JUNE 11th, 2015

TOKYO-3

5:14pm:

Shinji stared at the towering skyscrapers of Tokyo-3's 1st District. The neon nightmare of a city he had lately gotten so used to living in was all but distant now, which he found extremely fitting given his situation. With the rain having stopped a little while ago, he thought this was the last time he'd ever lay eyes on the massive city.

He wiped the sweat off his forehead wishing that the overcast weather would have at least provided some shielding from the sun's excessive heat. And even with it completely out of sight, there was no hiding from its endless summer.

His head turned to the clouds above him.

'I should've gotten a trim before leaving...' Shinji thought, feeling his shaggy overgrown hair sticking to his face.

At this point he was trying to keep his mind occupied with other things, even the most mundane things. But no matter where he looked or tried distracting himself, he couldn't stop thinking of everything that had just occurred, all in less than a day.

He frowned.

'I hate him.'

His father consumed his mind, the violent images he witnessed in the core of Gendo's body oozing blood replaying again and again. And yet in the real world, all he was able to give the Commander was one measly punch.

'At least I got to hurt the fucker.' He mused.

Then his emotions took a turn, and before he knew it the anger inside turned into sadness.

'This is all his fault... he's the reason I was brought here in the first place...'

Recollections of dead troops in the battlefield flashed in his head. Bullet wounds spread across their bodies, and all of them were around the same age as him.

'I've seen and done unbelievable things since the moment I came here. He's the reason I'm in so much pain... even before I was drafted. Well, no more. I'm done with this war. Done with the Angels. Done with NERV, and done with-'

Misato suddenly came to mind. As did Kaji, Toji, Kensuke, Asuka-

'-Tokyo-3.'

-and then Rei.

He felt these emotions build up inside him, prompting him to try and forget about his troubles again. He reached into his bag looking for something, anything to forget all the connections he'd made in his time there. He didn't even bother look into his travel bag as he felt around his belongings for some kind of distraction.

'Anything will do.' He thought. 'A book, unfinished schoolwork... hell, even-'

Shinji suddenly felt a familiar device with his hands. It had buttons on its side, and some kind of wire jutted out from one end. He pulled it from his bag, knowing exactly what it was that he was being taken out.

His S-DAT player.

He'd almost forgotten about the thing entirely. What used to be his shield from the world hadn't been used in a long while. Even when he was back home and off-duty, he wasn't listening to his music as much as he used to back when he lived at his uncle's. He thought of giving it a spin again, but doubted it had any charge left in it.

He pondered why he hadn't used it as much lately. If there was anywhere he'd feel more than necessary to space out to music to, it was in this city.

But it didn't take long for him to remember why he hadn't taken it out in so long. Not only was class eating up his time, but he had actually formed a social life outside of school and work. He met people he genuinely enjoyed spending time with, and took up the cooking and cleaning duties at Misato's apartment. And then there were the few nights he spent just hanging out with Rei.

With all these new people and experiences coming into his life, he just didn't see the need to block it all out.

But now he was going back to his friendless existence, full of walks to and from school while shutting out the world around him with the same two tracks. It was only then that he recognized just what he was leaving behind.

'I've met so many different people... more than I've ever known at once in my life.'

Somehow, life back at his uncle's appeared more bleak than living in this booming metropolis that sent him out to its bloody battles. His emotional state had blinded him with overflowing anger directed at his father. He willingly left because he wanted his father to know how much he hated him, but didn't think about everyone else as a result.

'Mother...'

"Go back and fight, but not for NERV. Not for your father, but for yourself. For your friends, and for the world that is your home."

It was one of the last things Yui told Shinji before he was finally extracted from the core. Those words had a big effect on him once he woke up and reflected on his time there. It gave him hope and a newfound will to not only live for himself, but to fight for himself. And then Gendo decided otherwise.

In hindsight, it was almost like a sad joke had been pulled on him.

'I tried, mother.' He thought. 'But that's not the way things go for me. There's nothing I can even do about this now.'

Then the gravity of the situation fully hit Shinji. He pictured of all his friends' faces, then looked again at his S-DAT. This was what he was going back to.

"God damn it!" Shinji yelled as he threw his travel bag at the floor angrily.

One or two items had rolled out from within the bag, Shinji having forgotten that he left it open. He dully watched the items slowly roll away, enough for him to barely move to pick them up. He sighed as he knelt down to retrieve them, his rage having gotten him nowhere again.

