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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 24.

Shinji was alone inside Unit 02, he was feeling very depressed, he was worried about Asuka who was in the hospital ward of Wunder, even though Sakura assured him that she would be fine in a few hours, the feeling of guilt was flooding his head.

Seeing that the battle was not going well, with the loss of Unit 08 and his unit broken, Shinji ordered Unit 02 to stand up and take his progressive knife again, he faced the enemy who was standing arrogantly in front of him, feeling weak and about to faint, Shinji ran towards the threat, raising his arm to strike a blow with his knife, his unit was moving slower, something with his synchronization being low.

Easily blocking the attack, the enemy raised his arm with the knife and delivered a powerful kick to Unit 02's abdomen, flying back several meters and falling heavily against a mountain and feeling all the pain the battle had already caused him, Shinji gasping heavily grabbed the control levers and commanding again to stand up.

As he stood completely on his feet, Shinji raised his head just in time to see an object coming quickly toward him, acting on instinct, Shinji raised his AT field to block the enemy's attack, stopping it momentarily.

Shinji looked on in horror as the double-edged sword began to twitch and its form transformed into a gray double-edged spear, seeing that this new weapon managed to penetrate his field with ease, Shinji raises his EVA hand in hopes of holding the spear that continued on its path, but his movements were not fast enough.

"Ah!" Feeling the sensation of the spear penetrating Unit 02's head, Shinji raised his hands and held his face as he cried out in pain as he felt the spear going deeper and deeper into his face.

Following the force of the attack, Unit 02 fell backwards as the spearheads pinned it firmly to the ground.

Misato looked in horror at the scenes in front of her, unit 8 was lying on the ground and Mari and Rei not responding, her heart was beating fast in her chest as she saw Shinji screaming in pain as the spear went through his head, the person she considered her own son with horrified eyes, turning quickly to the bridge crew members.

"Cut the nerve connections!" Ritsuko ordered as she anticipated Misato's order.

"Shinji? Shinji come in!" Misato shouted as she felt panic rising, on her visor she had image of unit 02 lying on the ground with a copy of Longinus' spear pinning her down, a few hundred meters next to it was the deactivated unit 08, both were with major armor damage.

Inside the entrance plug of Unit 02, Shinji was alone, he was sitting in Asuka's seat, the events of a few hours ago were still in his head, he could feel a presence inside the plug, she seemed to be encouraging him to get up, but the damage and the struggle were not allowing it, the pain in his face was too strong.

Shinji looked around and saw the enemy rising into the sky, it opened its arms and stood in the shape of a cross, in its center, a wall of AT field was generated, its yellowish color was clearly visible, its shape began to transform into several smaller squares and were moving in various directions.

On Wunder's bridge, the mighty flying fortress was opening fire with all its arsenal against the enemy that was preparing to attack, Misato looked around at his bridge crew, everyone's eyes were reflecting the same feeling, they were all afraid because their attacks were doing nothing against the enemy.

Shinji only watched helplessly as the enemy changed its target, his eyes widened as the energy mace was fired and obliterating its defenseless target, Shinji could only do one thing, scream.

"No!"


Two days earlier.

Shinji woke up in his bed, again he got a good night's sleep, looking down and seeing red hair lined up on his chest, raising his hand and starting to stroke Asuka's head lightly, hearing her let out satisfied sighs, Shinji can't help but smile, Shinji knew she wasn't well, after finding out about his mother was at the core of his EVA Unit, Shinji was doing his best to help his girlfriend.

Lifting her head and looking at Shinji, Asuka looked at him sleepily and confused.

"In five minutes the alarm clock will go off." Shinji spoke as he learned of Asuka's hatred for waking up early, he felt it when she bumped her forehead against his chest, this was the first night she had nightmares while sleeping on Shinji's chest.

Snorting from being woken up, Asuka lifted her head and took a deep breath, sitting up and stretching her arms to stretch, memories of the night before were in her head, finding out about her mother had been a good kick in the stomach.

Still embarrassed that she had cried herself to sleep, Asuka got up and went towards the bathroom to relieve herself, in the privacy, Asuka stopped and looked in the mirror, seeing that her hair was a mess and she had a tired look on her face, she huffed at what she saw and trying to make herself presentable Asuka stopped to think, placing a hand over her eyes, Asuka held back the urge to cry.

"Mama." Asuka whispered.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, tidying up as best she could, she came out of the bathroom to find Shinji sitting on the bed holding his red jacket waiting for her, he had a shy smile on his face.

"How are you?" Shinji asked as he stood up and opened his jacket offering her a gentleman's help, Asuka gave a small smile as she accepted the help, turning around with her head down, she thought about the answer.

"I'm more or less baka ... I always blamed her for abandoning me, and she was always there with me, protecting me." Asuka replied feeling the urge to cry again.

Giving Asuka a protective hug, Shinji gently ran his hand down his girlfriend's back to give her comfort, he himself knew the feeling of knowing that his mother was in the EVA.

"How am I going to be able to get in there again?" Asuka asked in a pleading voice as she leaned her head against Shinji's shoulder.

"I don't know ... When I was back in Unit 01, I just tried to talk to her." Shinji replied hoping he could help, he felt Asuka squeezing him tighter. "When I talked, I swear I could feel her feeling, she didn't say anything to me, but I could feel the emotion."

"But how can I talk to her? I blamed her for all these years ... What morals do I have to talk to her?" Asuka asked, she was getting more and more anxious as she spoke.

Shinji spoke as warmly as possible. "She's your mother Asuka, I'm sure she'll understand ... She's spent all this time with you, I bet she understands why." Shinji could feel that his words were helping in some way. "By the way, she was a brilliant scientist that neither was my mother, I bet she'll understand."

Asuka pulled away a little and looked Shinji in the eye and gave a sincere smile, giving him a small kiss on his lips, Asuka pulled away and spoke. "Thank you Baka, really thank you."

Shinji smiled at his girlfriend. "Hungry?"

"A lot." Asuka spoke smiling as she held Shinji's hand and guided him out.


Mari woke up, looking around and realizing she was naked and sleeping on the couch while holding Rei like a teddy bear, Mari smiled as she remembered the statement and the "things" they both did the night before, Mari buried her head in Rei's bare back as she smiled.

"I think you woke up." Mari lifted her head from her back and spoke smiling.

"How long have you been awake Blue?" Mari asked curiously while still holding Rei.

"It's been a while." Rei spoke in her delicate voice, Mari could not see, but she was smiling.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Mari spoke as she squeezed Rei's body a little harder.

