Welcome back! It's time to finish Shinji's current act of running away from his problems and return to his friends. Not much to say here besides that!
August 7th, 2015
Hikari stared out the window, she had called Shinji hours ago, wondering where the boy was, and no reply had come. Not for hours. She sighed as she continued the cooking she was doing. It calmed her somewhat. Ever since her mother died she had become the de-facto housewife in the Horaki household, doing the cooking, and a lot of the work. Her father, having a job at NERV, like many of her friends' parents, was not around as much as she thought he should.
This left Hikari to look after both her father, and her two sisters, Kodama, older than her by quite a few years, and currently in college, and Nozomi, her younger sister, and close with Sakura, Toji's younger sister. Finishing up her job, she didn't let the fact that Shinji hadn't called, or had been seen since the incident with Unit-01 the day before, she didn't want to talk about it, or think about it. The Fourth Angel had been scary enough, to learn that the Third Angel wasn't truely dead either had been a shock.
"Kodama, Nozomi! Dinner!"
"Coming, Hikari!" Nozomi called from the living room, skipping into the main dining area. Kodoma followed behind with a small smile on her face. Hikari placed everything on the table, intent on not letting the fact that Shinji was currently somewhere get to her.
August 6th, 2015
The light of the moon contrasted against the green coverings of the tent Kensuke had set up for his little adventure that night. Outside, a fire had been set up, Kensuke sat across from Shinji, cooking the food he had brought.
"Toji was sorry about what he did. His younger sister gave him a good scolding later on. She told him that the robot is saving our lives." Kensuke chuckles, "That must be embarrassing, being chewed out by a younger sibling, in grade school no less. Right?" Kensuke glanced up, where Shinji sat staring at the fire. Kensuke frowned, before trying to move on to better subject matter. "It's great out here at night, because those annoying cicadas don't chirp. It was pretty quiet when I was a kid though, but there are tons of them out now."
"Misato said, that the ecosystem was starting to return to its former state." Shinji said, causing Kensuke to look up at the boy.
"Miss Misato said so?" Kensuke replied, giving the other boy a small sly look. "I really envy you, you know? You live with such a beautiful woman like Misato and you get to pilot an Evangelion! I wish I could get behind the controls! Just once!" Kensuke started to fanboy as Shinji looked at him in concern.
"You really shouldn't. Wouldn't your mother be worried?" Kensuke looked at Shinji in surprise, before smiling slightly.
"Don't worry about that, Ikari. I don't have a mother."
"Oh..."
"I'm no different from you." The container holding the food was starting to foam, as the water started lapping over the sides. "You'll stay for something to eat, won't you?" Shinji smiled.
"Do you usually do this sort of thing?" Shinji asked Kensuke.
"Sure!"
"Is it, like some training for gorilla warfare or something?"
"How could I fight with toys like these? I just do this for fun." Shinji smiled warmly at the boy. "We'd better come in for the night."
"Yeah."
August 7th, 2015
The rain started too clear against the cloudy sky. The small green tent, pitched in the ground, stood against the dark and deep fog of Tokyo-3's outskirts. In the distance, a group of people, clad in black suits, wandered through the fog.
Kensuke woke suddenly, Shinji glanced over. Both had heard the rustling sounds of footsteps being taken through grass. Sitting up, Kensuke slowly got up, and headed out of the tent, ready to attack the intruder. He stopped upon staring into the eyes of the leader, giving him a no-nonsense stare. Shinji stepped out, wondering what was happening.
"You're Shinji Ikari, aren't you?" The man said, staring right at Shinji.
"Yeah."
"We're from NERV's Security Intelligence. Under Article 8 of the Security Act, we're taking you back to headquarters. All right?"
"Yes." Kensuke stared at the ground as Shinji walked past.
"And all you did was stand there?" Toji asked, giving Kensuke a hard stare. After their encounter with Misato earlier that morning, Kensuke had returned to school after Shinji ran into him the night before.
"That's easy for you to say! They were NERV Security Intelligence Professionals!"
"What about that!? Don't you have any balls at all!?"
"Sissy."
"Pervert." Came some of the responses from the other girls in the class, who could overhear what Toji was saying.
"Only an idiot would fight when he knows he can't win. Balls have nothing to do with it."
Shinji was cold. He'd gathered that much. He also couldn't see. It was extremely dark in here. As he sat, he thought back to Toji, Kensuke, Hikari, heck even Sachiel and Shamshel, who were surely missing him right now. (Well, maybe not Shamshel. He didn't really know the Angel that well.) The sounds of footsteps clanging against the metal threw him away from his thoughts, the door opening, letting some light into the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the slender figure of Misato Katsuragi.
"Long time, no see."
"Yeah."
"Do you feel better after wandering around all night?"
"I-I don't know."
"The Eva is on standby. Will you pilot it? Or won't you?"
