Neon Genesis Evangelion: From the Darkness
By DarkShadowX
Disclaimer: This is annoying so you know what, this is my last disclaimer if u really need proof that I don't own Evangelion or Ill Gill just look here, or at the other two chapters before this one, I don't own jack, except for Kai
Chapter 2: Silent Call
Tokyo-3, NERV Hospital
The light shines down, making the pale hallways of the hospital look slightly more colorful, as all is still quiet even though it is already the early afternoon. The silence makes it seem as if no one has yet to awaken from his or her slumber, whether it be from being tired, or just plain bored cause of the silence and lack of activity. Such is not the case for Shinji Ikari, the hospital's only current patient.
With the light shining down on his face, he stirs slightly in his sleep, showing signs of waking up soon. As he opens his eyes, he gazes at the ceiling that has become familiar to him, "familiar ceiling... I hate this ceiling." He realizes that once again, he is in the hospital, though he is slightly confused about how he got here. Images then bombard his mind, the appearance of the 12th Angel, being swallowed by a shadow, a white void, the feeling of protection he received from two familiar presences that he can't seem to remember now, then awakening in the entry plug with Misato looking down on him, tears of concern and joy coming from her eyes, then nothing. Suddenly feeling tired from the reliving the events of the last Angel battle he decides to return to sleep. He proceeds to lie down on his bed and closed his eyes to welcome sleep; he then quickly opens his eyes as he feels a tingling sensation in his head, as if he was being called by something. As if his body is on autopilot, he gets off his bed and then walks out of his room.
Without even realizing it, he has left the hallways of the hospital and is already walking through the hallways of NERV. Surprisingly enough he has yet to be noticed by anyone, Shinji just shakes out the thoughts from his head as he continues walking, to find what seems to be calling him. After a few more minutes of walking, which to Shinji feels as if only seconds have passed, he arrives to where the call is coming from, an Eva cage. He enters the cage and quickly realizes that it is not Unit-01's cage, which for some reason he expected the call to be coming from, he then looks upon what is occupying the cage. Shinji finds himself staring at an oddly familiar Eva-like machine, he gets a strong feeling of nostalgia as he looks at it, he is then flooded with more images, the images pass too quickly for him to identify, only the image of the machine before him and of a boy that also feels very familiar remain in his mind.
Instead of just leaving the cage, he sits down on the bridge to collect his thoughts but also because he can't seem to move his body away from the cage. As he continues to remember why this machine is familiar, he continues to stare at it noticing that it's visor that was previously black, is now glowing a light almost unnoticeable red. As he gazes into it, slightly surprised at how calm he feels in its' presence, even now that it seems to be watching him, a name seem to come to his mind as he speaks a single question, one that seems the most important to him. "Ill Gill... what are you doing back here?"
At Tokyo-3, life seems to continue almost as if nothing happened. As such, school continues for students, in the class of 2-A the students are asleep or occupying themselves to drown out their teacher, who continues to drone about 2nd Impact and his life during that time. Only 2 students seem to be awake, but their thoughts are not on their teachers droning, nor on the day itself, but rather their thoughts are on the only student who is absent today, Shinji Ikari. While their thoughts are on him, one Asuka Langley Soryu is fighting with herself, making herself believe she is not worried about the 'baka hentai' and that she is more concerned about that other Eva that came out with Unit-01. The other, Rei Ayanami, is trying to understand the emotions and feelings she has been getting, most of these seem to surface when in the presence, or sometimes lack of, Shinji Ikari.
As she gazes out the window, a look a slight frustration and confusion can be seen on her face, instead of her usual emotionless look. Still trying to come to terms with her emotions, she thinks about what caused them to surface, though she already knew the answer, the boy who quickly captured her attention, Shinji Ikari. Before he had arrived, she never truly worried about things such as emotions, nor did she truly care if she died since she could easily be replaced, though she knew she could be replaced she now seems to value her life more. Shinji had been the only person who truly tried to understand her and worry about her without asking for anything in return, he made her feel like an individual, rather than a tool or a doll, and though she never outwardly showed it, she always found it enjoyable to be in his presence. Only he had truly managed to make her feel wanted, not as a doll or a tool, but as a person, he had even managed to make her feel embarrassed, something only he has done so far.
She remembered the events of the 12th Angel, when it had swallowed Unit-01 and Shinji, she felt a sense of fear that he would never return, she also felt this powerful urge to destroy the Angel and make it suffer. When the order to retreat came, she remembered feeling angry at Major Katsuragi, she had reminded her that Unit-01 and Shinji were still inside of the Angel, her eyes widened slightly as she remembered that she had indeed called him Shinji out loud, instead of her usual responses of Pilot Ikari, Ikari, or Ikari-kun. Again, while they were figuring out what to do against the Angel, she felt angry at Asuka for her continuing insults and berating of Shinji, she had even confronted Asuka, when Asuka had asked if she was pissing her off with her comments about Shinji, it had, though she didn't say so out loud. Then, when they were about to attack the Angel and Unit-01 had suddenly come from within the Angel, she felt greatly relieved that he was still alive, and then shortly after, feared for his safety again when the other Eva came from within it. She tried to ask the Commander what the Eva was, but he didn't answer her, instead saying that it was none of her concern, but it still was, the fact that it came out with Unit-01 and seem to be ready to attack anyone who came near Unit-01's entry plug had slightly worried her, and more so that it had indeed wanted to protect Shinji as it only had shutdown when Units 00 and 02 were shutdown. At this point she realized that she wouldn't be able to understand all these feelings, but she knew who could. 'Ikari-kun will be waking sometime today, perhaps he can help me understand these emotions,' with that thought she then waited for school to be over, so that she may go visit him.
Back at NERV, things had calmed down, though everyone was still worried about having another Eva, especially one that they had absolutely no information about whatsoever. After Eva Unit-01 and the unknown Eva were secured yesterday they had begun to run a check on Unit-01 to ensure there were no abnormalities in it, they had begun to check on this new Eva but were however unsuccessful, unable to get any definite reading on the Eva itself, or on the entry plug as they were assuming it had one. After hours of failure, the Commander ordered to stop running scans on it, which they obeyed, but that just made them worry more about it.