Rei smiled, she did not wake Mari as she was feeling very comfortable, feeling Mari's arms around her waist and her body on her back. Taking Mari's hand and intertwining their fingers, Rei spoke.

"I didn't want to, I'm feeling pretty good this way."

Mari giggled a little, but kept the smile on her face the whole time. "I'm happy too Blue, you don't know how much."

Rei looked at the small clock seeing that they had to get up, a small frown appeared on his face, but he knew they had to get up. "We have to get up."

Rei could feel Mari banging her head on her back in agreement, letting out a sigh of annoyance, Mari let go of Rei and felt the same thing getting up, seeing her partner giving a little stretch, Mari was lost at the sight.

Getting up and stretching with a feline in the morning, Mari went to the bathroom to get ready for the day, combing her hair and pinning it up into two tresses, Mari waited for Rei.

Before leaving the room, Mari felt Rei holding her arm preventing her from opening the door, turning to see why, Mari received a small kiss on the lips, as they parted, Mari's head was in the clouds but she managed to pull herself together quickly to ask.

"May I know the reason?" Mari asked smiling, "Not that I'm complaining."

Rei stared at her and thought for a moment, she was remembering the books she read about it, looking Mari in the eyes Rei replied gently with a little blush on her cheeks. "I read that many couples start their day with a kiss."

If it were possible, Mari would have widened her smile more. "Wow Blue, you learn fast ... But you don't have to follow like a rule book, just let yourself go." Mari took Rei's hand and they both went out for breakfast, Mari was amazed, now she had someone to love and be loved by, someone she could hold.

Rei nodded as she was carried through the halls, they received curious glances when they were seen holding hands and smiling.


Shinji was sitting with Asuka at one of the tables, they were both talking about random things while smiling, but from time to time Shinji would see Asuka's gaze drop, he knew what the reason was, Asuka was worried, holding one of his hands and smiling, Shinji could see that Asuka needed all the support in the world at this time.

Asuka looked at Shinji, she was ready to speak when she noticed Mari and Rei entering the cafeteria, Shinji noticing the look on his girlfriend's face, turning his head to see, Shinji smiled as he saw them both entering holding hands and smiling, turning back to his girlfriend.

"Did they talk?" Shinji asked as he took a sip of his juice.

"I don't know, I'll find out soon enough." Asuka spoke as she dug into her briefcase.

After a few minutes, Mari and Rei sat down at the table where Shinji and Asuka were, seeing his sister's gaze on Mari, Shinji decided to ask with a smile on his face.

"So ... When did this happen?" Shinji asked Rei curiously, who was keeping a small smile on her face, until Asuka looked up to see the answer.

"What happened?" Rei asked innocently.

"He wants to know about us Blue." Mari replied smiling as she attacked her food.

"Oh ... Yesterday." Rei was straight to the point, she never had much malice in conversation.

Both Shinji and Asuka raised an eyebrow, Mari was getting ready to speak when Sakura arrived and sat down in the vacant seat.

"Yesterday what?" Sakura asked with her curiosity a thousand per hour.

Mari smiled as she saw that the entire gang was present and spoke proudly. "Can I speak Blue?" Receiving Rei's confirmation, Mari spoke. "Blue and I are a couple."

Asuka dropped her spoon, the same was happening to Sakura, Shinji was smiling at his sister, he was very happy with her finding someone she could be happy with.

Recovering, Sakura gave the new couple her best smile and spoke happily. "Congratulations to you both."

Mari and Rei gladly accepted, so did Shinji, Mari turned to Asuka who had a small smile on her face. "What's wrong princess, jealous?"

Asuka gave a small laugh. "No, I'm relieved now, I won't have to put up with your shit alone."

The group started laughing at Asuka's phrase, when everyone calmed down, Sakura spoke up.

"Guys, Wunder is back on the air today." Sakura spoke with a bit of sadness in her voice. "I asked permission to say goodbye to Ken... Hikari and the stooges."

Seeing Sakura blushing, Mari spoke up. "Sakura, you can stop the theater, we already know you are picking up Kensuke."

Sakura blushed strongly, she believed it was in secret.

"I still can't see what you saw in the goofy nerd." Asuka spoke as she took another bite of her food.


"Please guys, be careful." Hikari spoke with tears in her eyes as she gave her childhood friends a strong, collective hug.

"We go big mom." Mari spoke as she squeezed Hikari. "We'll be back before you miss it, take good care of the athlete there."

After everyone said goodbye, Toji missed his sister, turning his head to look for her, when he heard his sister shouting 'yes' his eyes widened, a few meters from them were Kensuke and Sakura, both shared a passionate kiss.

Seeing the look of shock on her husband's face, Hikari saw the reason, holding back the urge to scream at the romantic scene in front of her as she saw Kensuke sliding a ring into Sakura's hand and kissing again.

"Oh ... What's that there?" Toji asked in shock.

Kensuke was clearly nervous about everything, he began to stammer out a response when his future wife spoke.

"'That' is none of your business." Sakura spoke just as nervously.

The group of pilots watched the small discussion holding their laughter, especially Mari, Shinji went over to his long-time annoyed friend and spoke with his hand on his shoulder.

"Easy Toji, isn't it better that Sakura stay with someone you trust?" Shinji spoke as confidently as possible, indeed Toji had become a large and intimidating man, even though he was almost thirty now, his appearance maintained that of a fourteen year old boy. Toji seemed to have calmed down a bit and cast a glance at Kensuke that clearly said that the conversation was not over.

When tempers calmed again, Sakura was the last to return, again having her hands held by Kensuke, he spoke with genuine concern. "Please be careful."

"I will." Sakura spoke as she kissed her future husband one last time before they left, when everyone was on the Wunder's access ramp, Kensuke called out to Shinji. "Hey Shin-man..." Receiving Shinji's due attention. "Take care of Sakura for me."

Shinji nodded as the group went back inside, seeing that they were out of sight, Toji went over to his friend and slapped the back of his head and spoke. "How much were you guys going to tell me?"

Seeing Toji get an answer from Kensuke who stuttered more than a stutterer, Hikari gave a small smile as she looked at the mighty Wunder preparing to take off again, she said a small prayer asking for everyone to come back safe and sound.


Command Bridge - Wunder.

"Alright, we've received a green signal from HQ to take off again, we're heading east to Russia." Misato spoke to his Wunder crew over the internal radio, the bridge crew was listening intently to everything. "We have information that something is going on over there, we're back in business, we're going to kick NERV's ass again." A cry of elation could be heard throughout Wunder.

"Alright guys, let's take off." Ritsuko ordered as she received a nod from Misato.

