Well, we've hit Chapter Eleven, for those faithful readers who're still with me, thanks, hope you're enjoying the ride, there's still a good deal left, so, hope you enjoy it all…
Anyway, I've been writing a lot lately, but mainly in mass updates, since I now have Ikari the King, NGE: Madness, FoD and this fic as continuous fanfics, with the occasional songfic or one-shot (or three-shot in the case of The Mysterious Stranger).
And yeah, as for Hikari/Shinji, it's probably a phase, from over saturating myself with too many, often ridiculously horrible, Asuka/Shinji fanfics…But I'm still a big fan of Hikari/Shinji, nonetheless, and other weird, rare pairings…I want to make a Ritsuko/Gendo romance fic one day…You don't see many of those done at all, do ya? Eheheh..
Anyway, let's start the show…
Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or its characters. Gainax does, and they rock. Who else could create both Evangelion and FLCL! I also don't own anything that happens to be referenced in this story.
Tokyo 3, Japan
Shinji Ikari sat in the passenger seat of the car, staring out the window of the car as the sunlight wafted in, dreamily burning against his face.
"So…Touji? Where's Makoto? Are you just driving me to his place? Because I-"
Touji peered at Shinji out of the corner of his eye with a queer expression as the car paused at a stop sign.
"Who the hell is Makoto?"
Shinji just sat there, silent, taking it all in stride, if it could really be called that, just numbly ignoring it to converse almost regularly with his friend.
"So…what's up with you, Shinji? Find a job?"
"Um…job? But I'm a teacher…"
"Well, I heard they got tired of your unexplained absences…you've been gone for a long time man…"
"Yeah…so, how about you?"
"Eh, I got a job as a security guard…"
Shinji nodded, a bit manic.
"You're lucky…How many veterans of the Angel Wars do you see employed these days?"
"Could count them on one hand…"
"It's almost like a conspiracy…huh?"
"No joke…Goddamn NERV, goddamn JSSDF…That damn war, it's like it's still going on, and I'm fighting it!"
"It's not worth it, Touji, calm down, you'll never win."
"You tellin' me? How many times can a man die, huh?"
Touji seemed to glance at his rear view mirror constantly, his head jerking from Shinji to the mirror, his face twisted into a frown.
"Um…Still married Shinji?"
Shinji stiffened, slightly confused.
"Yeah, you know we separated…You saw Rei yourself. "
"God…you and everybody else…Damn, I hate this area, makes me nervous."
"Um…what about Hikari? You two seem-"
It was Touji's turn to stiffen, the former Fourth Child eying Shinji determinedly.
"Don't talk about that whore in front of me."
"Ah?"
"Just promise me you won't…"
"Uh…alright…So, where exactly are we going?"
"I…just need to talk Shin-man, you know, like the good old days."
Shinji sighed.
Those days were good?
"We can't talk back at my house?"
Touji's eyes widened, and he chuckled, although it seemed rather artificial.
"I'm…not sure where I can talk anymore."
Shinji peered at Touji, slightly confused and concerned.
"What's wrong?"
"Um…let's just get a couple drinks, alright?"
Touji peered once more at his rear view mirror, slowly licking his tongue around his dried lips.
"Hey, take a look behind us, Shinji. Do you think that car is following us?"
Shinji strained his neck around, peering back at what seemed to be a black car.
"That car?"
"Pull down the mirror on the sun visor."
Shinji nodded, pulling it down and peering closely through the mirror. He could see a vaguely familiar black sedan driving behind them.
"Just watch 'em…"
"What's going on, Touji?"
"I don't know…"
"You in trouble?"
"Yeah…"
Shinji peered at his friend, noticing in concern and awe that Touji's left arm was shaking rapidly. The black sedan sped by them, the windows tinted and too dark to see through, and they both peered at it, their eyes squinted in nervous and angry glares.
Tokyo 3, Japan
Ookami's Den
The Ookami's Den was a rather seedy joint in Tokyo 3, although it was a good place to get a drink and talk, for those who didn't want to be bothered. It was full of scraggly, odd looking people, and the occasional biker.
Touji and Shinji sat in a corner booth, the bar is dark and nearly empty.
Touji peered at Shinji, leaning forward in an intimate manner.
"Something's…Something is wrong, Shinji…I don't know what it is…I don't know what it is but I can't talk to anybody about it. Not even Hikari…I figured I could with you. You always used to listen, you know?"
Shinji nodded, silent and confused while Touji leaned forward and took a sip from his drink, Shinji having ordered nothing. Touji glanced around and then looked deliberately into Shinji's eyes.
"I'm going to hell!"
Shinji almost fell out of the booth in surprise, but he managed to control himself, instead flinching and jerking his head away from his friend.
