Yin and Yang

Wow, it's been about two complete years since my last update. Since this story has been haunting me from the depths of my consciousness begging me to complete it even when I have no idea what direction to bring the story, The last two chapters have been representative of basically my creativity drying up. I think I dug myself in a hole the last two chapters. So I'm gonna finish this story once and for freaking all.

------------------------

Misato's eyes widened at the monitor. "No way! This can't be happening!" The oversized semi-holographic monitor showed a giant angel rampaging. Not just any angel, but the previously defeated third angel Sachiel, the bird-esque mask wearing giant with frail and awkward looking limbs. It moved about with about as much confusion as anybody looking with a devastating sense of déjà vu. "Is there any explanation for this!"

Ritsuko look as dumbfounded as any person. "Maya, is there anything in the data banks that can possibly explain this?"

------------------------

Fate looked alarmed at the monitor. "This isn't right at all…the paper, but the power should be gone!" Shinji sat there idly staring at Fate.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Yes, there's something wrong!" With the paper in his hand, Fate hastily tore up the piece of parchment before anything positively reality altering permanent effects can plant itself. "There, I think I should be more careful when it comes to this kind of stuff. Regardless…" Fate stared hard at Shinji who was crestfallen at the bits of paper that were torn.

"Fate, was that necessary?" Fate gave him a harsh look. Shinji recoiled a bit.

Fate's hand went up to rub its chin in a brooding manner. Fate stared hard at the monitor. 'Well, this certainly throws my plan out of whack. I'm gonna have to do something.'

"Shinji."

"Um, yeah?"

"Stay here, I'm gonna be back soon, I have some business to attend to, see ya for now." With a (poof!), Fate disappeared in a cloud of shadows.

"Huh?" Shinji wore an expression of utmost confusion. "What was that all about?"

------------------------

"What has happened?" Rei said in her usual bland way. Misato turned around to face her.

"Oh! You're here Rei!"

"Was there something that required my presence?" Misato fidgeted.

"There was but…" Misato thought hard. "What is going on over here! I can't believe this! Of all the things, two Shinjis, a dead angel appearing, I think I'm going crazy!" Misato brought her hands up in exasperation. The clear monitor showed the angel all but suddenly disappear in a flash of great and immense light. "What now!"

Amidst some technical jargon that no one really cares to decipher from the bridge bunnies, it amounted to nothing more than in basic English as "We have no damn idea what happened." Misato let out a very heavy sigh.

"Figures as much. All this happening, it doesn't amount to much."

"You're telling me." Ritsuko walked up from behind Misato.

"It's almost as if…fate is screwing with us." Ritsuko let off a small chuckle. Misato looked slightly irritated. "For all that is happening, you seem to be in a good mood."

"Well, all that has happened is absolutely, scientifically speaking, impossible. Maybe there's some merit to Shinji's original explanation after all, even though I still can't believe it. It does seem sensible given today's turn of events." Rei stood, slightly annoyed at being called for apparently, no reason.

"Excuse me?" Misato turned to Rei.

"Oh, I forgot you were there!" Misato chuckled lightly, "You can go now!" Rei left silently.

------------------------

Fuyutsuki noticed a momentary lapse in Gendo's demeanor. "Sir, did something happen?"

"Odd. I was feeling a bit off." Gendo stood up from his desk, looking towards the window with his gloved hands behind his back. "Something is wrong." As if anything that has happened in the last week wasn't anything wrong, Fuyutsuki failed to see anything shocking about this particular statement.

"It's almost as if a higher power is messing with us," Fuyutsuki stated simply.

"Indeed. The power to bring an angel back to life…the power to split my sniveling son Shinji to something much more pathetic than before and something within my acceptable gene parameters. The power to…" The old man looked alarmed at his student. Surely he wasn't thinking…?

"Sir…?"

"Perhaps, with this…Yui…"

------------------------

The classroom was within somewhat of a clamor. As the initial excitement wore down, tons of whispers and speculation flew about as to the source of such a loud noise. Shinji looked outside the window. He stared at his hand but then diverted his attention towards "Shinjo" who was at the moment, Mr. Charming. 'I'm back but…he's still here. There must be something wrong, I still have to…what was it that Fate said again?'