Though this failed to stop a certain individual try and find the truth about the machine. Ryoji Kaji, an employee of NERV and a spy for SEELE, was currently hacking the MAGI to find clues on this machine, but getting nowhere fast. "There has to be something on it," he said to himself, he was checking everything searching for the info he wanted. When he first began his search on it, for some reason the MAGI had already been looking for it, as if it recognized what the Eva was, while this surprised him, he used it to his advantage. After searching for what could've been an hour or two, he found two pieces of information, but it wasn't what he was expecting, just the name of the machine and what looked like a person's file though no photo of said person was available. "Biomechanical cyborg, Ill Gill; test pilot information.... Ikari, Kai, age 14, Blood type O, Deceased," as he read this, Kaji was more than surprised, "so Commander, just what is it you're hiding about Ill Gill and this Kai?" With new information, he began another search, but again had no such luck as no files existed about Ill Gill or on Kai Ikari, seeing he wouldn't have anymore luck on this, he left the MAGI and went to do his pastime, try picking up women.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, a few hours have passed and now Rei Ayanami can be seen walking down the hallway to Shinji's room, aware that Asuka is following her at a distance to make it seem otherwise, though she pays no mind to it. Rei continues to walk until she reaches the door to his room, as she opens it she finds that the room is empty, she considers that perhaps she came to the wrong room or that he was already checked out, but then sees that the bed is still unmade and his clothes folded neatly on a chair, which meant that he was walking around somewhere. As she contemplates where he had gone, she suddenly senses a presence around her, before she could react to it she sees the image of the unknown Eva and a voice speaking to her, 'Eva cage.' While unsure whether she truly heard the voice or not, she did believe that he must've gone to the Eva cage holding that machine, she then exits his room nearly colliding with Asuka, needless to say she was less than pleased.
"Hey, watch where you're going Wondergirl! What happened, Baka Shinji told you to go away?" Asuka yelled.
Rei furrowed her brow slightly at being called Wondergirl, but simply spoke in a monotone voice, "Ikari-kun is not in his room, I believe he is elsewhere and I will go look for him," then proceeded to walk away towards the cages in search of him.
Watching Rei walk away, Asuka followed her mumbling something about 'emotionless dolls' and 'bakas'.
After walking for about 10 minutes, Rei and Asuka arrived at the entrance to one of the Eva cages. Before Asuka could ask why they came here, Rei simply opened the door and walked inside, annoying Asuka even more. As they entered they first noticed the Eva simply standing there, but they noticed that the visor was glowing a light red and seem to be staring down at something, they then turned their gazes at what it was staring at. They found the boy they had been searching for, Shinji sat in front of the machine in a sort of trance, they could also tell he was deep in thought, but what seemed to confuse the most was that he had a smile on his face, it was not a fake smile nor one of his sad smiles, but one that was nothing but happiness. Seeing that brought a slight smile on Rei's face, though no one noticed, she then proceeded to get his attention, "Ikari-kun," she spoke but it seemed to not hear her, she called his a few more times but still had not heard her. She then began to walk up to him and call him again, but was interrupted by her companion shouting.
"Hey Baka, listen when you're being called!" yelled Asuka, annoyed at how stupid Shinji could really be.
The shouting quickly broke Shinji out of his trance, as he blinked and turned his gaze towards them and spoke, "Ayanami, Asuka I didn't notice you were there," they were slightly surprised at how calm he was and the slight hint of happiness that showed on his face and voice, though that still failed to calm Asuka.
"How dense can you be Baka, Wondergirl had been calling you for a few minutes, and what are you doing out of your room without telling anyone?"
Shinji surprised that they had been not just calling him, but looking for him. He said the only thing he could at the moment, mainly out of habit, "I'm sorry."
Before Asuka could yell some more, Rei interrupted her, "it is alright Ikari-kun, but may I inquire why you are here," she asked feeling slightly uncomfortable all of a sudden, as if she was being watched by someone other than Asuka and Shinji.
Shinji then furrowed his brow thinking, 'what am I doing here exactly,' and simply answered, "I don't know, I was just walking around and ended up here," while he didn't really want to lie, it was still true he was just walking around and ended up here, but he didn't want to mention that he felt like he was being called here.
"Whatever, lets just go back Baka Shinji, I'm feeling uncomfortable here," spoke Asuka who was getting the same feeling of being watched as Rei. She then turned around and walked away, being followed by Shinji and Rei who simply nodded their heads to acknowledge her.
Before they left the room, Rei felt a presence in the room, the same she felt in Shinji's hospital room, and she turned around and suppressed a gasp. She saw standing in the middle of the room, a boy around her age dressed in a black plug suit staring at her, but before she could do anything else, she heard Shinji call her and she turned around and continued to leave the room, she took one more look and noticed that the boy was gone, but she could still feel the presence.
Back at the room, Shinji was instantly in a bear hug by his purple-haired guardian, Misato Katsuragi. "Shinji I'm so glad you're awake, where'd you go, the doctors and nurses said you just disappeared," she then tightened her hug even more, which then made Shinji unable to answer and start running out of air.
Rei watched this with slight amusement, then noticed that Shinji was running out of air, "Major perhaps you should release Ikari-kun," was all she said. It still had the desired affect as Misato released Shinji from the hug, allowing him to gain his breath.
"I just... went out for a.... walk when Asuka.... And Rei came looking for me," Shinji said still regaining his breath. "So can I leave?" he asked, as he wanted to get some fresh air.
Misato simply acknowledged by nodding her head and putting a big smile on her face, which unsettled Shinji a bit as he began to guess why she had that smile as she spoke, "we're gonna have a party so we can celebrate, so lets get you out and prepare, invite your friends Shinji, and you too Asuka," she said a little bit too excited for Shinji's taste, then she seemed to remember something and turned to Rei, "would you like to join us as well Rei?"
Rei considered, she really didn't like attending anything social, especially if it involved crowds, but then she remembered that she had yet to talk to Shinji concerning the emotions she has been experiencing, "I would like to join you, Major Katsuragi."
"Please Rei, we aren't at NERV or on duty, Misato will do just fine, well lets go we need to get the stuff we need," she then walked out to sign Shinji out, as Rei and Asuka waited outside the room so that Shinji could change. After he was done, they proceeded to meet with Misato who was already waiting for them.
