Ritsuko sat at her computer, typing away and analyzing the data the MAGI captured from Shinji's first battle. She still couldn't comprehend what happened. Unit-01 had fully run out of power and was deactivated. The only way for reactivation was… Ritsuko shuddered at the thought. She had confused emotions about Yui when she was human, let alone a building-sized monster.
"Maya, can you give me a light?" she asked, pointing over to the cigarettes at her desk.
"Sure thing, Sempai," Maya said, reluctantly lighting the cigarette and handing it to her.
'She really shouldn't be smoking those things,' Maya thought. She pushed down the urge to voice it, knowing it would only upset her.
Ritsuko took a long drag and breathed out, examining the footage of Unit-01's battle. Shinji claimed he had no memory of anything after the Eva deactivated, and Ritsuko was inclined to believe him. Even a boy as repressed as Shinji couldn't harbor that kind of rage. The only explanation was that somehow, the soul inside the Eva had forced a reactivation.
'Yui-san, were you protecting your son?' she thought.
"Sempai, the Commander would like to see you in Unit-00's testing chambers now," came Maya's voice.
'I guess he repaid the favor,' she thought.
"Maya, can you take over from here?" she asked, bringing up Rei's blood test results.
"On it, Sempai," she said excitedly.
Ritsuko left her dark office, squinting as she entered the brightly lit hallways of NERV. She strode towards the testing chambers.
Gendo stood motionless, staring through the broken window on the imposing form of Unit-00. Its feet were sealed in bakelite, and the evidence of its destruction was clear throughout the chamber. Above the shattered window was a car-sized dent in the wall, one that came close to killing her.
'I guess that… thing can feel emotions,' she thought with a small smile.
"How is Rei doing?" Gendo asked, making no effort to face her.
"She will make a full recovery in three weeks. Unit-00 will be ready for activation by then."
Gendo nodded slightly.
"Is there anything else you wished to discuss?" Ritsuko asked. After a day like this, she would take whatever he gave her, even if-
"That will be all, Dr. Akagi," he said coolly.
"Of course," she replied, and turned on her heel.
'Incorrigible bastard' she thought, walking out. 'That bitch will never be who you want.'
{|}
Click
"Center the target, pull the trigger"
Click
"Center the target, pull the trigger"
Click
"I'm home," Shinji said, putting his groceries down on the table and looking for Misato. He was too tired to make anything but instant food tonight, having gone through another round of Eva training.
Shinji peeked around a corner and turned beet red when he saw Misato hadn't bothered to pull the shower curtain. He quickly turned around and returned to the kitchen, taking his groceries out of the bag.
Pen-Pen took that moment to swipe one of the vegetables Shinji got and ran off.
"Hey!" Shinji said and chased after him.
Pen-Pen went into Misato's room, and Shinji followed. He opened the door and his eyes widened as he took in how cluttered it was. Clothes were strewn about, empty cans littered the floor, and her bedsheets were crumpled up in a ball. 'What a slob,' Shinji thought. Pen-Pen had already swallowed the food whole, and Shinji sighed, admitting defeat. He looked up and something on Misato's desk caught his eye.
Shinji walked up to her desk and saw a simple notebook, titled "Project-E, Third Child Surveillance Record"
Shinji opened up the book, and his stomach fell. Inside were detailed descriptions of his movements, interactions at school, and Misato's observations at home.
'She doesn't care about me at all,' he thought. 'She just did this to keep an eye on me.' His eyes dropped. 'Why am I even doing this?'
Shinji left Misato's room and returned to making dinner, his mood much worse than before. He ate in silence, and Misato spoke up.
"Ritsuko tells me your training is going well," she said.
"Mhm," Shinji said absently.
"She says you need to be quicker to follow orders, though," Misato added.
"Mhm," Shinji repeated.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I don't like piloting that thing," he said.
"I know, Shinji, but you have to. You're the only one who can," she replied.
"I've been hearing that a lot," he said, annoyed.
"Hey," Misato snapped, "If you keep piloting the Eva like you don't care, you'll be dead before you know it."
"That's fine," Shinji said. "I don't care."
Misato put her beer down forcefully. "You may not care whether you die, but the rest of us aren't quite ready for it yet! You're our most important asset, your life isn't just yours anymore!"
Shinji got up and began to walk to his room.
"Where do you think you're going?" Misato said.
"I get it, alright?" he said. "You made your point."
'All I'm worth is piloting that stupid thing.' he thought.
{|}
Rei walked home, after another examination by Dr. Akagi. This one had been especially bad, and Ritsuko seemed to be angry about something Rei had done. She did not know what and did not ask. She just put up with the pain and humiliation.
'Why?' a voice asked her.
'Because Commander Ikari needs me,' she replied.