"What are you thinking about Shinji!" Asuka suddenly yelled catching Shinji off guard. He had almost jumped out of the window by surprise. He looked towards Asuka.

"Asuka…"

"What is it?" She acted in a fairly cheerful manner as a number of issues were somewhat resolved in the wake of both Shinjis simultaneously appearing. Shinji scrunched his face up in a frown. After a short second or two, Shinji immediately went to and grabbed "Shinjo's" arm and lead him outside the classroom, to the detriment of the girls that he was entertaining. Asuka watched and tilted her head sideways.

"Asuka!" She turned around to face the class rep.

"Oh, Hikari, what it is it?" Hikari smiled slightly.

"Well, it's just that, it was pretty unexpected. Did you know this entire time?" A short pause. "Its kind of weird to think there are two of them you know?" Asuka looked down.

"Yeah…" she quickly regained composure, "But you know! It's so annoying! As if one of them wasn't enough!"

------------------------

"Hey, what are you doing! Couldn't you see I was busy!" an irritated Shinjo said indignantly. Shinji was dragging him through out the door and out into the hall way. Shinji looked around. 'Strange to think that after all this time, the teacher still hasn't showed up…?' After wiping his mind of those thoughts, he turned to Shinjo.

"Finally, some time to talk to you alone."

"What exactly is this brother dearest?" A sarcastic edge added vehemently at the endearment. Shinji ignored it.

"Look! I'm not Shinji! Or um, at least the other half you know!" Shinjo tilted his head.

"Riiiiight, from the way you talk, it does seem that way…" Shinji inwardly smiled; maybe all of the intelligence DID lie within this side.

"Look, all this time, while you two guys were running around and basically ruining my lif-," Shinji was interrupted abruptly.

"Hey! If anything, I'm making your life better!" Shinji shook his head.

"No no no, but that's beside the point!"

"Then what is?"

Shinji scratched his head for a second. 'Wait, what was I talking about, oh yeah!'

"Anyways, as I've pointed out, while you guys were running around," Shinji paused for a second as if considering his words, "I was with Fate, and I could see all of you perfectly on a monitor." Shinjo raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Okay, and…?"

"If I have to guess where my…er, sensitive side is, he's probably in the same place I was. This is quite a messy situation…"

"Obviously."

"You don't have to be so sarcastic all the time. Can't you be a little of help here."

"Well that's the thing," Shinjo smirked, "none of this really concerns me!" Shinji seem to have fleeting air of anger possess him for a moment.

"Of course it does, because you ARE me! You and the other side of me have to go back together so everything and go back to normal, the only way for you two guys to do that is to kiss!" Shinjo's face considerably blanched.

"Kiss that fool? Sorry but, even I have my limits."

"Dammit, you don't understan-,"

"You don't understand! Do you know how it feels to be free? To be out of your body. To do the things that you'll never be able to do!"

"…"

They stood there in silence for awhile.

"…"

"Look, I don't know why there's these stupid rules or why all of this happened but can't you at least try to bring things back to normal. I don't know what you're planning to do but…"

A rueful smile made itself present on Shinjo's face. "I can't help it, its just who I am."

"Wait. Wha-!"

"Ikari." Both Shinji's turned towards the source of the voice. Rei stood there with her bag in her hand staring at the both of them.

"Ayanami!" "Rei!" Both Shinji's looked at each other.

"What are you doing here?" they both asked.

"Going to school." Shinji blushed lightly as Shinjo hit his head with his hand at such an obvious answer to such a stupid question.

"Oh, it's been some time, why are you so late?" Shinjo asked.

"I was called to Nerv."

"Nerv?" Shinji asked himself.

"Why?"

"It was a false emergency."

"Huh? A false emergency?"

"I suggest we enter the classroom now," Rei started to walk but stopped as she stared at the two Shinjis, "Why are both of you here?"

