Okay everyone! I am so fucking sorry about not posting last month. And, I'm afraid I'm gonna disappoint you all, but this chapter is... pretty fucking short. I didn't get out nearly as much as I wanted. There's several reasons for that. For one, I had to go outta town for two funerals last month. My grandmother finally died. Now, I wasn't particularly close to her. But, I am close to my Aunt and I figured I'd try to spend some time with her to try to make sure she was doing okay. And, then shortly after that, one of my friends died from a really aggressive cancer. So, I was outta town for the majority of last month. I probably should have taken my computer with me so I could have worked on this chapter while I was away from home, but I was stupid and wasn't thinking.

And the second biggest thing would probably be that I may or may not have fallen in love this months. And... lemme tell you, it's hard to fucking write when the cutest girl in the world is on your mind and both of you are flirting back and forth and it feels like it really might go somewhere.

So, I'm really sorry this chapter is so short. I really wanted to write more, but, I also wanted to get at least something out. Next chapter is probably actually going to cover some more of what this one was supposed to cover.

Oh, also, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and shit!

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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 26

The Coil of the Heart

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"Shinji! Can't you make her stop!?" Asuka whined as Shinji was trying to finish up cooking diner.

"What's she even doing, Asuka!?"

"She's…. She's just sitting on the couch!"

Shinji took a moment to look away from the stove top and glanced in the direction of the living room where Rei was most certainly sitting on the couch.

"Well, what's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it? What's wrong is that she's just sitting there while I wanna sit there and watch TV!"

"Well, go turn the TV on then."

"What!? No! I can't do that! It would be weird sitting next to her!"

"You sit next to her every day in class."

"That's different! You sit in between us. And you actually talk... sometimes."

"Pilot Sohryu," Rei's soft voice interrupted, "If you wished for me to move, you need have only asked."

Asuka felt a chill go down her spine as she turned around and saw the blue haired girl now sitting at the kitchen table instead.

Shinji heard Asuka make some disgusted hacking sound before skulking off to the couch.

Misato suddenly emerged from the steaming bathroom and Asuka immediately turned back around.

"Alright, I'm out! Whoever wants to shower next can!"

"Misato! Can't you make her leave!?"

Misato gave Asuka a look that almost spelled disappointment.

"Asuka, why do you have to do this at my promotion party!?"

"It's not even a party! Shinji's literally just cooking dinner! This is no different than any other night!"

"Yeah, but he's cooking dinner specifically for me! So, it sounds like a party to me!" Misato said contentedly as she sat down at the kitchen table with Rei.

"Ugh, he's probably just mixing together curry and instant ramen since that's all you'd eat without him. Ew!"

"Why does everyone always say mixing curry and instant noodles is bad? It tastes really good!"

"Yeah, whatever," Asuka grumbled as she resumed walking to the couch, turned on the TV, and then proceed to lay on her side!

"Alright, Misato. I think this is pretty much done!" Shinji said as he brought the scalding hot pot of… mystery soup right to the woman.

"Aw, thanks Shinji, you're a sweetheart."

"I really don't have any idea what it is. But, I tried to cook it as close as I could to what you described."

"You know it's a bad omen when even Shinji doesn't know what the hell he just cooked for that insane woman," Asuka grumbled under her breath.

"Don't worry! I'm sure it'll turn out fine," Misato said as jovially as ever.

"Well, I'll get to cooking some vegetable rolls for Rei and something for Asuka."

"Pizza!" Asuka shouted from the living room.

"P-Pizza? A-are you sure!? That sounds like it might take awhile."

"What are you? Stupid!? I don't want you to make it! Just order some from Pizza Hut! Make it cheese stuffed crust with pepperoni!"

Shinji honestly didn't know if he should be insulted or relieved. But, it didn't really matter either way. Usually, there wasn't much to be gained from arguing with Asuka.

"Yeah… I'll do that."

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-Quality of Character-

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It's true it wasn't much of a party per se. Misato had actually been rather insistent on not inviting anyone. And, to an extent, Shinji felt like he understood some of her reasons.

