Well, this one's been up for awhile and I've decided to start revising it once again. Just to clear things up this is based a year after episode 25. It has a lot to do episode 23, when Rei initiates the self-destruct system on her Eva in order to kill the angel. Now I haven't seen the entire series for a year… But I've started watching it again, and I'm up to episode fifteen now. I just saw episode 23, so I know what's going on there sort of. Sorry if I sound like an obsolete n00b or something, but people keep asking me about the dilemma with the storyline and all that hype about the Rei clones…And I'm wondering, "Wait, in the episode they say she comes back alive! And all of the Rei clones are destroyed. People… Keep referencing to her dying, so does that mean she was just cloned directly after she was killed and that it's not really her? But then again could they clone her that quickly? It's confusing as hell, so somebody with a fresher memory please tell me what the hell these people are talking about. And oh yeah, despite whatever happened on the TV show, let's just say that she died and that the clones were destroyed okay? Just a little bit of a story alteration. I'll be trying to improve some later chapters to. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Evangelion… Because, if I did it wouldn't be suitable for anybody under the age of seventeen legally, even thought I'm sixteen myself so I don't see how that works Rei wouldn't be dead either, because she is the smex.
You know the drill: 'Thought'
"Speech"
Eyelids shot open revealing dark pools in which the enigma of a troubled soul constantly flounders. Upon the same roll out mattress that he has been sleeping on for the past two years, Shinji Ikari awakens from another slumber. Whether or not it was a troubled sleep he did not know, but the concerned look in his deep brown eyes and the vapid face that he instinctively, almost without a thought put on in the morning could have stated otherwise.
'And so starts another day… Even if this one is too be a somber one…' Shinji inhaled, and blew strait from his lungs a long breath that birthed into a sigh. It was indeed too be a somber day, for today was the one year anniversary since Rei Ayanami died after taking her own life while initiating the self destruct sequence of her Eva in order too take out the 16th angel Armiseal. After Asuka's highlight of a mental downward spiral that gave her the inability to help Rei before she died, a few months of therapy brought her back into the seat of the Eva unit 002 with fairly acceptable synch rates. Though she had for the most part returned to normal, Shinji knew that Asuka too wouldn't be quite as chipur today. School wouldn't be quite so easy.
Shinji had thought many times about what would happen if they simply made another clone, but Shinji knew that it wouldn't be Rei. How he'd coped with the massive tank of soulless and mindless depictions of one of the closest people in his life he had no idea. It seemed that piloting an Eva naturally put you in the hot seat for obscene realities and hardships nobody should ever have to endure. NERV was a sinister place, yet to them it was the embodiment of all that was right. Life was confusing for everybody and anybody associated with the organization.
"Shinji! It's time to wake up! Is your alarm clock even set?" He heard Misato shout from the kitchen. As if on que the digital clock next to his bed went off with a click. It squeaked a loud and deafening chirp followed by many more, sending spasmodic pains through his head.
"God damn! How can such a small and simple thing be so loud as too almost raise the dead?" He said aloud groggily after he sent it sailing into the wall. This statement was for the most part true, for Shinji found that sometimes when he woke up early in the morning, he would be so tired and disoriented that on a few occasions he would actually forget how to tell time correctly. In response he would turn his alarm off without even knowing that it would cause him to be late for school incase Misato forgot about him.
"Shinjiiiiiii!" She shouted in that long exaggerated tone that seemed to annoy him more than anything in the morning as an attempt to coax him out of bed.
"I'm comin Misato! No need to get your panties in a twist!"
The wood and paper door that separated his room from the livingroom and kitchen flew open. His eyes were half lidded. In a typical fashion he shuffled in half stooped over, characteristically scratching his ass and yawning.
"I see you actually took my advice last night" Shinji said to Misato who was currently cooking breakfast. Everything only looked slightly burnt.