As they drove from NERV, Shinji seemed out of it as he forgot how Misato drives, but he quickly got used to it again. As they drove, his thoughts went back to Ill Gill, another genuine smile showed on his face as he remembered being around the presence of, who he now remembered to be, his brother Kai, and while he didn't speak with him, he sort of heard him speak telling him how to free him, but that confused him some more, 'free him what did that mean,' he thought, but then soon shrugged it off as he was happy that perhaps soon, he would see him again.
So lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that they had already bought the supplies for the party and were already back at Misato's apartment. When he snapped out of his thoughts, he realized he was sitting on the couch with the phone in his hand. He didn't really know why he had gotten the phone but he remembered he needed to invite Toji and Kensuke to the party, so he called them and they quickly agreed to come, mostly just to be around Misato. He looked up and noticed Asuka, dressed in her yellow sundress and hands on her hips, looking at him as if she was waiting for something, he then remembered and handed the phone to her so she could call Hikari, she quickly snatched it and walked to the table to sit down. About to get lost in thought, he noticed Rei sit down next to him, the look on her face showed that she was thinking of something and that she seemed to want to ask him something, so he simply ask, "Ayanami, is there something on your mind?"
She looked at him in the eyes, which seemed to make Shinji nervous a bit. She thought about what to say for a moment and then said, "there is something I wish to speak with you about Ikari-kun," but before she could say anything more she heard the bell ring and Misato answer the door, the voices of Toji and Kensuke could be heard as they entered, seeing as how she wouldn't be able to speak to Shinji now she said, "may we have this discussion after this party Ikari-kun?"
Before Shinji could speak Toji and Kensuke began to approach him, so he simply nods his head as they proceed to drag him to the kitchen so he could prepare the food, and so they could talk. The bell rings again, except this time Asuka answered it letting Hikari come in.
Shortly after, everything was prepared and they were going to start eating when the doorbell rang again. Knowing they had not invited anyone else left them slightly confused, but Shinji answered went and answered the door anyways, as he opened he was slightly surprised to find Kaji waiting. "Kaji, what are you doing here?" he asked, thinking that perhaps Asuka had invited the unshaved man.
Kaji simply smiled and said, "I wanted to talk to you about something, and then I heard from Ritsuko that Misato was holding a party, so here I am." Shinji just nodded and stepped inside and allowed Kaji to enter. As the others saw him, Misato simply looked shocked and seemed to start getting mad, and Asuka's mood brightened with the presence of Kaji.
"Kaji!!" she yelled as she ran up to him and attached herself to his arm. "What are you doing here, Kaji. Did you come to ask me out on a date?" she asked.
"Actually, I heard from Ritsuko that Misato was having a party for Shinji's return, so I decided to drop by," he said, leaving out the part of wanting to speak to Shinji.
Asuka looked a little downhearted but then brightened up say he could stay. Needless to say, Misato was less than pleased but decided to be 'civil' for tonight. The party went rather well, and aside from several arguements between Toji and Asuka, everyone enjoyed themselves, even Rei seemed to enjoy herself, even though she didn't participate in most of the activities, everyone except for Shinji, were surprised that Rei managed to hold a conversation, even though it was mostly questions of some of the activities they did, and most of the time it was Shinji she was speaking to. After about 3 hours Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari had gone home, so the others just helped clean around the house and now they just sat down all drinking tea, with the exception of Misato.
Kaji, seeing that eventually everyone at NERV will be involved, decided to get the answers he hoped he could get from Shinji, "so Shinji, what can you tell me about Ill Gill?" Everyone looked at Kaji, confused at what he was talking about, except for Shinji who almost choked on his tea, which then caused everyone's attention to be diverted from Kaji to Shinji.
"Wha.. What are you talking about Kaji?" asked Shinji nervously, wondering how he knew about it even though Misato has said earlier that no one at NERV knew what Ill Gill really was.
"You know what I mean Shinji, the Eva that came out with you and Unit-01 yesterday. Surely you must know something about it or perhaps you could tell me who Kai was?" Kaji retorted. Seeing Shinji's shocked reaction to the name got everyone even more interested about the subject.
Shinji became really nervous but answered anyways, "how did you find out about them Kaji?" He quickly figured out that this is what Kaji had wanted to talk about, and that since this pretty much affected everyone at NERV he wouldn't hesitate to ask here in front of people who worked for NERV.
Kaji was relieved that Shinji may be willing to speak about the subject so he answered with a half-truth, "Ritsuko said that the MAGI seemed to recognize the Eva and with some searching she found out the Eva's name, Ill Gill, and its test pilot, Kai Ikari, but she couldn't anymore information on Kai or on Ill Gill."
Everyone needless to say was shocked, the same thought running through their head, 'Shinji has another relative?' Misato was about to speak up but was interrupted by Shinji. He poured himself another cup of tea, then answered Kaji's question.
"Kai was my older brother, the reason you probably couldn't find anything on him was because he was adopted by my parents before I was born, I found out a few months after he died so tell Ritsuko to look under the name, Kai Shiatori," as he said that everyone could here the sadness in his voice, he took a quick sip of his tea and then continued, "I don't know much about Ill Gill, all I can really remember was that Unit-00 was partially based on it and that it was Kai's creation, no... his family's creation. Other than that, the only other thing I remember was that on its activation test it was swallowed by that black shadow, umm the Sea of Dirac I think you guys called it."
Everyone looked at Shinji, as he revealed something he had hidden from all of them, they could all see the sadness in his eyes and voice as he spoke about this. Kaji was also slightly relieved, he now knew what to look for next time, but he also felt guilty that he forced Shinji to reveal something that obviously hurt him.
"I'm sorry Shinji, I shouldn't have asked you about this," answered Kaji, he was going to say something else but then Shinji shook his head and had a small smile on his face, the smile contained a great deal of sadness yet at the same time, a great deal of happiness.
"It's alright Kaji, since Ill Gill came back, there's hope that maybe, Kai will too. No, I know he'll come back, I can feel it whenever I look at Ill Gill, he saved me back then, when I was in the 12th Angel, I felt his presence and with his help I was able to break out," he answered, he knew Kai would come back, but for now he would wait. Shinji felt tired after speaking and decided to walk Rei home, he knew he still had to speak with her and on his way back home he could think some more, "Hey Ayanami, how about I walk you home now, it's getting late and you should be getting home."
