MARCH 28th, 2015

SOMEWHERE OFF THE COAST OF OKINAWA

9:07am:

This was the day. That fateful, dreadful day. Shinji felt as if he didn't know what he was scared of the most; meeting his new peers or entering the battlefield. On top of that, the helicopter's engine was ridiculously deafening, at least to someone with an untrained ear like Shinji. He couldn't even begin to imagine how people could put up with a noise like that, but it was something he'd have to get used to.

They were headed for the aircraft carrier dubbed "Over the Rainbow" among a sea of many other warships.

Shinji was also getting used to the tactical gear he had to don now; a skin-tight, rubbery suit with instant camouflaging abilities at the press of a button. The suit would simply scan its environment and provide different patterns each time. This had eventually been know as the "Plug Suit", originally designed for use in the ISS orbiting the globe. But its incredible durability and high-tech capabilities were recognized by NERV as being durable enough to support a soldier in combat.

And so they redesigned it, and provided the troops with cargo pants to provide better protection for their legs. This earned the suit's nickname; the Chameleon Suit, having received this unofficial title from the ground troops themselves.

Along with the suit, came the standard-issue bulletproof combat helmet, Y-suspenders with utility belt, and combat boots.

And upon leaving the rainy Tokyo-3, Shinji realized just how awfully uncomfortable it was having to wear it and carry all that tactical gear. The heat and humidity made it all the more unbearable. He had definitely been expecting this day to come, but he never thought it would come this soon. At least, in his head the days went by fast. Maybe it was his acing of the combat simulations that made the days fly by.

After that talk he and Misato had in her car, he had tried to change his perspective, leading to him finally passing the last few combat simulations. Her words had helped him a lot in the past few days. The two sat next to each other on the helicopter ride. It had become obvious to everyone that the two had become close, being there for each other when neither of them had anybody else.

Shinji was understandably frightened. In just a matter of 2 days, he would be in a real combat situation. No second chances... this was real war he was headed to.

"You nervous?" Asked Misato, having caught glance of Shinji's hand shivering on his automatic rifle.

"Yeah... very." He said, eyeing the Over the Rainbow carrier.

"I bet. Just try not to lose any sleep over it... we need you sharp and ready for combat. And hey, this is Unit-01 you're meeting today. NERV's most combat-ready unit by far!"

Shinji let out a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, that's not really what I'm worried about at the moment..."

"Oh, what is it then?" Misato asked.

His hands tightened their grip on his rifle.

"I'm- uh, nervous about meeting everyone..." He replied sheepishly.

Misato couldn't help but laugh, though she was being cautious as to not hurt Shinji's feelings. By now he was a lot more comfortable around her, and the two had become genuine friends. So he didn't mind her occasional tease.

"Aww, you're so wholesome, Shinji... don't worry about it. At your age meeting new people is always awkward. You'll make friends in no time!"

Shinji hadn't been worrying or even thinking about making friends, however. In fact he was prepared to be the quiet one of the group, preferring not to interact with anyone when he didn't have to. But he knew he'd have to at least give it a shot. Misato really did press the importance of being part of the team. But Shinji figured he could avoid any unwanted interactions.

"Aaahh shush, Misato... it's not like that. I'm not worried about whether I'll make friends or not. Quite frankly, what I'm nervous about is having to deal with a load of people I don't even want to be around."

"Well c'mon, Shin. You haven't even met them yet. How can you even say that?" She asked him.

Shinji kept looking out the window, the carrier inching closer and closer.

"I don't know, honestly. I've never dealt well with unfamiliar things. You know that..."

Misato put her hand on his shoulder, attempting to ease the boy up.

"As the Operations Director of Unit-01, I'll introduce you to them." Misato smirked. "And hey, you never know... there are a few cuties there that you might be able to nab for yourself..."

"M-Misato!" Shinji let out as his face turned a bright red.

She laughed yet again.

"Oh come on, you know I'm just teasing. You're too easy, you know that?"

And so finally, the helicopter was approaching the landing pad, and Shinji could see what was presumably all of Unit-01. Loads of kids his age, just talking to one another, as if this was just another day in the schoolyard and not a militarized aircraft carrier. It was a strange sight.

"We're almost down." Stated their pilot.

