Well, here's chapter 3. You're probably gonna start seeing my writing style show through more in this chapter than in the previous two chapters. As with chapter 2, I was planning on uploading it last night, but fourth of July got me all messed up. Lucky for me though, I didn't upload it last night, and I added a new last minute scenes to this one and tried brushing up on any grammatical errors. (Can't promise I got everything, but I'm regularly rereading these to find anything I missed.)
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Text Guide
Standard Wording
"Spoken Dialogue/Speech"
'Internal Dialogue/Thoughts'
(Flashbacks)
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[Slash denotes scene transition for the moment; this may be changed in the future so as to become more visible.]
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Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off of Neon Genesis Evangelion, End Of Evangelion, or the Rebuilds of Evangelion. I do not own Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Sohryu, or any of the other characters/ideas from the Evangelion intellectual property collective. All licenses remain with the proper license holders. If asked to, I will formally remove this story from the hosting website.
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*Cruel Angel's Thesis and Eva intro starts playing*
Neon Genesis Evangelion
A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love
Chapter 03
Happiness isn't Hard to Come by in the Rain
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Just at the crack of dawn, Misato had woken up after only getting about four hours of sleep the night before. She sat up, stretched, and yawned rubbing the sleep from her eyes as the covers over her body slipped away.
"Ooh, it's cold in here. I know air conditioning is great and all, but did I really turn it down this low?" She said looking down at her nipples which were erect from the chill.
"What time is it?"
She got up and started towards the living room area where a clock hung the far wall across from the kitchen.
"It's still kinda dark out. The sun isn't even up yet. It can't be past six thirty."
She rounded the corner and her eyes met the clock's hands which read six thirty-four.
'Mmm, Shinji has training today in the Eva. Luckily, that doubles up and can be used outside of it too. I might need to get him a gun soon after I've observed him some more. He seems responsible enough…Being part of NERV, he could easily be a target.'
"I guess I better get dressed and go wake him up…after starting some coffee of course. And maybe we could pick up some donuts on the way to NERV. Does he like coffee? I wonder…"
/
-Contrivant Penitence-
/
Misato didn't like how sleepy she looked at all as she was looking in the mirror to brush her teeth.
'I always look like a hag when I first wake up.'
After she spat the toothpaste out, she went back to the kitchen to grab her coffee which had just finished brewing. She pulled the cup out from under the spout of the coffee machine and took a swig. She would have gagged at the taste of the coffee on her tongue and the toothpaste residue that was still on her teeth if she hadn't been so tired. Even now, she didn't like the taste, but she would suffer through it if it meant she wouldn't be falling asleep later.
"Guess I should go wake him up," she said to herself as she stared out the window.
"Wake who up, Misato?"
She turned around suddenly, almost spilling her coffee. Luckily she wasn't nude this time. Or she would have had a real reason to be startled.
"Oh, you're already awake? Where were you?"
"I was just taking a couple bags of trash out. I couldn't sleep and figured I'd do something productive. So I cleaned up a little. But, it was kinda nice outside; still cloudy and raining a bit. So I decided to sit on the steps for a while."
"Oh? And were you thinking about our little Ayanami girl? I bet you were. Has she captured your heart? She has, hasn't she?" the babe teased at him.
"What? No! I was just…thinking about a lot of things."
"I see. Anyways, we've got to get you up to NERV so that you can begin your training. I was thinking we could get some donuts on the way? "
"Yeah…sounds fine."
'Damn. I really thought he'd at least perk up a bit when I mentioned breakfast,' she thought to herself and then sighed, 'Doesn't he have any preference at all?'
/
"Good morning, Shinji. How's it going?" greeted Ritsuko from the other end of the com link.
"No problems. I think I could get used to this with time," Shinji muttered from inside the plug
"That's good. Have you memorized all the positions of the Eva emergence locations, emergency power junctions, armament equipment buildings, and recovery zones?"
"I guess so."
"Well, let's review some stuff now, shall we? Normally, the Eva runs off electricity provided by an umbilical cable. In emergencies, it can switch to an internal battery with an active life of one minute at full power and no more than five minutes in the minimal activity gain mode. This is due to our current limit in battery capacity technology. Do you understand?"
"Yeeess," Shinji groaned in a drawn out way.
"Okay then. How about we start with some VR simulation? Initiate induction mode."
All of the sudden, a city flashed to life before Shinji's eyes as he resided in the simulation plug. The angel he had previously fought had also been rendered standing on the virtual streets. He frowned thinking back to the other night. A five minute countdown displayed on the inside of his simulation plug.
"Position the reticule in the center, then pull the trigger switch."
Shinji aimed his virtual pallet rifle but he was tired and flustered. He pulled the trigger but missed the angel with the virtual tracer rounds just barely shooting past its head as they soared over.
"Take it easy. Position the target in the center," Doctor Akagi directed again.
Shinji tried again and this time, he hit.
"Next," Doctor Akagi mumbled.
/
Maya spoke up as Shinji continued to shoot the virtual angels.
"You know, I can't help but wonder why Shinji agreed to pilot again. He went through a lot to say the least."
"I suppose it's because he simply does what he's told. I imagine it's how he's gotten through life up to now," Ritsuko stated, semi-thoughtfully.
Misato glared into the distance at the back of the observation room as she was lost in thought.
'He only does what he's told? I guess that's why he doesn't get excited easily. Maybe Ritsuko is onto something.'
/
"Doctor Akagi, can I ask you something?"
Shinji had just finished his training for the day, but had remembered he wanted to ask her about the occasional pain he'd been feeling before he left.
"Of course, Shinji. What would you like to know?"
"Well, um, I noticed that when I first piloted the Eva, I was feeling…I guess what it felt when I was fighting the angel."
"Yes, that's the neural link. Your Eva needs to connect to your nervous system for you to give it commands, but it is a two way street."
"It would have been nice to know that before I got in."
Both were silent for a moment before Shinji continued.
"Anyways, um…, sometimes, I've still been feeling the pain I felt while I was inside it. Is that…normal?"
"I'm not entirely sure. You had an abnormally high sync ratio the first time you piloted it, and you weren't even wearing a plugsuit. Your sync ratio was just a bit above forty percent; that means that, while you were in the Eva, you were feeling about forty percent of its pain. What you're feeling right now are probably phantom sensations due to the fact that your sync rate was so high for someone who had never piloted an Eva before."
"Do you think it'll go away?"
"Oh, I'm sure it will. Just give it a little time. If it doesn't, I'll see what I can do about getting you some analgesics."
And with that, Shinji was ejected and he crawled out of his plug.
'Oh god, this is the first time I've consciously exited a plug before. I still have LCL in my lungs. How am I going to get it out?' the boy wonderer as he crawled out of the plug.