Rei seemed a bit hesitant to go, she had learned a bit more about Shinji today and could see he was saddened but she knew she had to return, "Very well Ikari-kun, lets go." She and Shinji then rose from their seats and put on their shoes, and had left the apartment. Everything was silent after what had been said, even Asuka was quiet after what she had just heard. After a few moments, Misato decided to break the silence.
"Kaji just why did you bring that up, is that why you really came by for?" she asked, slightly angry at him, for bringing up an obviously sensitive subject, even if it was one she was never aware of until now.
Kaji saw the look on her face and the tone in her voice and knew he shouldn't have brought it up, but his search for the truth always got him in trouble. "Sorry Misato, you know me, when I want answers I forget how it may affect others, I know I shouldn't have brought it up but, after I found out I just had to know. Truth be told, ever since Ill Gill showed up, anyone who seems to mention it in either Commanders' presence are instantly told to forget about it, they're hiding something and only Shinji seems to know the answers. Well Shinji's right, it is getting late and I should be going, I guess I'll see you both later, goodbye Misato, Asuka." With that, Kaji got up and left feeling exhausted but glad he had gotten the answers he was looking for, and yet still guilty about Shinji.
Again silence took the apartment for a few minutes, and again Misato broke the silence. "Well today's obviously been an exhausting day, I'm gonna go to sleep, you should get some sleep too Asuka, you and Shinji still have school tomorrow. Well, goodnight Asuka," she said, then entered her room and quickly feel asleep.
Asuka also decided that she should get some sleep, but instead she went to the couch and laid there to wait for Shinji. After what had been said she felt the need to talk to him, though she couldn't understand why.
Back on the streets of Tokyo-3, Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami were walking on their way to Rei's apartment. Since they had left Misato's there had an uncomfortable and yet welcome silence between the two. While they were walking, they were passing through a park that's about halfway from Misato's to Rei's apartment. Remembering that Rei still wanted to talk to Shinji, he decided to break the silence when he saw a bench not to far from where they were.
"Ayanami, lets take a break for a bit," he said, when she looked at him she gave him a confused look, knowing she would want to know why they should take a break he answered, "you said you had wanted to talk to me after the party, so what better time and place than here and now."
Satisfied with his answer, they walked to the bench and sat down, again the silence returned but was quickly broken. "So what did you want to talk to me about Ayanami?" Shinji asked curious as when she had first wanted to talk to him she seemed hesitant, almost nervous, he quickly noticed that she was like that again, as she seemed hesitant again to speak, before he could say he was sorry for bringing it up, she interrupted him.
"I wanted to talk to you about emotions, mainly mine as they seem to be confusing me," she said, almost with a tone of hope in her voice, hope that Shinji could help her by solving, if not come to terms with these emotions.
"What do you mean Rei?"
She paused, thinking how to put this into words, "recently, I have been experiencing different emotions that I haven't before, most of which only seem to surface when it concerns you, Ikari-kun. Perhaps you can help me understand these emotions." She hoped he could, no, she knew he could help her.
Shinji seemed to contemplate his answer, after all Rei hardly made requests and she had come to him for his help, he glanced at his watch seeing it was almost 10, he then remembered he still had to go to school, but he still wanted to help her so he answered, "of course I'll help Ayanami, but it's getting late. Tell you what, how about we continue this tomorrow at school during lunch, I'll even make you a lunch, and if we can't get done during lunch then after school we'll finish the discussion at your place after we go have our synch tests, how does that sound?"
Rei for her part was glad he would help her, so she answered, "I would like that very much Ikari-kun." After that they continued to walk back to her apartment. When they reached her door she spoke again, "Thank you Ikari-kun for willing to help me, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"No problem Rei, I'll see you tomorrow goodnight," he said and ran off, not noticing that he had called her by her name, nor noticing the slight blush that formed because of it.
She then entered her apartment, and laid in her bed not bother to take off her clothes, as her thoughts were on what had happened. 'Thank you, words of gratitude, words I've never used not even with 'him', and being called by my name by Ikari-kun, feels pleasant, I will wait for tomorrow then perhaps when I understand my emotions better, I will be able to understand what I feel for Ikari-kun.' With that, she quickly succumbed to sleep.
A few minutes later, Shinji arrived back at his home. He walked in ready to walk to his room and fall asleep, when he noticed Asuka asleep on the couch. He wondered why she was asleep on the couch; she couldn't have been waiting for him, could she? Nevertheless he walked up to her, but didn't want to wake her up, so he carefully picked her up, surprised that she wasn't that heavy, or that she had woken up. He walked up to her room and put her in her bed, he turned to leave when her voice came to his ears.
"Shinji wait," she said, obviously fighting against sleep and not winning.
He turned around to look at her, her light blue eyes seem to glow in the pale moonlight, " umm...what is it Asuka?"
She closed her eyes but still spoke, "are you... are you ok?"
Shinji was surprised, here was Asuka the girl who would always tease him, torment him, and she was now asking if he was ok. He was confused by what she meant, when he remembered about the discussion with Kaji, he smiled and then answered, "yeah I'm ok, and goodnight Asuka see you tomorrow." She mumbled something that could be said to be goodnight and quickly fell asleep. With that he walked to his room, changed into his night clothes and flopped on the bed, as soon as he hit the bed, he fell asleep awaiting for tomorrow which he felt would prove to be most interesting.
Well here's the 2nd chapter, yes I know Rei is OOC but for some reason it just seems right. Anyways, no Kai this time but he'll be in the next chapter, in which I may also decide to bring him out of Ill Gill. I also have to do more with Asuka since she hasn't taken much of a part as of yet but hey, it's only the 2nd chapter. Now I'm still not sure if I'm going to do a Shinji/Rei, while I'm both a fan of Shinji/Rei and Shinji/Asuka, a Shinji/Rei seems good for this fic, now if I'll also do Kai/Asuka I'm not entirely sure. Anyways the next 2 chapters will be basically developing the characters, the 13th Angel won't be until the 4th or 5th chapter. Anyways feel free to review or wutever.
