Under Yggdrasil's Branches
written by the.Merines
started: 09.15.06 22:23
finished: 10.09.06 21:02
published: 10.09.06
disclaimed: I do not own Evangelion, Xenogears, Xenosaga or anything contained within or associated with them. Some reader emailed me and asked if I had ever watched or read EVA. While the internet ensures ambiguity, it sounded condescending. I laughed a little to myself, then felt sad. I've watched EVA many times and have read the manga volumes 1-9 twice. I've been involved with fanfiction in one way or another since 1999. People's inability to read hasn't gotten much better. On a better note, my replica Death Note arrived from HK today. Make sure I don't see your face and name, doubting user.
Final warning: This is a crossover between Evangelion and Xenogears/Xenosaga.

Codename: Evangelion

The booming of the Angel's nearing attacks were heard even as deep as the Evangelion cages; Ikari Gendo stood above Unit 01. He looked down on his only son with what he could only describe as disgust. It may have been disappointment, but that implied he faith that his son would comply to begin with.

"Fine. In that case I have no further use for you. You may go home… coward." His last word reverberated in Shinji's ears.

'I… If I don't sacrifice myself here and now…, I'm a coward?' He looked towards Misato for support.

"Get in it," was her stern response.

'Even Misato-san… What the hell am I supposed to do!' The younger Ikari collapsed to his knees, holding his hands up to his face. Just as he was about to stand once more, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. Shinji looked up towards the source of the pressure. A woman with dark blue hair, wearing a uniform similar to his father's but white in color, was standing over him. Her face was neither judgmental nor sympathetic.

"Young Ikari, stand up," she said in a calm, even tone. For whatever reason, Shinji felt calmed by the woman and followed her instructions. "Do you know the story of Adam and Eve?"

"Vaguely…" he quietly responded as he stood up.

"They are said to be the first human beings created by God. However, there was actually a woman before Eve. This woman was created by God from the dust, like Adam, as was considered his equal. She refused to lay below Adam in submission and was punished. Because of this she felt bitter towards God and Mankind." Shinji blinked in complete confusion. The woman smiled gently. "Now that you concentrated on this story and not your fear, don't you feel better?"

Shinji nodded stiffly as he realized that she was right. "I am your father's assistant. You may call me Miang. Now, no one can make you ride the Evangelion. Nobody can force you to do anything you don't wish. However, as your father explained, you are the only pilot we have who isn't seriously injured. You saw what happened before." Shinji thought back to the beating the purple robot had taken earlier. "The girl who was riding the EVA at that time was taken directly from the emergency ward of our hospital."

"A… a girl was… riding this thing?"

"If the train you took hadn't been halted because of the emergency, there is a good chance that her recovery would not have been disturbed. In any case she cannot pilot again so soon. So don't you think, Ikari Shinji-san, that we brought you here for a reason? You must have known that there was a reason."

"I… Sure… Why else would my father have summoned me here?" he rhetorically asked.

"So you must have come here expecting something to happen," she explained smoothly. "Knowing this, and knowing that no one else can defeat that Angel, you still won't ride in her?"

"I… I…" Shinji's gaze faltered to the ground.

"Holding the lives of all human souls in the palm of your hand, and selfishly deciding to throw them all away… Don't you think only God should have that kind of power?" Shinji's eyes widened at this statement. What… was this woman offering him?

'God's power… The android weapon Evangelion… Angels attacking… If no one else can, I have to do this?'

"I'll do it… I'll pilot it!" Shinji's head snapped back up towards the person who'd stolen the words right out of his mouth. At the far side of the connection bridge stood a blond boy, probably about Shinji's age and with the same basic build. His hair was parted in the middle and seemed very well-kept. Shinji sensed an air of aristocracy about the boy. His face was Asiatic, but with such features Ikari doubted he was Japanese. Miang took a quick step towards the boy before Shinji could voice his confusion.

"Ramsus, you are not suited to this task," she sternly replied. "Return to your room immediately!" The blond boy seemed to consider his course of action for a second before running towards Shinji and Miang's position.