And then sirens started going off everywhere, alarming him.

"What the hell-?"

"A STATE OF EMERGENCY HAS BEEN DECLARED IN THE 15th DISTRICT. PLEASE EVACUATE TO NEARBY SHELTERS IMMEDIATELY." The prerecorded message blared from speakers spread across the city.

"An emergency?"

KAJI'S APARTMENT

5:21pm:

"He's out there by himself?" Asked Kaji while propping the phone between his shoulder and ear.

"We were ordered to drop him off at the station, we weren't expecting a direct attack on the city!" Misato barked back on the other end.

He peaked between the blinds of his window to see what was going on all around Tokyo-3. He could already see NERV's military aircraft beginning to surround the skies in preparation for anything that could come their way. The alarms reverberating through that streets were as eerie as they were obnoxious, only making the situation more stressful.

"Shinji's all alone out there, we can't leave him behind!" She said worriedly.

"Shit... how far are you from him?" Kaji asked.

"The escort vehicle dropped him off about a half hour ago and we've already arrived at HQ. Even if I wanted to pick him up, I couldn't. I have orders to command Unit-01 in battle." Misato explained. "Where are you in the city? Which district?"

"I'm home, at the 1st District." He answered, which only alarmed Misato even more.

"Damn it!"

Luckily, Shinji had been trained to deal with combat situations like these. But without any protective gear or even a weapon on him, there was no way he'd be able to fend the enemy off. Shinji was in serious danger, and on top of that completely alone.

"I'm hoping he seeks shelter in time, his train is set to arrive 20 minutes from now. Oh god... please be okay, Shinji..." Said Misato, utterly stressed out.

"Hold on just a minute-" Kaji said, an idea springing in his head.

His apartment was quite the upper class living space. With how much more he was getting paid than other NERV personnel (all because of his multiple affiliations) he was able to slightly partake in the high life. He could even afford a luxurious penthouse down at the Geo Front, but chose to live out where the real danger lied.

To live under the physical and financial protection of the Geo Front would go against his personal code.

Kaji quickly ran to his room and fetched his PKD pistol and keys. After obtaining all his necessary belongings he rushed out of his apartment and made his way down to his personal garage unit. He didn't even bother take the elevator, he just ran down the stairs like a madman. And all the while, he was still on the phone with Misato.

"Kaji? Hello? You still there?" Misato asked after he had been quiet for an unusually long time.

"What? Oh- sorry, got busy seeing what I can do to help Shinji out." He responded.

"Does that mean you can pick him up?"

Kaji briefly went silent again finally made it into his garage unit, presented with the sight of a peculiar-looking vehicle covered by a large tarp. He uncovered it and observed the vehicle. This was Kaji's only means to try and save Shinji's life, it being the fastest and most extreme mode of transportation he had.

He knew now that the boy's life was in his hands.

'Those NERV engineers aren't going to be very happy.' Thought Kaji. 'But I can't let this kind of thing happen again... Shinji's in danger.'

He took a deep breath and made his decision.

"Katsuragi, where did you say he was again?"

5:29pm:

"Wait, just how long will it take for Mr. Kaji to get here?" Asked Shinji, now aware that the state of emergency declared in the city was due to an Angel attack.

"I don't know, but he said he'd get there soon. Just hide out somewhere nearby! They could be anywhere, and you have no means of self-defense so stay low." Misato warned. "Go take cover now! Kaji should be there very soon."

"Alright!" He said to her.

The call ended and Shinji immediately looked around for a good hiding spot. There was a tall parking garage right across the street from the station he stood awaiting his train. There wasn't much sufficient cover in the area so the parking garage would do for now.

Just before he could run across the street though, the ever so familiar sound of gunfire popped throughout the air. It was alarmingly close.

"Shit!" He exclaimed as he ran as fast he could.

The gunfire was followed by harrowing screams, likely from civilians. It reminded Shinji of the horrors he witnessed at Matsuyama. The image of dead bodies covering the streets briefly flashed through his head, making him worry that Tokyo-3 would soon be no different. The thought shuddered him.

It also reminded Shinji of the anger he felt towards those cruel Angels. For a second, he wished he had a weapon to not only defend himself, but to protect the innocent.

'No-' He thought suddenly. '-that'd be the same as fighting for the Commander. I'm not gonna help him in any way, shape, or form...'