By DarkShadowX
Disclaimer: This is annoying so you know what, this is my last disclaimer if u really need proof that I don't own Evangelion or Ill Gill just look here, or at the other two chapters before this one, I don't own jack, except for Kai
Chapter 2: Silent Call
Tokyo-3, NERV Hospital
The light shines down, making the pale hallways of the hospital look slightly more colorful, as all is still quiet even though it is already the early afternoon. The silence makes it seem as if no one has yet to awaken from his or her slumber, whether it be from being tired, or just plain bored cause of the silence and lack of activity. Such is not the case for Shinji Ikari, the hospital's only current patient.
With the light shining down on his face, he stirs slightly in his sleep, showing signs of waking up soon. As he opens his eyes, he gazes at the ceiling that has become familiar to him, "familiar ceiling... I hate this ceiling." He realizes that once again, he is in the hospital, though he is slightly confused about how he got here. Images then bombard his mind, the appearance of the 12th Angel, being swallowed by a shadow, a white void, the feeling of protection he received from two familiar presences that he can't seem to remember now, then awakening in the entry plug with Misato looking down on him, tears of concern and joy coming from her eyes, then nothing. Suddenly feeling tired from the reliving the events of the last Angel battle he decides to return to sleep. He proceeds to lie down on his bed and closed his eyes to welcome sleep; he then quickly opens his eyes as he feels a tingling sensation in his head, as if he was being called by something. As if his body is on autopilot, he gets off his bed and then walks out of his room.
Without even realizing it, he has left the hallways of the hospital and is already walking through the hallways of NERV. Surprisingly enough he has yet to be noticed by anyone, Shinji just shakes out the thoughts from his head as he continues walking, to find what seems to be calling him. After a few more minutes of walking, which to Shinji feels as if only seconds have passed, he arrives to where the call is coming from, an Eva cage. He enters the cage and quickly realizes that it is not Unit-01's cage, which for some reason he expected the call to be coming from, he then looks upon what is occupying the cage. Shinji finds himself staring at an oddly familiar Eva-like machine, he gets a strong feeling of nostalgia as he looks at it, he is then flooded with more images, the images pass too quickly for him to identify, only the image of the machine before him and of a boy that also feels very familiar remain in his mind.
Instead of just leaving the cage, he sits down on the bridge to collect his thoughts but also because he can't seem to move his body away from the cage. As he continues to remember why this machine is familiar, he continues to stare at it noticing that it's visor that was previously black, is now glowing a light almost unnoticeable red. As he gazes into it, slightly surprised at how calm he feels in its' presence, even now that it seems to be watching him, a name seem to come to his mind as he speaks a single question, one that seems the most important to him. "Ill Gill... what are you doing back here?"
At Tokyo-3, life seems to continue almost as if nothing happened. As such, school continues for students, in the class of 2-A the students are asleep or occupying themselves to drown out their teacher, who continues to drone about 2nd Impact and his life during that time. Only 2 students seem to be awake, but their thoughts are not on their teachers droning, nor on the day itself, but rather their thoughts are on the only student who is absent today, Shinji Ikari. While their thoughts are on him, one Asuka Langley Soryu is fighting with herself, making herself believe she is not worried about the 'baka hentai' and that she is more concerned about that other Eva that came out with Unit-01. The other, Rei Ayanami, is trying to understand the emotions and feelings she has been getting, most of these seem to surface when in the presence, or sometimes lack of, Shinji Ikari.
As she gazes out the window, a look a slight frustration and confusion can be seen on her face, instead of her usual emotionless look. Still trying to come to terms with her emotions, she thinks about what caused them to surface, though she already knew the answer, the boy who quickly captured her attention, Shinji Ikari. Before he had arrived, she never truly worried about things such as emotions, nor did she truly care if she died since she could easily be replaced, though she knew she could be replaced she now seems to value her life more. Shinji had been the only person who truly tried to understand her and worry about her without asking for anything in return, he made her feel like an individual, rather than a tool or a doll, and though she never outwardly showed it, she always found it enjoyable to be in his presence. Only he had truly managed to make her feel wanted, not as a doll or a tool, but as a person, he had even managed to make her feel embarrassed, something only he has done so far.
She remembered the events of the 12th Angel, when it had swallowed Unit-01 and Shinji, she felt a sense of fear that he would never return, she also felt this powerful urge to destroy the Angel and make it suffer. When the order to retreat came, she remembered feeling angry at Major Katsuragi, she had reminded her that Unit-01 and Shinji were still inside of the Angel, her eyes widened slightly as she remembered that she had indeed called him Shinji out loud, instead of her usual responses of Pilot Ikari, Ikari, or Ikari-kun. Again, while they were figuring out what to do against the Angel, she felt angry at Asuka for her continuing insults and berating of Shinji, she had even confronted Asuka, when Asuka had asked if she was pissing her off with her comments about Shinji, it had, though she didn't say so out loud. Then, when they were about to attack the Angel and Unit-01 had suddenly come from within the Angel, she felt greatly relieved that he was still alive, and then shortly after, feared for his safety again when the other Eva came from within it. She tried to ask the Commander what the Eva was, but he didn't answer her, instead saying that it was none of her concern, but it still was, the fact that it came out with Unit-01 and seem to be ready to attack anyone who came near Unit-01's entry plug had slightly worried her, and more so that it had indeed wanted to protect Shinji as it only had shutdown when Units 00 and 02 were shutdown. At this point she realized that she wouldn't be able to understand all these feelings, but she knew who could. 'Ikari-kun will be waking sometime today, perhaps he can help me understand these emotions,' with that thought she then waited for school to be over, so that she may go visit him.
Back at NERV, things had calmed down, though everyone was still worried about having another Eva, especially one that they had absolutely no information about whatsoever. After Eva Unit-01 and the unknown Eva were secured yesterday they had begun to run a check on Unit-01 to ensure there were no abnormalities in it, they had begun to check on this new Eva but were however unsuccessful, unable to get any definite reading on the Eva itself, or on the entry plug as they were assuming it had one. After hours of failure, the Commander ordered to stop running scans on it, which they obeyed, but that just made them worry more about it.