Shinji started to panic and tried coughing desperately to get it out. Luckily, Misato had been waiting for him outside his plug. She bent him over and began patting his back. Bending down, he finally managed to cough some into his mouth and spit it out. And it just kept coming. He thought for the second time that he was going to be sick as he kept on choking out the low-viscosity blood-flavored juice. He wanted to scream at everyone for not warning him beforehand, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
'All this stuff is obvious to everyone else here, but not to me. I wish that they'd actually treat me as though I was new here, damn it.'
/
Things weren't going easy for Misato either. A week after Shinji's first Eva training session, she had pulled two twenty-four hour shifts at NERV on top of already having a lack of sleep from earlier in the week. She was so tired; she wasn't even drinking her beer. Naturally, she was very disheartened when Shinji came to wake her up after her long hours.
"Um, Misato, it's morning already."
"I just got back from night duty a little while ago," she yawned, "I don't have to go to work until this evening. So, please, let me sleep," she almost hissed at the end.
"Okay, I'll just go then."
"Hey!"
"Hmm?"
"Isn't today Thursday? It's burnable trash day. Take it to the curb, would you?"
"Okay."
He began to shut the door, but Misato called one last time.
"So, how's school?"
"Uh, it's okay."
"Have you met any cute girls?"
"Um, no."
"Okay, see yah," she finished with one last yawn.
"I'll…see you later," he concluded before leaving for school
And he shut the door leaving Misato in the stuffy room under her covers. But not even five minutes later, her phone began to ring. She glared angrily at it, but knew it might be important and grabbed it.
"Yes, hello? Oh, it's you, Ritsuko."
Once again, Doctor Akagi had called to check up on the third child.
"How's it going, are you getting along with him?"
"Oh, Shinji? Well, it's been a week since he started school and he doesn't seem to have changed. No one ever calls him."
"Calls him?"
"Well, since I figured he'd need one, I bought him a cell phone. I don't think he's used it though…or received any calls. I'm not sure, but I don't think he has any friends."
"Well, based off what I've seen, his personality doesn't seem very geared towards making friends."
"Mhmm."
"Do you know about the hedgehog's dilemma?"
"Hedgehog? You mean those little critters with the spikey hair?"
"Yes, exactly. You see, though a hedgehog may want to become close with another hedgehog, the closer they get, the more they injure each other with their quills. He's withdrawn because he doesn't want to get hurt. That's what I think anyways."
"Well…he's just…going to have to learn…someday that, part of growing up is finding a way to interact with others without getting so close that it hurts."
"He'll be okay, Misato. Someday, someone will come along and change him for better or worse. And, eventually, he'll grow up and be more independent."
/
"Ehrrrr, du-du-du-du-du-du-duh, neeeeeerh, pfffh," Kensuke Aida said while filming a model gunship at his assigned desk in his classroom.
"Hey, nice onomatopoeia, Aida," class representative Hikari Horaki said, glaring at Kensuke.
He looked up from his camera, "Oh, hey, what's up class rep?"
"Did you deliver the printout I gave you yesterday?"
"What? Ummm, well, uh, uh, um," he stammered shoving the paper she was referring to deep into the shelf under his desk, "There wasn't anyone home over at Toji's place."
"Mr. Aida, I was under the impression you were Mr. Suzuhara's friend. Aren't you even a little worried about him?"
"You don't suppose he was injured, do you?"
"What? You mean in the battle? The television reports all said that nobody was injured."
"No way, you saw the explosion on Mount Takanosu, didn't you? They had fighters scrambled from Iruma and Komatsu and troops had been deployed from Misawa and Kyushu. I'd bet that ten or twenty people were injured at the very least, and there had to be a few fatalities too!"
Then the door to the classroom opened and in walked Toji Suzuhara
"Toji," Kensuke said pointing his camera at him.
"Suzuhara…" Horaki stated blankly, slightly worried.
"Where is everyone? Has our entire class disappeared into thin air or what?"
"Oh, they've all either evacuated or transferred," Aida said while filming random things around the classroom, "No one wants to stay here after that battle inside the city."
"Heh, yeah, you're probably the only one here who's actually enjoying the chance to see a real war."
"Yeah, that's probably true. Anyway, where have you been Toji? Why were you absent for so long? Did you get involved in the war?"
"No, but my baby sis did."
Kensuke's mouth dropped slightly.
"She was crushed under some rubble. She survived, but she's been in the hospital ever since," he continued, "My dad and granddad are both stuck at work. So, if I'm not with her, she's all alone. She's just a kid, you know? I don't want her to be alone. …..THE GUY WHO WAS OPERATING THAT ROBOT IS FUCKING STUPID! IT MAKES ME SO ANGRY! HOW COULD HE GO AROUND FUCKING UP OUR OWN CITY? WHAT DID THAT FUCKING IDIOT THINK HE WAS DOING?
"Hey, about the pilot, did you hear about the new transfer student?"
"What transfer student?"
"That one, over there," Kensuke nodded in Shinji's direction as he was listening to his SDAT, "He transferred in while you were out; right after the giant robot incident. Don't you think that's a bit of an odd coincidence? Who would move here after hearing about what happened?"
But, Kensuke and Toji's conversation wouldn't last any longer as the teacher just walked in.
Hikari shouted out, "All rise! Bow! Be seated!"
/
Shinji hadn't really been focusing as a couple more students walked in and the teacher continued to talk about second impact and the effects it had on earth and humankind. There we so many things swirling around in his head. When he walked in, he had noticed that he had class with Rei since it seemed she had finally healed from her injuries enough to return to school. The sun was shining through the window and for the first time, Shinji had noticed just how pale she was. He felt guilty once again, but figured he might be able to befriend her now that he knew she was so close to him.
He turned back to look at her again. Misato was right, she really was a gorgeous girl. Her light blue hair looked as soft as a handful of feathers plucked from a newly-hatched duckling. Her porcelain skin looked just as smooth and soft as wet clay, and her intense dark red eyes looked richer than rubies.
As she continued to stare out the window she was next to, Shinji wondered if she was comfortable with all the bandages she had on. She didn't show any signs of discontent, but she didn't seem happy either.
Once again, he began admiring her beauty. He could probably have stared at her all day, but a message just arrived on his computer from the class network.
It read, "Is it true that you're the pilot? Y/N"
Shinji, looked around trying to figure out who might have sent the message, and then he spotted two cute little brunette girls waving at him from the back of the class. For once, Shinji felt a little courageous.
He typed back, "Yes," and suddenly the entire class was crowding around his desk.
"WHOA!"
"Really? The new student is the pilot?"
"I knew it!" shouted a bunch of random kids.
Hikari spoke up, "Hey, you guys, we're still in class, you know? Sit down. Sit down now," but no one payed her much attention. Why would they? There was an Eva pilot in the room.
"Hey, how did you get chosen?" asked one girl.
"Did you have to take a test?" another questioned.
"Weren't you really scared?"
"What did the cockpit look like?"
In an attempt to respond to the huge amount of attention that he immediately regretted receiving, he answered all their questions at once with, "I'm not supposed to talk about classified stuff like that."
Everyone was disappointed for a second, but soon more questions were headed his way.