"Yeah, well… I kinda got tired of eating curry and instant noodles on a daily basis. It's gotten so boring around this place that trying to cook actually sounds like some fun!" She said with a wink while removing a piece of blue hair from her eyes and placing it behind her ear. Asuka had to stay after school yesterday to re-take a history test, and nothing worth watching was on TV. Misato had commented on being hungry, saying that she was going to cook the two of them something. Shinji knew her cooking all to well, and in a pre-emptive attack to avoid the punishment of instant curry, for the first time in two years he thought that he might give her some pointers on cooking. With nothing else to do, they spent a few hours in the kitchen as Shinji went over the basics with her. They continued this until Asuka burst through the door, demanding food. Misato made dinner that night. It was burnt, but edible. Shinji managed to keep Asuka from commenting negatively as Misato gloated about the meal by throwing her a series of dirty looks. At least breakfast this morning looked standable
"Asukaaaaaaa!" Misato shouted. "Time to get up— OH!" She shouted as the eggs caught fire. She batted the flames out quickly. "Sheesh, do you two ever take responsibility? Do you even have an alarm clock?"
"No, of course I don't have an alarm clock Misato… It only disrupts the natural balance of everything within a five mile radius everytime it goes off." Shinji said in a sarcastic voice with a chuckle.
"Hey, I won't have any of your smartassery this morning mister." She countered, throwing him a dirty look. He stuck his tongue out at her. "Where did you get that thing anyway?" Misato questioned. Shinji puzzled on this for a moment.
"Hmmm… Come to think of it I have no idea." He stated with a cocked brow. "The things archaic, and loud though. Hell, it could probably take down an angel given the chance".
"Well hopefully we won't be seeing many of them around anymore, not since you popped the cork on that last one." Misato said, referring to the graphic way in which Shinji used the Eva to crush Kaworu, otherwise known as Tabris the 17th angel in the last encounter. Misato didn't know anything of the short friendship that had occurred between him and Shinji when Tabris entered NERV under the disguise of a human, so when she referred to the motion in which Tabris' head was severed from his body she didn't notice Shinji twitch a little. It was true that he felt horrible after killing what he thought was his friend, but the truth was that Kaworu was an angle. When Shinji came out of his little dream lapse a day or two later (Episode 25) a new person, he'd learnt to get over it after awhile. The odd thing though, was the fact that he still found something darkly funny about her comment.
"Hey! HELOOOO! Earth to Shinji?" Misato prodded at him. Shinji broke out of his trance. "What's wrong with ya kid?" She said, thinking that something had to be up.
"Oh… It's nothing…" He said in response. This was his normal behavior, but it was also a habit he was trying to break.
"Oh come now. You know what that response means to me."
"What?" Shinji asked, already knowing her answer.
"Look at me! Something's wrong! Talk to me!" That's what it means. Shinji sighed. "You're thinkin about Rei huh?"
"…Yeah…" He said, eyes cast upon the floor.
"Aw, come here Shinji." She said with a smile. Misato moved around to where Shinji was sitting and embraced him in a hug. He simply leaned into it, placing his arms around her and returning the hug. He held her tight. Misato always knew what was right and wrong with Shinji, and what to say and when to say it. It was comforting, and part of him didn't want to let go. Not only did he feel comforted, but warm. It was cold in the apartments in the morning. She was warm, and that's all he really cared about at the moment.
"What in the hell?" Came Asuka's voice, cracking through the silence like a car alarm outside the building at Two in the morning. Looking the situation up and down, she noticed a beer in Misato's hand, the both of them in a tight embrace, and Shinji with a good case of morning wood. The situation couldn't have look any more awkward.
"And this is what I wake up to? Screw this, I'm going back to bed! I can already tell it's going to be a bad day!" Asuka slammed her paper door and retreated back to her bed. Shinji and Misato could hear the dead weight of her body hitting the mattress.
"Well, I've got to try to drag Asuka's dead ass out of bed. You on the other hand need to eat something before you get ready and leave for school so you won't be so zombified later in class ok? Take care today, try not to think about her to much." She hugged Shinji once more before setting off for Asuka's room. Halfway there she turned on her heel and ventured back to him.