"That's as straight as I can put it, Shinji…And don't tell me that I'm crazy 'cause I know I'm not. I'm goin' to Hell. They're comin' after me…"
Shinji seemed utterly frightened, his head moving away, but trying to restrain himself. His face flashed with an odd feeling, and then returned to normal as he tried to keep his voice firm and normal.
"Who…is?"
"They've been followin' me. They're comin' outta the walls. I don't trust anyone, not even her...I'm not even sure I trust you. But I gotta talk to someone. I'm gonna fly outta my goddamn mind!"
Touji's face twisted into utter fear, his face emblazoned with horror, and then he sprang up, unable to contain in any longer, walking away from the booth.
Shinji remained silent and seated, following Touji with his eyes as the young man passed a familiar looking blonde and then a few other patrons and made his way to the window.
Finally Touji returned, after staring out the window of the bar for what seems like hours. His face seemed wet with sweat, but otherwise he seemed calmer.
"Sorry. Sometimes I think I'm just gonna jump outta my skin. They're just drivin' me wild."
"Who, Touji? What exactly-"
Touji's frantic voice interrupted him, the young man speaking quite quickly, although Shinji could understand if he concentrated.
"I don't know who they are, or what they are. But they're gonna get me and I'm scared, Shinji. I'm so scared I can't do anything. I can't go to my sister's place, I can't go to Hikari. I can't even go home!"
"W-Why not?"
"They're waiting for me everywhere, that's why!"
Touji's arm seemed to shake once more, like in the car, all of a sudden, first his arm seemed to shiver, then shake almost violently, then the tremor spread to his whole body, and soon the booth itself seemed to rattle quite loudly.
"I can't stop it. I try. Oh God! Help me Shinji!"
Shinji sighed, overcome, his mind drifting away.
"Shinji! You've gotta help me man…I…I don't know…I don't know what I-"
Shinji stared down in shock as Touji crumpled down in front of him, sobbing, grabbing on his pant leg.
"They…they want me to pilot...pilot…pilot the…Evangelion…they said they'd be able to upgrade my sister's hospital care…but…I don't know what to…Shinji, you've gotta tell me! Is it…is it so bad?"
Shinji stiffened, realizing he owed his friend reassurance, true or not.
"No…it's not so bad at all."
Shinji slid quickly out of the side of his booth and moved slowly towards Touji as the young man sniffled and shivered. He put his arms around him, holding him tightly, offering his friend the only comfort he could think of.
Touji looked up at Shinji from within the embrace, his teeth chattering, fear evident on his face, but at the same time, a sense of great comfort and gratitude.
A few people in the bar seem to peer at them, including the blonde woman, but they look away after a few seconds.
"It's…okay Touji…it's okay."
Touji crumpled in Shinji's arms, not thinking any longer about pride or appearances, sobbing and shaking.
"I…I don't know what to do!"
"Don't do anything, Touji…"
Touji seemed to suddenly relax a bit, the shaking slowing in frequency, and look up at Shinji as the young man spoke in a comforting whisper.
"Touji…I know what you're talking about."
"What do you mean?"
"I've…I've seen them too…the demons!"
Shinji's eyes widened as he stared at it. The silhouette of a man stood there, dead still, not moving, and Shinji was quite sure it was the same man he had viewed standing there doing nothing, hours ago.
"What the hell?"
Touji seemed to stare at Shinji with a child-like disbelief and curiosity.
"You've seen them?"
Shinji nodded firmly, despite the numbness in his body, his fists clenching and unclenching.
"I've seen them everywhere Touji, like a plague…"
In the next room, past Rei, Shinji can see the vague silhouette of a man, a man whose head seems to be vibrating at such enormous speed that it has lost all definition.
Something about the image compelled and frightened Shinji.
Slowly he approached the man, his fists clenching and unclenching.
As he draws nearer to it the tortured image lets out a scream of such pain and unearthly terror that Shinji stumbled backwards, distraught, surprised that no one had heard the noise over the music.
Shinji leaned backwards against a wall, shaking his head and holding his forehead, which seemed oddly warm.
Touji's eyes seemed wild as he stared up at the bar ceiling.
"God almighty…I thought I was the only one."
"Me, too. I had no idea. It's like I was coming apart at the seams!"
Touji seemed to crumple into Shinji's arms and then slowly pull himself up, staring at Shinji with a determined, collected look, hinting at sublime gratefulness.
Shinji stared at him, and then took a seat back on his side of the booth.
"What is it, Touji? What's happening to me?"
Touji began making intense movements with his hand as he spoke, with quick whispers.
"They keep telling me I'm already dead, that they're gonna tear me apart, piece by piece, and throw me into the fire."
