IN DOUBT OF
WHERE TO GO
Chapter: 3
A Father and Friend's Advice.
Putting the handmade wooden cross on her grave, he wiped his tears and made his way on the portal. Before leaving, he took one last look at Asuka's grave. He failed her again, and there's one person that can help him.
Location: Life.
Humming peacefully, Life checked on the new big bang. She was so happy to see a new world being born. Feeling someone entering her realm, she looked back and smiled.
"Hello, Shinji. It has been a while, my child." She said as she opened her arms to the boy.
"Hello… life…" he replied with sadness in his voice.
"Is something wrong?" she said before realization hit. "Ah, is it because I have taken the form of Asuka in your eyes?"
"Yeah… I-I failed her… Again…" he said, looking down in defeat.
Moving closer to the boy, she took his hands. Life guided Shinji to a bench where he could sit down and relax in her lap.
"Is it because of your Asuka?" she asked him as she brushed some hair from his face.
"No, an Anomaly has been attacking the universes, stealing the Shinjis of those worlds… In the recent one I visited, they killed an Asuka," he replied as he looked on to the beautiful green world on this side of the void.
"I see… I'm sorry, Shinji. I don't know what advice I can give in this situation. I can't interact with my children, like you can with versions of yourself. Perhaps, you should visit your father."
Upon hearing that name, he quickly got up and shot her an angry look. "Him? He was going world from world to be with Mother! He deserves his prison! I still don't understand why you didn't erase him!"
Looking at him with her peaceful stare, she raised her hand to caress his cheek. Shinji wasn't sure if it was her power or the fact that she looked like Asuka, but every time she did this he felt at ease.
"Calm down, my child. We didn't erase him because in the end, he was just a lonely man trying to find his peace. You saw how he became when he learned the truth, Shinji," Life said.
Shinji held her gaze for a moment "…Fine, but I don't think he's the best man to talk about… about coping with the loss of the one you love."
Life chuckled at his words. He really liked when she smiled or laughed. It made him think he could have done this with his Asuka too.
His Asuka. He will never forget that day…
Flashback
"Stay with me Asuka, we're almost there!" he shouted as held her hand tightly.
Asuka was by his side. She had started bleeding again, and they were on their way to the hospital. This time, they had hope for saving her.
"Sh-Shinji… Will you promise me?"
"Anything, Asuka. Anything." Shinji never let go of her hand. They were almost there.
"When I'm gone… Please, don't do anything stupid," she told him with a weak voice. She felt close to death.
"You won't die! You won't die, I promise you!"
"Idiot… You know I love you, right?"
three hours later
"We are sorry to say… She didn't make it, Mr. Ikari. We tried our best," the doctor said as he bowed, leaving Shinji alone with his thoughts.
"Asuka… what… I don't know where to go without you…" he sat down, weeping. Hearing footsteps, he was sure he would have to tell Hikari and the rest. How could he tell them she was gone?
End flashback
He came to his sense when he felt someone wiping his tears.
"Shinji…go meet your father. If he doesn't help, go to Dmitri. I heard you and him are quite close with each other," Life said to him, smiling in that way that mirrored Asuka. He felt that smile pull on his soul.
Shinji nodded, then hugged her before making his way to the portal. Looking behind, he could see her waving. Judging by the dark clouds behind her, Death should be coming soon to this realm for their usual meeting.
Location: Time Prison.
Taking his keys out, Shinji unlocked the door and entered the room where Gendo Ikari was condemned to for many years.
"Who's there?" Gendo asked upon hearing the sound of footsteps. His eyes were blindfolded due to his fusion with Adam in his earth.
"Shinji, or as you call me, Multiverse Shinji," he replied as he got behind Gendo, removing the blindfold from his eyes.
"You never visit me that much. In fact, I recall you wanting me to be erased. What changed your mind?" Gendo asked, inspecting the dead ringer for his son with his eyes.