"Hey, what's the name of that robot?"
Shinji figured he wouldn't get in too much trouble if he just let the name slip, "Well, I don't know much, but everyone calls it Eva or Unit-01."
"What kind of weapons does it have?" another random girl asked.
Shinji didn't know exactly what to say to everyone but he tried his best, "It has this one; they call it a progressive knife. It vibrates or something and creates an ultrasonic wave."
"That's amazing. We are so proud of you," yet another random girl announced.
Shinji was finally rescued by the bell and he took his chance to escape but he wasn't going to get very far.
/
The young Ikari had just been pummeled to the ground by one of his fellow classmates that he hadn't officially met before.
"Sorry new kid, but I just had to clobber you. You really pissed me off, and I had to beat you to cool off my own anger," Suzuhara said looking down at Ikari.
Shinji looked up at him and growled weakly but decided to keep his mouth shut.
Then, Aida chimed in as Toji was walking away.
"Hey, don't worry about it. He's not usually that way. It's just that his little sis was injured when you and your robot had that fight."
"Mmm, it's not like I wanted to pilot the damn thing. They made me."
Toji turned around, and looking even angrier than before, walked back over, grabbing Ikari by his collar, "URGH, DON'T GIVE ME EXCUSES," and punching him again.
'A noble thing, huh Misato? Noble by who?' Shinji thought to himself, looking up at the sky as Toji and Kensuke were leaving.
He thought that maybe he could relax for a minutes, alone, while no one was around to notice or bother him. He closed his eyes trying to concentrate on the sun warming his face instead of the dull ache in his cheek, but he felt the warmth disappear before long.
He opened his eyes to see the mysterious and beautiful Ayanami blocking the sun as though she were the moon in a total solar eclipse.
"There is an emergency; I suggest we leave," she said to him calmly before running off toward NERV as alarms started going off all over the city.
/
Shinji and Rei had arrived at NERV HQ to be met with a condition one alert.
He tried not to make it obvious but he was staring at her almost the entire trip to NERV. When he had gotten in the Section Two agent's car that had been parked outside the school, he climbed in next to Rei. She stared out the car window the entire time, and Shinji stared at the back of her head hoping she wouldn't turn around and see him admiring her.
As Shinji was entering the Eva cages, he was still thinking about Rei up until the moment he got inside the entry plug.
'Why am I even piloting this stupid thing again? There's no one who appreciates me for it. So why am I forcing myself to suffer?'
Misato's voice pulled him from his thoughts.
"Shinji, are you ready?"
"Yeah, I guess."
Then, Ritsuko broke in, "First, neutralize the enemy's AT field, then fire a volley with the pallet rifle. Do it just like we practiced. Think you can handle that?"
"Yeah," he sighed.
Then Misato shouted out for the Eva to launch, and Shinji felt like his back was going break with all the force behind him and his Eva being launched up the EM catapult
As Shinji arrived at the surface muttering "Position target on the center and pull the trigger," off in the distance, a kid, his camera, and his buddy were watching the event unfold.
/
Shinji spun around the corner and took aim with his eva's Type M-99 pallet rifle before unloading on what looked like a giant floating centipede with two laser tentacles below its head. He depressed the Eva's finger on the trigger of the massive pallet rifle and let loose with every bullet he had.
"You idiot, what are you thinking?" Misato said as she saw dust being shot up by all the missed and deflected bullets, "How can you even see the enemy now?"
And as soon as she finished, the angel charged out of the dust clouds and smoke and thrashed Unit-01 with its superheated tentacles causing Shinji to drop his rifle.
Shinji, overcome and paralyzed with shock, fear, and the embarrassment of failure didn't hear Misato calling out to him over the com link. He did however have his eyes focused on the giant angel that was slowly approaching him.
It lashed out one of its burning tentacles across his Eva's chest. The pain he felt across his own chest caused him to whimper before motivating him to get to his feet and run. But, the angel barely managed to get one of its stinging whips around Unit-01's leg just enough to trip her and send her crashing into a building. As Shinji was still recovering, his Eva was pushed through the building as his umbilical cable was severed by yet another attack from the angel.
Shinji barely had time to get up as the angel got another, much firmer grip around Shinji's Eva's ankle, before dragging the purple beast hundreds of feet in a matter of seconds and then following that up by throwing the Eva almost half a kilometer away, crashing into a nearby hillside.
"SHINJI! SHINJI? ARE YOU ALRIGHT? SOMEONE GIVE ME A DAMAGE REPORT," he could hear Captain Katsuragi frantically yelling through the coms.
As the Third Child was recovering from feeling like his ribs were broken, he managed to look down and see his two classmates he had seen not over an hour ago trembling in between his Eva's massive purple fingers.
"Whoa, we got civilians down there," Misato said, suprised.
"What are they doing out there? Why aren't they in a shelter?" Doctor Akagi added to Misato's observation.
Shinji noticed a shadow forming, and looked up to meet the angel right before it brought its tentacles down upon Unit-01. Shinji managed to grab it's extremities with the giant's purple hands, but god, did it hurt? Shinji looked at his countdown timer indicating how much battery power he had left and read three minutes and twenty-eight seconds.
He heard Misato tell him to let the two kids below him into the entry plug followed by an arguing Ritsuko claiming that they couldn't let unauthorized civilians into the entry plug. But, in the end, Misato got her way.
"Shinji, hold the Eva on current commands and eject your entry plug. Do it now."
Shinji, being the obedient boy he was, did as he was ordered and ejected the plug.
Misato's voice blared over the Eva's onboard speakers and demanded, "YOU TWO, DOWN THERE, GET IN!"
The two boys below looked at each other and did as they were told, scrambling up the ladder that had just dropped down from the entry plug.
The two boys dropped into the plug and soon, the LCL embraced them.
"What the…Is it water?" Toji asked becoming very confused.
"AHH, MY CAMERA!" Kensuke screamed in horror.
The lights in the entry plug flickered back on as it was inserted and Shinji began screaming in the LCL as his hands burned again with the neural connection restored.
"Shinji's sync rate is dropping," Maya alerted Doctor Akagi
"Of course. We did just let two foreign bodies into the entry plug. What did you expect? They're creating noise in the nerve impulse system," Ritsuko said while glaring at Misato.
Shinji had finally had enough of the angel. Screaming in agony, he drew his hands above his Eva's head, and then tore them away tossing the floating angel some distance down the hill.
"RETREAT!" Misato screamed into the com.
But fear was starting to build in Shinji. He considered his options. He didn't have much time left on the battery and if he ran away, he might use up the last of his power reserves. Realizing he only had one viable option; he slowly stood up and drew his progressive knife into an offensive position
"What is he doing?" Misato whispered to herself.
Shinji stared on towards the angel, the tension between the two building until finally, the one minute warning sounded on his battery countdown timer, solidifying his decision and next course of action.