The people on the docks looked on in amazement as the Wunder began to pull away to begin takeoff procedures, again when they were at the safe distance, the mighty Wunder took off stretching its kilometer-long wings and took off for eastern Russia where its destination was.

After Wunder was on the air again, Misato went to his office to get updates, on his screen was Kaji, he kept his most original smile, then he started talking.

"Hello Katsuragi." Kaji spoke while maintaining his smile.

"Hello sir." Misato tried to keep the blushing under control.

Kaji spoke still smiling, but soon became in his serious mode. "Katsuragi ... Unfortunately I'm calling to report an enemy presence near the city of Vladivostok, we don't know what the enemy unit is yet, so proceed with caution."

Misato could see that Kaji was worried, she had known him too long to be able to read his body language, remembering the night she spent with him, Misato remembered him saying that NERV had a new type of EVA.

Assenting to Kaji, Misato felt a shiver run down her spine, she was getting the feeling that something was not right.


Standing in front of the mirror, Asuka was taking courage so she could do what she had in mind, putting on her plugsuit she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to control her anxiety.

Maya was standing next to Shinji in the control room, she was looking at the data in front of her and was thoughtful, Maya still couldn't understand the reason for Asuka's request, doing an unscheduled synchronization test and still alone was an unusual request.

Shinji seeing Maya's clear confusion, pulled a chair to his side and spoke. "What is it Captain Ibuki?"

Maya blinked a few times to clear her mind. "Nothing Shinji, just a little confused ... And how many times have I told you to call me Maya?"

Shinji scratched the back of his neck and spoke clumsily. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to it."

Maya shook her head and went back to typing on her keyboard, she was preparing the test preparations, turning her head to look at Shinji, seeing that he was shaking and releasing his hand in a sign of anxiety. "What?"

"Nothing." Shinji replied quickly, thanking Asuka for coming out of the locker room with a face that showed false self-confidence, getting up and walking over to his girlfriend.

"So ... How are you doing?" Shinji asked quietly.

Asuka sighed and lowered her head and whispered. "I'm scared."

Holding Asuka's hands to reassure her, Shinji spoke reassuringly. "It will be all right, you can trust me."

Asuka gave a small smile at Shinji's encouraging words, Maya had partially listened to Shinji's words, she was trying to understand what all the commotion was about over a simple synchronization test, stopping typing and turning her chair around so she could look at the two, Maya stood up and spoke confidently.

"Okay, what's going on?" Maya spoke as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Shinji turned and faced the young captain, he was starting to get nervous about the whole thing, but was saved by Asuka.

"It's none of your business Captain Ibuki." Asuka growled at Maya, this was only a facade, deep down she was anxious that Maya had meddled, she thought the shy former bridge technician wouldn't worry about it.

Maya narrowed her eyes at the intimidation techniques that had been taught by Dr. Akagi, keeping her posture firm and unflinching, Maya retorted. "When it involves an EVA it's my business Captain Shikinami."

Asuka mentally shuddered at the way Maya spoke, but her external form did not show it, shaking Shinji's hand in nervousness, Asuka was about to enter into a heated debate with the young technician when she felt Shinji's other hand on her shoulder.

Turning her head to look at her boyfriend with doubtful eyes, Shinji put his head to her ear and whispered, this attitude only increased Maya's confusion and she stood there like a statue.

"Asuka, wouldn't it be better to tell her?" Shinji whispered clearly anxious in hopes of being able to convince his girlfriend.

Asuka stared at Shinji with a look that clearly said a 'What?', looking away briefly from Shinji and focusing on Maya, Asuka pondered that it would not be possible to keep it a secret.

"Scheisse!" Asuka shouted as she turned away from Shinji a little and turned around, running her hand lightly through her red hair, turned to look Maya in the eye and spoke menacingly.

"That dies here do you understand?" Asuka growled at Maya who only nodded slightly. "Baka, speak first."

Shinji knew he should tell about the conversation he had with Fuyutsuki about EVA 01 for Asuka's arguments to make sense, he pulled up a chair and started talking.

"When I was in NERV, Subcommander Fuyutsuki shut me down to talk while we played a game, after a few games, he started telling me about my mother." Shinji noticed Maya raising an eyebrow at him. "He handed me a picture from when I was a child, in this picture were me, my mother and another woman who looked like Asuka."

Asuka turned her head sharply toward Shinji and spoke. "What's that picture?"

Shinji realized that he had never shown the picture to Asuka, mentally cursing himself for forgetting it, he only spoke clumsily as he turned to his girlfriend. "Sorry, I must have forgotten."

Asuka widened her eyes and snorted, holding back the urge to slap Shinji, but controlled herself.

"So, Fuyutsuki told me about Rei's origin and all, plus ..." Shinji paused to gather the courage needed to continue, Maya was listening to everything intently. "He told me that my mother's soul resided within the core of EVA 01"

Maya's eyes widened at the information, all her body theater was overcome with Shinji's revelation, but some things made sense in her head, remembering Shinji's exclusivity in unit 01 and all his difficult behavior, Maya pulled up a chair and sat down, her mind already knew the apparent reason for this unscheduled test with Asuka's unit 02.

"So after I found that out, I talked to Asuka, she wants to see if the same thing happened to her EVA." Shinji concluded as he lowered his eyes to the ground, Asuka was still standing with her arms crossed over her chest, she had a scowl on her face, this subject was uncomfortable.

Maya after seeing the silence, judging that Shinji had finished, shook her head as everything made sense in her mind, getting up and walking to the window, Maya put her hand on the glass and thought, "Who else knows about this?"

"Just me ... Us." Shinji spoke gloomily.

Letting out a sigh, Maya turned around and spoke wearily. "OK ..."

Shinji looked at Asuka and saw that she raised an eyebrow, turning her eyes to Maya. "OK? No speech? Nothing?"

Maya turned her head to the pair and speaking as confidently as she could. "Yes, it was to be expected that the EVAS had something behind it, now let's get to the test."

Shinji nodded and turned to his girlfriend, they both exchanged a brief glance and Asuka made her way to her entrance plug.


Sitting on her entry plug and feeling the movements that signaled it would be going into place, Asuka squeezed her controls hard and felt anxiety coursing through her body.

"Alright Asuka, the test is about to begin, I'm going to turn off the cameras and microphone so you have privacy." Asuka gave a small smile as she listened, she was going to thank Maya later for her little help, but now she had to concentrate.

Seeing the rainbow of colors that showed the synchronization happening, seeing the cages and the control room through the eyes of her EVA, Asuka closed her eyes and began to concentrate.

"Hallo Mutter (Hello Mother)." Asuka spoke nervously, closing her eyes to focus on the sensations in her body for any sign.