"I still want you erased, but a part of me wants you to live, probably because my Gendo wasn't an asshole like you," Shinji replied with venom in his voice.
Gendo, for his part, remained quiet until the blindfold was taken off him. He looked at the boy that was so different from his son. One grey eye, with the other being a deep blue. There were scars in his cheeks, eye and neck. If they were to ever have a normal conversation in the future, he would ask him how he got those scars.
"Not that I'm expecting anything from you, but recently a version of Asuka died… I don't know what to do now that I-"
"That you failed her. You are right, I don't think I'm the best to help with this situation, I was jumping from Earth to Earth in search of your mother. A world where I could replace a Gendo that had died… It was useless." Gendo said as he looked down at his hand. "However, I do know how you feel. Powerful to defeat many threats, and yet-"
"Yet not strong enough to protect your own loved ones…" Shinji finished his words as a silence entered the room.
"Shinji?"
"What?"
"I want to ask…how did you get your powers? More importantly, how did you gain your ability to jump from Earth to Earth?"
Shinji, for his part, raised his head to look at the man in front of him, mulling over if he should reply to his questions considering how he has been in the past. Yet again, what could he do? He's weak.
"Don't you think that's too much for you to ask?" Shinji said with a sigh. "Simply put, I did what you did."
"What I did?" asked Gendo.
"Yeah, I wanted to be with Asuka after… After her death…"
Getting up from the place he was sitting, Gendo made his way towards Shinji. He wanted to hug him, or put his hand on his shoulder, but he knew this was as far as he could get with the boy.
"How did she die?" he asked.
Raising his head again, he looked at the man with a frown, but he couldn't blame him for anything. He was simply curious.
Shinji gave himself a split-second of mental prep before speaking. "Organ failure. Thanks to the mass production Evas, Asuka always had problems digesting food. There were times she was afraid of going to the bathroom or drinking something that was too hot. She never was honest with her pain… until the day she passed away."
"I'm sorry to hear that Shinji, I really am," Gendo said, attempting to mend rifts.
"Thanks… Dad."
This feeling, this warmth in his heart. He knew this feeling. It was happiness. Even though this Shinji wasn't his Shinji, hearing those words from his mouth still made him so happy.
Using the hem of his shirt, he wiped his tears, a small smile in his face as he thought to himself 'I wish you were seeing this, Yui. I am doing something good for our son.'
Shinji continued. "As for how I got this ability… The AT-Field manipulation became part of me when Unit-01 and I reached 500% synchronization. My theory is that due to my body not being merged physically with the Eva when it started to eat the 14th angel's core, I gained a S2 engine myself and my body absorbed all the powers that Unit-01 had."
"Interesting…in a way, you are a hybrid between Eva and Human?" Gendo said with genuine curiosity.
"Huh, when you put it like that, yeah, I guess I am a hybrid of Eva and Human," Shinji said back. The two of them shared a bit of laughter after coming upon this theory.
"I have to say, you are smarter than my Shinji."
"I believe all Shinji's are smarter, but to be fair, I am a scientist version of Shinji."
Gendo blinked a couple of times, shock evident in his face.
"A scientist?" he said, bewildered.
"Yup."
"On Eva?"
"Not really."
Again, he was surprised at this. During his travels, scientist Shinjis were very rare. "If I may ask, what degree?"
"PhD in chemistry," Shinji said with some pride.
Raising an eyebrow, the old man found it a bit hard to believe that the boy had a PhD in chemistry. "No hard feelings, but Chemistry has always been hard for your mother and I. Did you get help from Asuka on that? Or was it someone else?"
"I don't know, why don't you ask Mari Makinami Illustrious?"
At the mention of her name Gendo sighed and pinched his nose. Shinji, on the other hand, was smirking at his reaction.
"Of course, she exists there too…you still haven't told me, how did you get your ability to travel through time and space?" Gendo asked.