As he finally made it inside the parking garage, he realized there wasn't all that much good cover in there at all. But the stairwells on the building's side was partially indoors, so Shinji thought of waiting there and praying that no Angel would stumble upon him.

He ran up the stairs hoping being at a higher elevation would help him not be spotted. When he was too tired to run up some more, he sat huddled up.

The gunfire was getting closer. And the screams even louder.

'Fuck fuck fuck.' He thought frantically.

Then Shinji's phone rang again, which he slightly panicked over since he didn't want any Angels that might potentially be nearby to overhear. He quickly answered the call, not having read who exactly was calling him.

"Hello?"

"Shinji, it's me." A familiar voice said to him.

"Mr. Kaji? What the hell is going on?" He asked quietly.

"I'm on my way, should be there in a few. Lay low in the meantime and be as quiet as you can. You're still somewhere near the station, right?" Kaji asked him.

"Yeah, at the parking garage right across from it. I'm hiding in the stairwells." Shinji responded.

"Okay. Stay put, you'll know its me when I arrive. Be there soon."

"Wait, how am I supposed to tell?"

Kaji had already hung up before he could clarify anything to Shinji.

He sighed, but trusted Kaji meant what he said. If he hadn't bothered even describing what kind of vehicle he was in, he figured it really was that obvious. But in the meantime, all he could do was wait and hope that no Angel found him hiding out. Suddenly he found himself cursing his luck once again.

'I left that core feeling like a new person.' He thought. 'For once in my life, I felt as if I could finally face everything... and this is what I get.'

The gunfire was now being followed by explosions not too far from his position. The startling sound made Shinji jump in place.

'I should've never returned.'

Shinji could hear that the automatic rifles that were being fired nearby were inching closer and closer. It didn't take long for him to hear voices shouting orders at each other and exchanging knowledge. Whether it was any of NERV's units, he couldn't tell. So he stayed hidden, praying for the violence to migrate away from him.

As if the weather wasn't bad enough, the sweat pouring down his face was partly caused by the stress he was currently under.

"23rd and 52nd Platoon are securing the perimeter! That means we got cleanup duty!" Shinji heard a man yelling down the street. "Our orders are to sweep and clear, so weasel out as many of their civilians as you can and wipe 'em!"

'My god...' He thought in horror at the platoon leader's order.

Now Shinji was absolutely sure these weren't any of his fellow troops trekking the streets. As such, he decided to climb up the stairs some more to buy himself time before they could find him. Luckily the stairwells had no windows so he wouldn't be exposed to the enemy at all. But he knew it wouldn't take long for the Angels to eventually come across him if Kaji wasn't able to make it in time.

He quickly checked to see if he had accidentally left any of his belongings behind and proceeded up the stairs.

*POP-POP-POP*

A harrowing scream could be heard reverberating through the streets.

*BANG*

Then it stopped.

Shinji knew he had just heard an innocent bystander get killed. He had only ever seen the aftermath of such atrocities, but now he was hearing happen right beside him. From this point on, he knew this wasn't just some small-scale attack. He was getting flashbacks to the devastating attack on Sai-Kuru he witnessed, bringing back the adrenaline that pumped throughout his body every time he entered battle.

But this time he had no way of fighting them back. He was just as vulnerable as the person he heard just get murdered. Shinji's blood was beginning to boil.

'Fucking brutes.'

He eventually found his way to the last level of the parking garage while maintaining his crouched stance. There was nowhere he could go from here. All he had left as his chance of survival depended on Kaji's punctuality, which he currently found to not be that great.

'God damn it! Where the hell is-?'

Suddenly an overwhelming amount of rounds were fired by the Angels down in the street. They frantically yelled orders and warnings at each other before a noticeably different sounding gun fired back at them. It was a much deeper boom, and could be felt through the ground. Shinji could now distinctly hear what sounded like an aircraft of some sort passing right in between the surrounding buildings.

'The guns are of a much higher caliber.' He mused. 'And judging by the platoon's negative response, it's clearly not on their side.'

Shinji could only guess what the scene outside looked like. He wasn't going to risk being spotted so he chose to hide until he got the call from Kaji. But the more minutes passed, the worse the situation just outside the building he found himself in only continued to worsen. As Shinji heard the aircraft's engines grow distant, it began to turn back around.

