
To be continued…
A/N: I can't believe this all came to mind as I wrote it. And Gendo, can anyone say that they hate him even more in fanfiction and admire Pema's devotion to Shinji? Anyone?