He screamed and willed his Eva to jump forward as the entire entry plug was shrouded in red warning lights. He landed and started skidding down the hill with the progressive knife drawn and by his Eva's side. As he neared the angel, its glowing protrusions pierced the Eva in its lower chest and upper abdominal area. Not only did it feel like he got run through, not only did it burn, but it felt as though the burning tentacles were wiggling around inside him. He screamed, and cried, and hurt so bad, but he forced the Eva to dig its feet into the ground and take just a few more steps forward while spreading his AT field to neutralize the angel's own despite everything he was going through.
He stabbed at the core of the angel once, but the knife gleaned off of it. He struck again, screaming, and it cracked. And, one final time, screaming out through the LCL, he forced the knife into the fissure as he stabbed a third time and split the core cleanly in half just before the Eva's battery died. Toji and Kensuke were only capable of staring in shock and guilt as they finally had a small idea of what it was like to be an Eva pilot.
/
-Reproach, Reprimand, and Loneliness-
/
"WHY DID YOU IGNORE MY ORDERS?" Misato yelled furiously, directing her anger and frustration towards Shinji.
"I'm sorry," Shinji said quietly and pitifully trying to hide his sadness and disappointment.
"I'm the Operations Director. That means that I give the orders. I'm the one who is in charge of your operations, aren't I?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"You understand you're supposed to obey my orders then, right?
"Yes Ma'am."
"THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU IGNORE ME?"
"I don't know, Ma'am."
"DO NOT EVER DISOBEY ME AGAIN!"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"GOD DAMN IT, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ANYTHING I'M SAYING TO YOU?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"OH, NO YOU DON'T. You are not about to get out of this just by saying yes to everything I ask!" Misato growled as she pulled Shinji off the changing room bench.
"I'm sorry, Miss Misato. But, isn't it enough? Didn't we win? We did, didn't we? We won. So, what's the big deal?"
"Errh. It may seem easy to just go along with what everyone wants, but if you get into an Eva with that attitude, IT'LL KILL YOU."
"I know, Misato. That's why I disobeyed you. But maybe, I just don't care anymore."
"You know, I'd like to say you got the right attitude, but if you think you're gonna get any praise out of me, Shinji Ikari, you're wrong. "
"That's not the point Misato," he sighed, "In any case; I'm the only one who can pilot it right now, aren't I? And even after Rei is better, you can't just ask her to do all the work. I guess I'll just have to do."
Misato's jaw dropped slightly and she loosen her grip on his collar.
"Go home...and get some rest. I'll be there soon," She quietly said to him as she full released her grip on him.
The boy silently stepped around Misato and left the locker room without saying another word. And when she heard the door to shut behind Shinji, Misato raised her hand and then slapped herself across the face.
/
It had been raining a lot recently; almost as though the third child brought the Storm Clouds with him when he arrived in the fortress city. And lo and behold, it was raining again today as poor, sleepy, messy-haired Misato's alarm started going off.
"Mmm, urgh, mmm," she grumbled trying to find and turn her alarm off with her foot so that she wouldn't have to leave the warmth of her covers for a few more minutes.
'Shinji has been skipping school a lot recently. I wonder why. Did something happen? Is he being bullied? Is he just stressed out? Maybe he's embarrassed about something.'
She decided to get up now or she'd end up asleep again before she realized it
She headed into the kitchen, like she did every day, to start the coffee machine on its brew cycle and then went into the restroom to get ready for work.
'I wonder if he's going to stay locked up today too. Maybe I should talk to him about it,' she pondered as she brushed her teeth and got dressed.
She exited the bathroom, but before going to get her coffee, she stopped and knocked on Shinji's door.
"Shinji, wake up. How long are you going to keep skipping out on going to school? It's been five days now, that's an entire school week, young man. Unit-01 has already been completely repaired," She paused for just one moment hoping Shinji would interject, but she heard nothing, "You're the pilot. Are you just going to leave it sitting there? Shinji?! Shinji!?"
She was becoming slightly irritated and decided to open the door to demand his attention, but when she peered in-
"Huh?"
She saw his NERV ID card, his phone, and a note that had been left, all of which were on the dresser in his room, but no Shinji.
"…He's run away. …I'm not surprised. Poor kid."
She walked into his room and read the note that had been left on his dresser. It was short and simple; "I don't know if I'm cut out for this. I'm sorry, Misato."
Suddenly, despair overwhelmed Misato and she collapsed on her knees. She wasn't quite crying, but she did feel a panic attack beginning to sweep over her.
"Oh, what are we going to do? Rei can't pilot just yet. And what if she gets injured again? Who'll pilot then? Will we just keep forcing her to until it kills her? Then we'll have no one to pilot. We'll all die."
She stared at the wall blankly for a few seconds before the realization came over her and she put her hand over her face to hide her tears from no one but herself.
"We're…all… going to…die," she said in between her sobbing.
But then, her doorbell rang.
'Oh god, it's him. IT'S HIM' she thought excitedly, wiping away her tears.
She jumped up and ran as fast as she could to the door, opening it and screaming out, "SHINJI!"
But, she wanted to cry again when she saw it wasn't him who rang the doorbell, but rather his two classmates.
"Huh?' they both wondered out loud before realizing how beautiful the woman before them was.
"Pardon me, Ma'am," Kensuke began, "We're Shinji's classmates, Aida and Suzuhara, Ma'am."
"Aida and Suzuhara?"
"Y-Yes, Ma'am. I'm Suzuhara."
"Oh, aren't you the ones who were allowed into Unit-01's entry plug?"
"Yes Ma'am," they both blurted
Toji continued, "We're really sorry for causing so much trouble. We came here today because Ikari has been absent from school ever since then. So, we came to see if he was okay."
Kensuke was somewhat upset that Toji was getting all the words in. He wanted a chance to talk to the beautiful woman, even if it was unlikely they'd end up dating.
"Oh, uh, well, Shinji's uh, he's at the NERV training facility right now," she lied not wanting to start everyone worrying that the only current Eva pilot had disappeared.
"O-oh, I see," Kensuke said, stealing Toji's chance for once, "Well, uh, these were the printouts that were building up on his desk. The class representative asked that we bring them here."
"Oh, sorry for your trouble then. Thank you." Misato said she took the paper that Kensuke had offered her.
"Well, we'll just be leaving now," Toji blurted
"Please, tell Ikari we said hello," Kensuke followed up.
"Yeah, I will. Bye," Misato said, wanting to be rid of her company. She really didn't want to talk right now.
She closed the door and left the two boys in the rain.
"SHINJI, YOU IDIOT," Misato fell to the floor crying, "Jerk…"
/
A voice the loudspeaker of the train Shinji was on announced, "The next stop is at Naga'o Toge, Naga'o Toge. The exit will switch to the right side."
If Shinji hadn't been listening to his SDAT, he might have heard that there was a stop coming up. But, if Shinji had cared however, he wouldn't have been trying to run away from his responsibilities by drowning out the world around him with music. Right now, Shinji was lost, both physically and emotionally. He didn't care where he was going, and he didn't care where he would end up so long as he ended up someplace safe and away from reality's expectations of him.