"Oh, we um, decided that it was too messy to pretend we're both the same person. So I'm officially "Shinjo," Shinji's twin brother." Rei looked at them blankly for a few seconds and then entered the classroom. "Hey, wait up, aren't you gonna say anything!"

"I don't know if you've noticed but, she isn't the type to say anything." Shinji looked at his brother with an amused expression.

------------------------

The chime rung and thus signaled the end of the period of time of that which most people refer to as "class." Amidst the frantic revelations and such, people rushed with friends talking with each other and the like, just enjoying life normally. In the face of normality, Shinji just wished that life could be pulled back together. His feelings about everything were still just a jumble of confusion.

"Shinji." He turned around and watched as Asuka walked towards him.

"Oh, hey Asuka…what is it?" Asuka shoved her bag into Shinji's hand.

"Er…what is this?" She looked at him as if he was the stupidest person in the whole wide world.

"I need somebody to hold my bag while we walk home of course! So stupid…" Asuka muttered a number of things under her breath as they walked.

"You know, you could've just asked. I would've been more than happy t-," Shinji clamped a hand over his mouth as soon as he realized what he was saying. Asuka and Shinji continued walking in silence. A somewhat unsettling silence. "I w-wonder where Shinjo is…" 'Dammit, why am I so nervous? It's like I haven't changed at all…she still must think I'm the other Shinji. I sure act like it.'

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I don't care what that jerk does!" They just walked until they reached home.

------------------------

Shinjo and Rei were simply sitting by the riverbank.

"What is the purpose of being here Shinji?" Shinji seemed startled.

"Why not Shinjo?"

"Was that not just to cover up that there are two of you?"

"When you put it that way, I guess you're right."

"…"

"Wait…," it suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks, "you didn't call me Ikari."

Rei didn't respond.

A small smirk planted itself on Shinji's face.

"…"

A veil of silence covered them. It really couldn't be called a comfortable silence, far from it. The air was thick with tension.

"You know." Rei was somewhat startled with the shattered silence. "It sounds rather nice."

"What does?"

"My name," Shinji walked to the edge of the river, the water slowly trickling down. "It's nice when you say it."

"…"

"It's certainly a lot better than 'Ikari.'" A light-hearted laughter escaped from his lips.

"Shinji." He turned around.

"Yeah?"

"You should laugh more often."

"Only if you do." Shinji walked over and sat by Rei. "Honestly, do you always have to be so uptight?" Rei stiffened slightly. "You never show any emotion and whenever I see you, you're always just looking out the window." Shinji rested his hand upon his bent knees. "Sometimes, I wonder, what exactly goes on in that head of yours."

"There's nothing."

"Nothing? What an odd thing to say. There's always something. Even if it's small, it still counts as something." Shinji expected a response. "You know, when you're not talking back to me, it's usually a sign that you're thinking about something. What's on your mind Rei?" Shinji shrugged his shoulders. "It's like talking to a wall…"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you say these things?"

"Is it against the law to say it? Or does it just make you uncomfortable?"

"I'm not used to it."

"Not used to talking that is?"

"No."

"What then?"

"You."

"There's something wrong with me?"

"No. It's just rather strange."

"Are you still hung up on that time?"

"…"

"I said I'm sorry. I was well, I was just-"

"I think that I should be sorry. I don't know why I reacted the way I did. It felt…intrusive."

"I would say you had every right to do what you did. Who knows, I'd probably do the same thing if I was in your shoes."

"In my shoes?"

"Not literally. Although that is an interesting thought." Shinji stood up signaling the end of the conversation. "Since you're not offering much in the conversation department as of now, I guess I'll be heading home now." He started to get up and leave.

"Wait."

"Yes?" Before she could say anything a giant roaring sound interrupted what she was saying. Shinji noticeably winced. "What the hell?"

Rei's cell phone rang.