Aides in the carrier helped open the side doors, letting out all the passengers on board. The whirring sound of the spinning blades immediately assaulted Shinji's ears, alongside the incredibly strong winds said blades produced. He tagged along with Misato like a lost puppy looking for its owner, not really sure where he should go or who he should talk to.

"Attention Unit-01!"

Almost immediately, everyone that sat at ease stood up, ran over into position and stood completely straight with their hands on their sides.

Shinji was quite impressed. They looked just as old as him, but certainly acted as fully-grown adults when it came time to be real soldiers. Not a single one of them had a smile on their face, and all stood completely silent, awaiting a command from Misato.

One of these soldiers ran up and stood in front of the unit, carrying a Lieutenant rank insignia on their uniform. This person was also female, much to Shinji's surprise, and had astonishingly beautiful red hair.

'How does someone like that end up serving? She doesn't look like army material...'

"Good morning Major Katsuragi!" The girl said in a surprisingly strong voice, not missing a beat.

"Everybody, I'd like to introduce you to your newest brother in arms, Private Ikari! He will be aiding you all in the fight against the Angels. So please give him a warm welcome."

"Welcome, Private Ikari!" Replied Unit-01 unanimously.

Shinji was embarrassed. He felt almost like some sort of teacher's pet, having gotten defended by the head of the class. When Misato said she'd help introduce him, he didn't envision it being like this. In other words, he felt like he was an easy target for mockery.

"Good. At ease, soldiers."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" They replied. Misato nodded.

"Alright, well I've got some things to take care of up in the bridge. So just sit back, relax and take it easy, okay Shin?"

"Sure thing..."

Misato gave him a smile and a light slap on his back, promptly leaving Shinji to his new 'friends'. He shyly walked over to the rest of the unit, wondering if he should even bother at an attempt to talk or bond with them. All he saw was a bunch of strangers. He took a look around, and weighed his options. The rest of Unit-01 were casually lounging around on the deck of the carrier, most of them sitting on the floor as if they were on a picnic.

They had all been ordered to wait for the Major to arrive. Once she did, they were allowed to go back to their quarters if they wanted to.

Shinji's awkwardness didn't go unnoticed by the other troops, and most especially that red-haired girl. She was eyeing him up in a clearly judgemental way. He tried just avoiding her eye contact, but was caught off-guard when she stepped up to him, resting her hands on her hips with a doubtful scowl.

"Did I hear that correctly?" She asked in a firm voice.

"U-Um... heard what?"

She rolled her eyes.

"You last name, dummy... what else?"

Shinji nodded nervously.

"Uh, yeah. Ikari... what about it?" He asked.

"Sooo... this is the son of NERV's very own Commander I'm talking to!" She stated, almost as if she had caught him red-handed on something. "Well, don't think it didn't go unnoticed by everyone here. Just don't let it get to your head, Unit-01 doesn't deal with celebrities. We're a team after all, so you keep yourself leveled. Is that clear?"

He already wasn't too fond of his new teammate. Shinji understood that she was the Lieutenant of the unit, but didn't see any reason for the overbearing attitude.

"Did I do something to upset you?" He looked over at her name tag. "Uh, Soryu? If so, I'm sorry..."

Somehow that only managed to make things worse. The attitude-ridden Lieutenant simply scoffed at him and gave him another judgemental scan with her eyes.

"Jeez... are you really supposed to be Commander Ikari's son? I figured you'd be a little more tough and a lot less... pitiful. Oh well, I guess that makes sense though..." Soryu said with a cocky grin.

'Ouch...' Thought Shinji. "What's that even supposed to mean?"

"Oh please... you're a total daddy's boy! How else would someone like you end up serving in my Unit-01? You just got a free pass, that's the only explanation! This unit has no space for wussies, so you better put up a good fight out there!"

Shinji was beginning to lose his patience with this brash figure, but still wanted to avoid conflict.

"Hey I don't even like my father! He was never there for me growing up. And second, I was drafted into serving the war. I never wanted to be h-"

"Drafted?" She asked. "Tch, figures."

And without any warning, she chucked a card key at Shinji, the latter having caught it just in time.

"Room 17B. 2nd deck, starboard side. That's your room."