"This is what I came here for!" he yelled, placing a hand on his chest. "I went through all those tests, which were no treat I remind you, with the promise that I would be able to fight using the Evangelion when an Angel attacked! It was bad enough that the First was sent out…"

'But my father said that I was the only suitable pilot… Then what's this guy talking about? Which one is telling the truth?'

"Kahran Ramsus!" Both the boy and Shinji looked upwards at Commander Ikari. "You were allowed to stay here as NERV personnel as a test pilot only. This information was made available to you when the Marduk Report found the Third Children. Isn't that correct?" The blond one's resolve seemed to waver for a second.

"Yes, that's true! But…"

"If you agree, then leave here. You're interfering." Shinji felt his heart tighten when he saw the boy's eyes blanken as he turned away.

'Is this… sympathy? I sympathize with that loud kid? It seems like he was brought here as a pilot before me… But now that I'm here, he has no place? Why not just use him instead? Why me, father?'

Misato reached out and softly grabbed Shinji's shoulder. She felt him twitch, as if she had interrupted some deep thought. "Shinji-kun… If you don't want to, or if you can't do this… you don't have to…" she whispered, backing down from her previous attitude. The young Ikari finally unballed his fists, taking a meaningful look up at his father.

"Even if it's a lie that I'm the only one who can fight that monster, it isn't fair that I'm placing my life before everyone else's," he stated with inexplicable confidence. "After all, my life was worthless to begin with." The corner of the Commander's lips turned up slightly.

"So be it."

"Begin re-writing Unit 01's core for the Third Children!" Ritsuko immediately ordered. "Halt cooling operations; initialize start-up processes!" She and Miang made a quick exit, with Misato not far behind. Shinji was left in the middle of the bridge, standing alone in front of his father and the massive bust of Evangelion Unit 01.

"Father, I-"

"Nevermind. Shinji, I take back what I said."

He could do nothing but gawk as his father walked away.

…

Shinji's eyes slowly opened and were immediately assaulted by bright white sunlight. The sound of a local radio talk show was barely audible, though the room was absolutely silent otherwise. He inwardly groaned as his head began pounding fiercely. He was feeling a sensation that he had become quite used to in the past; the feeling of missing time. When he had been beaten by the Angel it was the middle of the night, and now it was sometime during the day…

The sudden noise of paper rustling quickly garnered Ikari's full attention. He blinked in confusion as he realized that there was a girl sitting directly next to his bed, reading a book. She didn't even seem to notice his movements. 'Maybe I'm dreaming?' he wondered. As if sensing his apprehension, she closed the book and sat it down on her lap. Her head and eyes moved to focus on him.

There was something odd about this girl, Shinji decided. Her face was as calm and blank as the hospital scenery.

"You're Ikari-kun?" the girl asked blandly.

"That's right," he responded, his voice scratchy from disuse. He cleared his throat. "I am," he reiterated out of embarrassment. She reached into the black messenger bag on the ground next to her. From it appeared a small black cell phone, which she placed on his beside table. "Um, what's that?"

"A cell phone. You will be contacted."

"Oh, I see," he slowly said. "I guess we won, huh?" Her eyebrows lowered ever-so slightly, as if his question was unexpected. He didn't inquire any further, based on such a response. The girl then stood, in a somewhat awkward way. Only then did Shinji realize that her right arm was in a cast, and she had a sling over her shoulder. "Uh… What happened to your arm?"

"Are you really… that same person?" she asked, not looking at him but at the wall in front of her. Before he could think of an answer to such a strange question, the quiet girl unceremoniously left the room. Shinji was left in silence once again, utterly perplexed. There was something in her voice that calmed him, which in itself was strange since the emotion in her voice bordered on nonexistent.

After an undetermined amount of time, since there was no clock in the hospital room, a doctor walked in, chart in hand. He flipped through the pages with a look of disinterest on his face. Unknown to Shinji, most of his medical past had been blanked out.

