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"Dialogues"

- Thoughts -

"Radio Talk"


Liability Note:

Evangelion, its characters and setting are the property of Hideaki Anno. Any brands, movies and series mentioned in this Fanfic are the property of their creators.


(*)


Chapter 17 - What Are We Now?

Toji and Kensuke stared at Shinji, Toji had spent the whole day wondering what surprise his wife was thinking of giving him, but he never expected that Shinji would be at his house now.

Toji approached Shinji who had stood up to greet his old friends.

"Man, how good it is to see you again." Toji spoke as he gave Shinji a quick hug.

"Good to see you too." Shinji spoke as he greeted Toji and turned to do the same with Kensuke, who immediately looked at Shinji's uniform and insignia, he promptly began to laugh.

Shinji and Toji looked at him and their faces had confused expressions.

"Dude, you're the guy with the lowest rank." Kensuke spoke as he pointed to Toji.

Toji cast a sullen glance, but soon realized that his friend was only trying to annoy him, he let this pass and went back to talking to Shinji.

Toji sat down and grabbed a soda from the table, after taking a sip he looked at Shinji and spoke.

"So now you are one of us?" Toji spoke looking at Shinji's uniform.

"Yes, even now I can't believe it." Shinji spoke as he remembered the trial.

Toji was about to speak when he was cut off by Asuka.

"He can't see when he wins something." Asuka spoke as she looked at Shinji, who stared back at her, they stared at each other for a few seconds before Shinji blushed and looked away.

Mari and Kensuke were too busy talking to each other to notice.

Toji noticed and exchanged a quick glance with his wife, the way Asuka looked at Shinji, the two had realized that there was something between them.

"This is good, with you by our side, we will end this war once and for all." Toji spoke as he hugged his wife with a smile on his face.

The rest of the evening passed quietly, with Shinji focusing his attention on Toji and Kensuke, who were chatting about random things, Mari and Asuka were chatting with Hikari.

Asuka looked at her watch and saw that it was already getting late and close to the time that Misato had stipulated, Asuka didn't want to challenge Misato when she was giving time orders.

Misato turned a blind eye to many things Mari and Asuka did these days, but they couldn't count on luck forever, she turned to Mari and spoke.

"Four eyes we have to go." Asuka spoke to Mari.

"But why?" Mari spoke incredulously.

"Misato wants us back at Wunder at 8pm, or you want to keep pushing your luck and challenge Misato." Asuka spoke as she faced Mari, she had a look on her face that showed they had already experienced Misato's punishments.

Mari shuddered at the memory of when Misato had punished them by having them clean Wunder's bathrooms for a week, Mari nodded and stood up.

Shinji was already on his feet, he hadn't talked much, but just being able to see his old friends had made his day, his reverie was broken when he felt Toji's hand on his shoulder, he turned and looked at him.

"Look bro, whenever you can, come visit us, the next meeting is at Kensuke's apartment." Toji spoke his gaze to Kensuke who was very focused sending a text message on his cell phone, he only nodded even though he didn't know what he was agreeing to.

When the group was at the front door, Shinji turned and looked at the trio. "Thanks for the night guys, I swear I'll make it up to you."

Everyone smiled at him, Hikari approached Shinji and again hugged him. "Don't worry about it Shinji."

The group said their goodbyes and headed towards the dock where Wunder was, Mari was talking to Asuka about everything she found out from Hikari's gossip to her, Asuka was looking forward, she wasn't interested in what Mari was talking about, Shinji was lost in his world, he was thinking that this was the first time he would ever enter Wunder in a "legal" way and his future.

The return to Wunder was smooth, the group arrived at the entrance door of the shipyard, they were heading for the main crew entrance, Shinji could see his anxiety increasing as he approached Wunder.


Misato Katsuragi's office - Wunder.

Misato was flipping through some papers that were on her desk, beside her she had Shinji's admission orders, she had already done all the paperwork and was waiting for their return to Wunder.

Misato was impatient, Ritsuko could see that, she turned and spoke keeping her expressionless form, Rei was beside her handing her the papers Ritsuko requested.

"What is it Misato?" Ritsuko asked dismissively.

Misato looked at her and spoke agitatedly. "They should be back by now."

Ritsuko looked at the clock on her wrist and saw that only five minutes had passed from the time stipulated by Misato, she sighed and spoke.

"You're not caring about the schedule, you just want Shinji to be back." Ritsuko spoke as she picked up a cigarette and lit it.

Misato looked at her as if she had been cussed at. "No!"

Ritsuko knew her friend well; she knew that Misato was tense about Shinji's admission to Wunder.

Misato was about to say more when the phone on her desk rang, she promptly answered and spoke professionally.

"Yes?"

"Ma'am, Captain Makinami and Shikinami just came in along with a boy who identified himself as Shinji Ikari, he said he is here to report as per orders given." The crewman spoke from the other end of the line.

Misato nodded and spoke. "Right.", she deligitated the phone and looked at her friend who had a look of satisfaction on her face, Ritsuko could see that the group had just arrived.

"You don't say anything." Misato spoke as she pointed her finger at Ritsuko, who only stared at her with an arrogant look.


Mari was leading the way to the bridge, Asuka was walking beside Shinji who had his head down at all times, she could see that he was uncomfortable.

The people who crossed the group's path were staring at Shinji all the time, the stares ranging from hatred to disdain, Asuka realized, it was bothering her too.

When the group arrived at the bridge, they went straight to Misato's office, again Shinji received stares from the occupants, when Shinji lifted his gaze and looked at the bridge, memories of his arrival came into his mind, he avoided raising his head too much until he reached the office.

Misato noticed the arrival of the group and promptly waited at her table, she heard a knock at the door and signaled for the group to come in, when everyone was already inside, she signaled them to close the door and sit down.

Ritsuko analyzed Shinji from head to toe, she was already starting to think about her prototype dual input plug, Rei remained silent in her corner, she gave a slight smile at the sight of Shinji, Rei thought she would ask Dr. Akagi to be able to take the rest of the day off so she could talk to Shinji.

"Hi Rei." Mari signaled happily upon seeing Rei in the room, she completely excluded Ritsuko, who stared at her with a cold stare. Mari realizing this gave a slight salute to her, Asuka gave a brief salute to Ritsuko and Misato.

"So, since everything is now made official Shinji ... Tomorrow you start your training." Misato articulated to Shinji, she looked at Mari who was smiling and looking dreamy, she probably already had a training plan for him.

"Oh! puppy, we're going to have a great time." Mari spoke with a confident look, Shinji could feel a shiver run down his back.

Misato sighed and shook his head. "Mari will be in charge of getting you into shape and training you in self-defense, Asuka will train you in hand-to-hand combat and weapon use, other training will be set later."

Misato was about to speak when she heard a forced cough from Ritsuko who was looking to remind her of a subject they had talked about a few moments ago, Misato thought for a second about Ritsuko's look, but she quickly remembered.

"Ah! Yes, tomorrow you must report to Ritsuko at 7am, she wants to do a synchronization test on you." Misato spoke as she looked at Shinji who nodded. "That's all for now, would you like to meet Wunder?" Misato concluded with a smile on her face.

Shinji looked her in the eye and spoke. "Yeah, that would be cool ... So I can memorize the way."

"Don't worry about it, in your room you'll have a map." Misato spoke as he stood up and adjusted his jacket.

Shinji nodded, he stood up too and waited for Misato to finish adjusting, Shinji walked over to Rei who was still standing there analyzing everything.

"Hi Ayanami." Shinji spoke clumsily as he approached Rei, she stared at him with her intense red eyes.

"Hi Ikari-Kun, how are you?" Rei asked Shinji who felt surprised at the question, he had no idea Rei had evolved this way, she received a proud look from Mari, Asuka snorted at the scene.

"What is it princess? ... Jealous?" Mari whispered to Asuka who was looking at the scene in front of her, she could feel her anger rising because of Mari's teasing, but Asuka couldn't deny that she felt uncomfortable with Rei talking to Shinji.