"Oh, and one more thing. If ya need anything to calm your nerves, feel free to help yourself." She said with a wink, forcing the beer that she had into Shinji's hands. "Teens will be teens, and I won't deny that. Do anything stupid though, and I'll kick your ass." She added with a bit of seriousness and a little sarcasm, storming off to Asuka's room once again.
"Asuka! You get out of that bed right now!" Shinji shrugged. With all of the stress that he'd been through the past year or two he'd indulged at least a few times in a healthy dose of whisky hidden under the floorboards under his mattress. He showered, brushed his teeth, ate breakfast, and was out the door in thirty minutes. The walk to the school took a total of about forty-five minutes, but it was a travel he had gotten used to. Coming to the end of the crosswalk, he waited for cars to stop coming and the "OK" sign to light up on the other side of the street..
'Wow… It's actually kind of crowded today…' Shinji knew that more and more people were starting to file back into Tokyo-3 seeing as the angel attacks had nullified, but never really took the time to notice how much livelier it was now. People stood at bus stops, some with their nose in a newspaper, others chatting between one another merrily. They crowded around Espresso stands, walked their dogs, and obsessed over their daily routines. They wandered about as if angels or Eva's had never walked these very streets.
'They seem so pre-occupied with… Such unimportant things. They seem to just turn the other cheek, as if they have time to waste…' Shinji surveyed the people of Tokyo-3, a somewhat downtrodden look rippling across his face, accompanied by a frown. 'They act… As if their time will never end… When in fact it could end just as quickly as a falling stone could snap their neck… I wish I could partake in that kind of bliss…' The crosswalk sign started to flash, and he was pulled from his thoughts once again. He spent the rest of his walk thinking about people, about time, about Rei…
His mood lightened some when he got to school, meeting up with Touji and Kensuke in the courtyard.
"Heya Shinji!" Kensuke called out, waiving at him to catch his attention. Shinji strolled over to the two casually.
"Mornin" Touji said, high fiving him, followed with the generic punching of one another's fists. "Jeez, todays gonna blow." Touji said with a stretch. It was a Thursday, meaning that school would be getting out around seven rather than it's usual time. "Oh well, I've gotta catch up on some sleep anyways." He assured jokingly.
"You know Touji, you'd maybe have a chance of graduating from hear eventually if you'd take your classes more seriously, because I know that there's no way I'm comin back for you." Kensuke replied sarcastically.
"Yeah yeah" Touji said. "Just save the smart remarks for class when we can get some entertainment out of them…" He trailed off. "Hey wait! Are you calling me dumb?" Touji grabbed Kensuke by the collar of his shirt in a comical fashion. Kensuke had yet another smart ass remark to blurt out.
"I'd say yes, but it'd probably take you another five or six seconds to realize that I was in fact calling you dumb, not to mention that you'd probably forget by then so it'd really only be a waste of my breath!" Kensuke smirked a smug little smile that seemed to light a fire in Touji's eyes.
"Why you little! I'll—"
"Knock it off guys!" They both stopped in mid sentence, turning their gaze towards Shinji. "Just, not today ok?" A somber look contorted his face into that of discontent.
"Hey, what's eatin at ya?"
"Yeah, what's wrong Shinji?" His gaze was fixed upon a copy of Rei's last school picture taped to the back of a bench a few feet away. They both followed his line of vision and slumped.
"Shit, I'm sorry man… I forgot, today's the one year anniversary isn't it?" Shinji simply continued to stare at the photo.
'She was so young, so fertile for great things… So gentle, so beautiful, so selfless… Why did it have to be her? Why not me?' His dark brown eyes fixated themselves upon her deep crimson eyes, her elegant white skin, and fragile looking figure. Her picture seemed to glow against the green chipping paint of the bench, bathed in an evanescing radiance.
"…Shinji…"
"Shinji…"
"SHINJI!"