'Why?' he thought to himself, 'Why do they treat me like…like this? I defeated the angel. Why are they all so angry at me? What did I do wrong? I don't understand what the problem is. I killed the angel and no one got hurt. I know I disobeyed Miss Misato's orders but, I was under pressure, and I was scared, and I made a decision with my better judgment. Sure, it was rash, but everyone made it out okay. Damn it, if they want it done their way, then they should pilot the Eva. They should have to go through what I go through. Then, they can tell me if they would have made a different decision. They think I'm so weak, but if they keep pushing me, they'll see. Like now. What are they going to do without me? They'll see.'
But, as Shinji began flexing his fingers as though attempting to grab his fate, he began crying softly and quietly.
'No, no they won't. They'll always see me as weak because I am. I'm no good. That's why father sent me away in the first place. I'm useless.'
Shinji thought for a very long time about what he wanted to do next. Could he even do anything? What was there to be done? He couldn't do anything right, so why do anything at all? Why not just sit on this train until he died; until everyone forgot he existed even. Why not. Well, because he was thinking about whether he actually wanted to, that's why. He obviously had some reservation about remaining on the train and giving up on his life. But, what was it?
'They ask me to do something, but everything I do is wrong. So why keep asking me. They don't believe in me, so why would they continue to ask me to fight when all I do is fail? Ugh, piloting an Eva is the most important thing I've done in my life, and I can't even be praised for it. I'm only ever scolded because I'm a failure. So why did I pilot again. Why am I even considering it now?'
Then, he realized why.
'I want them to praise me. I want them to...appreciate me. That's why I must keep trying. That's why...I mustn't run away.'
/
Shinji had gone through the tape on his SDAT eleven times now as the train stopped at another station.
The loudspeaker sounded out, "Thank you for using the Tokyo-3 loop line. This train will be going out of service tonight at this station. Please, make sure you take all of your personal effects with you as you exit the train. Thank you for using Tokyo-3 loop line, we hope you ride with us again."
Shinji sighed and got up from his seat, "Mmm, I oughta go back now. "
/
It had rained earlier in the day and there were still puddles scattered around the streets of Tokyo-3 as Shinji was slowly making his way back home to Misato's apartment. He couldn't deny that the city was very beautiful at night. He looked down into the puddles as he passed, admiring the lights just as he always had.
He passed by an outdoor market place that was still open and smelled the delicious food frying as a father and a daughter were ordering their meal.
'I wish… I wish someone loved me like that.'
"What time is it?" He said looking down to his watch, "Only eight, huh?"
He looked up to continue walking but noticed a movie theatre.
'Misato is probably gonna be angry at me. Maybe if I watch a movie, she'll be in bed by the time I get home and I can avoid her until tomorrow."
Shinji barely had enough money to get into the theater, but he was willing to spend it if it meant he wouldn't have to deal with a possibly angry Misato when he got home. He had looked at his choices when it came to the showing, but none of them really appealed to him. But, he was already at the register booth and didn't want to be rude and so, he went ahead and bought a ticket to World Flood Chronicles: The Second Impact. It seemed pretty corny to Shinji, but he wasn't really paying attention to it. A couple in the theatre had begun making out and he found that to be more interesting as it drove his thoughts.
'I hope someday, someone loves me like that. I know that no one ever will. No one could ever love me like that. I don't think anybody could ever love me. I'm just a coward.'
Shinji was beginning to question if he had made the right choice in deciding to return to Misato and NERV.
/
Shinji was intending to return to Misato that night, but he realized he was more tired than he had originally thought and decided to sleep at the theatre. He knew that they would force him out if they knew he was there and so he hid in the restrooms until he was sure that everyone had gone. This wasn't the first time he had tried this. He'd run away before and knew how to get inside buildings at night to ensure that he'd be safe from the weather. Usually, once morning arrived, he'd simply wait until the first employee arrived and claimed that he had accidentally gotten locked in at night and he would simply walk out before anyone could ask further questions. And, he did exactly that the next morning.
With the first light at daybreak, Shinji began trekking back to Misato's home, his home, through the haunting pink glow of the morning.
He thought he had heard a whisper as he was walking, and he turned around. He saw no one. But, before he could continue walking, he once again heard a noise; louder this time. He looked towards the direction of the sound, but then another sound, a howl this time, came from another direction. Soon, moaning was coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. Shinji became very afraid and began running back to Misato's house frantically trying to push the noises from the pink morning sky out of his head. This was the cost of the anxiety Shinji suffered from.
/
"So, has he called or made contact?" Doctor Akagi asked Captain Katsuragi
"…"
"Nothing?"
"Nothing. He left his phone on the dresser at home. I don't think he's going to come back this time."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"Nothing, I guess. It's better for him if he doesn't come back."
"What makes you say that?"
"Because of what happened after the last battle. After he'd gotten out of the plug, I'd scolded him pretty harshly."
"I see," Ritsuko said, looking down at her computer.
"If getting into the Eva only causes him pain, I don't think he should pilot it…otherwise, he'll die."
"But, we need pilots, Misato, or we're all going to die. Just remember that."
/
Misato had gotten off work early tonight. She was happy to a certain degree but, she had so many things on her mind and all of her mental clutter and stress was keeping her from enjoying herself. She sighed as she rode the elevator train out of the geofront and back up to the surface of the planet. She looked down at the pyramidal NERV headquarters a couple thousand feet below the ascending train.
"So, what are we doing? How are we gonna survive?"
The scenic view disappeared as the train began passing the armor belts separating the Geofront from the rest of Tokyo-3 and continued up.
'Ikari is obviously not going to pilot anymore. Rei is about to be back on active duty, but she hasn't even fought against an angel yet. She's probably not in top tier condition either, and if she gets dealt a bad hand in a fight, she could die. Then we'd have no one unless we got a pilot from Euro or the States or if the Marduk Institute somehow miraculously found another child in Japan.'
The train passed the final armor belt and the orange late evening sky showed itself through the windows of the train car. As the door of the train slid open granting admittance to the parking lot, the purple haired babe made for her car. She wondered if she should go out to eat tonight. Without Shinji, the only food she had was the instant meals she slopped together, and even she was getting tired of it despite how much she liked it. And, for once, she actually had time to go out and enjoy herself. In the end though, she decided against it. It was late enough that most restaurants would probably be charging dinner prices and it would eat up a lot of her time waiting for service at a sit down restaurant, especially if they were busy. So, she simply started her car and headed home. Maybe she'd be able to catch up on the sleep she was direly lacking.
She drove down the freeway, the sun slowly setting as she got closer to home. But, suddenly, she had a thought, and knew how she wanted to spend her evening. She turned on her signal light, and took the nearest exit off the freeway.