NOTHING.

"wie gehts? (How are you? )." Asuka was very nervous, mentally cursing herself for asking a stupid question, Asuka waited for something.

NOTHING.

"Bist du da? Bitte (Are you there? Please)." Asuka was beginning to feel her hopes lost, Asuka lowered her hand and placed her head in her palm, hearing a sound of a heartbeat, lifting her face and feeling a sense of welcome, Asuka began to wail and smile.

"Baka hatte recht, du warst immer bei mir (Baka was right, you have always been with me. )" Asuka spoke smiling and crying slightly, her tears mingled in the LCL, but these were not tears of sadness, but of joy.

"Ich habe dich vermisst (I missed you.)" Asuka spoke as she felt the sensation as if arms were wrapping around her, even though she was not physically there, Asuka could feel her mother's warmth and affection, her troubles seemed to be dissolving along with the tears in the LCL.


Maya was sitting next to Shinji in the control room, the room was silent as Asuka was communicating with her mother, seeing that Asuka's rate was rising, Maya turned to Shinji and spoke to break the ice.

"So, how was NERV?" Maya frowned at the stupid question she asked, turning to apologize, Shinji answered.

"It was horrible, the place is in ruins." Shinji replied as he stared at the ground. "There was no one, everything was messed up, few places were as they were before."

Maya stood looking at Shinji with pity, she thought it must have been hard for him to be in that place.

"The little library was destroyed, it had books scattered all over the place, the cafeteria, garden, nothing was as it was before." Shinji was still looking down, his mind was in a trance with the memories. "All in all, it was all over."

Maya lowered her gaze; she deeply regretted speaking. "I'm sorry."

Shinji raised his head and looked at Maya's depressed form and replied with humor. "That's my line."

The two laughed a little at the little joke, chatting about random little things, the two of them didn't even see the time pass.

"I'm done here." Asuka spoke over the radio seeing Maya beginning to type at her station, Shinji looked on with anticipation as the plug was ejected and Asuka's form coming out and beginning to walk towards the control room, Shinji was nervous with anticipation.

Asuka entered the room and was met with Shinji and Maya looking at her with anticipation on their faces, she knew they both wanted to know if she was successful in her attempt at a contact, smiling at the pair as an answer, the two needed no words, they smiled back and accompanied Asuka to retire to the changing rooms.

Shinji turned to Maya and looked at her, Maya seeing that everything must have occurred well, spoke calmly. "Don't worry, this matter dies with me."

"Thank you Maya." Shinji replied smiling, this was one of the few days where he was actually happy.

Coming out of the showers and finding Shinji waiting for her outside the locker rooms, Asuka approached her boyfriend and asked smiling, "Did I take too long?"

Shinji shook his head in response, getting up and standing in front of her. "A little ... Well? How was it?"

Asuka looked away and spoke confidently. "It was like you said, I could feel it."

Shinji smiled at the answer. "Good, I hope that helps you."

Asuka looked at Shinji and a folded paper he was offering, she took it and opened it to see the contents, Asuka looked at the picture Shinji had referred to.

Looking at Shinji as a child in his mother's arms, Asuka couldn't help but notice how much she looked like Ayanami, but soon remembering the origin of the red-eyed girl, clearing the thought from her head, Asuka focused her attention on the woman Shinji thought looked like her, taking a good look at the woman, Asuka actually saw the resemblance, smiling slightly at the woman in the photo.

Shinji seeing the expression on Asuka's face, judged that it must have had a good effect on the girl.

Asuka realizing she was paying too much attention to the photo, shifted her attention to Shinji child and analyzing the boy, he really didn't change much, with a mischievous look on her face Asuka handed the photo back to Shinji. "You looked like a boring child."

Shinji let out a small laugh at Asuka's remark while scratching the back of his neck in shame. "I don't know, I really don't remember my childhood. I just remember my father leaving." Seeing the direction the conversation was taking, Shinji decided to quickly change the subject. "I'd like to see what you were like as a child."

Asuka's gaze dropped a little, she took a deep breath and spoke. "Unfortunately it won't work out."

Shinji can't help but be sad, but soon felt Asuka taking his hand and speaking confidently as always. "Let's go to lunch."


Two days later - Somewhere in Europe.

The Wunder was sailing through the skies, Misato was in his office working to make everything inside the huge ship almost two kilometers long work.

In front of him were several printed documents and on his computer screen were several digital documents, not knowing where to start, Misato huffed as he began to read one of the numerous reports from his ship.

"Misato? Do you have a minute?" Ritsuko asked through the door, receiving due permission to continue, she entered and sat down in front of her desk, Ritsuko handed over a document that requested her signature.

"What's that?" Misato asked without the proper patience to read.

Ritsuko rolled her eyes and spoke. "It is your permission for us to implement a new weapon for the EVAS, the Magorox sword.

"Are you talking about the lightsaber?" Misato spoke smiling as he looked at an illustration of the Magorox sword, smiled and gave the proper signature, turned to his friend and handed back the document.

Ritsuko rolled her eyes at Misato's remark. "Grow up Misato." Looking briefly at the computer screen, Ritsuko could see Shinji's form walking beside Asuka, just behind was Mari and Rei. "Are you spying on them?"

Seeing Ritsuko's gaze on the screen, Misato took a deep breath and spoke. "So what, it's for their protection."

"Their protection or for Shinji's?" Ritsuko asked with a raised eyebrow.

Misato looked at her desk blankly, Ritsuko then continued. "You're getting paranoid."

Misato raised his head and spoke confidently. "Rits, I have to be, now with them together and intimate, we have to be careful, imagine how one or the other would look if something happened ... And also, Asuka told me what happened in the cafeteria a few days ago, she was really worried about those four." Misato paused for breath. "Call me overprotective, but ... I have to keep an eye out, I'm getting a bad feeling Ritsuko."

Facing her old friend, Ritsuko knew that Misato had always been very protective of the pilots, especially Shinji, and nodded with a bad feeling in her stomach.


Around six o'clock in the afternoon, Asuka asked Shinji to accompany her to her room to get some changes of clothes to leave in Shinji's room, blushing at the thought, Asuka explained to Shinji not to get any wrong ideas, she wanted to be able to change instead of wearing yesterday's clothes. Laughing at the situation, the group arrived at Asuka and Mari's room.

"Asuka, I'm going to the bedroom to make room in my closet." Shinji spoke shyly, he was not used to the situation, receiving a nod from Asuka, Shinji left for his destination.

Asuka opened the door to her room and made a face of astonishment at the sight in front of her, Mari was lying with her head on Rei's lap, she had a contented smile on her face as her hair was stroked by Rei.