"Well, if you really want to know..."
Flashback
"Is everything ready?" Shinji asked Kensuke as he made his way to the portal.
"Everything is on. We are waiting for the S2 engine to power on. Shinji, are you sure about this?" Kensuke asked with concern in his voice.
"I am sure Kensuke; we tested this all summer. I am confident in this." Looking at his left he spotted his aunt Mari checking on the cores.
"Everything fine over there?"
"Everything is alright. The temperature is at a steady level."
"Very well, Kensuke! Start the portal."
Meanwhile, Toji and Hikari were out for a walk with their daughter.
"Are you sure Shinji will be alright?" Hikari asked as she gave her daughter the ice cream she wanted.
"I'm sure babe, Shin-man may have lost his marbles after her death but he isn't suicidal," Toji said nonchalantly.
"That's what I fear, Toji! I fear that he'll be like his father, doing anything to bring her back," Hikari said, adding strain to her words.
Toji, for his part, looked at Hikari with concern. He had never seen her so worried before, and she had never compared Shinji to that man like that.
"Hikari…I'm sure Shinji won't do something crazy," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder and kissed her on the forehead.
"I hope so too, Toji. I hope so too."
In the lab, all the sirens had started.
"SHINJI! GET OUT OF THERE, THE PORTAL HAS BECOME UNSTABLE! WE DON'T KNOW IF YOU WILL COME BACK!"
"I SEE HER! I SEE HER, KENSUKE!"
All the equipment started falling. The ceiling was starting to give in and all Kensuke and Mari cared about was the young man who was walking towards the portal. The last thing they saw was the scared face of Shinji as a white glow filled their eyes.
Coming to his senses first, Kensuke could hear Toji's voice. He started removing the rubble from his body.
"Kensuke! Are you alright? What happened here?!" Toji asked as he picked up his friend.
"I… I don't know. What was I doing?"
"You can think later, man. I already called an ambulance." Picking up his friend he dragged him all the way outside, none of them saw how a picture frame between three boys changed to a picture between only two boys.
Shinji was gone.
End flashback
Gendo was silent for a moment. This version of Shinji was not something he ever came across. Other Shinjis would start a loop because of Third Impact. There was one rare case where Shinji had just wished everything would go back to normal for his and Asuka's daughter.
"That is… interesting."
Shinji looked at the man with amusement before he snarled. "It's not 'interesting,' Gendo. I lost what little life I had and as if it wasn't enough, and now I'm an immortal being who will be jumping earth from Earth, never to live a normal life! This is a curse, MY curse for trying to mess with time! I swear, you sounded just like that blondie for a moment."
Gendo did not dare to reply to that. He couldn't understand why, but being compared to Ritsuko ticked him off. Getting up from where he was sitting, Shinji made his way out of the prison.
"Where are you going?" Gendo asked.
"To meet a friend of mine. But first, I want to visit one Earth I've been meaning to go for sometime before this anomaly bullshit began." Looking at Gendo for one final time he told him "I… Look, I won't lie, I did enjoy our conversation." He raised his index finger. "But, I haven't forgiven you, Father, and won't ever forgive you." He stared at Gendo for a moment to see if his old man would respond in any way. Hearing nothing in response, he carried on.
"I made a promise to my Asuka that if we ever crossed paths, I would give you a second chance. This is my second chance to you, Gendo Rokubungi… Until then, farewell." Opening the door and closing it he made his way to the tree so he could help a Shinji in need.
Gendo sat in the darkness. He would get up and try to stretch as much as he could with chains around his legs and arms. He muttered one word on the darkness of his room.
"Thank you."
Location: The Tree of Shinji.
Checking on the tree, he saw that there were zero signs of activity from the anomaly. This was rather weird to him considering how the anomaly has been rather active. Even weirder, during his conversation with Gendo, they hadn't visited a single earth.
"How odd… Well, since they haven't been active, I might as well check on Earth 13889838."