She continued driving for another twenty minutes until she reached the outskirts of the city and drove up a hill; the same hill overlooking Tokyo-3 she had brought Shinji to the evening she had assumed guardianship over him. She killed the ignition in her car, walked out to the edge of the paddock, and admired the spectacle of a hot orange sky slowly fading into a cool blue with silhouetted sky scrapers creating contrast and a jagged black line that strove for the vibrantly dyed skies above. She tilted her head, looking directly above her, and she took a deep breath as she felt the slightly cool wind blow through her hair. She steadied her gaze, and looked back towards the city below, then the mountains on her right, and the ocean to her left. It seemed a storm had formed over the Pacific Ocean and was slowly moving towards Tokyo-3. The horizon over the water was hazy and fogged from the clouds and rain, but she occasionally saw lighting shooting down from above.
"That child...he brings the clouds with him. I don't know how, but he does."
Another lightning bolt shot down into the Pacific miles and miles away, but Misato barely managed to hear the thunder over the lively man-made ecosystem of Tokyo-3 below. She gazed down the hill seeing all the white and yellow headlights of the cars flow across the streets of her city.
"So many people to protect. How are we going to do it? …Ritsuko was right; even with the Evas, this is a losing battle for us. All it would take is one fuck up, one day when things don't go our way, and then we're all dead. Third Impact…"
A lone tear streaked down her visage as the lights of the city began to turn on with the setting of the sun. The deep blues, the intense reds, the bright yellows; they all lit up the night as the sun fell behind the hills surrounding Tokyo-3. Another flash of lighting far off in the distance, far past the shore; beyond the cars and the neon signs, and the bars, and the shopping centers; beyond the tall gray buildings and the long winding road ways, on the horizon, the storm ominously carved a path to the last bulwark defending humanity.
A steady march, a resilient soldier, a lonely light in the infinite darkness of the universe.
"Shinji…Ikari…I know you'd love to see this right now. The lights; they're so beautiful. Shinji Ikari, I know you'll be there. Please, come home soon."
/
Again, it was raining in Tokyo-3. Misato had finally accepted that Shinji was not coming back. It was dark out and though Misato didn't have duty all night tonight, it was still late and she was tired and just wanted to get back home.
She pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. She was dreading walking out into the storm for the second time tonight, but if she wanted to go inside and get drunk while in a hot bath, she was going to have to brave the cold rain and wind. She opened her car door and started to sprint as carefully as she could so as to avoid slipping
"Ooh, it's so cold! Damn Uniform not protecting against the elements."
Soon enough, she was under the canopy of the apartment complex and began making her way to her room with a chill seeping into her skin.
She had her fears calmed a little earlier in the day, before leaving work, after learning that the third branch of NERV in Germany was possibly sending Eva Unit-02 and the Second Child to Japan considering that, for the moment at least, they had no pilots on active duty.
Misato smiled fondly, remembering when she had first met the second child, the beautiful Asuka Langley Sohryu, back when she still worked in Euro at NERV-3. She thought back to her loud and proud voice and her gorgeous, long, luscious, red hair. Asuka had been raised to pilot Evangelion Unit-02 from a young age. She was quite certainly one of the most elite people on the face of the earth, easily putting even legendary historical figures from before second impact to shame. Misato almost squeaked in excitement at the thought of being able to witness someone with such refined skills. She knew that the German prodigy would not disappoint.
But, Misato lost her smile as she approached the door to her apartment and saw the pitiful Third Child lying down at the foot of the entrance. She frowned knowing exactly what she had to work with and wishing that she had Asuka under her command instead right now.
"Long time, no see. …Do you feel any better after wandering around for god knows how long?" Misato hissed.
"I don't know. And I don't know if I want to know," Shinji stated very deflatedly, "but I'm here."
Misato continued to glare down at Ikari. He looked cold considering he was drenched and lying down on the floor outside her apartment. She wondered if he was being too hard on him, but she maintained her upset composure. It wasn't healthy for Shinji to just do what he was told and she needed to spur him into taking his own action through his own volition. On top of that, the Eva may not even continue to sync with him in his current star of mind. She needed to be sure he was determined enough to continue operating it.
"Unit-01 is on standby. Will you continue to pilot it or won't you?" she said coldly.
"You're not going to scold me for running away?"
Misato remained silent, scowling at Shinji as he continued to lie down in front of her doorstep.
"Of course you're not," Shinji whispered, "…If I say I'm not going to pilot Unit-01, what will they do with it?"
"I suppose that Commander Ikari will force Rei to do it. …You really aren't going to pilot it?"
"It seems a little overwhelming…for them to force everything on her," he said guiltily, once again remembering how bad he felt about almost forcing Rei to pilot in his place, "Don't worry. I'll Pilot it."
"But you don't want to pilot it."
"Of course not! It's not like it comes to me naturally. But, Ayanami, and you, and Ritsuko-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT THE REST OF US!" Misato violently spat out, "This has NOTHING to do with the any of us. If you don't like it, GET THE FUCK OUT! Just forget about me and Ayanami and the Evangelion and go back to where you came from! We don't need people with that attitude piloting."
Misato stormed into her apartment and went into Shinji's room to pick up his NERV ID. She stomped back to the entrance of her apartment and threw the card on the ground in front of him.
"Go get that revoked," she said glaring down at him and shut the door to her apartment.
As soon as the door closed, she fell to the floor and began weeping, though she didn't quite know why.
"Oh, I need something stronger than beer tonight. Where did I put my vodka or my saké? I don't really care," she cried the entire time she moaned to herself.
Misato found her vodka and started a bath. Ignoring her numerous glasses around her kitchen, she drank straight from the bottle.
She stepped into the bath and took a mouthful of the alcohol before breaking down into hysterical crying. She had never cried so hard in her life. She was crying so loud and so hard that it hurt her lungs and she almost couldn't breathe. Her tears fell into the hot water going unnoticed by even the bath tub itself. She was drinking so much alcohol she was choking on it and coughing it up. She wished so badly that Shinji would just walk back into her apartment and stand up to her and tell her that he was the Unit-01 pilot; she wanted him to march in and proclaim he was the hero she wanted him to be, that the world needed him to be, but no such thing happened that night.
/
Misato woke up late the next morning not much caring what time it was. Her abdomen and neck hurt a lot and she felt like gravity was pulling on her in strange ways. Where was she? Her face was on something cold and hard and so where her hips. She finally opened her eyes and saw her bathroom floor's tiles next to her face. Her neck was bent at a crooked angle as her hips were atop the edge of her bath and her legs where still in the water of the tub. She slowly pulled the rest of her body out of the bath with much pain. She was sore and cold and she wanted to die. Her head was pounding and her eyes felt like they were going to shoot out of their sockets from the pressure. Her fingers and cheek were completely numb from the cold that had seeped into them over night.
"Oh, how bad did I fuck up last night?"
She wrapped a towel around her body and barely managed to get up. She didn't remember much from last night, but she remembered Shinji.
"Goddamnit, I'm so sore," she said as she hunched over and hugged her aching curvy hips through the towel.