"You're not going to scold me for running away?" Misato said nothing. "Of course you won't. I'm not related to you, am I?" Misato still said nothing. "If I say I won't pilot Unit-01, what will happen to it? What will you and NERV do to it?"
"I suppose Rei will pilot it. You won't pilot Unit-01?"
"It seems a bit unrealistic off you, to force everything on her. Don't worry, I'll pilot Unit-01."
"But do you want to pilot it?"
"Of course not. To begin with, it's not something I can just do naturally. But Ayanami, Miss Ritsuko, and you..."
"Don't give me that crap! This has nothing to do with any of us! If you don't like it, then get out of here! Just forget all about Eva, the Angels, NERV, and go back to where you came from! We don't need someone with an attitude like that to pilot an Eva!" Shinji didn't look as Misato stormed from the room, slamming the door behind her, leaving the room in darkness once more.
"So, the Third Child is leaving Tokyo-3 later today." Ritsuko stated as she, Gendo and Rei moved along the travelator.
"We'll reconfigure Unit-01's systems for Rei. Regardless of the results of Unit-00's re-activation experiments, we'll move on to experimenting with Unit-01." Ritsuko glanced back at Rei, who didn't give any reaction and continued to just stare. "According to the Marduk Report, the Fourth Child has not been found yet."
"Does that mean we can't get any pilot replacements?"
Shinji stared down at his now punctured NERV ID card, gathering up a bit of courage, he gently asked the man behind the machine. "Um, excuse me? Where is Misato? I'd like to say goodbye."
"You are no longer NERV personnel. Therefore, we cannot give you any information."
'Why am I doing this?' Shinji thought as the car approached the train station, where soon, he would be leaving this city for good. Away from his father. 'But do I really want this?'
Upon getting out of the car, Shinji stared at the station. 'Well this is it. Last time I'm going to be here.'
"Ikari!" Shinji turned, wondering where the voice came from. "You left this stuff behind!" A bag suddenly flew at him from a random direction. Shinji just barely managed to catch the thing, before seeing who was coming.
"Mr. Aida! Next time try not to scare Shinji okay!?" The voice of Hikari confirmed Shinji's suspicions. Shinji stared at Toji, Kensuke and Hikari, standing outside the train station.
"Could you excuse me for a moment?" Shinji asked the Security Intelligence Officer. The man nodded briefly. Shinji wandered over, standing in front of Toji, Kensuke and Hikari. "Well, thank you." Hikari smiled at the boy, who gave a small grin back.
"Hey Toji?" Kensuke asked his friend, "Come on, say something!" Giving the taller boy a small shove, Kensuke pushed Toji towards Shinji. Toji turned and glared briefly at Kensuke, before returning his attention to Shinji.
"Look, Ikari. I'm sorry about hitting you twice. You gotta hit me back. As payback."
"I can't do that!"
"You've got too. Otherwise I won't be satisfied. It's just how I am."
"He's a pretty embarrassing guy, isn't he?" Kensuke chimed in.
"Too embarrassing..." Hikari commented.
"But, if it'll an end to this dispute, why don't you just go ahead and do it?"
"Aida..." Hikari growled to herself.
Two of the men standing to the side were checking a watch, this kid was wasting time!
"But..." Shinji started.
"Hurry up, goddammit! You don't have much time until they come and take you!"
"Fine, but only once."
"Come on!" Shinji frowned, before dropping his bag, and rearing back for a punch that he had done many times before. "Hey wait!" Shinji stopped inches from Toji's face. "Don't hold back."
Shinji stepped back, and reared back for the punch again. This time his fist landed, and Toji stepped backwards quite a few paces at the impact.
"Suzahara..." Hikari frowned as Toji looked shocked. He wasn't expecting the punch to be that hard. Just what had happened to Shinji? Why could he inflict damage on him when he didn't look to be that kind of person? Toji frowned as these questions ran through his head. Never the less, he stood straight, and smiled at Shinji. Shinji smiled quietly back.
Shinji felt included, he felt wanted. For the first time in his life, he didn't feel so alone. Hikari stepped forward. "We're your friends Shinji. You are not alone." Shinji smiled warmly at all three of his... friends. However he stopped abruptly.
"Wait, how'd you know where I'd be?"
"Call it a hunch." Kensuke noted. "By this point, dozens of classmates have been seen off. Since those giant things started attacking."
"Of course, if you're leaving, we'll have to leave eventually too." Toji said, staring at the ground. "But we don't blame you if you do leave, we all saw what the Eva did to you." Shinji stared at Toji wide eyed, his arms started to shake. "If anyone tries to blame you, I'll give 'em a good whop on the head!"
"Please Shinji, can't you stay?" Hikari asked. Shinji couldn't look at her.
"Come on, Shinji! Try not to look so gloomy!" Toji said.