"Quick, up the parking garage!" One of the Angels down below said, loud enough for Shinji to catch. "We need more elevation to take that thing down!"

"Shit!" He uttered as he darted upwards and ran off onto the top floor.

He knew this was a great risk considering he didn't know whether this particular platoon of Angels had any air support. But now it was only a matter of time until they reached the top floor and inevitably found him. Shinji ran as fast he could, looking desperately for cover. His frustration grew as he looked around only to see that not many cars were parked there that day. The structure wasn't very tall either, meaning the Angels would be up there in almost no time.

"Where the hell do I go?" He said to himself exasperatedly.

Then from the very spot he had been hiding in just a minute ago, the sound of military-grade boots burst in, immediately catching Shinji's attention.

"Oh no..." He let out fearfully as he put his arms up.

The Angels were quick to aim their weapons at him and prepared to fire. Shinji tried as best he could to gesture that he was surrendering, but they didn't change their stance. They planned on opening fire.

"We got another one here, Cap!" One Angel said much to Shinji's horror.

"W-W-Wait! Don't sh- NO!"

But right before any of them could send lead towards Shinji's direction, the same aircraft as before swooped by at a high speed and fired round after round at the platoon. The size and firepower of each round was large enough to create a miniature blast upon impact, having blown most of the Angels to pieces.

Shinji dropped to the floor and covered his head instinctively, unaware that the Angels who had him cornered were no more.

He looked back up at them once the shots stopped, only finding a large red stain and debris where the enemy once was. The sight horrified him, but he didn't feel any kind of remorse for them after having seen what they were willing to do to innocent civilians. He found himself studying the leftover remains of those Angels, simultaneously disgusted by the gore but with close observation.

'They've got the same guts as us.' He thought. 'Even the same color of blood. So, what makes them so different from us? What makes them 'Angels' and us... human?'

His musings were interrupted as the aircraft came to land directly in between where Shinji lied and the remains of the Angels sat. It was a spinner all along, but looked different than the average one he'd see flying around in Tokyo-3. It was a lot more sleek, and came in a dark-metallic color. It was even a little smaller than most other spinners, but appeared more agile and fit for battle.

Its right door opened upwards, revealing Kaji in its pilot seat.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Shinji." He said aloud. "C'mon, get in!"

"Mr. K-Kaji?"

*BA-BOOM*

Some kind of grenade had gone off just about 10 feet from Shinji and the spinner, meaning there were more Angels down in the streets and that they were certainly more than ready to take the aircraft down.

"Yeah, yeah- Just hurry!" Kaji urged him.

Shinji darted over almost instantly and took the shotgun seat of the spinner. He was expecting the door to close, but Kaji was in such a rush to get away from there that he started taking off as soon as Shinji was inside.

"Hold onto something! I can't wait around for your door to close!" Ordered Kaji.

"Okay okay, I'm holdi- woooaah!"

As the door slowly closed shut, the sheer force of the jetted air by the spinner rushed inside the cabin. Shinji and Kaji's clothes shook violently in reaction to it, as did their hair. The overwhelming airflow stopped as soon as the door was fully shut. Shinji's chest was still pounding from the excitement of the moment.

"Fucking hell!" He complained. "You couldn't even wait for me to put on my seat belt? I could've been sucked out!"

"Well it was either that or we would've ended up just like those Angels." Kaji replied.

"Yeah... yeah, sorry. I guess you're right." Shinji said in between heavy breaths.

Shinji looked outside his window as they sped forward. He could hear the bullets pound on the underside of the spinner, which seemed heavily and sufficiently armored. Though tighter on the inside, this one was much more advanced compared to all the ones he'd ridden during his stay at Tokyo-3.

Their elevation only continued to increase, making Shinji wonder where they'd even hide amid all this chaos.

"Where are we going?" He asked Kaji while watching the city from his window.

Smoke was beginning to engulf the surrounding area, all coming from multiple bombings going off all around the city. It was up there that he saw the scale of the attack; it wasn't just a few districts that were invaded, it was all of Tokyo-3. The city looked like it was going up in flames in certain sections. It made the look of the city all the more ugly, especially under the ashen skies.

"To an emergency shelter." Kaji replied.

"Oh, I see."

Both went quiet for a few minutes, Kaji being focused on piloting the spinner while a thought consumed Shinji's mind.

"We're not going to see him again, are we?" He asked once more.