Touji paused and then began fishing around in his thick brown coat, until he finally pulled out a bible and a silver crucifix, staring at Shinji.
"I never knew you were a Christian, Touji!"
Touji shook his head, shaking.
"I carry these everywhere but they don't help. Nothing helps. Everyone thinks I'm crazy. My mother even filed a report with the JSSDF! She wanted to sue the former NERV members or something! Something about mistreatment or something…"
Shinji nodded with a shudder.
"The events of the decades have really destroyed a lot of souls…"
Touji seemed not to listen to him, continuing frantically, his voice growing in loudness and intensity.
She said I haven't been the same since then. Since that night. There's still this big hole in my brain. It's so dark in there, Shinji. And these creatures. It's like they're crawling out of my brain. What's happening? Why won't they tell us!"
Shinji shook his head, running his fingers through his dark shock of hair.
"I don't know Shinji, I don't know…"
Touji nodded, tapping his head thoughtfully, with a wild look on his face.
"They're monsters, Shinji. We're both seeing 'em. There's gotta be a connection. Something…something between us, or about us…"
Shinji leaned back against his seat, his mind burning, the world racing around him.
Shinji groaned as he dodged another flying lance, staring wildly at the white monsters circling around him.
"No…I know now! I won't let you win! I won't let you kill them! I'll protect them…Dammit…Misato!"
He let out a strangled roar, literally, as a great white hand wrapped around his great avatar's neck, making his eyes bulge and his skin scream.
Shinji Ikari stared at himself in the mirror, clenching and unclenching his fists, feeling a sudden loss, as if he had changed, as if he had crossed the line. He stood in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection, which seemed to be staring right back at him with that intimidating glare. His fists clenched and unclenched, and he smiled wildly, and then looked down, taking off his glasses and looking up with eyes splotched with red and manic mania.
He raised his hand to his face and laughed loudly in the bathroom, staring at it with a bemused look on his face.
"Who the hell am I?"
Suddenly, a voice.
"Huh, did you say something, Shinji?"
Shinji stiffened, turning to see Touji come out of the bathroom stall and move to the sink, turning on the faucet.
"Um…no…"
Touji nodded thoughtfully as he washed his hands, staring up at his reflection for a second and then letting his eyes flit away to Shinji Ikari. Suddenly it burst out of his mouth, the line broken, his eyes wild.
"I'm afraid to go by myself anymore. I keep thinking' one of 'em's gonna come up behind me. Something's wrong when a guy can't even take a leak by himself. I've seen them take people right off the street. I used to go home a different way every night. Now I can't even go home!"
Shinji peered at him, nodding to himself, trying not to look in the mirror's direction.
His reflection smiled mischievously.
"You come home with me, Touji."
Touji frowned, his reflection seeming to relax.
"What about Rei? Will she mind?"
"Nah, Rei isn't like that…she'll understand, she's a kind...she's-"
Touji nodded, smiling and interrupting the former Third Child as he struggled for words to complete his description.
"I understand Shinji, I understand."
Tokyo 3, Japan
Outside Ookami's Den
Shinji Ikari and Touji Suzuhara left the bar, walking side by side, their faces shadows of what they had been when they had entered the establishment, sweat still flowing, but more calm and collected, almost…determined.
It's cold outside and the frosty fog seems to sift through the streets, searching for the weak and unprotected.
Touji smiled as he stopped by his car, staring at a little child playing in a sandbox in the distance, along with two other little girls.
"So that's…"
He walked to the driver side of his car and pulled out his keys, chuckling to himself as he fumbled with it and opened the door, peering at Shinji.
Shinji stopped, noticing a shiny coin on the sidewalk, glinting the light into his eyes.
"Heh, guess this is my lucky day."
Shinji bent over to pick it up while Touji sat down in his car, sticking the key into the ignition and turning it, stepping on the gas.
Shinji gasped in surprise as the coin slid across the ground, sliding as if guided by some unforeseen force towards Touji's car.
And then there was only fire, and screaming, flesh and metal, and glass.
Shinji screamed in agony as the pain seared through his body, numbing him with its intensity, and then he strained against his unnatural urge to die, struggling with his new instincts, those to protect the people around him at all costs.
Spinning around, he tossed the white giant from atop him, standing with a heart wrenching roar, staring at the monstrosities around him as a long piece of silver metal flowed almost like water through the cool air, towards him.
All was fire, and pain, coursing through his body.
And then, darkness enveloped him.
Well, hope you liked this chapter, might've been a little overdue…
I really can't apologize to the people who are lost in this, but actually watched Evangelion. Did you watch End of Evangelion? Or did you just breeze through all the awkward weirdness and meaningless symbolism of the entire series? Ehehehhe….
Well, see you next chapter.