The women, who used to have a bubbly personality a few months ago, was visibly more tame now. He could see the stress mounting on her when he looked at her. The mountains of paper work she always had to fill out after every angel attack was understandably not her preferred way of enjoying her evenings. But, even more than that, it almost seemed like there was something eating away at the women.

She'd been going out less. Where she once used to crave excursions, she now longed to stay home. Where she once used to make efforts and go out of her way to talk to the other residents of her home, she now usually only spoke when it seemed appropriate. And, Shinji wasn't entirely sure, but he swore she'd been drinking more recently, though that was understandably more difficult to gauge for several reasons.

Shinji's mind was lost as he focused on cleaning the dishes that had been set out and dirtied. And as he scrubbed one of the porcelain plates clean, he hadn't noticed Misato approach him.

She put a hand on his shoulder, almost causing him to drop the plate he was polishing.

"M-Misato!"

"Hey! Sorry for sneaking up on you like that!"

"O-oh, that's okay!"

"But, listen, I was wondering if I could talk to you."

"About what?"

"I'll tell you in a bit. It's private. So, do you think you'd be able to come with me for a second?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Shinji said as he carefully put down the plate and followed Misato as she began leading him out the apartment.

Asuka, however, noticed the two leaving, and became slightly suspicious.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

"We're gonna go wait for the pizza guy!" Misato shouted.

"Hmph, a likely story," Asuka mumbled as she watched Misato and Shinji leave the apartment.

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Misato stood silently in the mostly vacant parking lot of her apartment complex. Despite the fact it was night and she was indeed at an apartment, in truth, she was one of only a handful of tenants that resided there. Only a few cars were parked and Misato decided that this was a secluded enough spot while simultaneously being open enough that she'd be able to see anyone approaching long before they were within ear shot.

"Shinji, what do you know about your mother?"

"My mother? Uh, well… not much."

"Heheh, same here."

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"Okay, little one. I have to go now," Yui said as she gently put her hand on Misato's shoulder as she knelt next to her.

Misato had accompanied both Gendo and Yui to the helipad of the South Pole Investigation Vessel. Though, perhaps, it might have seemed more appropriate to say that Misato had just gone with the flow absent mindedly being nothing more than an empty shell in her current state.

As Yui spoke to the girl, she wasn't entirely sure if she was really listening or not. But, she hoped her words reached her nonetheless.

"They'll take good care of you here. Gendo informed everyone that you are to be treated with the utmost respect."

Misato didn't say anything, but a few tears rolled out of her eyes and over her cheeks.

"Oh, sweetheart, everything is going to be okay. Just… keep taking your medicine. You need to beat that blood infection. And, keep looking forward while remembering better times."

Misato finally made eye contact with Yui as the woman stood up.

"Keep forging forward, Miss Katsuragi. We will all need to in the coming days," Gendo said resolutely while taking his wife by the hand.

"Goodbye, sweetheart." Yui said as comfortingly as she could before turning around and boarding the helicopter with her husband.

Misato said nothing as she watched the helicopter begin hovering above the ship. She then looked down into her hands and held out her palm, seeing the cross pendant her father had given her. Her sight became blurry with tears before she put the necklace on and tried to ignore the cold wind blowing across her face.

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"I met your mother."

"Y-you did?"

"Yeah. It was… almost right after second impact… I barely remember it. But, I remember she was kind."

"Misato… why are you telling me this now?"

"Ritsuko, that woman, she said something the other day that reminded me of meeting her is all."

"Oh..."

"But, that's not all I wanted to say! I just… when I was reminded of your mother, I was also reminded of my mother. And… there was… something I felt I should say."

Shinji didn't say anything, but looked at Misato expectantly as the woman took a shaking breath.

"My mother… she… when I was a kid… she… did things to me. Maybe they're things she shouldn't have done. I don't know. I didn't exactly have a problem with it at the time. But, as I grew… I started to… I almost felt ashamed. I don't know why, but I felt like I was the one who did something wrong somehow. Of course, I didn't do anything wrong…at least, not until… recently… when I… I mean, you… I just… Shinji, I'm so sorry! I… I don't have any words."