Then this Soryu girl turned around and left him by himself, having decided that this quiet and defenseless boy just wasn't worth her time. She went back to her friend, a pig-tailed girl with freckles, likely to make fun of him to her. And already Shinji was off to a really bad start. With how she poked fun at him without even having proper insight into his character, the redheaded Lieutenant already gave him a hard time for seemingly no reason.

'What's her deal?' He thought as he made his way down to his quarters to drop his gear off.

9:23am:

Walking down the steel steps of the Over the Rainbow, Shinji was already uneasy down there. The ship's interior was clearly designed for practicality over comfort. It didn't help that there were so many troops from other units hogging up the space too. Even the little things, such as the occasional smell of fuel in the air added to how awful it felt to be there.

Of course, this did little to help him with introducing himself to someone on a more personal level. Shinji was already feeling discouraged, but knew he'd have to force himself to meet someone eventually.

'Because what good is a team if no one has your back?'

This was exactly why he felt so nervous about having to meet with Unit-01. It wasn't just him being shy or being a little anxious, it was the fact that he knew this would be the case yet again. Just like at his old school, Shinji was all by himself, too far-removed to muster up any courage to talk to anyone.

He was used to it at school and wouldn't have minded otherwise. But Shinji wouldn't be able to be alone in Unit-01.

Every passing person already had a group of friends they stuck to, and he felt like he would've just embarrassed himself by walking up to them in an attempt to befriend anyone. Socializing wasn't his forte. And despite being able to hold a clear conversation, he always felt great discomfort around others. Misato was the first person he met in Tokyo-3 he could now consider a friend.

But Misato wouldn't be out in battle with them when the time came. Shinji already felt a little depressed, and he hadn't even been there for more than an hour.

On top of that, his combat suit began to really take its toll on his body, the heat now being even more unbearable with the long sleeves the suit had. Shinji wondered how they ever got so used to it, dealing with the extreme heat of Japan's perpetual summer. Though he did notice that most of the other soldiers had their sleeves rolled up, or sometimes cut off entirely.

'Interesting...'

In fact, almost all of his fellow troops had strapped belongings onto their helmets, things like repellent, pictures of family, even sometimes some packs of cigarettes, or just whatever they wanted to take with them. Shinji knew it was against the rules to decorate or to deface military property, yet no one was being scolded about it. He thought the army would be more strict about this kind of thing.

However, Shinji wasn't about to do it himself. He was sure he'd get scolded for it by a superior. Despite so many people around him doing it, he was too afraid of getting in trouble.

'16A, 16B, 17A... ah, there it is.'

After a little while of searching around Shinji finally managed to find his room. He inserted the card key and the door opened immediately, revealing a very cramped and sad-looking room. There were two bunk beds, and only one of the mattresses without someone else's belongings on top of it on the top bunk. He put his gear down, relieving his back of all the weight that had been bugging him throughout the whole helicopter ride. And as he turned for the door to go back on the deck, he hesitated.

'Is it really worth trying to talk to any of them if I don't need to?' He pondered.

Shinji wanted nothing more than to be left alone. And matters were only made worse with how he insecure he was because of how no one approached him. He decided to talk to them only if he needed to. Finally heading out the door, he thought of taking a personal tour of the carrier.

10:46am:

Despite being faced with the reality of his looming first battle, Shinji managed to find a little peace as he peacefully sat at the deck, just watching the water splash around and the distant figure of Okinawa island. It was a much smaller piece of land after the effects of Second Impact, but nonetheless beautiful. It almost made him forget that bloody battles were being fiercely fought in the thick jungles.

Almost.

Shinji let out a long sigh. Nothing about this seemed to be working. He already felt like he failed at making any friends, or even just peers. And the very island now stood in the distance, reminding him of the horrors he was about to face in the coming days.

'They'll probably still have my back right? I don't need to be friends with any of them to still protect me...' He mused. 'But then again, Misato's really adamant on me befriending at least someone. Ugh... this sucks.'

He took another look around, this time trying to observe everyone from Unit-01.

That red-haired girl wasn't around at all anymore, and neither was her friend. A relief, Shinji thought, but probably not for long. There were a few other miscellaneous people around as well, but he was already pretty disheartened to approach anyone. As he continued to look around and observe the unit, he noticed a very tanned boy sneak behind a freckled boy with glasses and slightly longer hair.