"Shut your mouth four eyes." Asuka spoke as she turned and left Misato's room.

"I'm doing fine, thanks for asking and you?" Shinji replied clumsily to Rei, he still found this all new to him.

"I'm doing fine, thanks for asking." Rei replied in her monotone voice, but Shinji could notice the small smile on her lips, he turned to see if Misato was ready yet when he realized Asuka had left, he looked confused at Mari who only shook her head at him, Shinji knew Asuka's unpredictable behavior.

"Rei, you are dismissed, you may go to your room." Ritsuko spoke as she finished her cigarette and stood up, Rei nodded and started walking towards the door, but she was stopped by Mari.

"Hey Rei, want to get something to eat?" Mari asked hopefully.

Rei was pondering Mari's proposal, she was feeling tired from the day she had spent with Dr. Akagi, but she also liked Mari's presence, so she decided to go out with her to distract herself a little.

"Yes, that will be good." Rei replied to Mari who smiled happily, Mari promptly grabbed her by the arm and began to lead her off the bridge, Shinji could hear Mari's voice fading as they walked away.

"So Shinji? Let's go?" Misato spoke as she stopped at the door and waited for him who promptly followed her, Misato passed the men who greeted her and looked at Shinji.

Misato was leading Shinji through the halls of Wunder. "Wow, these hallways are long." Shinji spoke as he saw the maze of hallways inside Wunder.

"Yes, it's very easy to get lost in here, I think it took me almost a whole year to memorize the paths." Misato spoke to Shinji with a smile on his face.

"Hahaha, I can imagine." Shinji spoke as he remembered his arrival at NERV, Misato didn't have the best sense of direction.

"What's that laugh Lieutenant Ikari?" Misato spoke with fake annoyance and faced him with a serious look. "Was it sarcasm that I identified?"

Shinji could feel his blood freeze at Misato's gaze, he still couldn't tell when she was joking or serious, Misato was always good at manipulating his emotions for her own pleasure, he stammered as he formulated a response.

"No ... It was nothing like that." Shinji spoke as he gestured with his hands.

Misato walked back and began to laugh. "Shinji, you are very easy to tease."

Shinji couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, he didn't want to force the issue with Misato, he noticed that they were in a place where there were several machines, Shinji deduced that it was the machine room, several technicians were working to keep everything in order.

"It's usually very noisy here." Misato spoke as she turned to Shinji. "This is where we convert the energy that is released from Unit 01's core into energy for all of Wunder, but since she is inactive, everything is off."

Shinji looked at her confused, "Eva 01 is inactive?"

"Yeah, it's been a few months now, she just shut down with Wunder in mid-air." Misato shuddered at the memory of Wunder plummeting out of the sky, the image of the ships she carried shattering when the AT field was unstable still caused Misato to shiver.

After Misato showed Shinji the machine room, she went towards the place where they kept Unit 01, Shinji looked at the huge empty pool that he thought was LCL.

"This is where unit 01 is." Misato showed the location, she noticed Shinji's look become downcast.

"Where is she?" Shinji asked sadly as he looked around the scene.

"It's at WILLE headquarters, they're studying it to see if they can reactivate it, that's the only way they can get Wunder back on the air." Misato spoke as he looked at Shinji's depressed shoulders, he nodded.

"Let's go somewhere else." Misato spoke to break the ice, soon they were leaving, Misato showed the mess hall and explained to Shinji the lunch and dinner times, but all crew members can get 4 servings of food a day.

Misato took Shinji to show him the training places, again he showed him the places where Shinji would be trained, there was room for all kinds of training, from hand-to-hand combat to simulators.

Soon they were walking to the place where the synchronization and combat simulation tests for Eva's pilots were done, but since they only had Mari and Asuka active, they only had two test cylinders.

"So this is where the synchronization tests are done, you can see Mari and Asuka's cylinders, Ritsuko is going to ask them to install two more." Misato spoke as she signaled to the window in front of her.

"Two more?" Shinji asked confused.

Misato's eyes widened, she hadn't yet told her that Rei would also start doing synchronization tests, she thought of an answer quickly.

"More is always better." Misato answered quickly, Shinji was about to ask something else when he noticed a familiar figure approaching, he soon judged it to be Lieutenant Maya Ibuki, she was looking at her tablet, Maya was so focused on her world that she didn't even notice that Shinji and Misato were in her way.

"Lieutenant Ibuki, how nice of you to show up." Misato spoke, grateful that Maya was there so she could change the subject.

Maya was startled when she heard Misato's voice, she almost dropped her tablet, greeted Misato quickly and pulled herself together as best she could.

"Ma'am, what can I do for you?" Maya asked trying to maintain her pose, still not noticing Shinji, she was so distracted that she didn't even notice Shinji standing next to Misato.

"Tomorrow Lieutenant Ikari will be doing a synchronization test, you are aware aren't you?" Misato asked Maya professionally.

Maya stared at her thoughtfully, but soon remembering the memo with the order, she promptly nodded. "But Shinji is already on board?"

Misato looked at her confused, she turned and looked at Shinji next to her and then back at Maya who soon noticed Shinji standing next to Misato, she widened her eyes for not having noticed this before.

"Hello Lieutenant Ibuki, how are you?" Shinji asked shyly.

"Well ... Well, thank you for asking." Maya replied clumsily as she saw that she had forgotten Shinji completely. "I'm glad you're with us." Maya concluded smiling, she was really happy to see Shinji again.

Shinji nodded, but before he could respond, Misato called him over to complete his tour of Wunder. "We'll see you tomorrow at 7 am." Shinji spoke as he walked away, Maya nodded back and soon went back to thinking about her tasks.

After a few minutes of walking, Misato took Shinji to the medical wing of Wunder, when they entered there, Sakura noticed and went running to greet them, she was excited about Shinji's visit, it was good to see him out of his room.

"Hi Shinji!" Sakura spoke excitedly as she hugged Shinji, she completely forgot Misato what was standing next to her with a surprised look on her face, part for Sakura hugging Shinji and part for being completely ignored.

Sakura, realizing her mistake quickly, straightened up and greeted Misato as professionally as possible.

They chatted a bit and soon Shinji was on his way to the living quarters, Misato showed him all the important places in Wunder, when they got there she stopped and turned around.

"So that's basically it." Misato spoke as she passed Shinji's ID card at the door, it opened with the sound of wind, she quickly handed the card to Shinji.

Inside the room was very simple, it had a bed, next to it was a small table with a lamp and an alarm clock, there was also a closet that already contained their uniforms, but next to it was the door that gave access to the bathroom.

"So what did you think?" Misato asked expectantly

"Impressive." Shinji replied as he remembered all the places Misato had shown him, Misato can't help but smile at that.

"Then I'll go to my room." Misato spoke as she turned to leave, but first she spoke in a motherly tone. "Shinji!"

Shinji looked at her expectantly.

"Things may have gotten off to a bad start for you here, but I assure you that's in the past, again ... You're welcome." Misato spoke as she hugged Shinji, when she released him, Misato turned and started walking to her room.

"Misato!" Shinji called out, he had a small smile on his face. Misato stopped as she heard Shinji calling her, she turned and looked at him expectantly.

Shinji adjusted himself and gave her a salute. "Thank you very much for the tour Commander Katsuragi, have a good evening." Shinji concluded with a smile on his face.

Misato can't help but smile, she saluted him back and spoke. "You too Lieutenant Ikari."


The next day, Shinji was standing in front of the mirror in his room, he was nervous because this was his "first" day at Wunder, he looked at the clock again and saw that there was half an hour left until his synchronization test, he walked to the door and took the map that Misato had left for him.

Shinji took a few deep breaths and went toward the door, but before he opened it he hesitated, his demons were still in full force against him, Shinji felt the shame and guilt for having destroyed the world, no matter how much his friends told him it was an accident, that he was not to blame.

