I opened the door with a quiet
"Tadaima", not that anyone would answer me. Misato was elsewhere, Asuka never gave a damn where I was or what I was doing, and PenPen, while quite excited about my return, didn't have the brain capacity to speak Japanese. But it was alright, I was used to this, and I ended up silently answering myself. I sat down in my room and did my homework, and within an hour, the phone rang. Knowing it was Toji-kun, I answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Ikari-kun. Uh, come on over now." Feeling a knot form in my stomach, I replied,
"Oh- alright. I'll… I'll be there right away." and hung up. Maybe, if I was lucky, I could change something. I wouldn't just give up on Toji, and let him die. That's what old Shinji would do, "that-guy-who-had-to-kill-Toji" Shinji would do. I was not him. I would try to be another Shinji, a better Shinji. I put on my jacket, wrote Misato an "I'll be home after dinner" note, and headed over to Toji's house with a determination that I haven't experienced in a long time.
Toji opened the door with a red face, a quivering smile, and a
"Hey… come in." I did as he requested, followed him into his room, and kneeled on a stiff little patterned cushion. Before I even noticed, we had begun conversing about a number of things, none of which involved Evas or the war against the angels. After a while, we paused, and he left for the kitchen to make some instant curry for our dinner. We ate together, still chatting, until I realized that it was already 9. I put on my jacket, walked outside, and started to go home; but before he could shut the door, I turned around and came back to remind him why he had invited me over in the first place.
"Wait, Toji-kun! What'd you have to say to me that was so important and private?" All of the joy on his face leftover from seeing a close friend was wiped off, replaced by wet eyes and a trembling frown. Propping the door open with a small, dark object I couldn't quite make out, Toji walked over to me, placed his hands on my shoulders, and began crying. I knew this scene all too well, but right now, there was nothing I could do.
"I've… I've…" he began, choking on his sobs but trying desperately to tell me what was going on.
"You've been chosen as an Eva pilot, haven't you?"
"Yes!" he cried, sobbing into my shoulder. Toji was breaking down again, letting down the shield and mask, letting the weak little boy inside of him take over. After a while, Toji pulled back his head and asked,
"Did Misato-san tell you?"
"No, but… I've been here before." Toji raised an eyebrow at me, and said,
"Huh?"
"N-nothing. Besides, you're not gonna believe me," I frowned, turning my head.
"I don't care. I might believe you. Come back inside," he insisted, pulling me back into his apartment and shutting the door. Back into his room, I kneeled again on the still-warm cushion and stared out his window at the night sky, until Toji asked suspiciously,
"What exactly were you talking about?" I told him all that had happened in the last day or so, that otoosan would force my mecha to kill him, and the horrible things that would occur in the future before everything was right. At first he looked at me like I was crazy, then with the look of a trusting friend. There was lingering silence, and then he asked,
"So you really think I'm gonna die, and by your hands?"
"I know it's going to happen, unless we can make you lose your qualification, or something." Tears filled his eyes, and he sobbed,
"I really don't want to die! I wanna live, with you and Kensuke and Hikari and Ayanami and even Asuka-chan!"
"That's why I told you all this, because we need to save you."
After sitting in a serious silence for a while, I stood up and was soon on my way home.
Hello, it's me, the Yuki! I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long, I've been extremely busy with homework and such. This chapter's a little bit corny, but the story gets better. I promise.