"For God's sake, get a room." Asuka spoke as she picked up a backpack and began sorting through some clothes.

"Jealous princess? In fact we're in the bedroom." Mari spoke as she took her head.

Asuka only snorted at the situation, but couldn't deny Mari's logic, going back and getting the proper clothes and hearing small giggles coming from the room.

"Asuka!" Asuka dropped her backpack on the ground startled by the voice screaming in her head.

Asuka looked around and picked up her backpack.

"Asuka! Shinji needs help." Asuka stopped what she was doing, that voice sounded worried, shaking her head and thinking about looking for Dr. Akagi to do the mental contamination tests again.

"Asuka quick!, he needs you" Again the voice spoke, it seemed to have more urgency in its voice, gnashing her teeth in frustration, Asuka stopped what she was doing and left the room in quickened steps, ignoring Mari's gaze on Rei at her back, but never ceasing to think that she must be going crazy.


A few minutes earlier.

"Asuka, I'm going into the bedroom to make room in my closet." Shinji spoke timidly, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks.

Receiving Asuka's nod and turning to go toward his room, as he walked, Shinji thought about his life.

Turning a corner, Shinji's thoughts were broken when he felt his body hit something, raising his head and realizing that he had bumped into someone else.

"I'm sorry." Shinji spoke politely, without waiting for a response, Shinji tried to veer off the path and return to his original course, but his path was again blocked by the same person he had bumped into.

Looking at the person's face, Shinji shuddered to see that this was one of the people who stared at him in the cafeteria a few days ago, feeling a bad feeling, Shinji tried to turn back, but realized that he had been surrounded by someone else.

The man, seeing the confusion and fear in Shinji's eyes, gave a sadistic smile as he uncrossed his arms and spoke calmly.

"Hey brat." The man smiled menacingly. "Did you think we would accept you? Even after what you did?"

Starting to gasp quickly Shinji tried to run, feeling a set of arms pinning his, Shinji's eyes widened.

Feeling a strong punch in the face, the man smiled as he began his 'punishment' to the destroyer of the world, the other three smiled and giggled for each groan of pain that Shinji let out as he received the blows.

"I ... I didn't know." Shinji tried to speak when he felt another punch being landed in his stomach.

"You didn't know what?!" One of the men shouted as he took his companion's place and threw another punch at Shinji. "That you were a freak? You're just like your father, like father like son."

Shinji was struggling to breathe, he had no defense at all from the position of his arms, he lifted his gaze and gave his attackers a brief glance, Shinji tried to speak again almost as a whisper, "I am not my father."

One of the men frowned, bringing his face closer into that of Shinji who was already bruised a few times from the blows he had suffered earlier and asking sarcastically. "What did you say freak?"

Shinji raised his head and spoke as confidently as possible given the situation. "I am not my father."

Receiving another punch to the face and struggling to maintain consciousness, Shinji was beginning to believe the words of his attackers, memories of Kaworu flashed through Shinji's head. "Are you just going to give up like that Shinji-Kun?"

Feeling a pang of courage, Shinji remembered the training he got from Asuka and Mari, gathering strength and lifting his head with force and breaking the nose of the man who was immobilizing him, falling to the ground with a loud thud, Shinji took the moment to stand up and try to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going kid?!" One of the men spoke as he grabbed Shinji by the hair, but he was soon met with a full punch to the nose, Shinji seeing that he had managed to fight back, but the weight difference and the pain of the blows he had received were getting in the way, Shinji didn't notice the punch he took to the side of his head causing him to fall to the ground.

Falling to the ground and trying to protect his head, the assailants started kicking Shinji's body to the ground while swearing at him, they did not notice a person coming.

Seeing the situation in front of her, Asuka quickly ran to defend Shinji from the assaults, running and directly attacking the leg of one of the men, with her skills she managed to knock one of the men down. Quickly getting up and heading towards the next man, seeing who her next opponent was, quickly three of the four men stopped and faced Asuka with a look of fear.

The leader of the group was furiously kicking Shinji lying on the ground, he didn't notice his partner being knocked down and everyone stopping their attacks, feeling a set of arms squeezing his neck in an attempt to strangle him.

Easily lifting Asuka and slamming her against the wall, the man ignored the desperate pleas of his henchmen to stop, blinded by the rage and hatred he felt for Shinji, the man didn't even realize when he had delivered a powerful punch to Asuka's face, causing her to fall and hit her head hard against the metal wall of the Wunder corridors.

Realizing the shit he had done, the man looked at Asuka's unconscious and fallen form, he felt despair at having assaulted one of Wunder's pilots, and most importantly, assaulted Asuka, hearing accelerated footsteps coming down the halls, the man looked at Shinji who was dragging himself to check on his girlfriend, he shouted with a mixture of anger and despair. "This is your fault freak!"

Shinji had felt all the pain in his body disappear when he noticed Asuka lying on the ground unconscious with the hard thud he received, he crawled as best he could and when he got to Asuka's side, Shinji could feel the desperation as he saw his girlfriend lying with her eyes closed, Shinji didn't even notice Misato running with a set of guards, she was holding a gun in her hands.

Ordering to pursue and arrest the assailant, Shinji didn't even notice the men running through the halls, his only focus was on Asuka, feeling his hands trembling as he touched Asuka's fragile face, he was afraid of losing one of the few people who had given him hope to go on in this red world.


Infirmary - Wunder

Shinji was at Asuka's bedside, he had refused any treatment, his only focus was on his girlfriend.

Misato had approached and managed to convince Shinji to let himself be examined, he saw that Shinji had completely lost the color of his eyes, Misato soon compared him to the way he had been when rescued from Sebastian, even though he felt fear for Asuka's health, Misato knew the fragility of Shinji's mind.

Thanking the heavens for Ritsuko's diagnosis, she told him that Asuka would be fine and that she would wake up in a few hours with only a headache, breathing a sigh of relief and turning her head to Shinji who was still standing in the same position, his eyes devoid of any emotion, the only sign that he was alive was the movement of his breathing and a solitary tear running down his face.

Putting his hand on her shoulder and speaking motherly, making a tremendous effort to hide the anger he was feeling and building up. "Hey Shinji, she'll be fine, didn't you listen to Sakura and Ritsuko? It takes more than one punch to knock my girl out."

Receiving a slight nod from Shinji, Misato lowered her gaze in helplessness, she wishes she could do more, remembering Kaji's words, Misato just stood beside Shinji, but soon the silence of the room was broken by a fuming Mari entering.