Shinji closed his eyes to calm his mind, to remove his nightmares and guilt, he had to concentrate on the task he was going to do, his reverie was broken when his doorbell was rung, and he looked at the door doubtfully, but he knew he should go ahead, he raised his hand and pressed the button to open it, on the other side of the door was Mari, Asuka and Rei. Mari as always was smiling, Asuka was looking grumpy and Rei was looking neutral. Shinji wondered why Rei would be with them today, but he left that for later.

"I hope you slept well, as it's a busy day today." Mari spoke as she pulled Shinji from his room.

"How was your evening?" Mari asked.

"It was good." Shinji replied shyly. "How about yours?"

"Mine was excellent thank you for asking." Mari replied with her cheerful spirit.

"Satisfactory." Asuka replied grumpily.

"I slept well." Rei replied in her delicate, monotone voice.

Shinji looked at Asuka, he wanted to ask what was bothering her, he was worried about Asuka, he wanted her to open up to him, Shinji wanted to help her.

"Mari, I saw that you went out with Rei yesterday, did you have fun?" Shinji asked to break the ice.

Mari smiled from ear to ear, she turned her head and spoke. "It was great puppy, she is so cute." Mari concluded as she spoke this out loud, her comment caused Rei to blush shyly.

Shinji gave Mari a shy smile, he wanted to have all the happiness she emanated, the two women by his side were everything Shinji wanted to be, he wanted to have Mari's happiness and Asuka's self-confidence.

"We talked for a long time, walked around the ship, there's only one thing I want to know." Mari spoke to the group, Asuka rolled her eyes.

"What is it?" Shinji asked curiously.

"I want to know what Maya washed with soap?" Mari spoke as she looked up thoughtfully.

"Still with that four eyes." Asuka spoke in annoyance.

"That is still a mystery to me." Rei spoke without taking his eyes off the path.

"It's not my fault, once something gets into my head I can't get it out." Mari spoke justifying herself.

The way to the place where the test would take place was quiet, Asuka and Mari were discussing the importance of knowing what Maya had washed with soap, Shinji was preparing himself for the task ahead of him.

When they arrived at the place, Maya was already waiting for them, she stood up and walked to the group, she waved happily to them.

"Good morning folks."

Shinji nodded back.

"Captain Shikinami and Makinami, since you have the highest synchronization rates, Colonel Katsuragi has authorized me to dismiss you today, until the new cylinders are installed we will be doing some sort of rotation. " Maya spoke professionally as she looked at her tablet, she turned around, walked over to a closet and started going through some things.

"But I'm staying, I want to see their performance." Mari spoke smiling.

Asuka turned and left without saying a word, Shinji followed her with his gaze until she left the room, he lowered his gaze thoughtfully, he looked at Mari and asked.

"Mari, what happened to Asuka? She's been different since yesterday." Shinji asked curiously, he really wanted to know the reason for Asuka's bad mood.

Mari looked at Shinji, she had a suspicion of Asuka's motive, Mari believed she was jealous of Shinji's interaction with Rei, she wanted Shinji to talk to her more.

"I don't know puppy, why don't you pull her in the corner to talk at lunchtime?". Mari lied to Shinji, she wanted him to take the initiative regarding Asuka, she got a nod from Shinji.

"Here." Maya returned with two plastic bags, inside had Shinji and Rei's plugsuits, they were still the ones that were produced for them at NERV, but would serve for the synchronization tests, she handed them to their respective pilots. "You guys can change back there."

Shinji saw Rei heading towards the place where she was going to place, he went to the place designated for him and started to undress, he was thinking about his test and Rei's presence, he didn't expect her to pilot again, but he judged that her pity must have been similar to his.

When they were properly dressed, they left the place and went to Maya who was typing on her keyboard, she was preparing everything for the test.

"So everyone is here already." Ritsuko spoke as she entered the room next to Misato.

Maya promptly raised her head and nodded to her superiors, Ritsuko approached Maya's console to take a look.

"Well Shinji, Rei you guys can go. Rei will use Mari's test plug and Shinji Asuka's." Ritsuko spoke as she sat down in a chair and turned on one of the monitors, Maya could conduct the test herself, but Ritsuko wanted to see the data up close to use in her project.

Shinji nodded and went to the door that gave access to the plugs, when he stopped next to Asuka's plug he found that he was looking forward to it, piloting only brought bad memories, but he made a personal vow to no longer run away, he nodded to nothing and entered the plug, inside he adjusted the neural connectors and waited for everything to start.

"All set Senpai." Maya spoke to Ritsuko who nodded, Misato moved closer to the consoles so she could see the image of Shinji and Rei.

"Start the test." Ordered Ritsuko, Maya typed a few commands into her console and the test began.

Shinji was sitting when he heard the sound of LCL being pumped in, he could see it when he was completely submerged, he took a deep breath to fill his lungs, he could smell Strawberry and mint from the shampoo Asuka was using, he closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the fragrances, memories of their kiss came into his mind, he smiled when he remembered.

Rei was at the plug next to her, her concentration was broken when LCL filled the plug, she quickly smelled the perfume Mari was wearing, memories of the walk with Mari the day before flashed through her mind and the moment they shared, Rei smiled shyly.

"Alright Shinji and Rei, let's start the connections, concentrate as much as possible." Maya spoke professionally into the microphone, but had a hint of uncertainty still in her voice, something that was noticed by Ritsuko.

"You have to be firmer Maya." Ritsuko spoke without looking away from the data.

Maya nodded in agreement, Misato was standing next to Mari, she shook her head, Misato knew that Maya would never reach the level that Ritsuko demanded, Maya was too cool.

The data started coming in on the monitors, Ritsuko shook her head at Shinji's telemetry, Misato approached and asked.

"What? Still scoring 0%? " Misato asked with concern in his voice.

"No, he's excellent, he's hovering between 78 to 82%" Ritsuko spoke up as she saw that he was practically tied with Asuka. Misato raises his eyebrows at the data in front of him.

Mari was laughing softly at the information, Misato turned his head and looked at her doubtfully.

"What's so funny Mari?" Misato asked curiously.

"The princess will be pissed." Mari spoke still laughing, her response caused Misato to laugh low too, she knew how hard Asuka worked to be first, she was feeling sorry for Shinji when she found out, she looked at Ritsuko again.

"And Rei?" Misato asked curiously.

"She's keeping between 72 to 74%, she's fine too." Maya replied.

Ritsuko was smiling, with this data she could continue her studies on the fictitious plug, the rest of the test went by smoothly, Shinji and Rei proved that they were more than capable of piloting an EVA again.

"Alright everyone, you can leave, the test is over." Ritsuko spoke into the microphone and signaled for Maya to close the connections.

When he finished, Shinji coughed the LCL out of his lungs, he hoped he had done well on the test, he wanted to be useful to everyone in all the roles he was given, he waited for the hatch to open, got out and looked around, he saw Rei approaching him.

"So Rei, how was it for you?" Shinji asked curiously.

Rei looked at him and spoke. "It went well, I believe I did a good performance, how about you?"

Shinji was still not used to Rei asking questions, but he liked to see her evolving.

"I believe you must have done well." Shinji replied as confidently as he could, but deep down he was worried, he remembered when he woke up that Ritsuko had told him that he had 0% synchronization.

Together, Shinji and Rei went to the stairs that led to the control room again, inside were everyone, they were waiting for them, Ritsuko was holding her tablet with the test information, she raised her eyes when the duo entered, they stopped silently, one next to the other.

"Shinji you got an average of 80%." Ritsuko spoke, Shinji had a surprised look on his face, he hadn't expected to have done that well.

"Rei, you got an average of 73%." Ritsuko spoke to Rei who kept his form.

"You guys did great." Misato spoke with a smile on his face. "Now I'm going back to the bridge."

Misato turned to the door and started to leave. "See you later Rei." Ritsuko spoke as she left along with Misato.

"Well, the changing rooms are over there." Maya spoke up showing where they could take a shower to remove the LCL from their bodies.

Shinji and Rei went to take a shower, Mari stood waiting for Shinji outside, she was going to take him to his first day of training, she smiled devilishly.

Shinji was still surprised at his synchronization average, he again got dressed and came out of the locker room, he found Rei and Mari talking, the two looked at him.