"Well, Ikari-kun, it looks like you'll be able to make a rather speedy recovery," he said with a sigh. "Your arm will probably ache for a couple weeks, but ordinary Tylenol should be able to help. When you're ready to leave, talk to the nurse at the front desk for your release papers." Again his visitor left without any further conversation.

'Why does it seem like the people around here dislike me?' he wondered as he changed into the school uniform which had been hanging behind the door. True to the doctor's word, his left arm hurt. Pretty badly, actually; Shinji could barely use the appendage. 'Something must have happened to it after I blacked out… Maybe they all hate me because I lost? That would make sense, I guess.'

Shinji wandered around the hospital for a while, trying to find the exit as well as determine if he was still in the Geofront or on the surface. 'Since NERV is based inside the Geofront, I'm probably still down there. If that's the case, how am I gonna get out? I have no idea where I'm going…'

Eventually Shinji made his way out of the hospital and its associated buildings. Standing on the bottom, he was again awe-struck by the sheer size of the Geofront. If not for the obvious ceiling, the scenery could easily have been mistaken for a small city surrounded by forestry. Before he even took three steps off the concrete path leading away from the hospital, the cell phone that odd girl had given him rang. "Hello?" he asked cautiously.

"Directions will be downloaded to your phone now. Follow them."

'That voice…!' "Father! Wait just a-"

Shinji realized he was talking to dead air. He swore under his breath and clumsily navigated through the phone's menus until he found the GPS. Sure enough, there were instructions for him to enter the Merkava and proceed to his destination, cryptically marked as 'here'.

…

"So you mean he's been wandering around this place all alone!" Misato's shout was met with an evil look from Ritsuko. The two women were on their way to their Commander's office for an executive meeting. "He just spent two weeks in the hospital, ya know," she continued, albeit more quietly.

"Yes, and he was released two hours ago. Testing thoroughly proved that there was no lasting mental damage," the doctor casually responded.

"You say those kinds of things too smoothly," commented her companion, running a hand through her long, dark blue hair.

"He'll be OK. It'll be good for him to learn the layout of HQ anyway."

"I still think there should have been someone to guide him along."

"You mean… someone like you? Please, Captain. If I hadn't come after you that time, you and that kid would still be wandering around in circles."

"I can't believe you just said that!" Misato shot back, yelling again. "I've only been here for three weeks! You expect me to completely memorize the layout of this huge place in that short amount of time?" Ritsuko raised a hand and massaged her temple.

"Goodness, to think you're in charge of tactical operations…"

"Why you-!"

"We've arrived." Misato quickly pulled her hands back from Ritsuko's neck as the professor nonchalantly pressed the buzzer. "Commander, we're here."

"You always find your way out of these kinds of situations without any hint of resolving the problem…" Misato whispered through gritted teeth.

"Enter," came the cold response from the metal grate. Misato sighed loudly, trying to regain some sense of maturity.

"Well, I hope we're not waiting on that kid forever. I won't be the one to go and find him when he gets lost," Misato huffed. The door slid back into the wall, and the two women entered. "E-eh!"

In front of the Commander's desk stood Ikari Shinji, arms crossed. "Oh! Hi, Misato-san. I was wondering when you'd get here," he said, a mixture of humor and relief in his voice. Misato noticed Ayanami Rei standing away from the two Ikari's, staring out over the Geofront from the wide window behind the Commander's desk.

"Ah, hey, Shinji-kun," she responded with a reserved wave.

"Thank both of you for coming," the Commander stated in a rare moment of courtesy. Misato sharply saluted, a mannerism she knew wasn't appreciated but had stuck with her anyway. She then followed Ritsuko towards the Commander's desk. The doctor took precaution to stand a couple meters away from Shinji, but Misato didn't notice it and took her place between the two. "Firstly, the Third Children will be taking up residence in the fifth sector of the city."

"Sir?" Misato immediately questioned. "Who will he be boarding with? Your apartment isn't near there… and if I recall correctly, most of the bridge and technical staff live in sectors 2 and 3."

"He will live alone."