Though this failed to stop a certain individual try and find the truth about the machine. Ryoji Kaji, an employee of NERV and a spy for SEELE, was currently hacking the MAGI to find clues on this machine, but getting nowhere fast. "There has to be something on it," he said to himself, he was checking everything searching for the info he wanted. When he first began his search on it, for some reason the MAGI had already been looking for it, as if it recognized what the Eva was, while this surprised him, he used it to his advantage. After searching for what could've been an hour or two, he found two pieces of information, but it wasn't what he was expecting, just the name of the machine and what looked like a person's file though no photo of said person was available. "Biomechanical cyborg, Ill Gill; test pilot information.... Ikari, Kai, age 14, Blood type O, Deceased," as he read this, Kaji was more than surprised, "so Commander, just what is it you're hiding about Ill Gill and this Kai?" With new information, he began another search, but again had no such luck as no files existed about Ill Gill or on Kai Ikari, seeing he wouldn't have anymore luck on this, he left the MAGI and went to do his pastime, try picking up women.
Meanwhile, back at the hospital, a few hours have passed and now Rei Ayanami can be seen walking down the hallway to Shinji's room, aware that Asuka is following her at a distance to make it seem otherwise, though she pays no mind to it. Rei continues to walk until she reaches the door to his room, as she opens it she finds that the room is empty, she considers that perhaps she came to the wrong room or that he was already checked out, but then sees that the bed is still unmade and his clothes folded neatly on a chair, which meant that he was walking around somewhere. As she contemplates where he had gone, she suddenly senses a presence around her, before she could react to it she sees the image of the unknown Eva and a voice speaking to her, 'Eva cage.' While unsure whether she truly heard the voice or not, she did believe that he must've gone to the Eva cage holding that machine, she then exits his room nearly colliding with Asuka, needless to say she was less than pleased.
"Hey, watch where you're going Wondergirl! What happened, Baka Shinji told you to go away?" Asuka yelled.
Rei furrowed her brow slightly at being called Wondergirl, but simply spoke in a monotone voice, "Ikari-kun is not in his room, I believe he is elsewhere and I will go look for him," then proceeded to walk away towards the cages in search of him.
Watching Rei walk away, Asuka followed her mumbling something about 'emotionless dolls' and 'bakas'.
After walking for about 10 minutes, Rei and Asuka arrived at the entrance to one of the Eva cages. Before Asuka could ask why they came here, Rei simply opened the door and walked inside, annoying Asuka even more. As they entered they first noticed the Eva simply standing there, but they noticed that the visor was glowing a light red and seem to be staring down at something, they then turned their gazes at what it was staring at. They found the boy they had been searching for, Shinji sat in front of the machine in a sort of trance, they could also tell he was deep in thought, but what seemed to confuse the most was that he had a smile on his face, it was not a fake smile nor one of his sad smiles, but one that was nothing but happiness. Seeing that brought a slight smile on Rei's face, though no one noticed, she then proceeded to get his attention, "Ikari-kun," she spoke but it seemed to not hear her, she called his a few more times but still had not heard her. She then began to walk up to him and call him again, but was interrupted by her companion shouting.
"Hey Baka, listen when you're being called!" yelled Asuka, annoyed at how stupid Shinji could really be.
The shouting quickly broke Shinji out of his trance, as he blinked and turned his gaze towards them and spoke, "Ayanami, Asuka I didn't notice you were there," they were slightly surprised at how calm he was and the slight hint of happiness that showed on his face and voice, though that still failed to calm Asuka.
"How dense can you be Baka, Wondergirl had been calling you for a few minutes, and what are you doing out of your room without telling anyone?"
Shinji surprised that they had been not just calling him, but looking for him. He said the only thing he could at the moment, mainly out of habit, "I'm sorry."
Before Asuka could yell some more, Rei interrupted her, "it is alright Ikari-kun, but may I inquire why you are here," she asked feeling slightly uncomfortable all of a sudden, as if she was being watched by someone other than Asuka and Shinji.
Shinji then furrowed his brow thinking, 'what am I doing here exactly,' and simply answered, "I don't know, I was just walking around and ended up here," while he didn't really want to lie, it was still true he was just walking around and ended up here, but he didn't want to mention that he felt like he was being called here.
"Whatever, lets just go back Baka Shinji, I'm feeling uncomfortable here," spoke Asuka who was getting the same feeling of being watched as Rei. She then turned around and walked away, being followed by Shinji and Rei who simply nodded their heads to acknowledge her.
Before they left the room, Rei felt a presence in the room, the same she felt in Shinji's hospital room, and she turned around and suppressed a gasp. She saw standing in the middle of the room, a boy around her age dressed in a black plug suit staring at her, but before she could do anything else, she heard Shinji call her and she turned around and continued to leave the room, she took one more look and noticed that the boy was gone, but she could still feel the presence.
Back at the room, Shinji was instantly in a bear hug by his purple-haired guardian, Misato Katsuragi. "Shinji I'm so glad you're awake, where'd you go, the doctors and nurses said you just disappeared," she then tightened her hug even more, which then made Shinji unable to answer and start running out of air.
Rei watched this with slight amusement, then noticed that Shinji was running out of air, "Major perhaps you should release Ikari-kun," was all she said. It still had the desired affect as Misato released Shinji from the hug, allowing him to gain his breath.
"I just... went out for a.... walk when Asuka.... And Rei came looking for me," Shinji said still regaining his breath. "So can I leave?" he asked, as he wanted to get some fresh air.
Misato simply acknowledged by nodding her head and putting a big smile on her face, which unsettled Shinji a bit as he began to guess why she had that smile as she spoke, "we're gonna have a party so we can celebrate, so lets get you out and prepare, invite your friends Shinji, and you too Asuka," she said a little bit too excited for Shinji's taste, then she seemed to remember something and turned to Rei, "would you like to join us as well Rei?"
Rei considered, she really didn't like attending anything social, especially if it involved crowds, but then she remembered that she had yet to talk to Shinji concerning the emotions she has been experiencing, "I would like to join you, Major Katsuragi."
"Please Rei, we aren't at NERV or on duty, Misato will do just fine, well lets go we need to get the stuff we need," she then walked out to sign Shinji out, as Rei and Asuka waited outside the room so that Shinji could change. After he was done, they proceeded to meet with Misato who was already waiting for them.