"See you guys later." Rei spoke as he left the room and headed for the bridge.

"Ok Rei." Shinji spoke as he saw Rei walk away, he turned and looked at Mari who was staring at him with a smile on her face, Shinji felt a chill run through his body.

"Ready to 'training' puppy?" Mari spoke smiling devilishly.


Shinji fell to the ground gasping heavily, he was feeling exhausted, his whole body tingled, his face was sweaty and his whole body ached.

Mari approached Shinji on the floor, she was also sweating, but she was not as tired as Shinji.

"It's already down, we're not even halfway there." Mari spoke as she offered her hand to help Shinji up, he gladly accepted it.

"What did I do to you?" Shinji asked breathlessly to Mari who started laughing, he was never the athletic type before, he only did the basics in school.

"Come on puppy, when your body adapts, next time will be easier." Mari spoke as she pulled Shinji into the next exercise she planned.

Shinji was doing a series of sit-ups, Mari was holding his feet, counting and supporting him to continue.

"One, Two, Three ... Come on puppy... Four and Five ... Ready." Mari spoke proudly as she stood up and clapped for Shinji who was collapsed on the floor.

Mari looked at her watch and spoke.

"We've been here for two and a half hours now, I think that's good for today." Mari spoke as she threw a towel to Shinji, he sat on the floor and dried the sweat on his forehead, his breathing was rapid, his chest ached from his ribs, but he could easily handle it.

"Well, let's take a shower and go to lunch." Mari spoke as she started walking to the locker room, she saw Shinji get up and start walking as well, Mari smiled mischievously and started walking with a more sensual stride, making the sight of her hips quite eye-catching to Shinji.

Shinji blushed at the sight of Mari's hips, he quickly looked away, Mari smiled when she saw that her teasing had worked and continued until she reached the door to the changing room, where she turned and looked at Shinji's blushing face.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower now, do you want to take one with me?" Mari spoke sensually to Shinji who blushed furiously at the mention of Mari, she began to laugh and spoke as she walked away. "Ay puppy, you are very easy to tease."

Shinji stood in front of the locker room, Mari could foresee that he was still standing looking at the door, she shouted from inside. "Is everything okay there puppy? ... My beautiful body hasn't melted your brain has it?"

Shinji came out of his trance and went to take a shower.

Shinji showered faster than Mari, he waited outside for her, he could hear her singing in the shower, Shinji stood there listening to her singing, he couldn't deny that she had a beautiful voice and sang well.

He doesn't know how long he stood there waiting for Mari, until he noticed a movement next to him, he saw that Mari came out of the bathroom and sat down next to him and stood there, Shinji stared at her with a confused look on his face.

"What? ... You were so pensive there that I decided to sit down and think too." Mari spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Now that we've stopped thinking, shall we have lunch?"

Shinji can't help but laugh, he nodded and stood up, they walked together to the cafeteria, Shinji was walking next to Mari, he got looks from people, most of them were hateful, Shinji knew that it was only the bad people that show, he was making a great effort to ignore it, but he always got upset.

Shinji eventually bumped into a man in the hallway, he turned around and spoke politely.

"Sorry."

The man, realizing it was Shinji, cast a bored look at him and spoke coldly.

"Apologize? ... Apologize to the three billion people you murdered."

Shinji lowered his gaze, Mari turned around and cast a cold, dangerous glance at the man.

"What did you say sergeant?" Mari stopped and looked intensely at the man, he could feel the cold sweat, he knew he shouldn't face the EVA pilots due to his training, but he knew Mari was an excellent fighter and he would probably lose easy.

"Nothing ma'am." The man replied swallowing dryly at the look on Mari's face, he turned and left with quickened steps.

Mari stared at the man until he disappeared from sight, she looked at Shinji who was in a depressed pose, but before she said anything, Shinji looked up and smiled, it was a fake smile, Mari decided not to press him.

"Come on, I'm hungry."

Mari nodded and walked back.

When the group arrived at the cafeteria, Shinji asked Mari not to tell about the incident, he didn't want people to worry about him, they got in line to get their portions.

Shinji chose the chicken paste with potatoes, Mari got the tuna paste with salads, they sat down at one of the tables to eat, soon Sakura and Rei appeared and sat down next to Mari, Sakura looked at Shinji and asked.

"How is your training day going Shinji?" Sakura asked as she ate her paste.

Shinji looked at Sakura, he was still thinking about the episode he spent in the hall with the man, he looked up and smiled at Sakura, Mari realized that it was a fake smile.

"It's going well, I still want to know what I did for Mari to punish me like this." Shinji spoke making a joke about Mari's training.

The group laughed and Mari cast a fake look at Shinji, as if she was offended, but then began to laugh.

Shinji was listening to Sakura when he noticed a tray of food fall beside him, he soon realized that it was Asuka, he looked at her and smiled at her, but before he could say anything, Mari spoke first.

"Look who decided to show up." Mari spoke intending to tease Asuka.

Asuka just stared at her, shook her head and started eating.

The group went back to talking about random things.


"Lower brat!" Asuka spoke strongly as she corrected Shinji's posture in firearms training.

- Why is she so angry? - Shinji thought as he noticed Asuka's aggressive posture.

"Hey are you listening to me?" Asuka spoke standing beside Shinji and staring at him.

Shinji was brought out of his thoughts as he heard Asuka's question.

"I was thinking about my posture." Shinji lied to avoid further scolding from Asuka.

"Then stop thinking too much and concentrate." Asuka again scolded Shinji who adjusted himself to return to his training.

After a few hours of intense training, Asuka had put away the equipment she used, turned around and spoke to Shinji dryly.

"Training is over, tomorrow we start hand-to-hand combat training." Asuka spoke as she turned and left without giving Shinji time to respond.

He stared at her from behind, started breathing to gather courage, raised his head and spoke.

"Asuka!" Shinji called out.

Asuka hearing his name stopped, but did not turn around. Shinji saw the opportunity to continue, he approached and spoke.

"Can we talk?"

Asuka turned and faced him with a serious look, but she didn't say anything, Shinji was tense at her look, he didn't know whether to continue or to run away, after a while of silence, Asuka huffed in annoyance and spoke angrily.

"What do you want!?"

Shinji got a fright, but he pulled himself together.

"Where can we talk in peace?" Shinji asked expectantly, Asuka seemed to consider, she thought about the question.

"Let's go." Asuka spoke, but her voice gave no room for response, she turned and started walking, Shinji began to follow her.

Asuka was walking with her hands inside the pockets of her red jacket, Shinji was walking a few steps behind her, Shinji began to think about what he would say to, by the way, this was his idea.

Asuka opened an airlock that gave access to the outside area of Wunder, Shinji looked outside, he was amazed at the view that gave to the city of New-London, Asuka leaned on the railing and looked at the view, she was waiting for Shinji to start talking.

Shinji was taking courage to start a conversation, he took a deep breath and spoke.

"Asuka ... What's going on?" Shinji asked as he looked at Asuka, he was really starting to worry about her.

Asuka began to formulate a response, she didn't know exactly what was making her angry at Shinji, but she bit her lip in frustration.

Shinji kept waiting for an answer, he didn't want to pressure Asuka.

"Why?" Asuka spoke with irritation in her voice.

Shinji looked at her and was confused by her question, thousands of answers came into his mind.

"Why what?" Shinji stammered in response, this act made Asuka even more angry.

"Why don't you ever treat me like you treat Ayanami?" Asuka snapped at Shinji, she was very frustrated that Shinji always went to meet Rei, he never talked to her, Asuka was feeling betrayed by Shinji who always tries to pull conversation with Rei and never with her.

Shinji was at this moment thinking about his answer, the reality was that after everything that had happened he didn't know how to deal with Asuka, he again remembered the kiss, what did it represent, what are they now?

He approached Asuka and spoke.

"I ... I don't know." Shinji started to speak as Asuka rolled her eyes.

"It's always like this Shinji, you never know." Asuka spoke as she turned and walked away with tears in her eyes.