"Sir, with all due respect-"

"It's OK, Misato-san," Shinji interrupted in a light tone. "I don't mind living alone. This way, I won't be a burden on anyone else."

"Shinji-kun, are you sure?" she asked gently. He was inwardly surprised by this kind of response. They had only met that one time, and she didn't seem particularly friendly to him then… "Commander, if it's alright with you, I'd like the Third Children to live in my apartment." Ritsuko glanced at her companion out of the corner of her eye. "He's only fourteen! Children that age need guidance. I have plenty of room and besides…"

"You are aware of the Second Children's imminent arrival, as well as her planned living quarters?" the Commander asked, knowing full-well that the Second Children had been slated to move into Katsuragi's apartment in less than two weeks. The two women had known each other while Misato had served at the German branch, so it didn't seem out of the ordinary when Misato had requested to become the girl's guardian. With Shinji, however…

"I am aware of the situation. Please, Commander," she asked crisply.

"In that case full legal guardianship will be transferred to Captain Katsuragi, beginning today and extending indefinitely," the Commander responded after a moment's consideration. "Pilot Ikari, your presence is not needed for the rest of this meeting."

"Oh, um… Is it OK if I stay?" he asked quietly. Misato stepped towards him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe it would be better if you walked around some. You did just get out of the hospital, right? We'll have a big welcoming party tonight at my apartment. How does that sound?"

"Um… Sure…"

"Good. Well, take this opportunity and take a visit down to Section 2. Here's the paperwork," she stated as she handed him a thick manila folder. "Get your NERV ID and school transfer papers filled out. There are instructions on the front page. I'll call you in a bit."

"OK," he slowly responded.

'Wow, she was actually prepared for this situation,' Ritsuko thought as the boy left his father's immense office. 'How surprising.'

"I assume you both know the real purpose of this meeting," the Commander said, rather quietly. Shutters rolled down over the office's window, cutting off Ayanami's view. A holoscreen appeared to the right of the group, opposite of Rei's position.

On the screen replayed the images that they all so vividly remembered.

EVA-01: out of control.

The sheer ferocity the playback showed, as the purple mech savagely beat the third Angel, was horrifying. In the end the enemy made a desperate decision and self-destructed. Its death was, however, meaningless. Unit 01 stepped out of the fireball as if it was nothing and then promptly fell to the ground, lifeless. The holoscreen disappeared, artificial sunlight streamed into the room once more.

"This is what we feared from the moment he was identified in the Marduk Report," Ritsuko said nonchalantly, covering the fact that she was feeling shivers up and down her spine. "It also confirmed your suspicions, Commander."

"Yes. Human beings are weak; they can only handle so much before… they break."

Misato, the true power of the Evangelion still fresh in her mind, tried to keep up with the conversation. Ritsuko had tried to fill her in the night before…

---

"W-what the hell just happened!" Misato yelled. In a small conference room, the Captain and the doctor were having an unofficial discussion.

"The target was eliminated; that's all you should really be concerned with," Ritsuko replied defiantly.

"Bullshit!" Her voice echoed through the room. "You… You put that poor boy into something like that! You knew this would happen!"

"Don't be stupid. This isn't supposed to happen, ever. The Evangelion are programmed in such a way that losing control shouldn't happen."

"Well, it sure did. Your 'program' failed."

"No, the program which holds the power of the EVA in check worked flawlessly. If it hadn't, Unit 01 would still be roaming around unchained. It was the pilot who caused this incident." Misato gave Ritsuko a critical look of disbelief. "His ego borderline fell into a dangerous state. Go back and check the readouts if you don't believe me. He allowed the mind of the beast to take control from him. I don't understand how any human could fall into such a state to begin with…"

---

"So, Captain, you knowingly took an unstable element into your home?" Ritsuko asked as she two left the Commander's office.

"That's right. If the pilot is the problem, then I'll have to fix the problem myself. I wouldn't trust anyone else with this," Misato stated in a low voice. "If I'm responsible for the safety of this city, the safety of a couple kids shouldn't be too hard."

"Oh? Is this a rare glimmer of the adult you've become?" Misato smiled lightly.