"I don't care, where are they?" Mari growled at the security guard, she wanted to know the whereabouts of the attackers, Rei was closely following the whole situation, she didn't know how she should proceed to help.

Misato came out of the room to see what the sounds were about, seeing Mari almost ripping the security guard's head off in search of information, she slowly approached and controlling herself as much as possible, Misato spoke. "Mari, calm down."

Mari turned and looked at Misato fiercely. "Calm me down? Calm me down?"

"Yes, you will calm down." Misato spoke low and firm.

Feeling her anger growing louder and louder, Mari stopped as she felt Rei's hand land on her shoulder and listened to his gentle voice. "Mari, I believe it would be best if we were with Shinji and Asuka now, Colonel Katsuragi will mete out due justice."

Calming herself at Rei's words, Mari gave a long sigh and spoke still strongly irritated. "I want to blow them away."

Misato only stared back at Mari and spoke, still maintaining a calm facade. "You'll get your chance."

Feeling a little calmer, Mari passed Misato and entered the room where Asuka and Shinji were, Misato let out a long sigh and closed her eyes to calm herself down, turning around and going back into the room, Misato looked at Rei trying to talk to Shinji, he still kept his posture unchanged.

Misato was sitting next to Rei, Mari was holding Asuka's hand and her gaze was going from Asuka's sleeping face to Shinji's lifeless face.

Knowing that he should be interrogating the attackers now, Misato preferred to be with his former protégés, and the moment that each was in a windowless solitary confinement was going to be a good start for them.

Shinji's mind was locked on the moment that passed a few hours ago, the image of Asuka falling to the ground and staying still could not get out of his head and everything was mixed up with the last words of the assailants.

"That's your freakin' fault!"

"That's your freakin' fault!"

"That's your freakin' fault!"

"That's your freakin' fault!"

Shinji closed his eyes to try to clear this sentence from his head, rubbing the space between his eyes, Shinji gave a long sigh, everyone in the room looked at him, as this was the first move he had made in hours.

Misato opened her mouth to speak to Shinji, but her train of thought was cut off by the call on her personal radio.

"Ma'am, we have a situation." Tama's voice is passed through the speakers of the device, everyone in the room except Shinji looked at Misato who promptly responded.

"I'm listening." Misato replied professionally.

"We have on our sensors an enemy is approaching the city of Vladivostok, it is approaching fast." Tama replied anxiously.

Misato turned to all the occupants in the room, everyone had a despondent look on their faces, but promptly Mari stood up and put on her best war face and spoke confidently. "Let's finish him off."

Getting up and taking Rei's hand, they both left to change and be ready in their EVA, Misato seeing that Shinji was still standing looking at Asuka, approached, put her hand on his shoulder and spoke.

"Shinji ... Let's go." Misato spoke trying to convey calm. "She'll be safe here, Sakura will take good care of her."

Seeing a slight movement from Shinji, Misato continued. "I know now is not the best time but ... We need you Shinji."

Shinji lifted his head and looked Misato in the eye making her shudder at the sight, his old dark blue eyes were now faded and lifeless, Misato internally cursed at the aggressors having ruined all the progress Shinji had achieved. "Get in the EVA and pilot to protect Asuka."

"Asuka." Shinji whispered, but nodded, slowly approached the bed, gave Asuka a small kiss on the head and whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry."

Walking beside Misato, Shinji entered the changing room and put on his plugsuit, before leaving, he looked at himself in the mirror to focus on the battle to come.

"Protect Asuka." Shinji repeated Misato's last sentence, placing his hand over his eyes, Shinji remembered his friend Kensuke's words. "Hey Shin-man ... Take care of Sakura for me."

Seeking inner strength, Shinji threw cold eagle on his face to concentrate as much as possible, taking a deep breath Shinji looked at himself one last time before leaving the locker room and heading towards the red giant that was waiting for him.


Inside the EVA, Shinji was sitting in Asuka's seat, closing his eyes to concentrate, Shinji could feel the connection deepening, feeling the welcoming presence, Shinji began to think about what happened.

"I'm sorry ma'am." Shinji knew there would be no answer, but wanted to somehow ease the guilt that was consuming his soul, feeling the mood change slightly from welcome to anger, Shinji closed his eyes in guilt.

Feeling again the warm presence and the feeling of a hug after a few empty minutes, Shinji took a deep breath and thought about his girlfriend, giving a small smile for thinking that he didn't ask Asuka's permission to use his EVA and the possible punishment he would receive.

A few more minutes of waiting, Misato appeared in front of him, she had a frown on her face and was speaking professionally.

"Pilots we have a situation, in approximately five minutes we will send you to intercept a possible Mark 09 approaching the city of Vladivostok, act with caution." Misato spoke over the radio, Shinji deduced that both EVAS could hear.

Feeling the floodgates opening, Shinji looked down and could see the ground below, closing his eyes to focus again, he took a deep breath to prepare for the coming battle.

With a loud thud, the two EVAS landed on the red ground, a cloud of dust rose with the fall, both EVAS started running towards the enemy, they couldn't let him get to the city.

The city Vladivostok had approximately one hundred and fifty thousand people, it was considered a large city by standards after the third impact.

Arriving at the other end of the city, Shinji looked at the map on his visor and saw the location of the enemy unit, after a few seconds of waiting, and followed by a loud thud in front, everyone's eyes widened, for it was not a Mark 09 unit, but a unit of the EVA series, its physical appearance was the same as a regular EVA, but its face was the most shocking, Shinji shuddered to see the devilish smile the unit had.

She carried a double-edged sword, the white EVA held his weapon by a strap in its center, he was standing arrogantly in front of the two EVAS.


Bridge - Wunder

Everyone on the bridge was in shock at this unit, they had never seen something like this before, Misato soon remembered Kaji's words about NERV defense units, she deduced it was one of these by its strange color and shape as he had described it.

Picking up his radio and speaking, Misato ordered Wunder to open fire to stun the enemy.

"Let's attack first, prepare the main cannons with armor piercing ammunition." Misato ordered the technicians on the bridge, lights signaled that everything was right, prepared and loaded.

Misato had a bad feeling about all this, something was not right, but still, keeping his posture rigid, Misato ordered.

"Fire!"


EVAS 2 and 8 stood by waiting for enemy movements, soon they were advised that Wunder was opening cover fire in the hope of destroying the enemy unit.

After a few seconds of a rain of shots that tore through the sky and hit the enemy unit, without missing a shot, Wunder stopped firing, still standing in the same position, the enemy unit only opened its mouth and licked its lips.

Feeling blood freeze at the sight, Shinji picked up his progressive knife and waited for orders, he could see that Unit 8 was doing the same.

