Episode 4! Not much to say here besides the fact the Shamshel is a Shoulder Angel now, and he's a bit different to Sachiel.
August 7th, 2015
Rain. Heavy Rain. That's what spluttered throughout Tokyo-3. The dark sky signified that said rain was not going to stop anytime soon.
Inside her apartment, Misato Katsuragi was strewn under her sheets, not wanting to move after the Angel battle that took place the day before. The alarm going off woke her from her slumber, setting the clock to silent with her foot, she slowly got up, her hair an absolute mess from her sleep.
Moving towards the bathroom, she started to prepare for the day. Stepping into the shower, Misato let the hot water fall onto her. She sighed to herself as she rinsed her hair, letting the water dampen her head, allowing it to be washed. Grabbing the shampoo, she lathered it in her hair. 'He's going to skip school isn't he?' She thought to herself as she went about her buisness. Washing the shampoo out, and finishing up, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself. Grabbing another towel to wrap around her hair, she stepped out of the bathroom and headed towards Shinji's room.
She knocked. "Shinji! It's time to get up! Unit-01 is far ahead of schedule and its pilot needs to be ready to do his job. You need to get your act together. Shinji?" Misato frowned, opening the door slightly, the room was basically empty, Shinji nowhere to be found. Sachiel was in the room, seemingly asleep, while the newest addition to their family, Shamshel, leaned against the far wall. On a desk in the corner, there was a note written for Misato, Sachiel and Shamshel, and Shinji's NERV ID card sitting on top. "He ran away. I'm not surprised."
Toji and Kensuke stood outside the apartment. Apprehension on both their faces. Stepping forward slowly, Toji slowly rung the doorbell.
"Shinji!" Misato ran to the door, opening it with a frown, which turned to surprise at the two boys standing at the door.
"Pardon me, ma'am." Kensuke started. "We're Shinji's classmates, Aida and Suzahara."
"Aida and Suzahara?" Misato asked.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm Suzahara."
"Aren't you the boys who ended up in Unit-01's Entry Plug?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Both boys stated at the same time.
"We're sorry for causing you so much trouble." Toji stated, bowing to further his point. "The reason we've come today is that Shinji's been away for a couple days, ever since the battle. We came to see if he was okay."
"Well, uh," Misato started, running things through her mind about what she could say, "He's currently at the NERV training facility."
"Oh, I see."
"These are the printout's that were starting to build up on Shinji's desk." Kensuke said, handing the older woman the papers.
"Oh. Thank you! Sorry for your trouble."
"Well, we'll be leaving now." Toji said, bowing again.
"Please say 'hi' to Shinji for us!" Kensuke said, bowing his head slightly.
"Okay, I will. Bye!" Misato finished, waving at the boys as the door closed. Waiting a moment, the boys stood back up straight and stared at the door.
"Well this is an unexpected development." Kensuke noted.
"She was a real babe, wasn't she?" The boys turned to leave, heading towards the nearest stairs.
"Shinji, you idiot!" The boys turned at the sound of Misato's voice, followed by a very audible kick to the door. Glancing at each other, they continued on their way, not thinking much of it.
August 6th, 2015
"The next station is Nagao Toge, Nagao Toge. The exit will switch to the right side." A bag sat in a rack above the seats. Below was Shinji, his SDAT in his ears, blocking out the world. The train moved along the tracks, making quite a racket against the rain. The SDAT changed track from 25 to 26, yet Shinji took no notice. Around him, people filtered out of the train as it continued along its course, until he was the only one left. The SDAT switched back to track 25. Rain continued to fall as the train filled up once again. Shinji's SDAT continued to switch between tracks 25 and 26 as the day continued.
"Thank you for using New Tokyo-3 Loop Seven. This train will be going out of service at this station. Please, make sure you take all of your belongings as you exit the train." Shinji glanced up, staring straight ahead.
"I've got to head back."
- Music from Evangelion 1.0 - Track 16 - Cruel Dilemme III -
Shinji wandered the streets, his back resting on his back. Around him, the usual bustle of the late night was heard around him. He wasn't in the main part of the city. In fact, he really shouldn't be in this section of the city. If any of the various services around him were any indication. He paid them no mind, as one of the many men in the area tried to convince others to come to his establishment that "Had hot babes serving refreshments!"
The movie was boring, Shinji decided, as he sat in the back row.
"You really couldn't detect it, Doctor!?"
"Yes. An object only ten millimetres in diameter crashed into Antarctica at close to the speed of light!"
The theatre was basically empty, one man was sleeping on the ground between rows, others weren't really paying attention.
"The technology we had was unable to predict or prevent such a thing!"
There was a couple near the front rows. Shinji had no idea what they were doing, and he didn't really care. He wasn't really paying attention to the movie either. It was background noise in the end.
"It's like hell outside! What is the purpose of science!?"