Shinji made sure he was jumping at the correct moment. He wore a white shirt and a scarf around himself so he couldn't be noticed, and went inside.
Earth: 13889838.
Name: Yui's words.
Noticing he was in an alleyway, he waited for the young version of him to come. Not a minute later, he spotted the Shinji of this world entering the grocery store. He moved away from the alleyway and stood in front of the door. Going by his calculation, this Shinji would soon come out and one the bags would start to fall from his arm.
The boy came out, and just as he expected, was struggling to hold the bags. Soon, he lost balance. That's when multi-Shinji jumped to catch the bags before they fell to the ground. The boy looked at up and judging by his stare, the boy was probably thinking about his looks…not that he could blame him.
"Hey, kid," said multi-Shinji. "Here's your stuff," he held out the bag, smiling.
Point of view of the young Shinji:
Shinji was a little flustered. "Oh! Um, thank you, sir!" He put the other bag down before procuring his almost-wasted groceries.
The man scrutinized him with his eyes for a moment, before smiling again. "No problem. A kid like you looks like he could use a couple favours to ease the stress."
Shinji cocked his head. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I was a lot like you at your age. In fact, you remind me quite a lot of myself, and if you are like me, you probably have quite a few people around you that you deem important."
"Well, I guess I do, yeah. I have some friends that have been pretty nice to me since I met them," Shinji responded.
The man grinned. "I bet there's a girl as well."
"W-what?" Shinji said with a blush.
The man looked him in the eye. "Believe me, my... wife and I, we were at each other's throats all the time. In fact, we met when we were your age, and man, was she ever pushy. Always wanted to be the best at everything. You follow?"
"Uhh..."
"Alright, I'll keep it short. Basically, we eventually figured things out, but we definitely cut it close. There were a handful of missed opportunities, kid. I'd hate to see you do the same with this girl."
Shinji narrowed his gaze. "What do you mean?"
"Did you not get all flustered when I mentioned a girl?" asked the man.
Shinji looked down, effectively giving him a 'yes.'
The man put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "Don't hesitate, kid. I have a feeling she likes you more than you think."
He thought of the night before the battle, when Asuka seemed to let her guard down just a little, enough to be comfortable with him.
"I won't," Shinji said, smiling confidently at the man.
He clapped him on the shoulder. "Good!" The man checked his watch. "Well, I gotta run or I'll miss the train. See ya, Sh... Kid!"
Shinji didn't notice the slip, but had a question anyways. "Oh, by the way, what's your name, sir?"
"Hendrickson. David Hendrickson."
"It was nice to meet you, Mr. Hendrickson! My name's Shinji Ikari."
The man gave him one more friendly look. "The pleasure's all mine, Shinji." He winked, then turned back around, turning the corner.
Shinji smiled as he recalled the advice Mr. Hendrickson gave him. The only downside was that he'd have to explain what the hold up was to Asuka.
Going back to the alleyway, he checked in case someone was around before opening the portal.
Finding himself back to the tree, he crossed the timeline off of his list.
"Alright," he said to himself. "If that kid's like me but better adjusted, he'll be okay. I know it."
Removing the clothes and going back to his brown jacket and pants, he went and opened another portal. This time located to the earth where Dimitri was from.
"Scar Tissue huh? Been awhile since I was here." Making his way to the portal he said to himself with a smile. "Let's go meet... him."
Earth: 5334678.
Location: Scar Tissue.
The door opened with a loud clang; the metallic structure wailed under the pressure as he stepped inside the bomb shelter. The bastard had never gotten around to installing an actual door, happy to let people wonder why, exactly, there was a seven inch thick metal gate separating his home from the rest of the city.
A familiar mixture of scents of lavender and black tea invaded his nostrils, as was custom. He closed the gate behind him, moving into the large area that had been converted into a snug living room where footballs, basketballs, guitars and amplifiers were scattered around. His nose wrinkled when the smell of freshly-served pelmeni and the sound of a bottle being opened drove him to the kitchen area.