'And then what? What will you do when he doesn't need you anymore?'
'I will die. And I will be free.'
{|}
Shinji's alarm woke him up with a start, and he lazily fumbled his hand around until it turned off. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He had to make breakfast and go to school. The former was beginning to become one of his favorite parts of the morning. The latter was decidedly less so. Shinji made a quick breakfast for himself and Misato. He took out the garbage before he left, and was careful not to wake Misato, as she liked sleeping in when she didn't have work.
Shinji walked to the train station, his SDAT in his ears. He saw fellow students all over the place, yet he couldn't think of a single one of their names. He sat on the bench in the station, waiting for it to arrive. He kept his eyes on the floor, not bothering to look up or talk with anyone. The train arrived and he boarded, still sitting in silence. He got off at his stop along with dozens of other students, and he walked up the hill to school.
Once inside, he let out a sigh when he remembered he had gym class that day. He reluctantly got into his uniform and headed to the courtyard. He didn't participate in any of the games, choosing to sit on the small hill next to the basketball court and listen to his music. He eventually moved away from the other boys who sat there, not needing to hear them drooling over the girls in the swimming pool. The summer sun beat down on him, and he worked up a sweat despite not doing anything physical. The droning noise of the cicadas bled through the music he was listening to, proving to be inescapable.
Shinji walked back to class once the bell rang, taking his seat towards the back of the room. He paid little attention to the students coming into class. He looked to the side and saw that girl from before, Ayanami. She was still bandaged, and he felt bad that she still had to go to school in that state. She was staring out the window, resting her chin in her hand.
"Rise, bow, sit down!" came the voice of the class rep as the teacher entered the room. He began his lecture, meandering on about the second impact. Even in just a couple of weeks of school, Shinji had already memorized it. He opened his laptop, staring at the dull green of the display. His eyes eventually wandered again, focusing once more on the back of Ayanami's head. She had by far the most attention-grabbing hairstyle of anyone in the class, not to mention her injuries, yet he never saw her speaking with anyone else.
Shinji was brought back to the moment when a message request popped up on his laptop screen. He clicked it, not understanding who it was from.
Are you really the pilot of that robot? Y/N
Shinji stared at the message. He looked around, trying to see who it was from. Behind him, two girls sat at a laptop and waved shyly to him.
Shinji looked at the message again. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to tell people that. But NERV had never told him not to, and his name was on all his official ID's. If they really wanted it secret, they wouldn't have done that. If he said yes, maybe this day would be interesting. Shinji looked up at the time, before bringing his hands to the keyboard and typing.
YES
The classroom burst to life. Students scrambled out of their desks and cheered, running up to speak with him. The teacher continued, barely taking notice. The sole exception was Ayanami, who stayed staring out the window.
"Was it scary?"
"I heard you made it explode!"
"Was there some kind of test?"
"How were you chosen?"
"You're the pride of our school!"
Shinji immediately regretted his decision. As much as he hated being bored, this was worse. He continued to be bombarded with questions, and he wanted nothing more than to disappear.
"Um, I'm not supposed to discuss it with people," he said.
"Cmon, what kinda weapons does it have?" a student asked.
"Um, it's a knife, it vibrates I think. T-they called it a Prog knife," Shinji said.
Shinji continued to dodge and ignore the questions being aimed his way, trying to just forget about this and pretend it never happened. The bell mercifully rang, and he got up, pushing his way out of the classroom.
He got about halfway down the hall.
"Hey! Transfer student!" came a voice from behind him. Shinji turned around and saw two of his classmates. One was tall and had dark hair. He wore a navy blue track suit with white stripes. The other wore the normal uniform, and he had glasses. The taller one spoke.
"Come outside for a minute," he said. Shinji felt like he didn't have a choice.
{|}
WHAM!
Shinji fell to the ground, clutching his nose.
"Sorry, transfer student, but I couldn't live with myself otherwise," the taller once said.
"His sister got hurt in the battle," the one with glasses clarified.
The two of them began to walk away.
"It's not like I pilot that thing because I want to," Shinji said under his breath.
He regretted it immediately, as they heard. The taller once walked back up and grabbed Shinji by the collar. He looked into his eyes, and Shinji could see he was fighting back tears. He punched Shinji again and stormed off.
Shinji stayed where he was, looking at the sky. The cicadas incessantly droned on, making his head hurt. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to kick something, but he just didn't have the fight in him. The question came back to him. 'Why am I doing this?'
Shinji heard footsteps approaching and instinctively winced, anticipating the third blow.
"Emergency call-up. I'll meet you at Headquarters," a soft voice said. Shinji looked up and saw Ayanami standing over him. She ran off, and Shinji was surprised she could run in her state. He quickly realized those were the first words he ever heard from her. She had a nice voice.