Twisting his weapon like a toy, the EVA series advanced towards unit 02, blocking the unit's attacks with some ease, Shinji, promptly attacked back, knocking the enemy a few hundred meters back.

Cautiously approaching, the EVA series unit stood up and attacked again, gaining speed with each blow, unit 08 attacked together giving cover and support to unit 02.

With a spin at high speed, the serial EVA quickly blocked the pink EVA's blow and punched him in the chest, causing Mari and Rei's unit to stagger backwards, Shinji could hear Mari's curses followed by Rei's small groans of pain.

Shinji seeing this, raised his knife and drove into the head of the enemy unit, penetrating as far as he could, Shinji removed the knife and kicked the enemy backwards so that they both have time to recover.

Getting up quickly like an animal, opening its mouth and attacking Shinji who promptly raised his defense, falling backwards with the violence and holding the neck of the enemy who was trying to bite at any cost, Shinji noticed unit 08 approaching from behind and Mari's communication over the radio.

"Don't worry puppy, we'll get the input plug right." Mari spoke concentrating.

"Hold him as long as you can brother." Rei spoke gently, but Shinji could feel the seriousness in his voice.

Taking a stab at the enemy's back in hopes of hitting the fake control plug, Mari and Rei ordered their EVA to hit the spine part as hard as they could, seeing the knife bouncing off the strong armor, Mari screamed in anger.

"Shit!" Mari screamed as she saw that her blows were not having the effect she wanted, looking down, Rei turned and spoke. "let's get him out of the city."

Ordering his EVA to hold the enemy by the waist, the pink giant tried to hold the enemy down so that Shinji could do something.

Seeing the girls' efforts, Shinji lifted the EVA's leg and strongly pushed the white beast's waist away from his body, seeing the opportunity, Shinji took his knife again and penetrated it just below the neck of the enemy EVA who was struggling like a wild animal.

With blood dripping down the red giant's body, Shinji quickly lowered the knife, opening a large hole from its neck to its abdomen, causing the white beast's entrails to fall on its body.

Mari quickly attacked, running the knife across the enemy's neck and quickly slashing his throat, as his movements slowed, the white beast gradually stopped its movements until it was completely still.

Shinji pushed the motionless body of the enemy away, getting up and analyzing the work, soon they received the call from Wunder.

"Well, it looks like you're done with him." Misato was speaking with relief in his voice, but the elation was short-lived.

"That was kind of easy." Mari spoke smiling as she leaned forward so she could talk to Rei.

Shinji was looking at what was left of the enemy, something in his head was not right, turning to look at unit 08 who gave him a positive nod, Shinji nodded back.

Hearing a noise coming from behind, turning around and looking at the source of the noise, Shinji's eyes widened at the sight. At the foot of the large units, the EVA serial unit began to move again, seeing their wounds closing in like nothing, Shinji shuddered at the sight, talking over the radio anxiously. "Misato, what is it?"

Mari and Rei were looking at Serie Eva rebuilding herself, they had never seen something like this before, ordering her EVA away, Mari looked at Rei hoping for some insight.

"Blue, what is that?" Mari asked as she looked at the serial EVA assembling itself into place, wounds closing and rattling noises were in the air, Rei wished she could give the answer Mari craved, but she didn't know.

Shinji was in no different situation, he watched everything with horror in his eyes, he was not understanding all the talk over the radio, his focus was only on the white beast that stopped again in front of him and licked his lips with his sadistic smile, bending down and picking up his gun again.

Setting off towards his target with incredible speed, Shinji raised his AT field to block the attack, unit 08 soon rushed towards the enemy holding his knife, hoping to do some damage.

Turning quickly and blocking the blow with ease, EVA serie with one arm blocking and with the other punching the side of EVA's head pink.

Shinji stood up and tried to hit his enemy's legs, having his blows blocked by the white beast's knee and receiving a powerful kick to the face.

Getting up and attacking again, the white beast ran towards the pink EVA that was recovering from the attack, opening its mouth and taking a bite out of the giant's shoulder, Shinji could hear Mari and Rei's screams.

Getting up quickly to help, Shinji kicked the enemy in the back, his movement seems to have helped, as the beast let go of the injured shoulder of Eva 08 and quickly began to deliver quick blows across the red Eva's body.

Shinji was managing to block a few, but a large majority were getting through, attacking like a wild animal, the white beast opened its mouth and gave a growl.

Walking and with only a single good arm, unit 08 grabbed the enemy's gun and ran to help Shinji who was serving as a punching bag, not that he wasn't trying, but rather that the enemy EVA was being faster.

Shinji was already beginning to feel the effects of the blows, his head was throbbing with pain from the fast and ferocious blows he was receiving.

Turning the enemy weapon, Mari managed to distract the enemy who was massacring Shinji, pulling away momentarily, Mari and Rei shuddered at the way the enemy was standing still.

Falling to the ground, recovering momentarily from the heavy blows he received, Shinji looked around and saw Mari standing there holding the enemy weapon the way she gave it, Shinji knew that with only a single functional arm, the girls were in trouble.

Standing up as best he could, the red giant stood up unsteadily, he promptly began to walk toward the enemy.

Mari was gasping heavily, each blow she managed to inflict on the enemy was quickly blocked or regenerated at incredible speeds, feeling the effects of fatigue and wounds, Mari and Rei tried to raise their weapon to strike a blow.

Holding the blade in his hands, the white EVA gave a growl and promptly managed to get his weapon back, noticing the red giant approaching from behind, he turned quickly and grabbed EVA 02's shoulders and penetrated his abdomen with his weapon.

Shinji felt the excruciating pain of something penetrating his belly, thanking God for the low synchronization, Shinji could feel that his body was wanting to go out at any moment, struggling to stay awake, Shinji felt another strong blow knocking him to the ground.

Opening his eyes and taking a deep breath, Shinji, disoriented saw the white Beast turn its weapon and rip off in a single motion the good arm of unit 08, his surroundings were in chaos, voices were shouted over the radio, cries of Mari and Rei were heard, everything was mixed with Misato's orders.

Seeing unit 08 being hit hard on the head, Shinji saw the white beast holding her by the shoulders and throwing him several hundred meters, closing his eyes briefly, Shinji thought about everything that had happened so far, The beating he took, Asuka getting hurt because of him, not being able to help Mari and her sister who were screaming in pain.

His thoughts bombarded him, images of Misato at the moment they met again, Asuka's cold stare, the graffiti on his door, Sebastian's torture and worst, the feeling of guilt.

Shinji felt the tears wanting to come out, his mind was confused with all the pain that was in his body, feeling the presence inside the plug, Shinji tried to clear his mind as best he could.