Never before had a bomb shelter felt so cozy and comfortable, even after the many realities and worlds he had experienced.
"Brother." The grating voice manifested from his right, where Shinji saw the figure sitting, cross-legged and smiling, as he held a shot glass in his hand and pointed it towards him. "You're late."
"I know, I know," he replied, taking a seat opposite from the man he now called a friend. "Things came up… things happened."
"Of course they did." Without another word, Dmitri Krupnov opened the bottle of vodka sitting at the table between them and served him a full glass, pushing it in his direction with a knowing smile. "Don't they always, with that tree of yours?"
Shinji nodded, not quite willing to look into the man's knowing brown eyes, and downed the glass in a single gulp, extending it to be refilled. The Russian assassin did so, emptied his own shot, and smiled placidly. "Vasya's been asking about you."
"Your little brother always asks about everything," Shinji responded with a harsher tone than he intended. The grief of what he had just experienced was beginning to turn stifling, especially in the presence of someone he called a friend. "How is he?"
Dmitri pretended not to hear the way the man's voice broke at the end, or the way his body shook after drinking the second serving of vodka. "He's at school, right now." The assassin's finger pointed to one of the many discarded guitars laying on the floor. "Band practice or whatever, he's made lots of friends lately."
The word bounced around his head. 'Friends'. Aside from the versions of his father who were not actively trying to destroy him and the man sitting across from him, did he even have any of those, anymore? He desperately wanted to speak further, to ask for pointless details of the life of a man who should by all means be his enemy and a monster, but the agony became unbearable after Dmitri served the third glass.
"I lost her. I failed, again."
As expected, the statement rang dry and miserable in the spacious kitchen area, reverberated through the metal walls and assaulted him, forcing the uselessness he had been ignoring deep into his heart. The small glass broke in his grip. Shinji's lower lip shook, his vision blurred, yet he refused to let the tears fall. After years of meeting one another in such a manner, the Russian recognized the cue to hand him the bottle and let him swallow down half of it in five gulps.
"I bet you tried," Dmitri said. For a man who had seen so much death and despair, his gaze turned unnaturally kind. "You always try. You never stop, no matter what. Do you want to talk about it? About how… how you lost her, this time?"
He took another drink and shook his head; a scarred hand dabbed at his eyes and erased any and all signs of tears. "No." Yet another third of the bottle was emptied. Blue eyes gently went over the posters, guitars and other object laying around. "Asuka," he muttered without thinking. This universe, this particular one held so much pain, so much despair, and at once, so much light. So much hope. "Is she okay? Here, I mean? Last I knew you were about to fight her."
Most people cringed and shuddered at the sound of Dmitri's laughter; however, years of seeing the absolute worst outcomes in each and every reality, eons of caring for the tree and its continued existence, had taught Shinji that there were worse things than the chuckles of one particular child soldier.
Child Zero of Earth 5334678 pointed to a recently added scar under his right eye. Upon closer inspection it resembled a C, going from the swell of his cheekbone all the way down to his eye. "She's very much alive, and very happy," Dmitri responded amiably as he took demure sips of his own glass. "We fought, as you very well know, and things went according to plan. You, well… this you beat the ever-living shit out of me, destroyed X, and almost caused Fourth Impact."
Despite the agony and loss corroding his chest, Shinji also snickered. "Of course I did. So, what happened?" He motioned towards Dmitri's home, Vasiliy's instruments and the breathtaking sunset taking place on the other side of the large window behind the child soldier. "I can't help but notice life still exists. The leaves are green, and growing around the tree. This universe, it feels… warm."
From afar, Shinji could hear Vasiliy singing and playing from his school.