As they drove from NERV, Shinji seemed out of it as he forgot how Misato drives, but he quickly got used to it again. As they drove, his thoughts went back to Ill Gill, another genuine smile showed on his face as he remembered being around the presence of, who he now remembered to be, his brother Kai, and while he didn't speak with him, he sort of heard him speak telling him how to free him, but that confused him some more, 'free him what did that mean,' he thought, but then soon shrugged it off as he was happy that perhaps soon, he would see him again.
So lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize that they had already bought the supplies for the party and were already back at Misato's apartment. When he snapped out of his thoughts, he realized he was sitting on the couch with the phone in his hand. He didn't really know why he had gotten the phone but he remembered he needed to invite Toji and Kensuke to the party, so he called them and they quickly agreed to come, mostly just to be around Misato. He looked up and noticed Asuka, dressed in her yellow sundress and hands on her hips, looking at him as if she was waiting for something, he then remembered and handed the phone to her so she could call Hikari, she quickly snatched it and walked to the table to sit down. About to get lost in thought, he noticed Rei sit down next to him, the look on her face showed that she was thinking of something and that she seemed to want to ask him something, so he simply ask, "Ayanami, is there something on your mind?"
She looked at him in the eyes, which seemed to make Shinji nervous a bit. She thought about what to say for a moment and then said, "there is something I wish to speak with you about Ikari-kun," but before she could say anything more she heard the bell ring and Misato answer the door, the voices of Toji and Kensuke could be heard as they entered, seeing as how she wouldn't be able to speak to Shinji now she said, "may we have this discussion after this party Ikari-kun?"
Before Shinji could speak Toji and Kensuke began to approach him, so he simply nods his head as they proceed to drag him to the kitchen so he could prepare the food, and so they could talk. The bell rings again, except this time Asuka answered it letting Hikari come in.
Shortly after, everything was prepared and they were going to start eating when the doorbell rang again. Knowing they had not invited anyone else left them slightly confused, but Shinji answered went and answered the door anyways, as he opened he was slightly surprised to find Kaji waiting. "Kaji, what are you doing here?" he asked, thinking that perhaps Asuka had invited the unshaved man.
Kaji simply smiled and said, "I wanted to talk to you about something, and then I heard from Ritsuko that Misato was holding a party, so here I am." Shinji just nodded and stepped inside and allowed Kaji to enter. As the others saw him, Misato simply looked shocked and seemed to start getting mad, and Asuka's mood brightened with the presence of Kaji.
"Kaji!!" she yelled as she ran up to him and attached herself to his arm. "What are you doing here, Kaji. Did you come to ask me out on a date?" she asked.
"Actually, I heard from Ritsuko that Misato was having a party for Shinji's return, so I decided to drop by," he said, leaving out the part of wanting to speak to Shinji.
Asuka looked a little downhearted but then brightened up say he could stay. Needless to say, Misato was less than pleased but decided to be 'civil' for tonight. The party went rather well, and aside from several arguements between Toji and Asuka, everyone enjoyed themselves, even Rei seemed to enjoy herself, even though she didn't participate in most of the activities, everyone except for Shinji, were surprised that Rei managed to hold a conversation, even though it was mostly questions of some of the activities they did, and most of the time it was Shinji she was speaking to. After about 3 hours Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari had gone home, so the others just helped clean around the house and now they just sat down all drinking tea, with the exception of Misato.
Kaji, seeing that eventually everyone at NERV will be involved, decided to get the answers he hoped he could get from Shinji, "so Shinji, what can you tell me about Ill Gill?" Everyone looked at Kaji, confused at what he was talking about, except for Shinji who almost choked on his tea, which then caused everyone's attention to be diverted from Kaji to Shinji.
"Wha.. What are you talking about Kaji?" asked Shinji nervously, wondering how he knew about it even though Misato has said earlier that no one at NERV knew what Ill Gill really was.
"You know what I mean Shinji, the Eva that came out with you and Unit-01 yesterday. Surely you must know something about it or perhaps you could tell me who Kai was?" Kaji retorted. Seeing Shinji's shocked reaction to the name got everyone even more interested about the subject.
Shinji became really nervous but answered anyways, "how did you find out about them Kaji?" He quickly figured out that this is what Kaji had wanted to talk about, and that since this pretty much affected everyone at NERV he wouldn't hesitate to ask here in front of people who worked for NERV.
Kaji was relieved that Shinji may be willing to speak about the subject so he answered with a half-truth, "Ritsuko said that the MAGI seemed to recognize the Eva and with some searching she found out the Eva's name, Ill Gill, and its test pilot, Kai Ikari, but she couldn't anymore information on Kai or on Ill Gill."
Everyone needless to say was shocked, the same thought running through their head, 'Shinji has another relative?' Misato was about to speak up but was interrupted by Shinji. He poured himself another cup of tea, then answered Kaji's question.
"Kai was my older brother, the reason you probably couldn't find anything on him was because he was adopted by my parents before I was born, I found out a few months after he died so tell Ritsuko to look under the name, Kai Shiatori," as he said that everyone could here the sadness in his voice, he took a quick sip of his tea and then continued, "I don't know much about Ill Gill, all I can really remember was that Unit-00 was partially based on it and that it was Kai's creation, no... his family's creation. Other than that, the only other thing I remember was that on its activation test it was swallowed by that black shadow, umm the Sea of Dirac I think you guys called it."
Everyone looked at Shinji, as he revealed something he had hidden from all of them, they could all see the sadness in his eyes and voice as he spoke about this. Kaji was also slightly relieved, he now knew what to look for next time, but he also felt guilty that he forced Shinji to reveal something that obviously hurt him.
"I'm sorry Shinji, I shouldn't have asked you about this," answered Kaji, he was going to say something else but then Shinji shook his head and had a small smile on his face, the smile contained a great deal of sadness yet at the same time, a great deal of happiness.
"It's alright Kaji, since Ill Gill came back, there's hope that maybe, Kai will too. No, I know he'll come back, I can feel it whenever I look at Ill Gill, he saved me back then, when I was in the 12th Angel, I felt his presence and with his help I was able to break out," he answered, he knew Kai would come back, but for now he would wait. Shinji felt tired after speaking and decided to walk Rei home, he knew he still had to speak with her and on his way back home he could think some more, "Hey Ayanami, how about I walk you home now, it's getting late and you should be getting home."