Shinji stood there, he was feeling depressed for not having given Asuka this answer, but he thought quickly, he couldn't let her go. In one swift movement, he grabbed Asuka's arm in hopes of making her stop.

Asuka felt a hand grip her arm, she stopped and looked at Shinji, Asuka was making a great effort not to punch him in the face.

"I don't talk to you because I care too much about you." Asuka spoke as she looked into Asuka's eyes.

Asuka grimaced at Shinji and spoke dismissively. "What kind of idiotic response is that?"

Shinji knew that this was not a good answer, but since he had gotten her attention, he decided to continue.

"I'm afraid I'll talk some bullshit and everything will go back to the way it was before." Shinji began to speak, he felt Asuka calm her arm and began to pay attention to Shinji's words.

"I care so much for you, when you were attacked against that angel and my father forced the autopilot, I had sworn you were dead ... When I came back, I was so happy when I saw you alive." Shinji concludes pulling Asuka into a hug, she was reluctant at first but soon accepted his embrace and rested her head on Shinji's shoulder, she was listening intently.

"Me, I was so angry when I thought you were dead that I took my EVA and threatened to destroy the entire base." Shinji spoke as he squeezed Asuka's body tighter, he could feel Asuka let out a small giggle, he looked at the wall confused.

"When I heard about it I couldn't believe it." Asuka spoke as she imagined the scene.

"But it was true, if he hadn't stopped me, I don't know what I would have done." Shinji spoke as he pushed Asuka away, he looked at her one visible eye, he was mesmerized by the beauty of her intense blue eyes, even though only one eye was visible, Shinji could stare at them all day.

Asuka didn't say anything, she was waiting for Shinji to finish speaking, anxiety began to grow in her body, she could feel a desire for Shinji to take the initiative.

Shinji seemed to have read her thoughts, he slowly moved his face closer towards Asuka's face, he stopped a few inches away and opened his eyes to see Asuka's reaction, he realized that she was looking at him, the look on her face was not of anger or fear, but of expectation, he took courage and continued.

When Shinji's lips met Asuka's, she closed her eyes and put her arms around Shinji's neck pulling him to her, Shinji hugged her tighter as the kiss gained intensity going from a simple kiss to a passionate kiss.

Again they felt the avalanche of emotions that this kiss brought, Shinji and Asuka were in their own world, again it seemed that the problems didn't matter anymore, it was just the pure pleasure and comfort they were both feeling.

The kiss was only interrupted when the need for air managed to overcome the moment, when they moved a few inches apart and rested their foreheads against each other's heads, Asuka closed her eyes to enjoy the moment, Shinji was in the same situation.

Asuka opened her eyes and looked at Shinji's face, she was very confused now, she was ready to ask Shinji what they were now? But he realized that Shinji was going to say something, she looked at him expectantly.

Shinji very flushed and nervous, looked Asuka in the eye and spoke as confidently as possible. "Asuka ... I ... I"

"Oh! That's really cute." Mari spoke as she leaned on the door frame, interrupting Shinji's sentence half way through, Asuka turned her head angrily to Mari, she was in the mood to rip her head off for interrupting.

"Are you following me Four Eyes?!" Asuka shouted blushing at Mari who sensed the imminent danger and took off running before Asuka could get her hands on her.

She turned to Shinji again, when they looked at each other, they were both blushing heavily, Shinji started laughing at the scene that had just happened, Asuka also started laughing, but a question lingered in both of their minds.

What are we now?


As the days went by, Shinji continued his training with Mari, she really was right, his training routine was getting easier every day, he was far from ideal physical shape, but he could feel that he was starting to make progress.

Asuka's mood was better with the kiss they had shared, neither of them were brave enough to bring up the subject, but Mari kept teasing them whenever there was an opportunity, whenever Shinji and Asuka looked at each other, she teased them.

When Shinji was going to his firearms training with Asuka, he received word to report to Misato's office immediately, he looked at Asuka, excused himself and started his way to the command bridge.

On the way there, he was wondering what Misato wanted to talk to him about, when he arrived at the command bridge, he went to Misato's office to report as ordered, he stopped at his door and knocked softly.


Misato Katsuragi's office.

Misato was sitting in her chair flipping through the thousands of pages of reports Wunder was making, she huffed and spoke to no one in particular.

"How can a stopped ship give away so much paperwork?" Misato spoke annoyed.

Misato was trying to keep everything in order, she was receiving daily reports from Mari and Asuka about Shinji's development, she was happy to see that Shinji was trying his best.

Misato smiled as she remembered when Mari told her that she caught Shinji and Asuka kissing again, Mari even revealed that she was sorry for speaking up as she realized that Shinji looked like he was about to reveal something important, but she was never going to tell Asuka about it.

Misato was waiting for Shinji to arrive to tell him about Ritsuko's idea, the idea was to put Shinji back inside Unit 01 to try to reactivate it as a normal EVA, she presented this idea to the WILLE committee who approved, they needed to try everything to get the powerful Wunder weapon of war in the air again.

Misato held in her hands the orders she had received, these orders were for Shinji to be taken to WILLE headquarters for immediate testing, Misato didn't want Shinji in Unit 01 again for two reasons, the first was because she was afraid of him being absorbed again, as she so far didn't know why Unit 01 only liked Shinji and second she didn't want Shinji in an Eva again.

Misato was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a knock at her door, she promptly cleared her mind and spoke.

"Come in."

"The lady sent for me?" Shinji asked as he greeted Misato and spoke as professionally as possible, an act Misato thought was cute because he was doing his best to fit in, but felt it was unnecessary for him to keep referring to her as 'Ma'am and greet', she signaled for him to come in and close the door, when he sat down, Misato took a breath and spoke.

"Shinji, you don't need to call me ma'am and salute me, just do that when we are with WILLE's superiors." Misato spoke quietly, she received a nod from Shinji, she adjusted herself in her chair and spoke.

"Earlier today I received orders from the committee, they want you to try to activate Unit 01 in the traditional way." Misato spoke as calmly as possible, she didn't know what Shinji's reaction would be to being around EVA 01 again.

Shinji took a deep breath and spoke. "Okay."

Misato felt surprised at the answer, she looked at Shinji in confusion, she didn't expect Shinji to accept it so willingly.

"OK?" Misato repeated Shinji's response hoping he would complement.

Shinji realizing this, took a breath and spoke. "Misato ... I swore that I would be helpful in whatever task was given to me ... I don't want to have to pilot again, but if it is necessary I will do it, as I said, I am ready to help in whatever is needed."

Misato can't help but smile at Shinji's response, she appreciated Shinji's initiative for being helpful to WILLE and how much he had matured, but it also worried her, how far was he willing to go to prove his point?

"Okay then, tomorrow we're going to WILLE headquarters, meet me at the C entrance at 08H in the morning." Misato spoke to Shinji who nodded in agreement, but before he could get up she continued.

"And Shinji! ... We have to talk about an incident." Misato spoke seriously.

"I heard that one of the crew members called you a murderer, he wanted a fight but was stopped by Mari." Misato continued, she stared at Shinji all the while.

Shinji shook his head, he had asked Mari to keep it a secret, he raised his gaze to Misato and asked. "Mari told you?"

Misato knew that Mari had told her about the incident, but she made up a lie on the spot. "No, I saw it from the security cameras," Misato thanked Shinji for believing it.

"Why didn't you report this Shinji?" Misato asked curiously.

Shinji thought about his answer, he didn't want to tell Misato that he thought he deserved such accusations, he decided to let out a standard sentence.

"I didn't think it was necessary."

Misato could see that he was hiding something, but he continued anyway. "Okay, but I want to remind you that you are a Lieutenant, who can be promoted to Captain at the end of your training, a sergeant cannot be disrespectful to a superior."

Shinji nodded, he still didn't fully understand the hierarchy scheme, but he knew Misato was right, he couldn't tolerate it anymore, he just nodded.

"I'll let that one go, but I want to see more attitude, you're a WILLE lieutenant now, act like it." Misato concluded seriously, she was not lecturing Shinji, but as a form of learning.