"Asuka stopped you," explained his former enemy turned dear friend and confidant. "Right at the moment you were about to blow it all to shit all over again, she stopped you. Then we held off the explosion of a nuclear bomb together." Dmitri pointed towards a large frame hanging from the living room wall, where a massive entourage of people bowed in unison as the Third Child from this world was carried out after the battle. "Then it all ended, and now… well..." Dmitri's eyes filled with empathy and melancholy. "You know how happy they are right now, don't you?"
Green leaves had sprouted from that rotting, twisted branch. He recalled the instance as though it had occurred moments before; a branch he had for so long considered pruning altogether, but then it had started to grow, straighten itself, and start blossoming all of the sudden. Yes, he knew just how happy they were; the fervently healthy color of the leaves and the flower buds were proof of the grief they had overcome.
"Yeah," he whispered, and emptied the bottle once and for all. "Yeah, I know."
The old wooden chair creaked when Dmitri stood; the young killer walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. It did wonders to ease the gaping hole in his chest; if anybody knew of loss, despair and pain, after all, it was the man before him. "She's still out there," Dmitri said, hand tightening around his stiff muscles. "Your Asuka. You know that. You can't give up. You can never give up."
Had he been a better man, a kinder man, a less jaded and utterly destroyed human being, perhaps he could have lowered all his walls and defenses, cried and let himself be comforted by the only other person he knew that understood his pain. Dmitri was, after all, a friend of the Angel of Death. What both he and his brother had seen and lived through was comparable to his existence, to his vigil, and his suffering.
Alas, he was not such a person, and earthly pleasures such as the embrace of a friend had long since been robbed from him. Shinji only nodded, sniffed, trying to remember every detail of the house, every little piece of clothing and every instrument thrown about, and buried it deep within. This house was the closest he had ever felt to an actual home whenever he was not guarding the tree.
"Give my love to Vasya," he said unevenly, staggering with the effects of the vodka as he stood and headed for the gate. Before he exited, a glare comparable to the one the Shinji of this world could produce zeroed in on Child Zero. "You better take good care of Rei, or I'll come back here and tear you apart, limb from limb."
He had expected Dmitri to laugh as he did every time he mentioned the threat, and the fact that the hardened man's gaze turned even more empathetic felt like a spear digging all the way through his chest. "Shinji," he said, voice stern and forlorn all at once. "Will you be okay?"
Metal creaked and bent under his hold with ease; he was already so inhuman that twisting titanium was as easy as wrinkling paper. How would he ever, ever be okay, anymore? "Vasiliy is such a good kid," he said instead of answering. "Rei really cares for him. She's never had a little brother, or someone who looks up to her as a mother. Treasure it." His eyes drifted to the setting sun. It was time to go. "Such things become rare with time."
The gate closed.
Dmitri took out a fresh bottle from the counter and filled his glass. "Blyat," he muttered to the empty space. He had seen such despair before in his own eyes, in the eyes of the Shinji of that universe.
"Blyat."
Location: The Tree of Shinji.
As soon as he came out from the portal a pair of hands grabbed his shoulder.
"Been drinking again, son?" the soft and caring voice of Kyoko reached his ear.
"Wasn't expecting you here, Kyoko. What gives? Got tired of crying for your daughter getting married?" he replied to her with a smile. Kyoko was not only his mother-in-law, but also his teacher when he first joined the void.
"Ha ha Shinji, that was very funny." She frowned but after that gave the boy a hug and told him. "But, I'm here because someone else is joining our two-person family."
To those words Shinji looked at her with a confusion, which changed to a snarl. "I swear to life and death if it is Gendo, I'm gonna-" She raised her hand to stop him for going any further.
"It's not your Bastard eines Vaters." At her words Shinji raised his eyebrow.
"Sorry, you know that I also don't like him as a person," She said as she grabbed his hands and opened the portal. "Let's just say, it's someone you know." She smiled at him and dragged him inside.
Location: The Tree of life.