"Take care, Ikari." Shinji frowned. He couldn't look at Kensuke, and his sincere goodbye. He couldn't look at any of them. He searched through himself, trying to find why. And he did.
"Wait..."
"Time's up." The Security Intelligence Officer had returned, resting a hand on Shinji's shoulder. Frowning, Shinji picked up his bag and headed towards the station entrance. The Intelligence Officers watched him go. Toji, Hikari and Kensuke watched him go.
Shinji was still in thought as he slowly went up the stairs, the Officers following closely, and silently, behind. The three students ran to the bottom of the stairs, glancing up as Shinji rounded the corner. Turning slowly, the three started to leave, before a bustling was heard.
"I'm the one who deserves to be hit, to be punched!" Shinji cried out, gaining the trio's attention. Shinji was currently trying to push through the Officers, both trying to hold him back. "I'm a coward! I'm dishonest! I'm spineless and weak! A wimp!"
"Don't give us anymore trouble!" The Officer angrily stated, forcefully pulling Shinji into the train station. Toji, Hikari and Kensuke watched, unsure of what to do.
"Evangelion Unit-01 will be entering Stage 2 Cryo-Stasis for activation system rewrite."
"Well," Ritsuko noted as she followed behind Misato in Unit-01's cage. "He's gone." Both women stopped in front of Unit-01's large visage. "Do you really think it was for the best?"
"The Hedgehog's Dilemma." Misato replied. "The closer we become with others, the more deeply we hurt each other. I understand now. Shinji can't let others know how he feels in any other way."
"The Express Linear Train bound for Atsugi is arriving on Track 2." The loudspeaker stated up above. Shinji stared, as the train started to round the corner into view. "For your safety, please step back into the area behind the yellow lines. Please be aware, that the boarding of this train by civilians is strictly prohibited. This is special government train."
"Hang in there, Shinji." Shinji looked straight into the open train door as he heard Misato's voice inside his head.
The blue car speeded down the highway. Most likely breaking every single road rule known to man but the driver didn't care. She had a mission.
Toji, Hikari and Kensuke glanced up at the train. Waiting for the moment when their friend would be gone from their lives forever. The sounds of the train prepping for departure were heard over the natural sounds of the city outskirts. Their thoughts were interrupted however, by the sounds of a blue car drifting into place besides them.
The door was shoved open, and Misato stepped out and looked straight at the train straight away. There was nothing else on her mind right now. The train passed, going into the deep tunnels on its path.
"Wait a second, look!" Kensuke said to Toji.
"Hey, it's that babe!" Toji replied, not noticing Hikari giving him the stink eye.
"Boys are idiots..." She muttered quietly to herself.
Misato paid the boys no mind, she was firmly focused on her own task. But as the train went away, her feelings plummeted. She turned away from the station and sighed heavily to herself. Gritting her teeth to stop the tears she'd know were coming, she turned back to the station to get back in the car.
She stopped suddenly. Something caught her eye. Giving a full view of the station, one person stood in a marked off area. Staring straight at him, Misato let the tears fall. Now a lot happier than on her way here. The figure looked up and at her. Nobody said anything for minutes, simply staring. The car's radio played in the background, but that didn't matter to anybody. As, standing in the marked off area, was Shinji Ikari.
"I... I'm home." Misato smiled warmly at Shinji, letting the tears fall.
"Welcome home."
つづく
Episode 4 is finished! Now I know Sachiel and Shamshel have been absent for a couple chapters but they'll be back next chapter. As for this Chapter! Shinji's decided to stay in Tokyo-3, knowing that he has friends here was a part of the decision. Misato's starting to feel like a mother here as well, which will come into play for her character arc later down the line. (Hint: It involves a certain, scruffy-haired man.)
Discarding the Changes segment, as this chapter is pretty much beat for beat, instead I'm going to write a timeline for Chapters 8 and 9, considering how these chapters jump around a bit.
August 6th: Shamshel attacks Tokyo-3, Shinji defeats it, while having Toji, Hikari and Kensuke in the Entry Plug. By disobeying her orders, Misato chews Shinji out as soon as he gets out of Unit-01. Shinji barely gets to meet Shamshel as he decides to run away after Misato's harsh treatment. Spending time both in the city and on the outskirts. Shinji does many things, contemplating suicide briefly along the way. In the final hours of the day, Shinji meets Kensuke on the outskirts.
August 7th: Shinji is found by Section 2 wee hours in the morning, where he is taken into NERV custody later in the day. Misato wakes up fully expecting Shinji to be in his room. He's not, and decides to speak to Ritsuko about it as she is testing Rei. Misato goes to meet Shinji once he is in NERV custody, and angrily leaves again. Shinji gets revoked of his pilot status and is sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle again in Atsugi. After talking with Toji, Hikari and Kensuke, Shinji decides to stay in Tokyo-3, having found a reason to pilot the Eva.