"You can go back to your training with Asuka now." Misato spoke more relaxed, as Shinji was leaving, she remembered what Mari had told her about catching them kissing.

"Shinji one more thing." Misato called out to Shinji with a mischievous smile on his face, when Shinji turned around, he immediately recognized that smile.

"Do you have protection?" Misato asked keeping his mischievous smile.

Shinji at first didn't understand the joke, he looked at Misato confused.

Misato seeing that Shinji had not fallen for the joke continued. "Protection ... You know, we can't have a pregnant pilot on Wunder."

Shinji at this point blushed heavily as he finally understood Misato's insinuation, he deduced that Mari must have already told everyone about the kiss he caught, he began to stammer out an answer.

"Misato, we didn't do anything like that." Shinji stammered, he noticed Misato laughing at his desk.

"Shinji, it's too easy to tease you." Misato spoke as she wiped away a tear that ran down her cheek.

Shinji started laughing too, he nodded and left the room, Misato when she again controlled her laughter returned her attention to the papers on her desk, but a question came back in her mind, was she really thinking about Mari's riddle about finding out what Maya had washed with soap?


The next morning Shinji woke up and went to the place where Misato had ordered him to go, on the way there he could feel the anxiety growing inside him, it would be the first time he would see unit 01 again, his mind took him to what Fuyutsuki had told him, about his mother's soul being trapped inside the core of unit 01, it still gave him chills.

When he arrived at the place, he saw that Misato was already standing there waiting for him, he found Mari and Asuka's presence strange, but decided to keep his doubts to himself.

"Before you ask, they are going along to give you 'moral support' as Mari described." Misato spoke as she emphasized Mari's words who was smiling beside Asuka, Shinji nodded, having their presence would help a lot.

When everyone was in the car, Misato called and started her way to WILLE headquarters to meet Ritsuko for the Eva 01 reactivation test, Shinji seemed to be lost in his world, Mari noticed this and asked.

"What's the matter puppy, the image of Asuka can't get out of your head?" Mari asked smiling, she received an elbow from Asuka who was standing next to her.

Shinji can't help but smile at the joke, really Asuka hasn't left Shinji's mind since the kiss, he was taking courage again to be able to complete the sentence he was interrupted by Mari.

"No, I was thinking about Rei." Shinji replied without thinking, but soon realized his mistake as all the women went silent, he could feel Asuka's gaze on his back.

"But not like this, I was thinking that it's really nice to have a sister." Shinji corrected himself quickly, they never talked about this before, Shinji realized he would have to talk to Rei, he kept talking.

"I keep thinking about Fuyutsuki's words as he told me this, he told me Rei was made from my mother." Shinji lowered his gaze as he remembered.

"That's scary." Asuka spoke from the back seat, she was relieved that Shinji saw Rei as his sister, before they found out about her origin, she always saw Rei as a rival.

"True, but she's nice." Mari spoke as she smiled and had a faraway look on her face.

Misato looked in the rearview mirror and started thinking about Mari's words about Rei, she never thought Mari might be interested in her, she found this information interesting.

The walk from Wunder to WILLE headquarters was about half an hour, the rest of the way was done in silence, but not an uncomfortable silence, Shinji was getting ready to reunite with unit 01, Asuka was thinking about her life, Mari was reminiscing about the walk with Rei and in her mystery, Misato was worried about Shinji's effects on his reunion with something so traumatic to him.

When the group arrived at the gate that gave access to the headquarters, Misato introduced himself and showed the orders, the group started walking to the sector where the unit 01 was kept, when they entered there, they found the EVA 01 on the wall, it was in the same position as in the NERV times, Misato automatically remembered that this room looked like the one where they did the activation test with unit 00 that went wrong.

The room was very spacious, EVA 01 was standing on the wall secured with the restraints, he was fully in armor to hold him against any incident, Shinji looked at him and felt sad as he remembered the last time he had seen his Eva, it was when he tried to save Rei and ended the world.

The group entered an elevator that took them to the control room, inside they found Ritsuko giving orders to the technicians in the room, she turned and walked over to Misato, while they talked about the activation, Shinji walked over to the glass and started looking at his purple EVA, he didn't notice Asuka and Mari stop beside him.

Shinji stared at the purple giant on the other side of the glass, he began to remember the last time he entered the Eva, his memories came back in his mind, anxiety began to take over Shinji's body.

Asuka realizes this as she watches Shinji open and close his hand, she could see that he was clearly anxious, many questions were going through Shinji's head, but the main one was will he make it?

Mari seeing the whole scene in front of her, nodded for Asuka to do something, Asuka saw it and put her hand on Shinji's shoulder causing him to turn his head and to look discreetly at her, but before she had a chance to speak, everyone stopped when they heard a scream from Misato.

"How could they want something like that?" Misato spoke wide-eyed at the information Ritsuko passed on about one of WILLE's council decisions.

"Misato, I don't make the rules, that was an order from above." Ritsuko spoke as she lit a cigarette and scratched her head.

"What order?" Asuka approached Misato, followed by Mari, Shinji was still looking at the purple giant, but he could hear everything they were talking about.

Misato looked at Asuka's face and moved on to Shinji's, she didn't know how she was going to say this to him.

"WILLE's advice, they want Shinji to wear a DSS choker to the test." Misato spoke annoyed.

Mari and Asuka felt their eyes widen, Asuka shook her head and gave a sarcastic laugh. Mari spoke annoyed.

"What kind of idiotic order is that?"

"A kind of order you have no authority to contest." Ritsuko spoke dismissively looking up at the ceiling as she let out a cloud of smoke.

Mari was about to speak when she was interrupted by Shinji. "All right."

All the women turned to look at Shinji's back, he was trim with his hands in his pockets, Ritsuko couldn't deny the resemblance to Gendo, she remembered the failed activation of Unit 00 back in the NERV days.

Shinji took a breath and spoke again. "No problem." He turned and spoke with a smile on his face. "I don't plan to activate it."

Misato wanted to argue against it, she didn't want to put another bomb around Shinji's neck, she thought this lack of trust from WILLE in him was wrong, Misato thought how did they want Shinji to fully trust them if they didn't trust Shinji?

Misato turned and spoke to one of the technicians in annoyance. "Let the record show, I am completely against this."

Mari had a frown on her face, she didn't think it was right, she sighed to calm herself and went to Asuka's side who had a dark look on her face.

Ritsuko nodded and pointed to Shinji the place where her plugsuits were, Shinji calmly walked over to the plastic bag and picked up her suit, she went towards the place where she deduced it would serve to change.

Misato turned to her friend with a fierce look, "Aren't you even a little bit bothered by this?"

Ritsuko looked at her and spoke as calmly as possible. "And would it make a difference? ... That order didn't come from me, I can't do anything about it."

Misato stared at her for a few seconds before turning and looking at EVA 01 on the other side of the glass.

After a few minutes, Shinji emerged dressed, he looked at Misato for support, received a nod from her, he nodded back and approached Ritsuko.

"Where?" Shinji asked trying to sound calm, but everyone could see that he was far from calm.

Ritsuko nodded to one of the technicians who brought a small box, when she opened it and picked up the DSS choker, Shinji's eyes locked on it, memories of Kaworu came into his head, and how he lost his mind in detonating the choker.

He felt Ritsuko's hands on his neck and the sound of the choker tightening, she was a little tight, but he could handle it, again one of the technicians approached Ritsuko and handed her the detonation control, Misato stared at the device and remembered the moment he almost killed Shinji in his escape, she had a dark look on her face.

"The choker is set on automatic, but the control as a second option." The technician spoke as he handed the control to Ritsuko, he quickly withdrew as he received a fierce look from Misato.

Ritsuko was about to go to one of the consoles when she saw Misato reach out and speak dryly. "Give it to me."

Ritsuko looked at her friend with confusion, Misato seeing this rephrased her sentence.

"Give me control."

Ritsuko knew the moment was tense, she slowly handed Misato the detonator, they both looked at each other coldly before Ritsuko walked away and Misato put the device away in her jacket pocket.