Shinji wondered what that was about, and witnessed the guy click on his friend's camouflage button, turning his suit into a weird mix of concrete-gray and yellow lines.

The kid with glasses had been standing on top of the tarmac, having not noticed his foot was on a spray-painted security line. Soon as he caught wind of this, everybody around him had a laugh at his expense and the tanned boy ran off, the former having taken to chasing him off.

Even Shinji caught himself having a giggle at that.

Ironically though, it only served to make him feel all the more lonely. There they were, having fun. But there he was all alone.

For the first time, Shinji was actually not very happy at the notion of being alone. Maybe it was the fear of possible death without a someone's helping hand in the battlefield, but being there, and his slightly embarrassing introduction to Unit-01 just rubbed it in his face.

He sighed once more. Things were already tanking out there for Shinji.

But he was suddenly taken out of his thoughts when he heard a yell from the other side of the ship, and it sounded serious.

"INCOMING MEDEVAC, CLEAR THE TARMAC, CLEAR OUT!"

In an instant, Unit-01 were quick to step out of the way along with the other accompanying units. Shinji had read up on certain terms, and knew that a 'medevac' was a medical vehicle that transported injured soldiers in desperate need. This was to be his first ever glimpse of people coming fresh from battle.

And he was fearful of what he might see.

"GET THE MEDICS UP HERE!" Another soldier shouted.

*VSSSHHHHH*

Shinji turned around to see the spinner approaching. Though this one was much bigger than the ones he had occasionally seen flying over his hometown in order to fit as many injured as possible. Red lights flashed atop the roof of the airborne vehicle as it quickly approached the landing pad, the low-end roar of the engine increasing in volume as everyone onboard the carrier felt the wind kick up faster.

"Stand clear, stand clear!"

The medevac landed slightly off-target, but it was acceptable. The pilots were likely just trying to land as fast as possible to aid more wounded troops in the field.

*FSSS*

Both side doors opened, revealing the carnage inside. Shinji's eyes widened upon seeing many of the injured's bandages a deep red. Some had it wrapped around their faces, others around their arms or abdomens. But some of them were completely covered, likely signifying that they had already gone. He looked around at his unit, all of whom had very little reaction. They had seen this every once in a while and were clearly desensitized.

It was a very weird turn from seeing them all just casually hang out together as if they were in a schoolyard. This was a terrifying image, but they didn't flinch.

Shinji looked back at the medevac, the bodies and injured troops being wheeled out on stretchers and rushed to the nearby medical team who awaited with painkillers and surgical tools. It was then that he could see that the floor of the spinner held a peculiar dark-red color to it, and it looked rather uneven as well.

Then it all clicked, and once it did, he gagged.

'Blood...'

Fear shot up through every pore, vein and nerve in his body. Shinji hadn't even seen a real battle yet and this was already an incredibly distressing moment. He rushed out of the main deck in an instant, having to get himself away from the horrors of war.

The horrors that would soon become his reality.

At that point Shinji knew he would be the laughing stock of Unit-01. He caught a few of the others' looks at him, likely knowing he didn't take well to seeing the contents of the spinner. But at that moment he just didn't care. Shinji needed to get away from it as soon as possible. Frantically, he looked for any signs that lead to a bathroom. He wanted to be alone, not deal with the stares of others, and protect himself as much as he could before it was too late for him to do so.

Hurriedly making his way down the steel steps again, Shinji managed to find the boys' shower room, where he knew there would be bathroom stalls nearby.

Upon stepping in, he felt the dampness inside the room as he walked by many guys his age in towels getting ready for a much-needed wash. He was wary not to walk too fast in order to avoid a nasty fall and was finally able to find the stalls. The urgency in him to isolate increased, and he sat himself down and locked the stall door, utterly petrified of leaving it. But Shinji knew it wouldn't last.

'God damn it... god damn it god damn it god DAMN IT!'

His breathing was extremely shaky and he kept his hands over his face. All around him he heard the other boys joking around with each other in an obnoxiously loud manner. Even in the stall, blocked off and completely by himself, there was no comfort. The cacophony of people talking and water taps going off just made things a little more overwhelming.

Shinji looked around the stall, finding himself to be helpless.