"Huh, what?" He shook his head a few times, trying to shake the thoughts out of his mind. It was Asuka that had been shouting his name and brought him out of the trance.
"It's time for class, we've gotta go…" That usual splinter of hostility and pride was missing from her voice, she had obviously seen what Shinji was staring at, because her voice was much softer than usual. "Come on, let's go..." Asuka cooed. She put an arm around his shoulder, using the other to hold her books. She nudged him, signaling that she wanted him to start walking and they headed inside. This was the side of Asuka that hardly anybody ever saw, but today was an exception for she too was affected by the reminder of Rei's death, and all of her pictures taped and tacked up on walls and bulletin boards around the school.
'At least the class representatives made a decent attempt in honoring her…' Shinji thought, noticing the caption that read
"An Eva pilot is what she was, and in thanks for her sacrifice, we can remember who she was. Rei Ayanami. A student, person, guardian and friend"
placed below her picture on each piece of paper. 'I wish she would let her guard down like this more often…' Shinji thought, referring to Asuka. 'She's so much more pleasant this way… But, I guess she has her reasons just like I do. The most I can do… Is thank her I guess, for it won't happen often.' They continued on in silence, traversing the hallway.
'To thank her… But how?' Shinji thought. 'How does one simply come out and thank somebody for being nice? Sure a verbal one would seem practical… But just coming out of nowhere like that?' His mind was lost in this for a minute or two. It was indeed true that Asuka's hostile demeanor had slightly caved. She still held an air of perturbed annoyance on a daily basis, but her words were not as demeaning and cruel as they used to be.
'How do you thank Asuka? For something like this? A hug or something? Maybe…" A curious glint sparked behind Shinji's eyes, and he was hit with an idea. He strategically placed his foot in front of hers as they walked in cadence.
"Hey, what the?" She stumbled forward a little, but used the arm around his shoulder to stabilize herself. In the process of doing so, she ended up facing him, the opposite direction of which they were going.
"What gives? You little—" She stuttered to a halt as Shinji pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist in a tight and affectionate hug. Shocked at first, she looked for a retort but instead returned his hug, the two stood there for a couple of seconds silently locked in one another's arms. Then he pulled back, placing both hands on her shoulders and looking into her eyes. His soft brown eyes and content smile seemed to soften her as well. Then, out of the thin blue he reached up to the back of her head, and tilting his own closed his eyes and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "Hmm." He voiced, bringing his gaze back down to meet with hers one more time. "Take care okay?" He turned on his heel, heading through his classroom doorway that he unintentionally, but conveniently stopped the two of them at. Things would have felt plenty more awkward if the two had to continue down the hallway with each other after that, so Shinji was thankful for his timing. The late bell sounded just as he began to walk away. Wide eyed, she stood there motionless in the middle of the hall. Her expression softened and a blush raced across her face. She shot her gaze into the ground.
"Hey…" Asuka said, signaling Shinji.
"Yes?…" Shinji replied, throwing a look over his shoulder.
"You made me late for class… You jerk…" She stated, trying to stifle a warm smile.
"Your welcome." He said with a chuckle and a blush at the same time, stepping into class and shutting the door behind him. For the first time since the two had met, the roles between Asuka and Shinji had switched. Now, she was the one that felt like a child.
'What's going on with you Asuka? He's usually a wimp!' She shouted within the confines of her head, trying to deny the wave of adolescent emotion that washed over her, but it was a hard thing to deny. Shinji, who usually seemed to be a fairly fragile boy, made her feel like a little girl in his arms. Somehow, pressed up against him with his arms wrapped so tightly around her waist, she felt… safe. Though in her mind such a feeling signaled defeat, it was as if his action was mirrored by what a parent or close relative would do when somebody was feeling down.
"Disgusting…" Asuka choked out, lying to herself out loud. 'Wait…'
"Oh shit! I am late!" Asuka screamed to nobody in particular, breaking out into a sprint to get to class as soon as possible.