Misato wanted to keep the detonator, as she knew that they would not hesitate to trigger it with any slightest suspicion about Shinji, Misato wanted to have as much control over it as possible.

Shinji was walking towards the elevator that would take him to where the entrance plug was waiting for him, he had a dark look on his face, Shinji was trying to clear the image of Kaworu dying from his head.

Shinji approached the entry plug, he sighed a few times before he saw the hand of one of the technicians helping him balance so he could get into the plug, when he was already inside, he raised his head and thanked the technician for his help, the man nodded back as he walked away and signaled for them to close.

When Shinji was alone inside the plug, the only thing he had was darkness, he was alone with his thoughts, he opened and closed his hand to try to calm himself, Shinji noticed movement of the plug, he deduced that the plug was being moved into position.

Shinji heard the sound of LCL being pumped in, being fully submerged, he took a deep breath, still with his eyes closed, he was trying to concentrate on the past task when the radio started to sound.

"How are things there Shinji?" Ritsuko asked professionally.

"They are fine, all in order now." Shinji replied trying to copy Ritsuko's tone.

"OK, let's begin the synchronization sequence." Ritsuko spoke as she signaled for the technicians to begin the procedure.

Shinji could feel the connections beginning, he felt a small tingling in his hands as his mind connected with the EVA, but soon everything was stopped.

Ritsuko snorted in frustration as she saw the error window on the monitor, she signaled for them to try again, as the attempts started, more errors appeared, Ritsuko was almost giving up.

Shinji was making every effort to activate his EVA again, he remembered Fuyutsuki's words, Shinji decided to try something.

- Hi Mom. - Shinji thought in the hope of communicating with his mother's soul. - I know you are in there somewhere, Fuyutsuki told me about the contact experiment, could you help me? -

Shinji was already feeling crazy to be thinking about communicating with his mother, he was almost giving up when he started to recognize a presence inside the entrance plug, he smiled as he felt the warmth and tranquility he used to feel before, but now he knew why, his mother was with him.

Ritsuko was about to give the order when one of the technicians spoke up.

"The connection has gone through the early stages."

All the women in the room looked at the EVA, somehow Shinji was getting it, they could see his telemetry and the internal display, Misato noticed that Shinji had his eyes closed and was smiling slightly.

Shinji was sitting on his stool, he realized that he was succeeding continued. - I know you must have thought I was dead, but no, Misato rescued me.

For every thought Shinji thought, the more he felt the presence increase, it seemed to be approaching him, Shinji could swear he heard a person talking to him.

- It's me mom, it's really me. - Shinji thought as he felt like being hugged by someone, he could feel the warmth and affection, as the light show went on inside the plug, when the show ended Shinji opened his eyes and saw the control room in front of him, he smiled as he saw that he made it.

- Thanks Mom. -


"Unit 01 successfully activated." The technician spoke with a smile on his face, the group of technicians began to cheer as they received the operating information, Misato looked at Asuka and Mari who were standing next to him and nodded.

"Synchronization holding steady at 82%" Ritsuko spoke as she read the information on her screen, she could hear Asuka's scream as she felt shocked that Shinji had broken her synchronization record again.

Mari turned to Asuka and spoke smiling. "Looks like we have a new sheriff in the area."

Asuka had a dark look on her face, she was happy for Shinji, but her pride was still there, she couldn't accept being number two again.

The moment of joy was short-lived when alarms began to sound, for a moment everyone thought EVA had gone berserk, but they realized that the alarm was from somewhere else.

WILLE sounded the battle alarm, a Mark.09 unit was rapidly approaching New London, this was the same unit that Mari and Asuka failed to defeat.

Everyone seemed to be frantic when the phone from inside the room rang, one of the technicians quickly answered, after listening for a few seconds he turned and pointed to Misato, she walked over took the phone and put it to her ear, what she heard left her speechless.

"Sir, with all due respect." Misato tried to argue, but the voice on the other side silenced her, Misato lowered her gaze in defeat. "Yes sir."

She turned to the technicians and spoke firmly. "We are going to implement Unit 01."

"What?" Was a general shout from everyone.

"Are they crazy?" Ritsuko spoke as she approached Misato.

"We can handle it." Asuka spoke as she approached Misato.

"I know, but they want us to deploy Unit 01 to distract the enemy already in the vicinity and use the remaining Evas units to attack. " Misato spoke somberly, everything she feared most was happening, another Mark .09 that seems indestructible appeared and Shinji would have to pilot it again.

"We will have to obey the council." Misato spoke as she approached the microphone to speak to Shinji, but before she spoke, she turned and ordered Mari and Asuka to go back to Wunder to implement their EVAS, they ran out of the room.

"Shinji?" Misato spoke cautiously as he turned his attention to Shinji.


"Shinji?" Misato's voice came through the input plug's speakers, Shinji was attentive as he was seeing everything through EVA 01's eyes.

"I'm here." Shinji stuttered due to adrenaline.

"We have a situation here." Shinji could feel the tension in Misato's voice. "A Mark. 09 unit is rapidly approaching New London, the council wants you to delay him until Asuka and Mari can finish him off."

Shinji at this moment felt the adrenaline flow through his body, he didn't expect that they would put him in the fight again. He was so lost in his thoughts that he couldn't even hear Misato.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted over the radio, his shout was enough to bring him out of his reverie, he looked at Misato's face that appeared in front of him, he pulled himself together and spoke.

"OK ... OK."

Misato nodded and looked back at the technicians, she promptly ordered.

"Transport EVA 01 to the launch pad." Ordered Misato, the technicians began typing frantically.

Shinji could feel his EVA being taken back as the walls opened, he closed his eyes and began to breathe to calm himself down, he had to concentrate on the mission, he had to drive the enemy out of the city.

A few minutes passed when EVA 01 was placed on the deployment platform, his EVA was hoisted up by a vertical elevator, when the light bathed in he could see everything that was happening, he was placed as far away from the city as possible.

Shinji would have no problems with power due to the S2 engine providing him with unlimited power, Shinji honed his vision as he saw the target approaching, the enemy EVA was armed with some sort of scythe, it glowed when the rays of light reflected off his silver armor. Shinji thought this EVA was cool to look at, but he quickly cleared his mind and refocused.

"Misato?" Shinji called over the radio, she quickly answered.

"How long do I have until Asuka and Mari arrive?" Shinji asked as he started walking toward the enemy.

Misato looked thoughtful, "You're going to have to hold it for five to ten minutes or so."

Shinji's face lost its color, he would have to hold on for a relatively long time, he felt the presence inside his EVA again, it seemed to be telling him that they could do this, Shinji nodded confidently.

"Misato? ... Do I have a weapon?" Shinji asked as he started running toward his target.

Misato seeing that Shinji started to run towards the target, cast a strange look at him, but quickly recovered to answer his question.

"Sorry Shinji, it doesn't." Misato replied with a worried expression.

Shinji ordered his EVA to run faster, when he was approaching the target he stopped and waited for it to arrive, it didn't take long for the Mark.09 unit to fall in front of him.

Shinji faced his enemy, the Mark.09 began to walk in a circle as if studying Shinji, he raised his scythe and propped it on his shoulder, Shinji could feel the tension these units seemed to be very threatening, he tightened his controls even more.

In one swift movement, the Mark.09 unit advanced and raised its scythe to try to hit Shinji, who narrowly missed being hit. He stepped back and began to dodge the quick and deadly blows that the Mark.09 was giving him, Shinji was amazed at the speed of their blows and movements.

Shinji raised his arms and held his enemy's weapon, the Mark.09 unit raised its AT field and began to push Shinji away, but he kept his grip tight.

When the tension was too great, Shinji had to let go, his EVA was thrown away with the force of the enemy's AT field, when he landed on the mountain in the background, Shinji would not have time to think, as Mark.09 was leaping towards him trying to deliver a killing blow to Shinji, who quickly raised his AT field to defend himself.