'All these walls.' He thought bitterly. 'All these damn walls, and for fucking what?'

He was also trying to suppress the urge to vomit, the images of blood and the terrifying injuries they came from still plaguing his mind. It was just a mere minutes ago but the walk to find the bathroom felt like an eternity. Even worse was the thought of going back. How would he ever face Unit-01 now? His first day already made him feel like a complete coward. Was that mean-spirited Lieutenant right about him after all?

'Fuck everything.'

Shinji hadn't even bothered talk to anyone like Misato had implored him to do. After what he saw, he wasn't sure he had the guts to talk to any of them at all. Misato would probably be a little upset at that, but he'd hope she'd understand.

'Misato...'

She was the only person he could think of talking to at that very moment. Shinji knew it wouldn't do much once he and the unit went off to battle, but he needed to calm down. He sighed again, stood up defeatedly and opened the stall door. Those walls didn't seem to be working in the slightest, so he'd try one last thing.

To go to the only person there he felt comfortable around.

11:21am:

Shinji wasn't having an easy time finding Misato. He was well-aware that her job as Operations Director was definitely hogging up her time, so if she wasn't able to talk he'd have to accept it. He tried a few other parts of the ship to no avail.

'She did mention something about a bridge, but I don't know where that might be.' Thought Shinji.

He had currently been waltzing around the cafeteria in hopes that she might've been grabbing a bite, but that didn't seem to make much sense to him, as both of them had eaten a very early breakfast to get to the carrier on time. Misato was probably just really busy with work, and though he felt bad about interrupting, he just wanted someone to talk to.

Then a thought came to his head.

'You know, I'll bet someone in my unit knows where she is. Yeah...'

And a sense of irony hit him like a ton of bricks.

'Talking to them like Misato wanted, only to leave them be. Why am I so pathetic?'

So Shinji approached the nearest occupied table to him and found none other than those two boys he saw goofing off at the main deck; the freckled boy with glasses and the tanned one. Both were just having casual conversation now, so Shinji decided he'd just go for it and ask them if they knew where Misato was.

"Y'know, that weird yellow/gray camo didn't look all too bad, Ken." The tanned boy said. "I mean think about it! If ya ever needed to hide from Soryu ya could jus' duck down!"

The freckled boy, which Shinji overheard being called 'Ken', scoffed.

"Toji, it'd take a complete dumbass to lose sight of anyone like that. Sure, the Lieutenant's a bitch, but she isn't stupid." He replied.

The tanned boy, seemingly named 'Toji' had a laugh.

"Ain't that fuckin' rich? What, ya still crushin' on her or did ya balls finally drop?"

"HEY- fucking shush, man!" His friend said back. "You never know when she might show up and give us crap for talking about her like that... and that was a little while ago, ass wipe! Before I found out how much of a bitch she is! This has nothing to do with my balls."

"Hahaaa, Kensuke... I bet there's still a lil' part of ya that likes-"

Toji stopped talking.

"'Ey uh, can we help ya with somethin'? Or are ya just gonna stand around listenin' to us like that? Eavesdroppin' ain't very respectful, y'know?"

Kensuke turned to see who he was questioning, finding none other than a very timid Shinji himself.

"U-Um, sorry... I was just waiting for you guys to finish talking." He explained.

An awkward silence followed.

"So whaddya need?" Asked Toji.

"I was just, uh- wondering if either of you knew where, uh- Misato might be?"

Toji looked over at Kensuke, then back at Shinji.

"Who's that?" He asked.

'Oh right, they know her by her rank. I'm so stupid.' He thought. "Ah, sorry I meant Major Katsuragi... you know where she is?"

"She tends to be pretty busy up at the commanding bridge." Kensuke answered.

"Oh, okay. Thank you." Shinji said before trying to promptly leave.

"You're that newbie, right?" Kensuke added, stopping the dejected boy. "The one the Major introduced to all of us."

Shinji almost bit his lip. Here it comes, he thought, the teases and jokes made at his expense. He knew that he shouldn't have let Misato do his own introduction. It was almost as if he was being babied in front of all those battle-hardened soldiers. It certainly didn't look good in his head.

"Y-Yeah..."

Toji smiled.

"Sooo, what's the deal with the two of ya? Nobody 'round 'ere calls the Major by her first name."