The worn out woman slid the bathroom door open quietly, and stepped out into the cold kitchen. As always, the air conditioner was blowing full blast and it chilled her wet legs, making them shiver some as she tracked watery footprints across the kitchen.
'I wonder if he came inside last night after I got drunk.'
Her small white towel barely concealing her mature body as a fair amount of cleavage spilled over the top of her towel and the curvature of her butt peeked out from below as she leaned over a little to glance into the living room.
"Shinji? Are you home?" She called out uneasily.
Getting no answer, she walked through the living room to the door of Shinji's room.
"Hey, Shinji, are you there?" she said after knocking gently.
She slowly slid the door open just a crack hoping that maybe, he was just tired and asleep. But as she peeked in, she saw no one.
'Maybe he's...still outside. I didn't make him feel very welcome.'
The purple haired woman carefully stepped back through the living room and kitchen to the hallway leading to the exit. She put her hand on the door handle, afraid to open the door, afraid she'd be disappointed, afraid she'd have to face Shinji after how she treated him. She knew she'd have to face him sometime or another however, and so she opened the door and the late morning sunlight hit her shoulders and face, causing her to squint. She looked down in front of her door where he'd been last night, but she didn't see anyone. Upon realizing she really had driven him away this time, a lone tear formed in her eyes and dripped down her cheek before slipping to her chin and never falling.
/
"You know that the third child is leaving Tokyo-3 later today, right?" Ritsuko asked the commander.
"We'll reconfigure Unit-01's system for Rei" Commander Ikari said.
"But-"
"Regardless of the results of the Unit-00 reactivation experiments, we'll move onto experimenting with Unit-01 with Rei as the primary pilot."
Rei, Ritsuko, and Gendo remain quiet for a moment, though as Rei was almost always silent, no one actually noticed whether she was there or not, save for Gendo.
"According to the Marduk Organization's report, the fourth child hasn't been found yet," The Commander proceeded.
"So, we can't get any more recruits then," Ritsuko frowned, wondering if Misato had made a mistake in driving the boy away.
"Yes, however, the German branch is considering sending us one of their Pilots and Eva Unit-02 as a replacement for the Third Child. So, there should be nothing to worry about. We should be sufficiently prepared for whatever the angels have in store for us."
/
Shinji now knew that there wasn't a soul in Tokyo-3 who wanted or cared for him now. He had returned to Misato knowing she'd be angry with him, but he didn't expect her to be angry for the reasons she was. Still, he was hoping to find comfort in her and have her accept him. But, when she tossed his NERV ID card in his face last night, it broke his will in a way few things would. He had spent so many hours trying to convince himself to pilot the Eva again, and all he got in return was dismissal.
'I only want them to notice me and appreciate me, and instead I get the very opposite. I really am worthless.'
The black luxury car Shinji was riding in had just parked at a train station that had shuttles leaving Tokyo-3. Shinji didn't know if he was ready for this but he didn't have a choice now.
"We're here," one of the Section 2 agents in the front of the car stated.
Shinji depressingly undid his seatbelt and opened the door to leave the car. He began walking to the stairs that led up to the station platform, looking down all the while, but before he had finalized his departure, someone called out to him.
"Hey, Ikari!" He looked up to see Kensuke with Toji standing next to him.
Toji smiled and continued, "You left this stuff behind," tossing Shinji his book bag full of his belongings he had left at school before running away.
Shinji, not wanting to be rude to the only people showing him kindness at the moment, politely asked one of the two section 2 agents, "Excuse me, could I, um…"
"Make it quick. We got other places to be."
With that, Shinji made his way to his classmates.
"Well, uh…thank you," he said once within a more conversation appropriate distance.
"Yeah, of course, no problem," Toji replied while scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"Hmm… Hey, Toji," Kensuke said, putting a hand behind Toji's back and pushing him forward "weren't you gonna say something?"
Toji growled slightly at Kensuke, but knowing he had been put on the spot now, he turned back towards Shinji and began a very complex and awkward apology. "Ikari, look, I'm sorry I hit you. Please, you just gotta hit me back."
"Oh, what? I can't do that?" Shinji said, surprise evident in his voice.
"You gotta! Otherwise, I won't be satisfied."
"Haha. See? He's a pretty embarrassing guy, isn't he? But, if it'll put an end to this, why not just go ahead and hit him?" Kensuke suggested, nonchalantly encouraging Shinji.
Shinji looked back quickly and saw one of the agents looking at his watch. Shinji realized he didn't have much longer so, he figured he'd make his last memory in Tokyo-3 as special as he could, but Toji was making that a little hard.
"But I-" Shinji was cut off.
"Hurry up! You don't have much time. So, just hit me."
Shinji frowned, but decided to comply, "Okay, but only once"
"Right! Come on."
Shinji set down the bag Toji had tossed him and began to reel his first back.
'Ugh, this is the first time I've ever punched someone. I can't believe I'm doing this.'
Shinji had positioned his fist and swung forward but right before his knuckles made contact-
"HEY, WAIT!"
Shinji just barely managed to stop his hand before Suzuhara's unblinking eyes.
"Don't hold back," Toji told him in a low whisper.
Shinji nodded, understanding what was expected of him. He pulled his fist back once more and tensed before swinging forward and hitting Toji squarely in his left cheek.
"Ooh, that hurt," Kensuke said, squinting with a cringe.
Shinji looked on, worried, hoping he hadn't hurt him too badly. He hadn't held back, but he didn't desire to truly hurt Suzuhara either.
Toji recovered from the recoil slowly with tears barely forming in his eyes, and looked up at Shinji.
Shinji was relieved when Toji and Kensuke both smiled back and they all laughed a little bit before continuing.
"How did you know I'd be here?"
"Oh, it was just a guess. We've seen a couple dozen of our classmates off before now. It's getting to be a regular thing." Kensuke said, obviously having explained this to others before Shinji had decided to leave.
"Oh course, If you're leaving, you know, we're probably gonna be leaving sometime soon too. We can't blame you. We saw how you suffered in the Eva. …And, if anyone does try to blame you, I'LL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THEM!" Toji said confidently, smiling at Shinji once more.
Shinji was really starting to feel the guilt. He didn't mean to drag others down with him, but his shortcomings were always fighting the hardest to be noticed above everything else in Shinji's mind.
"Come on, try not to look so gloomy," Toji said seeing Shinji was somewhat upset.
"Take care, Ikari," Kensuke said, seeing the Section 2 agents approach Shinji from behind.
"Yeah, take care," Toji added in, meaning it with all his heart while smiling at him one last time.
"Well,-" Ikari started but, he didn't get a chance to finish.
"Time is up," one of the agents growled, firmly grasping him on the shoulder.