"Maybe I'm not the girl you knew back in college."

"Oh please…" Ritsuko said with a chuckle. "About that welcoming party… You gonna have any beer?"

"Heck yea I will!" the Captain yelled happily, shattering her previously solemn look. "Rit-chan, after the past couple weeks, I could use a good drink!"

"Same here. I'll be over later, then." Ritsuko began to wonder what was on Misato's mind, as she stood there smiling so broadly.

"Well, what are you doing now? Maybe we could hit up the bars a little early…" Realization dawned on the doctor, who grinned coyly.

"Don't you have something to do right now?"

"Uh… Let's see… hmmm…" Ritsuko sighed rather loudly. "What, what am I supposed to be doing?"

"You're supposed to call Shinji-kun!"

---

Somewhere in the depths of the Merkava, sitting over a heap of paperwork, Shinji sneezed.

…

As Shinji stood, blushing, in front of a group of his seemingly uninterested peers, he thought, 'Damn that Misato. I told her I didn't want to start school for a couple more weeks so I could get used to things in this city.'

The old teacher adjusted his thick-lensed glasses. "Ikari-kun, since this is your first day we will disregard your tardiness. Now, please take a seat behind Orihime, there in the back row." Shinji visually confirmed the only open seat in the back row and proceeded between the lines of desks. Just as he was about to reach his seat, someone stuck their foot out into the aisle.

Shinji tripped over the protrusion, but through sheer luck and arm-flailing he managed to keep his balance. Quiet giggles broke out in the classroom. Ikari quickly turned his head to his right, but his smiling target only pointed across the way. Reassessing his target, Shinji found a rather tall boy in a black track uniform. The boy was leaning back in his chair, hands resting behind his head, a confident smirk across his face.

"You think that was pretty funny, huh?" Shinji asked in a low voice.

"Don't be angry, new kid. It was just a coincidence," he whispered, though he too began chuckling. "Lighten up." Shinji's eyes narrowed as the anger inside him grew, but he backed down and finally found his seat. Almost instantly, a message appeared on his desktop.

AIDA.k - 'Don't take him too seriously. We've been getting a lot of new students here lately, so it's kind of annoying. Plus his younger sister was injured during that big battle. He's just easing some of that anger inside him'

While not consoled in the least, Shinji typed back, 'Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.' He rested his head in one of his palms and began to drift away into sleep; his body still hadn't recovered from his hospital stay.

After what seemed like forever, the lunch break finally came.

Finding that, as he had heard from his teacher back home, junior high cafeterias were socially segregated places, Shinji made the easy decision to eat his meager bento box in the school yard. He sat under a large maple tree in the northwest corner of the yard, the place furthest from any other students.

Most of his classmates didn't even take notice. As that one kid had said, there had been quite a few students transferring in lately. There was one, however, that had been watching the new student like a hawk all morning. No, there were actually two, but Shinji had only noticed one of them. That track suit-wearing boy had been glancing at him during class; Shinji could feel the boy's piercing eyes even though he was quite a distance from the cafeteria windows.

Late in the lunch period, nothing had happened. Shinji's stomach had begun to unknot as his anxiety subsided. All of it was for naught. Suzuhara Touji, the track suit-wearing boy, approached the new kid intentionally slowly. As he crossed the schoolyard, the eyes of all their classmates became transfixed on the impending scene. Shinji had seen him exit the school immediately and decided to pretend he didn't. He sat back against the tree and closed his eyes, a small, sad smile appearing on his face.

"Hey, new kid," Suzuhara said quietly when he reached the base of the large tree. Shinji didn't respond at all. That smile annoyed Touji even more. "Open yer eyes, transfer student. I know you ain't sleepin'." In his mind Shinji realized he hadn't heard a Kansai dialect in quite some time.

"What do you want?" he asked coolly, still not opening his eyes.

"I heard a rumor that you piloted that huge robot. Somebody saw you coming out of one of the restricted Geofront exits."

"My dad works there, so I was just visiting him," Shinji explained nonchalantly, hoping the boy would be satisfied.