"After that stunt you pulled on him earlier today? No chance." Responded Kaji. "No. We're just headed to a shelter to keep safe from the intruders. Misato called me in a panic because you were out there all alone. She'd have gone herself, but has her duties leading Unit-01."

Shinji continued to look outside, giving Kaji an 'mm-hmm'.

"Also, I figured I'd have a talk with you."

"A 'talk'?" Shinji questioned. "Well I'm sorry to disappoint but talking hasn't been doing me any good today. Honestly, you can just drop me off as far from the city limits as possible. I can find my own way out of here."

Kaji was certainly annoyed at Shinji's attitude towards him, but kept his cool in order to genuinely get through to him.

"Just hear me out, Shinji. I just want to tell you about something... something that happened 15 years ago." He said. "Now, I might be projecting myself onto you, but... I was the same age you are now when it all went down."

"When what went down?" Asked Shinji.

"Second Impact."

NERV HQ

5:41pm:

"All units on the defensive front, report to your commanding officers within HQ at once." The intercom blared inside the halls. "Units on the offensive front, report to the field outside of HQ - west side of the building."

Toji was in the process of double-checking his pistol and sniper rifle to make sure he had rounds in them. The entire unit had already grouped up and were preparing for battle in case the Angels managed to successfully breach HQ. It had been a month since Unit-01 had been deployed, and now that they were about to face the Angels again, it was in their very own home.

The direct attack on Tokyo-3 made everyone in Unit-01 uneasy. They had family and loved ones still out on the surface, and the casualty rate was steadily rising.

"Iss' all gone to shit." Toji said to no one in particular.

"Um, you talking to me?" Kensuke asked, also double-checking his rounds.

"Jus' thinkin' outloud."

Neither of them had their usual goofball dynamics going on. When they last saw Shinji, they knew he was near-death. It had already been a month since that happened. By now they were sure he was dead. School was never the same for either of them after that, and Toji was especially angry about it.

"Fuck it, man." He let out.

Kensuke turned his head to him once more.

"What's up now, Toji?"

"I'm sick of this shit." Explained Toji. "Y'know, everythin' that's gone on lately. That's what's up... this war, those skinjobs, even those higher-ups who sit on their asses all day behind these thick-ass walls of armor. Fuck e'm all. But most of all, fuck that piece 'a shit Commander we got spittin' crazy orders at us. Fuck it all, man. Fuck everythin' about this."

Though Kensuke always knew Toji to be quick to anger, he didn't think it was unjustified this time. Lately things had taken a turn for the worse. They were both still upset about Shinji being gone, and now on top of that the entire unit feared this would be their last day on this earth. Despite not talking about it to one another, they could all feel the terror that loomed over everyone's heads.

Unit-01 was stationed over at the front gates that lead directly to the Command Center.

The gates themselves were large and heavily armored, safely protecting everyone inside the vast room. This only served to anger Toji some more. He already held his resentments against all the bridge bunnies inside, since he knew none of them ever had a taste of the fierce combat they were put through so many times. The only difference was that the units they commanded were always fending off Angels far from home, so he couldn't ever really blame them.

But now the Angels had infiltrated their home. And Unit-01 was almost quite literally being used as a shield to protect the privileged.

'Y'all jus' stay in yer air-conditioned rooms while the real heroes take care of business...'

Toji was never one to have respect for any kind of authority, something that developed within him because of his strained relationship with his father. So he never felt proud of having to fight for NERV, nor did he care that he was supposedly 'fighting for his country'. From day one, he kept on going for himself and the family he cared for.

"'Ey Ken." He spoke up once more.

Kensuke didn't answer back, but was paying attention.

"I ain't fightin' for no militaristic douchebags today. If those skinjobs make it through 'ere, I could care less about what happens to those high-ranks in the Command Center. I'mma fight for everyone in this unit instead. At least everyone 'ere knows what it's like bein' in the shit." He said to Kensuke.

"Makes sense." His friend replied, a small grin appearing on his face. "Those guys could give less of a fuck about all of us anyway, might as well fight for what you believe in."

Toji nodded as he lit up a little.

"Yeah, fuck NERV! They wouldn't be shit without Unit-01, we're their balls of steel! I'm dedicatin' this fight to all of us." He said, before his expression turned dark once more. "And... I'm also dedicatin' this fight to our buddy, Shinji."