The blush ran up to Shinji's face instantly.

"I-It's not like that! I- geez, she and I just know each other from home, and-"

"So you actually know her?" Kensuke inquired. "Like know her on a more personal level? Not just of her? Maaan you are one lucky guy, Ikari... I'd do anything just to get a little peak of her-"

"Oh come on don't say stuff like that!" Shinji blurted.

He was clearly made uncomfortable by these lewd suggestions. Toji was loving every second of it. Although it wasn't out of malintent, he was just the kind of guy that liked stirring up a little trouble for some fun. Kensuke, on the other hand, could easily see Shinji wasn't in the mood for it, so decided to change the subject.

"By the way, is it true?" He asked. "Are you really the Commander's son?"

Shinji frowned a little.

"Yeah... but I really wish I wasn't."

Kensuke was a little taken aback. Seemed there was some obvious tension in his family life, and he even felt a little bad for having asked.

But Toji saw an opportunity.

"Look at the bright side though Ikari, ya got the Major's muff to take yer mind offa that!"

"Would you just quit it, already?" Shinji let out.

And now Toji himself was getting a little annoyed by the new recruit, which Kensuke worried might stir up the wrong kind of trouble.

"Sorry about my friend here, Ikari. Toji's a little direct sometimes, but he usually means well." He tried explaining. "So yeah, Katsuragi should be up in the commanding bridge. There's a flight of stairs under the communications tower that should lead you up to it."

Shinji nodded.

"I'll bet the Major couldn't've gotten at his pops so she settled for him instead!" Toji rudely added.

Kensuke looked over at him.

"That was too personal, dude! Chill out!"

Toji scoffed.

"What? Y'know he ain't gonna get at her! I wish I knew her personally, I woulda actually made my move-"

"Just shut up about that already!" Shinji unexpectedly said in a raised voice. "You're just being annoying now! Seriously, leave me alone!"

Now Toji was made angry.

"Why? 'Cuz ya can't take a lil' joke? How 'bout you grow a pair?"

Shinji stopped once more, looking at Toji with a flat, yet somewhat annoyed expression. Kensuke was pinching the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses, hoping that no one was paying too much attention to either of them.

"Fuck you." Said Shinji dismissively before trying to leave again.

"'Ey, 'EY! Maybe don't start a fight and walk away from it then, pussy!" Toji spat, leaving his seat and approaching him aggressively.

"Wha- hey, wait Toji- HEY!"

Just a single second after turning around, Shinji received a strong punch to his right cheek, losing all balance and collapsing on the floor. This caught everyone's attention, most of the boys running over to watch a fight start and the girls running outside to get help. Kensuke rushed over to Toji, who momentarily grabbed ahold of Shinji's collar, before Kensuke managed to pull and hold him back.

"Toji you're crazy! That's the Commander's son you just hit!"

"I don't give a fuck! If this lil' shit can't even stand up to fight back, he ain't supposed to be in this god damn-!"

"BREAK IT UP NOW, ALL OF YOU!"

The entire room went quiet, having recognized that as the voice of Unit-01's Lieutenant. The small crowd that had formed immediately broke up, and the redheaded girl herself, along with her pig-tailed friend, stormed on over to the commotion. Toji quickly broke away from Kensuke's hold but refrained from going at Shinji again. Shinji himself, still hadn't gotten up, and wiped his lip from the tiny amount of blood that escaped it.

"Hikari, check on the new guy." Unit-01's Lieutenant said to her friend, turning her attention to Toji and Kensuke shortly after.

Hikari, who seemed to be good friends with the redhead, tried to tend to Shinji. It didn't look like anything serious, but neither knew how long the fight had been going on for. She knelt down to check on him but he shook his head, remaining seated and looking away from everyone.

"What the hell is going on here?" Their redheaded C.O. asked, a growl audible in her voice. "Any of you mind explaining to me what caused this crap?"

Although they hated her attitude, neither Toji or Kensuke had the choice of standing up to her when out on duty. They had to suck it up, follow her orders and respect her for the Commanding Officer that she was.

"Ah, it was jus' a, um- misunderstandin' is all, Lieu." Toji explained rather badly.

"He's bleeding, Suzuhara! This was more than just a misunderstanding!" Chimed Hikari, now turning to Shinji. "So what happened? Why'd you guys fight?"