------------------------

Shinji's eyes widened as he stared at the monitor. 'It can't be? Was that why Fate tore up my story?' He looked at the pile of shreds that was left, or rather, the paper that lay perfectly intact on the ground. 'But I thought?' Shinji shook his head. He's finally started to accept that the whole world's gone crazy. He picked it up. 'Could it be that no matter what, these HAVE to happen? Maybe I could fix everything, yeah, that's it!' Searching around for his pencil, he put it against the parchment and put down:

"At the end of the day, everything was just one big dream and that everything turned back to normal before Shinji split in two."

"Maybe, maybe just that will make up for everything." Shinji sat on the ground, staring at the screen hoping that everything can go just back to normal.

------------------------

"So, what is it?" Shinji asked. Asuka looked annoyed at Shinji.

"Can't you see I'm on the phone! What? …Oh no, I wasn't talking to you! …Nerv, an angel attack! But that doesn't make any sense. …Whatever!" She hung up and stared hard at Shinji. "We have to pilot Eva, there's an angel!"

"Wh-what!" She narrowed her eyes.

"This must have something to do with you! I'm sure of it!" A sweat drop appeared.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Shinji said with his hands in a placating manner. "L-let's just go to Nerv now okay?" Asuka broke off in a run for Nerv.

'That Shinji, he isn't gonna get off that easily!'

"Are you all ready!" Misato yelled at the suited children in their plugs. Shinji, the one with a "spine" watched with Misato. The other Shinji made it adamant that he had to pilot Eva, it was confusing at best.

"All synch ratios are normal!" Maya reported.

"Hmmm, that's right, Shinji's seems to be back on track," Ritsuko noted.

"Launch Evas!"

------------------------

Despite its initial confusion, Sachiel, upon seeing the Evangelions began a wild assault against them. It would naturally begin to attack the one it recognized, Evangelion unit 01.

Shinji saw the angel charging at him on the screen, thoughts made a mad dash in his mind. 'This is just like the first time I piloted Eva.'

"Are you paying attention Shinji? Evasive maneuvers!" The order barely registered in his mind when he noticed the rampaging charging angel becoming bigger by the second. Eva 01 sidestepped in time, as the angel tripped over Unit 01's outstretched leg. It was more of a lucky move than anything.

"Idiot, you weren't even paying attention were you!"

"Concentrate Shinji!"

"Y-yes ma'am!" Unit 02 readied her rifle and aimed at the angel who was trying to get up. A barrage of flying bullets flew towards the angel and impacted in tufts of fire and smoke, too much smoke actually. This made the plasma lance that came flying out totally unexpected and it hit Unit 02 square in the head.

"Dammit!" Unit 00 tried to intercept the lance while Unit 01 was still stuck in the smoke with the angel. The angel burst out and pinned Unit 00 down. Asuka was still trying to recover. 'Stupid Shinji, what the hell!' The angel grasped Unit 00's head. The sounds of Rei's struggling could be heard over the radio.

"Ayanami!" Unit 01 grabbed the angel from behind and tried to pry it off. The angel suddenly let go as they both crashed into the building.

'Oh great, Shinji's trying to be a hero again, not this time!'

"No wait, Asuka, look!"

"What is it!" She looked and saw that the angel had completely wrapped Unit 01 in some kind of weird bubble.

"It's going to self-destruct, again!"

------------------------

Shinji opened his eyes only to find himself in some weird empty blank space. 'This again?' He looked around and saw his other two selves. "You guys!"

One of the Shinjis had his arms around his back while the other was folded. "What happened?" The Shinji with folded arms pointed to the other.

"Apparently this guy turned everything back to normal," a look of small disgust crossed his features, "before I could even finish my business too."

"Wait a minute; you turned everything back to normal?" The other one nodded his head. "How?"

"With this of course!" Shinji was so startled he jumped. He turned around to see Fate. He was holding a piece of paper.

"Y-you!"

"The one and only!" After calming down a bit, he looked at the paper.

"What is that?"

"Fate paper I guess if you can call it. You know…this is the same material that makes up the Dead Sea Scrolls."

"Dead Sea Scrolls?"