"All of our dads work there, but none of us are ever allowed down there," Touji shot back. "There's no way a kid like us would be allowed into the Geofront… unless you really are the one who was riding that thing. I'm just asking a simple 'yes or no' question, dude."

"No."

"No?"

"I didn't pilot that thing. I backed out," Shinji lied, though keeping his tone even. Before he realized what was happening, Suzuhara pulled Shinji up by his collar and punched him right in his jaw. The young Ikari was knocked to the ground, but quickly stumbled back to his feet.

"What the hell was that for!" he yelled, rubbing the area where he'd been struck. A small dribble of blood leaked out of the corner of his mouth.

"Because you're a freakin' liar!" Suzuhara yelled back. "My little sister was buried under a pile of rubble when your damn robot smashed the building she was inside! Were you really payin' attention in that cockpit or did you just space out and accidentally smash a building with people inside!" Shinji frowned.

'Misato told me that no one was killed or seriously hurt during the fight… Even though I can't remember it, I beat that thing… but why didn't anybody at NERV tell me that people got hurt?'

"You look like you didn't even know there were people around. You're pathetic! I'd rather be protected by an army of stuffed animals than an incapable guy like you!" He stepped back and pulled his fist back, giving Shinji ample time to dodge his punch. The scrawny boy made no effort to move away as the fist collided into his stomach. Suzuhara walked away as Ikari doubled over and fell onto the ground again, this time staying down.

Touji was met with cheers and jeers when he returned to the cafeteria, but noticed that one other student was missing besides Ikari. 'Ayanami… So you really were watching him, too. I wonder why she's interested in a guy like that,' he wondered.

Back outside, a pale girl with light blue hair stood before Shinji, who still lie on the ground.

"Why didn't you try to get out of his path of attack? There was ample time," she noted in a rather emotionless way. Shinji didn't… no, couldn't respond. She stood there, unmoving and silent, as he recovered.

"Basically,… I didn't want to," he finally choked out.

"I don't understand," came her simply response.

"What I mean… I didn't know people were injured because of me. It's only… His anger… I understand why he'd feel that way."

"Nonetheless, I still do not understand." Shinji, now thoroughly wondering just who he was talking with, opened his eyes.

"Y-you!" It was the girl from his hospital room, the one who had her arm in a sling. In the daytime sunlight, he finally saw her odd features. Her skin color, eyes, hair… All were odd. Her blank facial expression didn't change as he slowly got back onto his feet. "T-thank you..." She blinked as her confusion deepened. "In the hospital you were the only one who visited me. I didn't feel so lonely then…"

"I was there by order of Commander Ikari."

"Oh, my father's? By the way, I'm Ikari Shinji." They stood there in silence, a gust of wind blowing a stray leaf past them. "Um… You are?"

"Ayanami Rei."

'Ayanami Rei, automaton girl,' he mentally noted. "You mentioned my father… Are you a part of NERV as well?"

"I'm a pilot, like you."

"Oh, so your arm…?"

"An accident."

"I see," he uneasily answered. "Sorry, I'm not used to having these casual conversations," Shinji added with a little laugh. It quickly died away when he noticed her stony face. Suddenly, her hand reached up to his face, her fingers softly running over his lips. The boy froze. 'Whoa! What the hell is this now!'

After a moment the touch was broken. She examined the fingers carefully. "You're still bleeding. I will assist you in reaching the nurse's office."

"Uh-um… Oh, well… Y-you think it's that serious?"

Shinji mentally sighed in a mix of relief and disappointment, as the 'dreams of a young man' died away in his head.

To be continued…

Author's note: So here I am. For those who follow my stories, I have resumed work on 'Beyond the Pleasure Principle' once again, albeit at a sluggish pace. Expect a new chapter before Halloween. I had planned on writing much more in this chapter, but I felt it was important to keep the chapter size consistent. This chapter ends on a humorous note, unlike most of mine which seem to end in cliffhangers. Change is nice. I hope this story is different enough from the original series to keep the audience entertained.