Whatever small amount of happiness that might have been on the Third Child's face was instantly wiped away after feeling the powerful, almost threatening hand on his shoulder. He picked up his bag and was turned around forcefully before being marched up the steps leading to the platform
'Why? Why do I have to be so useless? Maybe, if I was more competent, I wouldn't have put myself in this situation. If I was better, Toji's sister wouldn't be in the hospital, Miss Misato wouldn't be angry at me, Ayanami wouldn't have to pilot…and maybe father would be proud of me. God, why am I so useless? Why can't I be better? Why can't I just-'
Shinji suddenly turned around and began screaming out toward Kensuke and Toji.
"I'M THE ONE WHO DESERVED TO BE HIT, NOT YOU! I'M WORTHLESS AND I'M A COWARD. I HURT PEOPLE AND I CAN'T POTECT ANYONE. I'M WEAK AND DISHONEST AND- UGH'
Shinji had just been punched in the gut by one of the agents trying to restrain him.
"Don't give us any more trouble," one of the men spat down at him before dragging him to the waiting area for his train out of town.
Toji and Kensuke didn't know what else to do but stare.
/
"Express train bound for New Atsugi is arriving on track two. For your safety, please step back to the area behind the yellow line," the station loudspeaker echoed across the nearly vacant stop.
'Worthless, Troublesome, Incapable; That's all I am.'
"The train arriving on track two is for special government use only and departs at 4:20 for New Atsugi. No civilians are allowed inside the train arriving on track two. Please, be aware that the boarding of this train by unauthorized entities is strictly prohibited," the loudspeaker continued
'Nobody loves me. Nobody wants me.'
The long empty train stopped before the young lost Ikari. Its cold metal doors slide open quietly as though they were about to swallow the boy. Shinji could barely stand to think about stepping on the train.
'I'm running away again. I always run away. Why did I think things would be any different this time? Why did I think anyone wanted me? If no one ever wants me, I might as well run away every time. Damn it, what's wrong with me? Why doesn't anyone want me? What do I need to do to get someone to care for me just a little?'
The answer then makes itself clear as he remembered what Misato told him a few weeks ago after he first piloted the eva.
(Misato carefully opened the door to Shinji's room after she got out of the shower as he was trying to go to sleep.
"I forgot to tell you something," She said softly, "You did something very good and very noble. You should be proud of yourself. Goodnight, Shinji. …Hang in there"
She stared for a couple seconds and then exited, closing the door and stopping the light of the hallway from flooding into his room.)
"Yeah…I'll just…Hang in there," he said to himself as the door to the train slid shut with him still on the platform, a smile finally back on his face.
/
"Oh no, the train is already leaving. No, no, NO!" Misato cried pushing her car as fast as it would go.
The young woman had been trying to locate Shinji since she had woken up that morning and she was finally here; she had finally found him after asking around the intelligence division, and she was late. She thought about calling him as her car came to a halt with the tires screaming, but remembered his phone was still on the dresser in his room.
She slowly stepped out of the car to watch the train that had just finished leaving the station. She looked down, just about ready to cry as tears were blurring her vision.
'I shouldn't have been such a bitch to him. He's just a kid. He was trying to save our world, my world, and I sit here and bitch at him as though it's his fault. How could I? He already had so much stress on him. How could I just blindly add to it? He was only trying his best and I punish him for it. What the hell is wrong with me?'
Misato looked up to the sky to see if there were any clouds and she saw none, not even a wisp.
"Hehe, I guess he's gone for real this time. That boy really does bring the clouds with him."
Misato turned her teary eyes towards the train station hoping to at least see a ghost of the boy she'd driven away, but immediately her heart began pounding as happiness overtook her senses and she met eyes with the lonely boy who, for some reason, was still at the train station.
They stared at each other for a very long time as joy, familiarity, and comfort filled both their hearts and caused them to swell.
'She…she came back for me! She cares for me! Someone cares for me just a little!' Shinji smiled at the thought.
"I-I'm home!" Shinji broke the silence ecstatically.
"Welcome home," Misato smiled back with tears in her eyes.
.
*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*
.
"Hi everyone, Misato Katsuragi here with a preview for chapter four.
Shinji wakes up well rested and has an awkward moment with me. Ritsuko comes over for lunch, and he has a slightly less award moment with her when she asks him to deliver Rei's Renewal NERV ID. Shinji heads over to Rei's apartment and he has a super awkward moment with her. He comes to me for help with all the awkwardness and I hit him with a bunch of sex jokes and an EVEN MORE awkward moment. In fact, there's awkward moments galore in chapter four. However, before the awkward moment can get too awkward, the fifth angel appears. Unit-01 is deployed and left severely damaged along with Shinji's motivation. The angel begins tunneling it's way down to the Geofront, but I come up with a genius plan to stop it. However, a wrench is thrown in my plans when Shinji decides he doesn't want to pilot anymore and even more awkward moments ensue. How will we all survive the night with all this awkwardness? The answer lies in the next Chapter, Forward to and Beyond Tomorrow.
And, of course, I'll be there to give you all my wonderful fan service that I know you all adore, so stay tuned."
.
Haha, cute ending, right? Probably one of my favorite episode endings in the anime.
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Really starting to show some of my own scenes rather than just text versions of the show.
Chapter 4 should hopefully be up within the next couple days. I skipped over Jet Alone and immediately went to Shinji and Rei starting to have legitimate interactions with each other. The next Chapter is gonna cover from Shinji officially meeting Rei in her worn down apartment (Along with some characterization for our favorite Blue haired Eva Pilot) up to the ending of the fight with Ramiel (Screams Geometrically) and slightly after that including The two pilot's debriefing to serve as a medium for character interaction which will lead into the first chapter with no scenes from the anime (Chapter 5), and it will be all my own original work. What exactly does chapter five cover, I hear you ask? Well, that, my friends, is a surprise.
And as always, Misato will provide more fan service in chapter 4. Let's get lewd, shall we?
Also, if anyone is curious about Misato's floor plan, you can google it. (Fanfiction won't let me put a link to the source, but it's out there.) I use that when I'm writing out sequences in her apartment. (Obviously)
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Update: Okay, so first of all, from now on, I'm going to start leaving updates at the end of my chapters so that you guys can track my progress. So, if you guys would like to know where I am, just check the end of my most recent chapter. Now, second thing, I'm working on chapter four right now. I think I'm roughly half way through it and I somehow managed to squeeze about 8,000 words in the first half (yay for me) and hopefully I'll have even more in the second half. On top of all that, chapter four may be coming out just a little sooner than I expected. Can't say for sure right now, but it's looking good.
Update: Chapter 4...is now taking longer than expected; it does have 10K words now though. (I'm not entirely sure what the final word count will be. Maybe 15K-20K?) Forgot I had a doctor appointment today. Sorry guys. I'll get it out just as soon as I can.
Update: I'm getting pretty close to being done with chapter four. I'm expecting it to be up sometime early tomorrow morning (May be later than that though). I think (read as hope) it'll surprise some of you. It's sitting at exactly 14,206 words at the time of writing this, and I'm expecting roughly 17,000 by the time it's finished. This is it; it's do or die time.
Final Update: I just uploaded Chapter 4. The servers should update soon and you should be able to read it.