"The atmospheric flux caused by the change in the Earth's axis has decreased by 3%"
"So it's getting a little better?"
"No, there's still a tidal wave approaching at 230 metres a second! Doctor! We must evacuate!"
"No! It's my duty to remain here!"
Shinji noticed the couple getting a bit more intimate. Who knows what they were gonna be doing. And in a movie theatre no less.
"Doctor, choosing death is easy, but you have an obligation to watch this living hell!"
- End -
Shinji continued his wander throughout Tokyo-3 and its surrounding regions. Shinji turned abruptly, a loud, annoying sound was wringing its way through the area. Closing his ears off, Shinji ran as far as he could, away from this sound that hurt his head.
Misato stared at the ceiling. Shinji hadn't returned. "Idiot." She muttered to herself as she heard the rumblings of Sachiel and Shamshel having a brief fight. She sighed to herself. 'At least they don't do any damage anymore.'
The bus drove away as Shinji sat in silence. He'd made his way to the outskirts of the city, still with his intent of running away. Making his way through the various types of plants of flowers, he made his way to a large mountain overlooking the city. Staring out at the fog, Shinji found some peace. He glanced over at the city, taking in the magnificent defence for humanity's survival, as it was glowing from the various night lights. Shinji could have jumped, right then and there. Ended everything, all of his suffering. But he sat, sat in thought.
August 7th, 2015
"He's only fourteen years old. It seems so cruel. Giving him the burden of mankind's destiny."
"We have no choice though. Fourteen year old children are the only ones capable of piloting the Eva."
"I know."
"So, has he called? Nothing?" Ritsuko asked, busy running a test on Rei, who was currently under a scanner.
"Nothing. I don't think he'll be coming back."
"What are you going to do, Misato?"
"Nothing really. It's better for him if he doesn't come back."
"But why?"
"Because of what happened after the battle a couple days ago."
August 6th, 2015
"Why did you ignore my orders?"
"I'm sorry, Misato."
"I'm in charge of operations, right?"
"Yes."
"You do understand that you have a duty to obey my orders?"
"Yes."
"I'm warning, don't do it again."
"Yes."
"Hey! Do you understand what I'm saying!?"
"Yes."
"You are not going to get out of this by saying yes to everything I say, understand me?"
"I know that, Misato. We won the battle, didn't we? Isn't that enough?"
"It may seem easy going along with what everyone else wants, but if you get into an Eva with that attitude, it'll kill you!"
"You know, I just don't care anymore."
"It'd be nice if I could say you've got the right attitude, but if you're expecting any praise from me, you're wrong, Shinji Ikari."
"That's not the point, Misato. I'm the only one that can pilot it. I'll just have to do it." Misato frowned, picking up the boy by his shirt, Shinji wouldn't look at her, his drink that he had been enjoying left on the floor. Misato gave the boy an annoyed look, before letting him go.
"We're done here. Go home and get some rest." She said, before leaving the room. Sachiel gave the interchange no comment. Shamshel glanced around in wonder though, wondering what had just happened.
"What was that?" No one answered, in fact, Shinji glanced at the Angel, only just remembering he had arrived. "I'm Shamshel by the way." The Angel noted, given that no time was available to introduce them. Shinji had been pulled from Unit-01 and taken away by Misato straight after he came out of the Evangelion. Shinji smiled slightly, before leaving himself.
August 7th, 2015
"I see." Ritsuko commented, glancing up at Misato, who stared out the window at Rei currently doing her testing.
"If piloting an Eva means nothing to him, giving him nothing but pain, then I don't think he should pilot again. Otherwise, I'm sure he'll be killed."
"But we need pilots."
August 6th, 2015
Kensuke ran across the field, role-playing as too many characters at once. Pretending to be hit, he fell to the ground, before immediately standing up and pretending to be someone else. "Captain! Aida, go on ahead! But I can't just go and leave you behind! You fool!" Kensuke puched him arm out, pretending to hit the other man who didn't exist. Before switching back and pretending to take the hit. Kensuke stared up at the dark sky, taking in the small amount of light. Getting up he turned, glancing around him, finding a boy in the distance. "The new kid? Ikari!"
Shinji stopped, turning towards the sound of the voice, to where Kensuke was, waving at him.
つづく
A bit of a shorter chapter here, because Episode 4 isn't very dialogue heavy. We'll get into Shinji's thoughts and feelings next chapter. Brief note, because Sachiel and Shamshel didn't know Shinji was running away, they didn't go with him, and as such, can't find their way back to him. The Shoulder Angels are as much real people as others, so that explains why they aren't with Shinji.
Changes from Episode 4:
The bit where Misato picks Shinji up by his shirt comes from Rebuild 1.0, the dialogue is based on NGE though, with a minor exception: Misato's last line comes from 1.0.