Unit Mark.09 went down with all his might when his scythe collided with Unit 01's AT field, Shinji could feel the violence of the blow, he knew his field would not hold forever, he lifted his leg and landed a powerful kick to Mark.09's chest that went a few meters back, he quickly pulled himself together and attacked again.


Control Room - WILLE - New-London.

Misato was watching everything from the control room, she was watching Shinji defend himself as best he could against Mark.09, she knew that without a weapon, Shinji wouldn't stand a chance, she grabbed her personal radio and called Wunder.

"Status of Unit 02 and 08?" Misato asked with tension in his voice.

"Asuka and Mari just arrived, give or take 5 minutes for implementation." Maya spoke over the radio, Misato bit her lip with tension, 5 minutes was too long.


Shinji again dodged the unit's killing blow, he was running out of alternatives, every time he tried to attack, he was quickly blocked, he was running out of time and ideas, his mind wandered to how much longer he would have to hold out.

Shinji was dodging when he felt a strong blow to his face, he realized that Mark.09 managed to land a punch to Unit 01's face, the punch was powerful enough for Shinji to taste blood in his mouth, he quickly landed another punch to his abdominal region, causing his EVA to stagger backwards.

Shinji raised his arms and managed to hold the scythe that was heading towards the head of unit 01, he could feel that this EVA was different, he was faster and stronger, but he couldn't give up, he forced his controls to give him more strength.

EVA 01 was starting to push the scythe towards Mark. 09, causing EVA 01 to be able to stand up, Shinji was keeping his strength steady, it was an arm break they were both locking up, Shinji was trying to remove the scythe from his opponent, if he could get a weapon, he could turn this game around quickly.

Shinji was almost able to remove it when he felt a kick to his EVA's leg causing him to fall to the ground and lose his advantage, Shinji began to gasp as Mark 09's scythe was coming dangerously close to one of EVA 01's eyes.


Control Room - WILLE - New-London.

Misato seeing the situation started to feel her heart racing at the scene, she was watching Shinji give it his all and his best wasn't being enough, she saw when he started to try and remove the scythe from Mark.09's hands, but just as he was about to succeed, the Mark.09 unit managed to knock EVA 01 down and was dangerously close to his face.

Shinji was about to be defeated, when Misato picked up his radio and shouted to Maya. "Where are the fucking reinforcements?"

"EVAS being implemented, two minutes tops." Maya shouted back.

Misato knew she was doing her best, but again everyone's best was not being enough.


Shinji screamed at his controls as he tried to push the Mark.09 away, he knew that if he did nothing the end would come for him, in a loud shout, Shinji pushed his EVA forward at the same moment as he implemented his AT field, this movement was enough to break the scythe into several pieces and push the enemy EVA away.

Shinji lifted his EVA and picked up a piece of the scythe that could serve as a weapon, a blade is better than nothing, thought Shinji agitatedly.

The Mark.09 unit opened the compartment of his shoulder to reveal a progressive knife, Shinji took a deep breath and moved forward at full speed towards the enemy, as he got close he tried desperately to wound the enemy, but his blows were being blocked by the Mark 09's knife.

Both kept exchanging blows in the hope of hurting each other, Shinji felt the Mark 09 hold the hand of his EVAS and throw his weapon away, the Mark 09 took the opportunity to try to give a sharp blow, Shinji moved away and ran towards the Mark 09 and held his hand in the air, Shinji saw the opportunity, he twisted the Mark 09 hand and lowered the blade until it reached the place where he believed to be his core, luckily the Mark.09 units luckily the Mark.09 units had the core in the same place where the EVAS normally had it, more or less at the height of the stomach.

Shinji seeing that he had succeeded, began to push the enemy unit back and at the same time push the knife deeper into him, Shinji could feel the core resistance in the knife, but he was pushing as hard as the EVA could give, the Mark.09 Unit let out a growl of pain.

They don't know how many meters they ran backwards, but Shinji stopped as he sank the knife completely into the core of the enemy who just stopped, Shinji stared at his opponent's face, he saw that the knife was completely in Mark.09's abdomen, he was in doubt for a moment if he had made it.

Everyone in the control room was shocked at what they saw, not only had Shinji faced the enemy, he seemed to have won, Misato was wide-eyed at the sight, Shinji had managed to do something that neither Mari nor Asuka could do together.

But the Mark 09 unit still tried one more thing, before it felt its core die, it hugged the EVA 01 and activated its self-destruct, Shinji widened his eyes when he realized this and tried to raise his AT field in hopes of protecting himself.

The last thing Misato and everyone in the room saw, was the image of the Mark.09 embracing Unit 01 and exploding in a flash of light, losing the images and telemetry data from the VAS 01, everyone in the room was silent waiting for any sign, Misato was afraid the worst had happened to Shinji.

Misato picked up her radio and spoke to Mari and Asuka almost desperately for information. "Mari, Asuka, update."

"We are arriving now, we only see a cross-shaped explosion." Mari spoke agitatedly.

Misato feared for Shinji, she was afraid to think that EVA 01 was destroyed.


Mari and Asuka were making their EVAS run as fast as possible, but they had to detour around the city so as not to cause damage to the civilians, they could hear the battle over the radio and knew they didn't have much time, both remembered the destructive power of the Mark.09 units and were fearing for Shinji.

When both were arriving at the place, they heard silence on the radio, they saw a strong explosion on the other side of the hill and an energy cross was appearing, both thought that Shinji had been defeated.

"Mari, Asuka, update." Both were snapped out of their reveries when Misato's voice came on the quick, she was in a slightly downcast voice, both realized that she was worried about Shinji and Misato's way of speaking didn't help to get a contrary idea.

Mari raised her head and spoke agitatedly. "We are coming now, we only see a cross-shaped explosion."

Both EVAS went up the hill and saw the impossible, EVA 01 lying on the ground, he looked intact, only his armor was struggling and burned from the explosion.

Asuka quickly opened a channel with Shinji and waited for him to answer, after a while, his image appeared, he looked tired, but he was in one piece.

"How are you Shinji?" Asuka asked with genuine concern.

"I'm fine, there's a whistle in my ear but I'm fine." Shinji replied with a smile on his face as he tried to unclog his ears, Asuka can't help but smile seeing that Shinji was fine.

Mari was also relieved, she opened a channel with Misato and spoke happily.

"Misato, unit Mark.09 destroyed completely, Unit 01 and its pilot are fine."


Command Center - WILLE

Misato was waiting impatiently for a response from Mari and Asuka she had to know if he was okay, she was beginning to shake her hand so hard that her nails were cutting the skin of her hand, she raised her eyes to screen that she had not yet been recovered.

Mari called her over the radio, a moment of apprehension passed through everyone in that room, the same was happening in Wunder, everyone heard and saw the battle, everyone was anxious about the outcome.

"Misato, unit Mark.09 completely destroyed, Unit 01 and its pilot are fine." Mari reported over the radio.

One man stood up excitedly from his chair and shouted happily as he raised his hands up. "That's fucking it, good boy."

A sound of general euphoria sounded through the room, everyone was celebrating like a championship finale, Misato looked up relieved that Shinji had managed to defeat a Mark.09 Unit, as the energy from the explosion passed, the images and telemetry information came back on everyone's screen, when it was actually confirmed that the Mark.09 Unit was defeated by Shinji, Misato walked over to the radio and picked it up, before speaking she wiped the sweat from her forehead and spoke to everyone. "Alright Shinji, go back to the entrance marked on your display.

"Okay Misato." Shinji spoke tiredly, but happily.

"Man, this kid is fucked up." One of the coaches spoke to the fellow next to him, Misato can't help but smile, Shinji has always been an exceptional pilot.


Author's Notes: Please review, your critiques (Good or bad) are very important to me, you know that I take a lot into consideration what is said and it also gives me strength to continue this translation project, of course the translation will have problems, but hopefully it will be at satisfactory levels.

Don't forget to also like the Facebook page, search for "Calborghete" and locate a picture of Shinji and Asuka, on this page I will post updates and it will also be easier for you to contact me.

Well, see you next time.