Shinji alone inside Unit 02, he was feeling very depressed, he was worried about Asuka who was in the hospital wing of Wunder, even though Sakura assured him that she would be fine in a few hours, the feeling of guilt was flooding his head.

Seeing that the battle was not going well, with the loss of Unit 08 and his unit badly damaged, Shinji ordered Unit 02 to stand up and take his progressive knife again, he faced the enemy who was standing arrogantly in front of him, feeling weak and about to faint, Shinji ran towards the threat, raising his arm to strike a blow with his knife, but his unit was moving slower, something with his synchronization being low and the injuries.

Easily blocking the attack, the enemy raised his arm with the knife and delivered a powerful kick to Unit 02's abdomen, flying back several meters, falling heavily against a mountain and feeling all the pain the battle had already caused him, Shinji gasping heavily grabbed the control levers and commanding again to stand up.

As he stood completely on his feet, Shinji raised his head just in time to see an object coming quickly toward him, acting on instinct, Shinji raised his AT field to block the enemy's attack, stopping it momentarily.

Shinji looked on in horror as the double-edged sword began to twitch and its form changed into a gray double-edged spear, seeing that this new weapon managed to penetrate his field with ease, Shinji raises his EVA hand in hopes of holding the spear that continued on its way, but his movements were not fast enough.

"Ah!" Feeling the sensation of the spear penetrating Unit 02's head, Shinji raised his hands and held his face as he cried out in pain as he felt the spear going deeper and deeper into his face.

Following the force of the attack, Unit 02 fell backwards as the spearheads pinned it firmly to the ground.


Misato looked in horror at the scenes in front of her, unit 8 lying on the ground and Mari and Rei not responding, her heart was beating fast in her chest as she saw Shinji screaming in pain as the spear went through his head, the person she considered her own son with horrified eyes, turning quickly to the bridge crew members.

"Cut the nerve connections!" Ritsuko ordered as she anticipated Misato's order.

"Shinji? Shinji come in!" Misato shouted as she felt panic rising, on her visor she had image of unit 02 lying on the ground with a copy of Longinus' spear pinning her down, a few hundred meters next to it was the deactivated unit 08, both were with major armor damage.


Inside the entrance plug of Unit 02, Shinji was alone, he was sitting in Asuka's seat, the events of a few hours ago were still in his head, he could feel a presence inside the plug, she seemed to be encouraging him to get up, but the damage and the struggle were not allowing it, the pain in his face was too strong.

Shinji looked around and saw the enemy rising into the sky, it opened its arms and stood in the shape of a cross, in its center, a wall of AT field was generated, its yellowish color was clearly visible, its shape began to transform into several smaller squares and were moving in various directions.

On Wunder's bridge, the mighty flying fortress was opening fire with all its arsenal against the enemy that was preparing to attack, Misato looked around at his bridge crew, everyone's eyes were reflecting the same feeling, they were all afraid because their attacks were doing nothing against the enemy.

Shinji only watched helplessly as the enemy changed its target, his eyes widened as the mass of energy shot out and obliterated its defenseless target destroying and killing the entire city, Shinji could only do one thing, scream.

"No!" Shinji spun with all his might, feeling the pain disappear for a few seconds, Shinji picked up the controls again and was willing the red giant to move desperately.

Outside, the city Vladivostok being vaporized, in its place there was only red dust that rose into the sky, giving a strong contrast to the immense cross that projected itself.

Seeing the white crossbow duck, Shinji still pulled on the controls, feeling the enemy's foot lowering him further, Shinji closed his eyes in agony as he felt the spear moving through his head, but still pulled on the controls desperately.

"Move!" Shinji shouted as he pulled the controls. "Move! Move! Move!"

Raising his head and seeing the enemy looking at him arrogantly, the white beast gave a sadistic smile and spread its wings and took off into the sky, disappearing in a matter of seconds.

Shinji realizing that he was not able to save the city, with despair pounding through his body, feeling himself shaking as he pulled the controls, Shinji slowed his movements until he stopped completely, holding the sides of his head while closing his eyes tightly, hoping to wake up from this nightmare.

Finally back at Wunder, the rescue teams recovered the EVAS, Mari and Rei were in the hospital, they were fine, both had fainted from the pain of having their arms ripped off.

Rei and Mari were sitting next to Asuka's bed, Rei wanted to be with Shinji, but he was lying in a ball shape on his hospital bed, he didn't want any visitors, even Misato tried to talk to him, but was unsuccessful, he just stood staring at the wall.

Lowering his gaze in sadness, Rei wished he could help his brother, knowing that Shinji was very depressed and blaming himself for the loss of the city, he ignored any attempt to help, no one was blaming him for the defeat, everyone saw that both pilots fought to the end, but Shinji blamed himself anyway.

Everyone's lines of thought were broken when groans were heard, Asuka began to turn her head to the side.

Opening her eye slightly, Asuka had a slight headache, seeing the ceiling of the hospital room, Asuka quickly began to remember why she ended up in the hospital, feeling her anger rising, Asuka got up on her elbows and looked around, seeing only Mari and Rei.

"Where is he?" Asuka asked as she wiped her eye, fearing for Shinji's health, Mari took her hand and spoke calmly.

"In the next room." Mari spoke dejectedly.

Asuka looked at her in confusion, her heart began to beat faster in concern for Shinji, even her headache was broken with worry.

"Was he badly hurt by the fight?" Asuka asked genuinely concerned.

Mari looked up and spoke. "No, he is not there for the fight. While you were unconscious, the city of Vladivostok was attacked."

Asuka's eyes widened, but before she spoke, Mari continued. "He's fine physically, but..."

"But what Mari?" Asuka asked anxiously.

"We were defeated, a new enemy EVA attacked, it wiped us out and destroyed the entire city, there were no survivors." Mari spoke as she lowered her gaze. "Shinji is blaming himself for everything."

Asuka lay back down on the bed, "Oh my God." She knew about Shinji's mental fragility, it must be running him down inside, sighing and getting up, ignoring Mari and Rei's pleas, Asuka staggered toward the room where Shinji was.

Opening the door cautiously, the room was dark and only the light from outside giving a small illumination to the room, Asuka breathed in to gain courage as she saw Shinji sitting on the bed looking at nothing, approaching slowly, Asuka took a good look at his face, seeing tear marks on his face and the faded look in his eyes, Asuka tried to talk to her boyfriend.

"Hi Baka." Asuka tried to speak to Shinji who only gave a small turn with his head.

"I'm sorry Asuka." Shinji spoke as he began to cry.


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.