Rei seemed a bit hesitant to go, she had learned a bit more about Shinji today and could see he was saddened but she knew she had to return, "Very well Ikari-kun, lets go." She and Shinji then rose from their seats and put on their shoes, and had left the apartment. Everything was silent after what had been said, even Asuka was quiet after what she had just heard. After a few moments, Misato decided to break the silence.
"Kaji just why did you bring that up, is that why you really came by for?" she asked, slightly angry at him, for bringing up an obviously sensitive subject, even if it was one she was never aware of until now.
Kaji saw the look on her face and the tone in her voice and knew he shouldn't have brought it up, but his search for the truth always got him in trouble. "Sorry Misato, you know me, when I want answers I forget how it may affect others, I know I shouldn't have brought it up but, after I found out I just had to know. Truth be told, ever since Ill Gill showed up, anyone who seems to mention it in either Commanders' presence are instantly told to forget about it, they're hiding something and only Shinji seems to know the answers. Well Shinji's right, it is getting late and I should be going, I guess I'll see you both later, goodbye Misato, Asuka." With that, Kaji got up and left feeling exhausted but glad he had gotten the answers he was looking for, and yet still guilty about Shinji.
Again silence took the apartment for a few minutes, and again Misato broke the silence. "Well today's obviously been an exhausting day, I'm gonna go to sleep, you should get some sleep too Asuka, you and Shinji still have school tomorrow. Well, goodnight Asuka," she said, then entered her room and quickly feel asleep.
Asuka also decided that she should get some sleep, but instead she went to the couch and laid there to wait for Shinji. After what had been said she felt the need to talk to him, though she couldn't understand why.
Back on the streets of Tokyo-3, Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami were walking on their way to Rei's apartment. Since they had left Misato's there had an uncomfortable and yet welcome silence between the two. While they were walking, they were passing through a park that's about halfway from Misato's to Rei's apartment. Remembering that Rei still wanted to talk to Shinji, he decided to break the silence when he saw a bench not to far from where they were.
"Ayanami, lets take a break for a bit," he said, when she looked at him she gave him a confused look, knowing she would want to know why they should take a break he answered, "you said you had wanted to talk to me after the party, so what better time and place than here and now."
Satisfied with his answer, they walked to the bench and sat down, again the silence returned but was quickly broken. "So what did you want to talk to me about Ayanami?" Shinji asked curious as when she had first wanted to talk to him she seemed hesitant, almost nervous, he quickly noticed that she was like that again, as she seemed hesitant again to speak, before he could say he was sorry for bringing it up, she interrupted him.
"I wanted to talk to you about emotions, mainly mine as they seem to be confusing me," she said, almost with a tone of hope in her voice, hope that Shinji could help her by solving, if not come to terms with these emotions.
"What do you mean Rei?"
She paused, thinking how to put this into words, "recently, I have been experiencing different emotions that I haven't before, most of which only seem to surface when it concerns you, Ikari-kun. Perhaps you can help me understand these emotions." She hoped he could, no, she knew he could help her.
Shinji seemed to contemplate his answer, after all Rei hardly made requests and she had come to him for his help, he glanced at his watch seeing it was almost 10, he then remembered he still had to go to school, but he still wanted to help her so he answered, "of course I'll help Ayanami, but it's getting late. Tell you what, how about we continue this tomorrow at school during lunch, I'll even make you a lunch, and if we can't get done during lunch then after school we'll finish the discussion at your place after we go have our synch tests, how does that sound?"
Rei for her part was glad he would help her, so she answered, "I would like that very much Ikari-kun." After that they continued to walk back to her apartment. When they reached her door she spoke again, "Thank you Ikari-kun for willing to help me, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"No problem Rei, I'll see you tomorrow goodnight," he said and ran off, not noticing that he had called her by her name, nor noticing the slight blush that formed because of it.
She then entered her apartment, and laid in her bed not bother to take off her clothes, as her thoughts were on what had happened. 'Thank you, words of gratitude, words I've never used not even with 'him', and being called by my name by Ikari-kun, feels pleasant, I will wait for tomorrow then perhaps when I understand my emotions better, I will be able to understand what I feel for Ikari-kun.' With that, she quickly succumbed to sleep.
A few minutes later, Shinji arrived back at his home. He walked in ready to walk to his room and fall asleep, when he noticed Asuka asleep on the couch. He wondered why she was asleep on the couch; she couldn't have been waiting for him, could she? Nevertheless he walked up to her, but didn't want to wake her up, so he carefully picked her up, surprised that she wasn't that heavy, or that she had woken up. He walked up to her room and put her in her bed, he turned to leave when her voice came to his ears.
"Shinji wait," she said, obviously fighting against sleep and not winning.
He turned around to look at her, her light blue eyes seem to glow in the pale moonlight, " umm...what is it Asuka?"
She closed her eyes but still spoke, "are you... are you ok?"
Shinji was surprised, here was Asuka the girl who would always tease him, torment him, and she was now asking if he was ok. He was confused by what she meant, when he remembered about the discussion with Kaji, he smiled and then answered, "yeah I'm ok, and goodnight Asuka see you tomorrow." She mumbled something that could be said to be goodnight and quickly fell asleep. With that he walked to his room, changed into his night clothes and flopped on the bed, as soon as he hit the bed, he fell asleep awaiting for tomorrow which he felt would prove to be most interesting.
Well here's the 2nd chapter, yes I know Rei is OOC but for some reason it just seems right. Anyways, no Kai this time but he'll be in the next chapter, in which I may also decide to bring him out of Ill Gill. I also have to do more with Asuka since she hasn't taken much of a part as of yet but hey, it's only the 2nd chapter. Now I'm still not sure if I'm going to do a Shinji/Rei, while I'm both a fan of Shinji/Rei and Shinji/Asuka, a Shinji/Rei seems good for this fic, now if I'll also do Kai/Asuka I'm not entirely sure. Anyways the next 2 chapters will be basically developing the characters, the 13th Angel won't be until the 4th or 5th chapter. Anyways feel free to review or wutever.