"I… think I understand what you're saying. But… it's okay Misato. I… already said is was okay."

"I know but… it still bothers me. I was just trying to help you. I just wanted to motivate you, that's all."

"Yeah, I… I know, Misato," Shinji said with a blush.

Neither said anything for a moment. The entire situation was sub-optimal from the beginning and was bound to be awkward.

"But, hey," Shinji said, "You don't need to worry about this stuff right now. Tonight was supposed to be a party, right."

"I suppose so, but… I guess I'm not as into parties as I thought I was."

Several floors above, a crimson haired girl sat on the balcony outside Misato's apartment and tried her best to listen in on the conversation below. She couldn't catch all of it, but she'd heard enough.

"Tch! Sicko," Asuka murmured as she quietly opened the door to the apartment and crept back inside.

Though, as soon as she closed the door, she took no care to hide the sound of her stomping footsteps as she marched back to the living room couch and fell onto the cushion.

For a few seconds, she was able to watch the TV in peace, but, before long, Rei stepped into her field of view.

Asuka glared at the girl out of the corner of her eye, but pretended not to notice her. Though, Rei's own attentive eyes began to unnerve her and she was quickly loosing her composure.

"What!? What do you want!? Why are you just standing there!? Why are you looking at me!? Are you spying on me!?" Asuka spat as she finally openly confronted the girl.

"May I sit?"

"Yeah, sure, Ayanami! You can sit! The whole goddamn house is yours anyways from what I understand!" Asuka growled with angry sarcasm as she got out of her seat and began marching to the hallway where her and Shinji's bedrooms were.

"That is not what I meant," Rei said plainly, though Asuka paid no mind to the girl as she marched to Shinji's room and opened the door.

"Pilot Sohryu, that is Shinji's room."

Asuka, not realizing her mistake at first, sharply inhaled and then slammed the door shut!

"I KNOW THAT, WONDERGIRL!"

Asuka then turned around and retreated into her room instead.

Rei could tell that Asuka was upset and she slowly approached Asuka's room.

"Pilot Sohryu?"

"Go away!"

"I know you have been sleeping with Shinji."

Rei could hear Asuka shuffling around in her room before her door slowly creaked open, though no more than an inch. Asuka's blue eye peered out of the crack and looked at Rei ominously.

"You what? ...He told you!?"

"He did."

For a moment, Asuka was furious. She was embarrassed, but absolutely furious. But, then her anger began to subside and it was instead replaced with an odd sense of superiority or pride.

"So, how does that make you feel? That I could steal your boyfriend and I don't even like him. Really goes to show how much of a personality you have," Asuka gloated, trying to rub her accomplishments into Rei rudely.

"I don't own him. So, you cannot steal him from me."

"Don't gimme that! I know, I know, you're mad at me."

"I am not. Shinji told me from the beginning that he wished to help you."

Asuka slammed her door shut again.

"Yeah!? WELL, I DON'T NEED HELP!" She shouted as her voice began breaking.

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*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*

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"Well, would you look who it is? It's me, Misato! And I've returned from my two month vacation!

In the next chapter, me and Shinji have some more alone time! I promise it won't be too naughty! And meanwhile, Rei and Asuka continue to iron out their friendship while also beating it with an iron! I'm sure you can figure out which one is doing the ironing and which one is doing the beating! Next time, on Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love; Slow Gravity.

There might be a bit of fanservice next chapter! You can never be sure!"

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BIG FUCKING UPDATE!: My aunt went missing last night everyone! So, fucking hell, lmao, this sounds like it's gonna be a shitty and busy month. Dunno if she was abducted of if she killed herself or what. I'll try to get this next chapter out at full length. But, I'm gonna be outta town searching for her and I have no idea how long I'm gonna be away. The day of this update is 12/28/2018.

Final Update: LMAO, sorry everyone. I do a shit job at keeping these updates... updated. The next chapter will be up in a few minutes.