Then a deep guilt clouded Toji's mind.

"I-I shoulda been able to save him back there, man... I shouldn't've let him back into combat like that..."

"Toji, man... I don't think there was anything anyone could've done about that. He was shot pretty badly. I know that you tried your best with that-"

Kensuke remembered to keep quiet about the BR-ZRK injection Toji gave Shinji.

"-thing you did, but it's better than nothing."

They both went quiet again, thinking about the last time they saw Shinji. Neither knew he was actually still alive. By then, enough time had passed that his chances of survival seemed unlikely given the state they saw him in. To them, he was a fallen soldier. And they were determined to make the Angels pay for what they did.

"Let's wipe the floor with those fuckers." Toji said angrily. "Shinji's gone because of 'em. I wanna make 'em pay."

"Oh, we'll make them pay." Replied Kensuke.

He held his knuckle out for a fist bump, to which Toji gladly reciprocated.

"For Shinji." The two said in unison.

"And where the hell have you been, Miss Perfect?" They heard the all-too-familiar yell of their Lieutenant from about 10 feet away. "Roll call was almost 10 minutes ago! And you decide to show up only now? Get your shit together already!"

Asuka stormed off as per usual, leaving Rei alone with her thoughts.

"Huh... Rei's back." Kensuke said to Toji quietly.

"Oh yeah, she was a no-show to school yesterday. Wonder what coulda kept 'er from showin' up."

They observed Rei as she walked off without a reaction, finding a corner to sit away from the rest of the unit's troops. They could tell something was up with her again. Her weak body language gave that way, and she was looking just as distraught as she was when Shinji was taken into the core. And seeing as how she missed school the day prior, they could tell something else was up.

"Maybe we should check up on her." Suggested Kensuke as he lightly elbowed Toji, who nodded.

They both stood and walked over to her, finding her huddled up as she hugged her knees and kept her head low. The sight was beginning to look normal to them now, but what freaked them out a little was that she had basically turned into the Shinji they first met back in the carrier;

A loner with a lack of confidence who didn't even attempt to form bonds with those around them.

'God damn, he really influenced her.' Thought Kensuke. "Um... you alright, Rei?"

She looked up at the two but gave no reaction.

"Ain't the answer to that a lil' obvious?" Toji asked him facetiously. Kensuke narrowed his eyes at him but turned back to Rei.

"Yeah, shit... Sorry about that, Rei. We were just concerned, y'know. You didn't show up to class yesterday and we got a little worried seeing you just now. Wanna tell us what's up?"

Rei couldn't even begin to try to explain what happened in the last 48 hours. The door to a new life that had opened for her had been forcibly shut by Gendo, and the boy she loved was gone for good now. She was sure she'd never see Shinji again. All the meanwhile, Toji and Kensuke were under the impression that he was dead. Rei thought of telling them that he was indeed alive, but saw no point. She was too exhausted by today's events to want to even interact with anyone.

"I am... tired." She said to them. "I'm just really tired."

Her answer was pretty unconvincing. But they didn't want to press her on the subject. They could tell she was too depressed to talk about anything, which again oddly reminded them of Shinji. It was like the 2-week wait at Sai-Kuru all over again, only this time they were home.

She buried her head in her arms, signifying this short conversation to be over.

There was really nothing either of them could do to make her feel better, but they weren't about to just leave her be. Just like Shinji when they first met him, they saw she needed company whether she wanted it or not. The old Rei Ayanami could handle being alone. But this one needed friends now more than ever.

Her morale was extremely low, and if the Angels did make it into HQ, they doubted she'd have the strength to even put up a fight.

Toji and Kensuke now sat with her, refusing to let someone they considered their friend alone. It was what made the two such good friends at first; they were on their own until they struck up a friendship. Then they had done the same for Shinji. And now her.

"Ya don't gotta talk about whatever's botherin' ya. I know shit's been tough. But we're stickin' around whether ya like it or not." Toji told Rei.

"I think we all need some company right now." Kensuke added. "Worst thing you can do to yourself right is isolate."

Neither could tell, but tears had been pouring out of Rei's eyes as her head nestled against her arms. The tears seeped into her uniform, leaving dark little spots scattered all around her sleeves. But what also lay hidden underneath as a tiny smile. Despite having lost Shinji to Gendo's strict orders, she was still not alone after all. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

"Th-Thank you..." She said quietly.