He couldn't remember when he was here last. When he first entered the world, he met Life and Death, the real gods of the world. Needless to say, they were not happy with his choice of time traveling. Just like Gendo, he was put in prison for attempting to twist his timeline. After who-knows-how-long, Kyoko came to him. She taught him how the multiverse worked and how there was only one world he should never touch.
"This is the tree of life, Shinji," She said to him. "Here, the beginning and the end of our world, and many others, are stored. Our world has a name, you know. We call it Neon Genesis."
The young boy looked at her with a confused face. "Why that name?"
Kyoko chuckled and looked back to the tree. "It was the choice from life and death. There are many worlds Shinji, not all of those are connected to us. There is a world where we are nothing more than a anime for human kind to enjoy."
"Really?"
"Really."
Looking down he could see the roots of the tree. Kyoko noticed this and explained to him where those roots connected. "Those are our roots, Shinji. Each of us has their own little tree where we see our lives from the many Earths we exist on. Those trees are for those who no longer are part of their Earth. We are the guardians of our own tree." Kyoko told him.
"So… are we time travelers?" he asked with confusion.
Kyoko laughed. "No, there are already versions of us who time travel. More specifically, protect the main world from alternation."
"Shinji, come here." Kyoko's voice snapped him out from the memory. He followed her where he could see life talking to a girl.
He was not ready for what he saw.
Light red hair, plugsuit red as blood. The plugsuit was torn apart but he could guess it was because of her overgrowing the suit…he knew very well who she was.
"Shikinami!?" He shouted.
Hello again, Shikinami.
"Shinji?" Asuka asked. "What are you doing here? Where am I?"
"You, my daughter, are at the tree of life," Life told her with a gentle smile. She moved her hand to Kyoko and the stunned Shinji. "Those over there are the guardians of the multiverse, Shinji and Kyoko."
Snapping out of his shocked state, he moved forward and greeted her.
"As you already know, I'm Shinji, but not your world's Shinji. My Asuka's last name was Soryu, not Shikinami." He told her with a smile. He raised his hand to Asuka, and she took it, shaking it.
"A…Asuka Langley Shikinami. Going to be honest I'm kind of confused."
"We understand," Kyoko said as she joined the kids "Shinji and I here were also confused the first time we came to this void."
While Kyoko was chatting with Asuka and telling her the origin of her own universe and who she was, life tapped Shinji's shoulder. "I know this harsh from me considering what you experienced before, but she is your student now. Just like you were for Kyoko."
The boy was silent for a moment. Looking at life, then back to Asuka and Kyoko, he sighed. He really was not ready to teach someone, let alone a version of his now dead wife. "I'm not really ready at the moment for this. I have to visit another Earth before I can teach her."
Life looked at him, then nodded. "How about this? You take care of that Earth you want to visit, and when you're back, you will take care of Shikinami. Deal?"
"Deal." Shinji made his way to Shikinami. "Sorry, but I have to leave for a moment."
"Where to?" Kyoko asked him.
"The Second Try's Earth. Can you show Shikinami around and tell her what we do while I'm there?"
"Hmm, alright, but she is YOUR student, you know?" Kyoko said with a frown on her face. As for Shikinami, she was still confused with what was happening, one moment she was in instrumentality with Shinji, who confessed his feelings to her. After that, she found herself here.
"Yeah, Yeah, I know," Shinji replied. "I promise to take her after that visit."
He said goodbye to the two girls and left for his tree. In there, he found the Earth he was looking for. Truth be told, he was fearing meeting with her, as it would bring back memories from his Asuka. The portal opened, and he went inside.
Earth: 1413558.
Name: The Second Try.
Walking towards the house, he could already hear the poor little girl crying for her parents that were seemingly gone. Opening the door, he could hear her tiny steps. Frankly, it was hurting him.
"Mama? Papa? *sniff* where are you?" The girl said as she looked at the kitchen in hope of seeing her father.