"Bitch couldn't even fight back..." Toji tried saying under his breath.

"Can it, Suzuhara! Now, one of you explain-!"

"It was my fault." Said Shinji. "I... I said some things, I aggravated him. Sorry. I deserved it."

Kensuke was shocked by this. Shinji had just been given to opportunity to sell Toji out to Soryu, who was quite the punisher out of all the C.O's on that ship. Even Toji was a little taken aback, having fully expected him to go off about how he was just assaulted.

Soryu looked over at Shinji, looking absolutely furious at him.

"Already getting in over your head, huh punk?"

Shinji still avoided eye contact.

But Hikari wasn't fully convinced. She noticed Toji and Kensuke looking a little confused and stunned in silence. She could tell something was off, even in Shinji's delivery of his so-called 'confession'. Something didn't sit right with her about it.

"Are you sure that's what happened?" She asked Shinji.

He couldn't even look at her as he nodded. He didn't know why he chose to lie about it. He knew full-well that Toji went too far, but still blamed himself due to telling him off. In his head, just having talked to the two was what lead to the confrontation. So he accepted it as fact.

"Suzuhara you were still way out of line for socking him, don't go thinking you're off the hook. We're invading Aha Beach in two days... and what you think to do is punch the new guy? He's a recruit and Commander Ikari's son, you know how mad he'll be when he finds out you assaulted him?" Their Lieutenant scolded.

"He won't." Shinji said as he finally stood up. "He could literally care less."

Now nobody knew what to even say to that. Hikari was now sure that Shinji didn't tell the truth, while Toji and Kensuke saw the pain in his eyes. Soryu didn't react much but could see something was wrong. Shinji did tell her that he didn't like his own father, but got too swept away in condemning him for being drafted. But it was clear that this was something that took a deep toll on him. Still, she didn't come to respect him just yet. She needed to see how he functioned in the battlefield.

And with that, Shinji walked away. He took the blame and wanted nothing to do with any of them anymore.

"Ikari, where are you going? We need to file a report on this!" Their Lieutenant asked. "Hey! Do you hear me? Don't walk away from me when I talk to you!"

But Shinji didn't listen. He made his was out of the cafeteria and onto the main deck again, where he hoped he could find some peace, leaving the four of his teammates by themselves to try and resolve this by themselves.

"Asuka, maybe we should leave him be for a little bit?" Hikari suggested.

The redheaded C.O. scowled.

"He's the one who started this whole fuck-up!"

"But I doubt he struck back. Look at Suzuhara. No bruising, no blood... nothing! Ikari shouldn't have done what he did, no. And he's clearly not doing very good. So cut him a little slack, alright?" Her friend added.

Asuka crossed her arms. Although her blood was boiling at their newest recruit for supposedly stirring up trouble, Shinji clearly didn't act violently towards Toji. It seemed more like it was a big misunderstanding and that Toji was really the one who went too far, which aligned with the personality she knew he had. So, Asuka nodded.

Only Hikari could successfully tell her to calm down.

"But you two... you're coming with me to tell me exactly what that new guy did to deserve a punch, got it?" She said to the two friends threateningly.

But right before they were able to leave, Kensuke spoke up.

"Actually Lieutenant, um..."

The other three turned around, waiting for him to say something. Out of the corner of his eye Kensuke could see Toji mouthing 'don't' at him.

"Uuh..."

11:30am:

Shinji was already mentally exhausted. At that point he didn't even want to see Misato anymore, or at least not at the moment. So much was going through his mind, all in regards to him being there in the first place. Shinji reacted emotionally to seeing those bloodied people, tried isolating himself again, then when he actually tried talking to someone in his unit, he was hit.

'This just isn't worth it.'

As he headed over to the same spot he sat in to observe the ocean, he saw another medevac spinner hurriedly pass by to land on a nearby carrier. There were people in there more severely injured than him, some probably even dead. And here was Shinji, bleeding from his inner cheek just a little, drowning himself in sorrow for something much less worse. He began to think that maybe his new Lieutenant was right about him after all, despite judging him on appearance only.

'Even that jerk might be right about me. Maybe I'm not cut out for this at all.'

Shinji felt utterly pathetic.