"Basically a scroll that prophesized the angel attacks, of course, they were all fated to happen. In theory, if one were to actually think of writing on it you can make quite a number of changes to the world…"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"No reason, although I should at least give you some kind of explanation for everything."

"Fate paper…"

"Yes, although carelessly giving to Shinji there almost bent reality to something else entirely," Fate said as he pointed to Shinji who gave out a weak chuckle.

"As if you splitting me isn't reality bending enough?"

"You shouldn't worry about it though. By the time you wake up. Everything will be back to normal."

"Why is that?"

"Because it is your fate."

"My fate? I don't see the purpose of all of this in the first place!" Fate smirked.

"There doesn't have to be one."

"So what, you were just screwing around with us!"

"Can't I have a little fun once in a while?"

"This is unbelievable."

"And yet it all happens."

"You can't tell me there's no reason for this. This can't be just for your sick pleasure!"

"Those are some pretty harsh words. You shouldn't worry though, its nothing that you should concern yourself with."

"Nothing? This is my life!"

"Maybe, but then again, by the time you wake up, this is just gonna be one big weird dream. Chances are you'll probably forget everything."

"This feels like…such a copout, a cheap one at that." Fate gave a hearty laugh.

"Well, that is partly true. Still, no matter how long things take, I don't like to leave any loose ends."

"Loose ends? There's a lot of unresolved issues and now you just make them all disappear, just like that?"

"Why not? Sometimes you just have to start over before you can finish."

"Start over?" Fate looked at some invisible watch on its hand.

"Its time!"

------------------------

Shinji opened his eyes and got up instantly. He eyes partially recoiled at the sudden intake of light but he slowly adjusted. His eyes roamed and observed the surroundings. He noticed that he was back in his room at Misato's apartment.

"What was all that?" he mused to himself. He got up to use the bathroom. "That's weird. It feels like I'm missing something here."

"Shinji! You ready!" Misato's voice rang out. He slightly winced.

'A little too loud in the morning.' "Yeah, I'm in the bathroom."

"Oh, then get ready quick, we're gonna leave soon!"

"What about breakfast?"

"Well, the sooner we get this over with the faster you can go shopping with Asuka!"

"B-but!" Even if you couldn't see it, you can hear him blushing.

"Oh come on, I know you're just dying spend some time with her!" Misato laughed.

'Does she have to be so loud?'

------------------------

"Well that's enough for now," Dr. Akagi noted.

"Okay Shinji, you can go now! You need a ride?" Misato asked a bit mischievously.

"Not really," he paused, "why do we still do these tests anyways? It's not like there's any angels left."

"While it's true that all the angels have been destroyed, Evangelions can still be used in case of any other emergencies," the doctor replied quietly.

"Somehow, I don't find that believable."

"You shouldn't concern yourself with such things."

------------------------

"So, what are you thinking?" Misato asked as she shifted the gears.

"I don't know, something doesn't feel right." Misato frowned. She couldn't deny that something was indeed strange about all this. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"I know how you're feeling but let's just relax. I'm pretty sure the rest of your class are enjoying themselves! You should be too!" Shinji put his arm to support his face.

"I guess you're right Misato."

"Of course I'm right! Now you go have fun with Asuka!" The car skidded to a halt. A tinge of red dotted his cheeks as he got out of the car.

'It likes like everything is back to normal now.' He walked into the elevator and it lifted him up. He opened the door to his home. "I'm home!"

No reply.

'Huh, that's weird.'

He walked in and started looking into the rooms. 'Don't tell me Asuka left without me?' He heard the sound of a faucet turn. Shinji looked slightly relieved. "Asuka, you in there?" He stepped and hovered outside the bathroom.

"What are you talking about stupid!" Shinji jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He was face to face with Asuka. "O-oh, I was just-,"

"Standing there being an idiot, I know! What is wrong with you!"

"But I thought some one was in the bathroom."

"There was!" a chirpy voice emanated from the bathroom door. It swung open to reveal…Asuka. Shinji froze as he turned from side to side. 'Wait, Asuka's there…and Asuka is there.'

"Oh god." Shinji passed out right on the floor.

TBC.