"...Aki, turn around." Multiverse Shinji said as he looked at her.
"Papa?"
He kneeled down to look at her, he wiped her tear away and picked her up. "Yes, sweetie. Sorry for leaving on such a short notice. Me and Mama wanted to get you a new plushie, but it was so far away that I had to get back and let mama get it."
The young girl hugged her 'father' and with a cracked voice told him to not leave her again.
Hours passed and Shinji took her to her bed, where he read her a story about a knight who would travel world from world for his princess. Aki yawned. Slowly, her little eyes closed, and she was soon asleep. He knew that sooner, Aki would disappear from this Earth and join her parents in the past. He joined her bed where he hugged the girl close to him and went to sleep.
The next morning, Shinji woke up and saw that Aki was already gone.
"Goodbye, Aki…" That name always brought pain to him. He remembered the night before her death, and their conversation.
Flashback
Asuka was coughing again. It was getting worse every day and it scared him.
"Shinji… If we... If we ever had a kid, what name would you like?"
Entering the bed and hugging her tightly, he told her that he wasn't sure.
"Idiot... That's-" she coughed "-why I love you... If it's a girl, we'll call her Aki. If it's a boy, how about Mirai?"
End flashback
Wiping the tears, he left the home. Looking at it, maybe he could convince Life and Death in the future to stay in this house with Kyoko and… Shikinami. He had so much to teach to that girl, and who knows, maybe she'd help him catch the anomaly.
Alas, he left the world and went to search for Asuka Langley Shikinami.
Author note: That took longer than I wanted it, my apologies to my readers for waiting this long for chapter 3.
Credits for the stories in this chapter:
Yui's words by SheriffJohnStone
Scar Tissue by deathbringer374
Advice and Trust by Panther2G
The Second Try by JimmyWolk (sorry bro :c )
I have taken permission from all this authors for using their story.
And a huge thank you to SheriffJohnStone for helping me with this chapter and the omake idea which you will all see now.
P.S Except the first omake her, the rest of the omake's will be canon story that have happened before the main events.
Omake 1(not canon):
"...so you want to build the feeling of the original universe?"
"Correct!"
"...can I be honest?"
"Go ahead man."
"That idea is shit Toasterman."
The creator of 'A glass of wine rebuild' looked Shinji dead in the eye and told him "Not my fault you're an idiot."
"...that's it, leaving a bad review."
"Fuck you, who cares for your review."
Omake 2 (canon):
Earth: 10675474
Name: Advice and Trust
"Then, here I go."
She walked closer to him, halting close enough he could see her pulse jumping as fast as his at her throat. He felt himself blushing as he closed his eyes in anticipation. After nothing happened for a second he cracked his eyes open to find Asuka staring at him from just inches away, her expression unreadable.
"Don't breathe, because it tickles." Slim fingertips pinched his nose shut just before her lips met his.
Shinji watched this scene unfold from an unseen corner of the room. Given that both teenagers' eyes were closed, it made his job a lot easier.
'Alright, now we wait for him to grab onto her,' he thought to himself.
He could hear this world's Asuka grunting rather aggressively, as if trying to get the attention of the boy she was kissing. That boy, however, was ever-so-clueless.
He noticed that the Shinji of this world was not holding on to Asuka. It reminded him of how hard it was for him and his Asuka when this happened.
He approached the soon-to-be couple 'This is for you, me.'
Multiverse Shinji crouched, and quietly made his way over to the two teenagers attempting to kiss. He got behind this Shinji and swiftly knocked out one of his ankles, making him lose his balance and grab onto Asuka.
He knew his idea worked when he heard a gentle thump of their bodies coming together.
They were distracted enough for him to quietly round a corner and linger for a moment, ensuring things were proceeding on their intended path.
"Wow. That was….um….wow."
"Yeah," Shinji heard them say from the other room.
Seeing that his work was done, Multiverse Shinji left this world to move on to the next one.